Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/brandonjhuff/CanadaSeptember9
By the numbers:
22 - mpg on my bike
65 - wind speed in Montana
1 - Super Model EMT in Glacier Park
25 - degrees through the pass to Butte
We got a decent start leaving Calgary at about 9am and we couldn't wait to get out of that shithole hotel we stayed in. Eh, you can't always pick the winners, right? So, I plug in the address of our hotel in Butte and take off south. It's cold but not too bad once the high clouds burn off a bit. We stop at a crappy diner late in the morning at Smitty's. Lots of fried delicious ness. We scan the menu and wonder if all bacon in Canada is Canadian Bacon. Looks like it's not. Bummer. Another myth busted.
We keep on trucking south and there isn't much to see. It looks a LOT like Hwy 5 in the winter. A little green, a lot flat, and very straight. I traveled to Canada to ride Hwy 5 - the antithesis of fun. Yippee. We're making good time and stop for gas about 10 miles north of the border. The gas stop is owned by one old man who's very friendly and the place is completely empty. The weather has warmed up a lot so we're drinking Gatorade and peeling off layers. We take a look at the map and Irealize that the GPS route we're following completely skips Glacier National Park. Shit! I figure we're a bit too far out to make it a reality this late in the day and move on to getting ready to head in to the US for beer, booze, and loose women. Wait - Canada has all of that already and we can't get a ticket. Why are we leaving again???
A guy rolls up to get a few things at the gas stop and starts asking us a few questions about our bikes and what direction we're headed in. He mentions that it's too bad we aren't headed to Glacier -- it's worth the drive. OK - back to the map. There's a road that runs parallel to the border for ~65 miles and drops us off just 5 miles north of the border. We gear up and take off trying to make up for my GPS gaffe.
We hit the road and I do a little math and realize we now have 10+ hours of riding if we make good time through the park. And that's a *really* bad assumption. So, I pick it up a notch. 70mph, 80, mpg, 90mph, we average about 95 for a lot of it and make it the 65 miles in just under 40 minutes. During this time, my low fuel light goes on. Note to self - flogging the piss out of your bike results in very bad mileage (~20mpg).
We head to the border crossing, wait for one car, hand over our papers. The guard asks if I have any Alcohol, Tobacco, or Firearms. I reply, "Nope - boring, huh? We meant to get some back a few towns but never quite got around to it." He cocks his head and gives me a funny look as I smile. Luckily I'm waved through instead of being subject to a cavity search.
We stop for gas and are nearly knocked over by the winds. Woah. Not fun. I ask the guy at the gas station and he says, "It's nice now that the winds have died down". Huh? This is "died down"?? "Yup", he replies, "it's only 65 mph now."
We head to the park and can't help but stare at the jagged peaks and beautiful scenery. And this is just approaching the park. We wonder what it's like inside and find out just 15 minutes later once we get through the line. Traffic is slow, as expected, but I'm too busy taking pictures to care. Wow - gorgeous. The roads cut their way through the mountains and leave little room for error. Traffic slows at one spot to see a tow truck pulling some vehicle out of a ravine. There's a slew of emergency folks around and we almost crash noticing a tall, thin, blonde EMT. Wow - what's in the water in MT???
We roll on through perfectly paved roads but are suddently stopped. And stopped again. And stopped some more by road work. 2-3 miles of the road is completely unpaved, gravelly, and wet. Needless to say, it sucked.
But the paved road appears once again and we keep on trucking past, beautiful passes, waterfalls, and the occasional glaciers. They've shrunk a lot from what I hear but it's still a sight to see. We finally get to the edge of the part and check out the GPS - 279 miles to go and just an hour and a half of sun light. The race is on! We take a highway that runs on the southern end of the park and we're instantly put into the cold shadows. We plunge on hoping for a few sections with sun so we can warm up a bit. Little did we realize, these cold sections were a Miami summer compared with what we were about to experience.
We make it to the main highway and head south. We stop for gas as the sun has just set and grab some food at "Taco John's". Finally, a mexican place that has combined cheeze whiz and tater tots! Ugh - that meal will be with me for a while.
We hit the little country highway and I make a right. I notice the road is moving on the right. I take a closer look to find that I'm just 5 feet away from about 10 large horses in a fast gallop right next to me. My heart drops as I pin the throttle and lunge ahead out of the way. This stretch will not be fun as we see constant signs of wildlife crossing the road. The road is pitch black only brightened by my high beams -- which don't so much. We can't see the horizon and it's just black everywhere. Ominous. A hazy moon appears to our left and I swear I see what appears to be a setting sun to our right. Then it's gone and I think I've just been riding too long.
About 50 miles in, our scanning the road sides has slowed and we've fallen into a pace. Bad idea. Two deer shoot across the road and I grab a fist full of brakes and start to swirl as it leaps out of the way. My heart is now 300 feet behind me and I'm WIDE awake as the adrenaline vigorously pumps through me. And the fun has just started. We slow our pace and scan closer as we head south. A few foxes and deers on the road and as we approach the main interstate. As we get a few miles away we see fires blazing on the mountain sides. They glow a deep red and must have been that "setting sun" I saw earlier.
We hit I15 south and ride CHiP's style filling both lanes to better illuminate the road. Then we start climbing the pass. It get's pretty cold and I think we've made it through the worst of it. We start falling in elevation than shoot up to 6348 feet at the top of the pass. And it's cold. Freezing cold. Literally. It was 25 degrees and we've slowed down to about 55 on a 75mph freeway to try to stay warmer. We're tucked as far into our fairings as we can get...
We finally roll into Butte at 12:15am and I make sure we get gas for a speedy getaway in the morning. I grab us a few beers, check in, and fall fast asleep. Tomorrow, Yellowstone!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Day 4 - Kamloops BC to Calgary AB - 376 miles
Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/brandonjhuff/CanadaSeptember8
By the numbers
1 - "Oh shit" gravel moment
2 - bicylists on Hwy 1 East
1 - Bald Eagle
1 - Drunk asshole
0 - Tickets
So, it turns out all that booze last was a bad idea. I got up early and took a much needed shower after passing out last night yet we still didn't leave Kamloops until 10am. Oooops. Oh well, it was (mostly) good beer and that's worth it. We book our room in Calgary (more on that later) and hit the road
We know it's gonna be cold and bundle up appropriately and decide to stop for breakfast in an hour or so. We make decent time and hit a few passes before stopping at a Tim Hortons (due to a recommendation from a friend). They just stopped serving breakfast (my favorite meal) so we order a couple sandwiches. I go to pay and they say, "Sorry - we don't take Visa." Huh? What? I'm sorry - that sentence doesn't make any sense. Turns out, American Visa isn't accepted. So, I ask Dan to pay for my lunch. Cool - free lunch! Visa - "It's everywhere you want to be". Except Canada.
We hit the road and the scenery starts to get interesting. And cold. I looked at the forecast and it was 3C today in some areas - that's 37 degrees. The views are spectacular. Snow starts appearing on the jutting peaks around us. Unlike yesterday, I start paying more attention to the sights instead of the road. The roads were average today - nothing even remotely comparable to yesterday's roads. I check my rear mirror to see Dan looking up. I shift my seating position and look up to see a Bald Eagle. I do a triple take just to make sure that I really just saw a large Bald Eagle circling over us. Wow…cool.
We stop in Revelstoke (cool name, huh?) to get gas and warm up a bit before heading up to Rogers Pass in Glacier Provincial Park. I go to fill up and, again, Visa isn't accepted. The only bright spot is the very cute and flirty girl in the store. She says there's snow on Rogers Pass through Glacier park. Yikes. We meet another biker on the road on his way home to Calgary. He's surprised, jealous really, to learn we are that far from home. He takes off as we get ready.
We hit the road and head up the mountain. It gets colder...and more breathtaking. The scenery helps me take my mind off of the fact that I can't feel my hands and my face is half frozen. We quickly catch up with him and follow him through the passes. Up to 5500 ft…err 9000 km (??) and down to 2200 ft we pass the RVs and redneck trucks. The road twists and turns through the valley floor as the mountains jut out of the ground 2500 ft above us. Some of the roads are cut into the rock and require a tunnel.
I’m following our biker friend as we hit the first tunnel and we see the “Loose Gravel” sign a kilometer back. I take the same line and watch our new biker friend hit a nice 2 ft x 4 ft patch of gravel and slide to the side 6 inches. By the time I realize what happened I’m in the same gravel patch and sliding as well. It’s short lived but was certainly a pucker moment for me. Turns out I shot a bunch of gravel at Dan before he hit it too. Ooops – sorry. You should really watch where you’re riding…
We ride and ride some more. Pass after pass, gorgeous peak after gorgeous peak we approach Banff. But then we get there and we’re past it. Without fanfare we passed right on through Banff. Suddenly, we’re out of the sharp peaks and on to the final stretch towards Calgary. The scenery couldn’t be more different. It reminds me a lot of I-40 through Oklahoma or Arkansas – certainly not Canada. But the views up to this last part more than made up for it.
The final stretch towards Calgary is uneventful except for a scare from the Alberta Highway Patrol who caught us at 30 km/hr over the speed limit. Luckily, we ride on without incident and check into our crappy hotel. We don’t mind paying for a decent hotel downtown but everything is a bit off in this place. The shower can’t keep the temp, the décor was stolen from the 70’s and, the Internet is less connected than Britney is with reality.
We clean up and head out for a nice steak place the concierge recommended. Unfortunately, it’s closed so we wander to Celie’s – an Irish pub and order some food (Fish and Chips and Sheppard’s pie). The waitress was hot…or maybe it was the very small plaid skirt she was wearing. I’m not sure. We make it back to the hotel and check out the joint and, luckily, find the bar. Score! We head in for a scotch and to scope the place out. Nothing to see here. Except the asshole at the end of the bar. He’s was British, even though he was born in Canada. He was #1 (or sometimes #2) in (insert sport here) in all of Canada. He starts talking to us, quite drunk, and he’s trying to start a fight. I indulge for a moment and decide that I shouldn’t see how nice the jails are in Canada so I make a few comments that leave him speechless, pay the bill, and head home for the night. Eh, you can’t win them all…
We head back to the states tomorrow – which is good, I can’t seem to figure out how to convert miles/gallon to liters/kilometer. Plus they won’t take my Visa. At least I saw a Bald Eagle in Canada!
Inapporpriate quote of the day:
"Come on - are you *really* retarded if you make $1 million a year?"
By the numbers
1 - "Oh shit" gravel moment
2 - bicylists on Hwy 1 East
1 - Bald Eagle
1 - Drunk asshole
0 - Tickets
So, it turns out all that booze last was a bad idea. I got up early and took a much needed shower after passing out last night yet we still didn't leave Kamloops until 10am. Oooops. Oh well, it was (mostly) good beer and that's worth it. We book our room in Calgary (more on that later) and hit the road
We know it's gonna be cold and bundle up appropriately and decide to stop for breakfast in an hour or so. We make decent time and hit a few passes before stopping at a Tim Hortons (due to a recommendation from a friend). They just stopped serving breakfast (my favorite meal) so we order a couple sandwiches. I go to pay and they say, "Sorry - we don't take Visa." Huh? What? I'm sorry - that sentence doesn't make any sense. Turns out, American Visa isn't accepted. So, I ask Dan to pay for my lunch. Cool - free lunch! Visa - "It's everywhere you want to be". Except Canada.
We hit the road and the scenery starts to get interesting. And cold. I looked at the forecast and it was 3C today in some areas - that's 37 degrees. The views are spectacular. Snow starts appearing on the jutting peaks around us. Unlike yesterday, I start paying more attention to the sights instead of the road. The roads were average today - nothing even remotely comparable to yesterday's roads. I check my rear mirror to see Dan looking up. I shift my seating position and look up to see a Bald Eagle. I do a triple take just to make sure that I really just saw a large Bald Eagle circling over us. Wow…cool.
We stop in Revelstoke (cool name, huh?) to get gas and warm up a bit before heading up to Rogers Pass in Glacier Provincial Park. I go to fill up and, again, Visa isn't accepted. The only bright spot is the very cute and flirty girl in the store. She says there's snow on Rogers Pass through Glacier park. Yikes. We meet another biker on the road on his way home to Calgary. He's surprised, jealous really, to learn we are that far from home. He takes off as we get ready.
We hit the road and head up the mountain. It gets colder...and more breathtaking. The scenery helps me take my mind off of the fact that I can't feel my hands and my face is half frozen. We quickly catch up with him and follow him through the passes. Up to 5500 ft…err 9000 km (??) and down to 2200 ft we pass the RVs and redneck trucks. The road twists and turns through the valley floor as the mountains jut out of the ground 2500 ft above us. Some of the roads are cut into the rock and require a tunnel.
I’m following our biker friend as we hit the first tunnel and we see the “Loose Gravel” sign a kilometer back. I take the same line and watch our new biker friend hit a nice 2 ft x 4 ft patch of gravel and slide to the side 6 inches. By the time I realize what happened I’m in the same gravel patch and sliding as well. It’s short lived but was certainly a pucker moment for me. Turns out I shot a bunch of gravel at Dan before he hit it too. Ooops – sorry. You should really watch where you’re riding…
We ride and ride some more. Pass after pass, gorgeous peak after gorgeous peak we approach Banff. But then we get there and we’re past it. Without fanfare we passed right on through Banff. Suddenly, we’re out of the sharp peaks and on to the final stretch towards Calgary. The scenery couldn’t be more different. It reminds me a lot of I-40 through Oklahoma or Arkansas – certainly not Canada. But the views up to this last part more than made up for it.
The final stretch towards Calgary is uneventful except for a scare from the Alberta Highway Patrol who caught us at 30 km/hr over the speed limit. Luckily, we ride on without incident and check into our crappy hotel. We don’t mind paying for a decent hotel downtown but everything is a bit off in this place. The shower can’t keep the temp, the décor was stolen from the 70’s and, the Internet is less connected than Britney is with reality.
We clean up and head out for a nice steak place the concierge recommended. Unfortunately, it’s closed so we wander to Celie’s – an Irish pub and order some food (Fish and Chips and Sheppard’s pie). The waitress was hot…or maybe it was the very small plaid skirt she was wearing. I’m not sure. We make it back to the hotel and check out the joint and, luckily, find the bar. Score! We head in for a scotch and to scope the place out. Nothing to see here. Except the asshole at the end of the bar. He’s was British, even though he was born in Canada. He was #1 (or sometimes #2) in (insert sport here) in all of Canada. He starts talking to us, quite drunk, and he’s trying to start a fight. I indulge for a moment and decide that I shouldn’t see how nice the jails are in Canada so I make a few comments that leave him speechless, pay the bill, and head home for the night. Eh, you can’t win them all…
We head back to the states tomorrow – which is good, I can’t seem to figure out how to convert miles/gallon to liters/kilometer. Plus they won’t take my Visa. At least I saw a Bald Eagle in Canada!
Inapporpriate quote of the day:
"Come on - are you *really* retarded if you make $1 million a year?"
Monday, September 7, 2009
Day 3 - Seattle WA to Kamloops CA - 402 miles
Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/brandonjhuff/CanadaSeptember7
By the numbers
3491 - Rain Showers
1 - meaningless speeding ticket from the Canadian Police
2 - great Canadian beers
23 - crappy Canadian beers
We got a decent start in the morning despite staying up until 2am drinking scotch and absinthe (Dan has become quite the connoisseur). Blearily, we pop open a couple Red Bulls, put our luggage on the wet bikes, and hit the road. The wet road. The raining road. But we were prepared and head north to Everett for some much needed coffee and breakfast.
We pull into an IHOP and get any water-sensitive gear off the bikes. The cute hostess walks us to our table and the place stops and they all briefly stare at us. I'm sure they're used to the rain but I don't think they expected to see two guys riding...didn' we check the forecast?? And the rain keeps on coming. All the way to the Border.
About 15 minutes before we get to the border crossing, I'm in my own world just checking out traffic as we slowly pass everyone. Gotta watch out for the police, doncha know? I'm checking out the working class folks and see the usual Mom and Dad enjoying a Monday off. I glace right a couple lanes over and I see a very cute woman emphatically giving me a thumbs up. I roll off the throttle to get a better look and do something, anything, to return the response. But, motorcycle gear fails to let me communicate, "how YOU doing?" to my new, smiling friend. Oh, well. Hopefully, all the women up here are this friendly. I noticed they sure are cute...consistently cute. Must be something to do with the rain.
We get to the border crossing and have to wait for just 2 cars to pass through before we're up for questioning. It's sunny and we have papers in hand ready to go. I'm asked the usual questions - reason for my stay, how long, whether I have guns (good thing I left the 9mm at home), and what my profession is. "Contract killer" I respond, but he only heard me say "Consultant". We gear up and I ride into Canada for the first time.
It's all farm land as we roll past corn and alfalfa fields. Hmm - not what I expected. We stop for gas in a small town just outside of Vancouver and put on some more gear since we're headed for Whistler. I'm concerned I don't have enough gear but there's not much I can do about it!
We head north and to Vancouver and it's quite a sight. Very pretty but the architecture reminds me of a large malasian city or if SF had more glass sky scrapers scattered throughout the city. We cross over the bridges and follows the signs through downtown to Whistler. This town is clean with lime green trash cans everywhere. Minutes later, we're quickly gaining elevation as we head towards the site of the 2010 winter olympics - Whistler. Clearly, they've been doing a lot of preparation as the roads are brand new and perfectly maintained.
The road gently turns through the gorgeous landscape and we pick up speed. 100mph is the speed limit. Cool. No, wait, 100kmh. That's what, 60mph?? Bah - the fun police are at it again. Dan leads since he's been up here before and we start moving. MOVING. There are no surprises on this road -- every turn has been though out and there's no "dead man's turn" that we need to look out for. Nice. I'm all too aware that the police could be around any turn...but they aren't. Sweet! This road is like a race track. It only encourages bad behavior.
Up and down we go watching the road instead of the views. But you just can't help notice the green water and steeply angled mountains that start at the water and go almost straight up. Gorgeous. The water is a shade of green I haven't seen before - more like aquamarine but milky. Makes Emerald Bay in Tahoe look cute, adorable in comparison.
Up we go, slowing down only for small towns and RVs -- lots of RVs. The road is awesome and we're enjoying every minute of it. For a while. We turn one corner and the road goes up. Coming the other direction is a police car with it's lights on. It turns around and comes right for us. Ugggh. Ticket time.
The officer comes up to me first, smiling, and says that he didn't get a radar lock on me but did get one on the guy in front of me. He asks if we're friends and I confirm. He walks up to Dan and checks his tires out before saying a word to him. Strange. Dan takes his helmet off and gives him his registration. I try to get my camera out but can't get a pic without getting caught.
The mounty goes back to his car for about 5 minutes then comes back to Dan. He's smiling and Dan's laughing as he hands him his ticket. WTF is going on here?! I wonder if it's a paper ticket verifying that he was warned - nah, that's too crazy, even for Canada. Dan puts his gear back on and we hit the road.
We stop in Whistler to rest for a bit and I get the whole story. The officer was apologetic for having to pull him over. This would NEVER happen in CA. Dan had asked how it works to get a ticket in Canada. The officer laughs and explains that nothing will happen is he doesn't pay the ticket. It's not tied to the US DMV so there's no points and if he doesn't pay it nothing happens. Sweet! This is like a free ticket to awsometown - we just have to pay the ticket(s) and keep on trucking!
We head up 99 towards Kamloops and this road is amazing. Elevation changes, great views, and lots of twists and turns. The scenery is so varied so my head is on a swivel soaking it all in. We get rained on a bit but the roads never got too wet. I'm convinced that there may not be a better day ride than from Vancouver BC to Kamloops - I highly recommend it to any motorcyclist.
We roll in to Kamloops and check in to the hotel. Nice place. We ask where we can get good beer and they point us one block over to Frick n Frack. We wander in and it's pretty dead so we sit at the bar. Zachary is tending bar and he's from Vancouver. He came out to Kamloops for a change of pace. So, did the other two waitresses. Hmm - I wonder what's here in Kamloops to draw people to it...
We order dinner and beers - lots of beers. We had some scotch before we left the room so, surely, 6 beers would do no harm. We never had the same beer twice and tried as many as we could. Literally. Most of them were bad - coors light bad. But there were a few gems in the mix. I order a fried Mars bar and can't wait. Zach brought it out and said "I had them make it special for you". He puts the plate down and I see that the frieds mars bar is in the center, flanked by two scoops of ice cream at one end and a curling line of whip cream at the other. Use your imagination and you'll figure it out. We nearly fall off our stools laughing and think that maybe Canada won't be too bad. Nice and funny folks.
We stumble back to the room and I lie down, just for a second, only to wake up at 3am still in my clothes. Hey, it's vacation. Don't judge me.
By the numbers
3491 - Rain Showers
1 - meaningless speeding ticket from the Canadian Police
2 - great Canadian beers
23 - crappy Canadian beers
We got a decent start in the morning despite staying up until 2am drinking scotch and absinthe (Dan has become quite the connoisseur). Blearily, we pop open a couple Red Bulls, put our luggage on the wet bikes, and hit the road. The wet road. The raining road. But we were prepared and head north to Everett for some much needed coffee and breakfast.
We pull into an IHOP and get any water-sensitive gear off the bikes. The cute hostess walks us to our table and the place stops and they all briefly stare at us. I'm sure they're used to the rain but I don't think they expected to see two guys riding...didn' we check the forecast?? And the rain keeps on coming. All the way to the Border.
About 15 minutes before we get to the border crossing, I'm in my own world just checking out traffic as we slowly pass everyone. Gotta watch out for the police, doncha know? I'm checking out the working class folks and see the usual Mom and Dad enjoying a Monday off. I glace right a couple lanes over and I see a very cute woman emphatically giving me a thumbs up. I roll off the throttle to get a better look and do something, anything, to return the response. But, motorcycle gear fails to let me communicate, "how YOU doing?" to my new, smiling friend. Oh, well. Hopefully, all the women up here are this friendly. I noticed they sure are cute...consistently cute. Must be something to do with the rain.
We get to the border crossing and have to wait for just 2 cars to pass through before we're up for questioning. It's sunny and we have papers in hand ready to go. I'm asked the usual questions - reason for my stay, how long, whether I have guns (good thing I left the 9mm at home), and what my profession is. "Contract killer" I respond, but he only heard me say "Consultant". We gear up and I ride into Canada for the first time.
It's all farm land as we roll past corn and alfalfa fields. Hmm - not what I expected. We stop for gas in a small town just outside of Vancouver and put on some more gear since we're headed for Whistler. I'm concerned I don't have enough gear but there's not much I can do about it!
We head north and to Vancouver and it's quite a sight. Very pretty but the architecture reminds me of a large malasian city or if SF had more glass sky scrapers scattered throughout the city. We cross over the bridges and follows the signs through downtown to Whistler. This town is clean with lime green trash cans everywhere. Minutes later, we're quickly gaining elevation as we head towards the site of the 2010 winter olympics - Whistler. Clearly, they've been doing a lot of preparation as the roads are brand new and perfectly maintained.
The road gently turns through the gorgeous landscape and we pick up speed. 100mph is the speed limit. Cool. No, wait, 100kmh. That's what, 60mph?? Bah - the fun police are at it again. Dan leads since he's been up here before and we start moving. MOVING. There are no surprises on this road -- every turn has been though out and there's no "dead man's turn" that we need to look out for. Nice. I'm all too aware that the police could be around any turn...but they aren't. Sweet! This road is like a race track. It only encourages bad behavior.
Up and down we go watching the road instead of the views. But you just can't help notice the green water and steeply angled mountains that start at the water and go almost straight up. Gorgeous. The water is a shade of green I haven't seen before - more like aquamarine but milky. Makes Emerald Bay in Tahoe look cute, adorable in comparison.
Up we go, slowing down only for small towns and RVs -- lots of RVs. The road is awesome and we're enjoying every minute of it. For a while. We turn one corner and the road goes up. Coming the other direction is a police car with it's lights on. It turns around and comes right for us. Ugggh. Ticket time.
The officer comes up to me first, smiling, and says that he didn't get a radar lock on me but did get one on the guy in front of me. He asks if we're friends and I confirm. He walks up to Dan and checks his tires out before saying a word to him. Strange. Dan takes his helmet off and gives him his registration. I try to get my camera out but can't get a pic without getting caught.
The mounty goes back to his car for about 5 minutes then comes back to Dan. He's smiling and Dan's laughing as he hands him his ticket. WTF is going on here?! I wonder if it's a paper ticket verifying that he was warned - nah, that's too crazy, even for Canada. Dan puts his gear back on and we hit the road.
We stop in Whistler to rest for a bit and I get the whole story. The officer was apologetic for having to pull him over. This would NEVER happen in CA. Dan had asked how it works to get a ticket in Canada. The officer laughs and explains that nothing will happen is he doesn't pay the ticket. It's not tied to the US DMV so there's no points and if he doesn't pay it nothing happens. Sweet! This is like a free ticket to awsometown - we just have to pay the ticket(s) and keep on trucking!
We head up 99 towards Kamloops and this road is amazing. Elevation changes, great views, and lots of twists and turns. The scenery is so varied so my head is on a swivel soaking it all in. We get rained on a bit but the roads never got too wet. I'm convinced that there may not be a better day ride than from Vancouver BC to Kamloops - I highly recommend it to any motorcyclist.
We roll in to Kamloops and check in to the hotel. Nice place. We ask where we can get good beer and they point us one block over to Frick n Frack. We wander in and it's pretty dead so we sit at the bar. Zachary is tending bar and he's from Vancouver. He came out to Kamloops for a change of pace. So, did the other two waitresses. Hmm - I wonder what's here in Kamloops to draw people to it...
We order dinner and beers - lots of beers. We had some scotch before we left the room so, surely, 6 beers would do no harm. We never had the same beer twice and tried as many as we could. Literally. Most of them were bad - coors light bad. But there were a few gems in the mix. I order a fried Mars bar and can't wait. Zach brought it out and said "I had them make it special for you". He puts the plate down and I see that the frieds mars bar is in the center, flanked by two scoops of ice cream at one end and a curling line of whip cream at the other. Use your imagination and you'll figure it out. We nearly fall off our stools laughing and think that maybe Canada won't be too bad. Nice and funny folks.
We stumble back to the room and I lie down, just for a second, only to wake up at 3am still in my clothes. Hey, it's vacation. Don't judge me.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Day 2 - Bonanza OR to Seattle WA – 525 miles
Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/brandonjhuff/CanadaSeptember6
By the numbers
3491 - Rain Showers
1 - meaningless speeding ticket from the Canadian Police
2 - great Canadian beers
23 - crappy Canadian beers
We got a decent start in the morning despite staying up until 2am drinking scotch and absinthe (Dan has become quite the connoisseur). Blearily, we pop open a couple Red Bulls, put our luggage on the wet bikes, and hit the road. The wet road. The raining road. But we were prepared and head north to Everett for some much needed coffee and breakfast.
We pull into an IHOP and get any water-sensitive gear off the bikes. The cute hostess walks us to our table and the place stops and they all briefly stare at us. I'm sure they're used to the rain but I don't think they expected to see two guys riding...didn' we check the forecast?? And the rain keeps on coming. All the way to the Border.
About 15 minutes before we get to the border crossing, I'm in my own world just checking out traffic as we slowly pass everyone. Gotta watch out for the police, doncha know? I'm checking out the working class folks and see the usual Mom and Dad enjoying a Monday off. I glace right a couple lanes over and I see a very cute woman emphatically giving me a thumbs up. I roll off the throttle to get a better look and do something, anything, to return the response. But, motorcycle gear fails to let me communicate, "how YOU doing?" to my new, smiling friend. Oh, well. Hopefully, all the women up here are this friendly. I noticed they sure are cute...consistently cute. Must be something to do with the rain.
We get to the border crossing and have to wait for just 2 cars to pass through before we're up for questioning. It's sunny and we have papers in hand ready to go. I'm asked the usual questions - reason for my stay, how long, whether I have guns (good thing I left the 9mm at home), and what my profession is. "Contract killer" I respond, but he only heard me say "Consultant". We gear up and I ride into Canada for the first time.
It's all farm land as we roll past corn and alfalfa fields. Hmm - not what I expected. But I'm not sure what, exactly, I was expecting -- Mounties and Moose? We stop for gas in a small town just outside of Vancouver and put on some more gear since we're headed for Whistler. I'm concerned I don't have enough gear but there's not much I can do about it! I quickly do a little math to figure out how many miles per gallon I'm getting. Err, let's see, there are ummm 13.987 liters in a gallon and if I carry the 2, multiply by 4, and I get 8,405 miles per liter. Wait. That's not right. Forget it...
We head north and to Vancouver and it's quite a sight. Very pretty but the architecture reminds me of a large malasian city or if SF had more glass sky scrapers scattered throughout the city. We cross over the bridges and follows the signs through downtown to Whistler. This town is clean with lime green trash cans everywhere. Minutes later, we're quickly gaining elevation as we head towards the site of the 2010 winter olympics - Whistler. Clearly, they've been doing a lot of preparation as the roads are brand new and perfectly maintained.
The road gently turns through the gorgeous landscape and we pick up speed. 100mph is the speed limit. Cool. No, wait, 100kmh. That's what, 60mph?? Bah - the fun police are at it again. Dan leads since he's been up here before and we start moving. MOVING. There are no surprises on this road -- every turn has been though out and there's no "dead man's turn" that we need to look out for. Nice. I'm all too aware that the police could be around any turn...but they aren't. Sweet! This road is like a race track. It only encourages bad behavior.
Up and down we go watching the road instead of the views. But you just can't help notice the green water and steeply angled mountains that start at the water and go almost straight up. Gorgeous. The water is a shade of green I haven't seen before - more like aquamarine but milky. Makes Emerald Bay in Tahoe look cute, adorable in comparison.
Up we go, slowing down only for small towns and RVs -- lots of RVs. The road is awesome and we're enjoying every minute of it. For a while. We turn one corner and the road goes up. Coming the other direction is a police car with it's lights on. It turns around and comes right for us. Ugggh. Ticket time.
The officer comes up to me first, smiling, and says that he didn't get a radar lock on me but did get one on the guy in front of me. He asks if we're friends and I confirm. He walks up to Dan and checks his tires out before saying a word to him. Strange. Dan takes his helmet off and gives him his registration. I try to get my camera out but can't get a pic without getting caught.
The mounty goes back to his car for about 5 minutes then comes back to Dan. He's smiling and Dan's laughing as he hands him his ticket. WTF is going on here?! I wonder if it's a paper ticket verifying that he was warned - nah, that's too crazy, even for Canada. Dan puts his gear back on and we hit the road.
We stop in Whistler to rest for a bit and I get the whole story. The officer was apologetic for having to pull him over. This would NEVER happen in CA. Dan had asked how it works to get a ticket in Canada. The officer laughs and explains that nothing will happen is he doesn't pay the ticket. It's not tied to the US DMV so there's no points and if he doesn't pay it nothing happens. Sweet! This is like a free ticket to awsometown - we just have to pay the ticket(s) and keep on trucking!
We head up 99 towards Kamloops and this road is amazing. Elevation changes, great views, and lots of twists and turns. The scenery is so varied so my head is on a swivel soaking it all in. We get rained on a bit but the roads never got too wet. I'm convinced that there may not be a better day ride than from Vancouver BC to Kamloops - I highly recommend it to any motorcyclist.
We roll in to Kamloops and check in to the hotel. Nice place. We ask where we can get good beer and they point us one block over to Frick n Frack. We wander in and it's pretty dead so we sit at the bar. Zachary is tending bar and he's from Vancouver. He came out to Kamloops for a change of pace. So, did the other two waitresses. Hmm - I wonder what's here in Kamloops to draw people to it...
We order dinner and beers - lots of beers. We had some scotch before we left the room so, surely, 6 beers would do no harm. We never had the same beer twice and tried as many as we could. Literally. Most of them were bad - coors light bad. But there were a few gems in the mix. I order a fried Mars bar and can't wait. Zach brought it out and said "I had them make it special for you". He puts the plate down and I see that the frieds mars bar is in the center, flanked by two scoops of ice cream at one end and a curling line of whip cream at the other. Use your imagination and you'll figure it out. We nearly fall off our stools laughing and think that maybe Canada won't be too bad. Nice and funny folks.
We stumble back to the room and I lie down, just for a second, only to wake up at 3am still in my clothes. Hey, it's vacation. Don't judge me. I log in this morning to see that Dan has left an inebriated message on this blog for all to see:
"Brandon is dead asleep. I hereby confiscate this appartatus for my own gain. Who know's the most about life? Your preacher, your paster, your priest, your shaman? Nobody knows what happens when the time comes. We are all minions in a farcical game of catch and mouse. I am too young to make such judgments... yet the question remains, what are we? A chance species on a chance planet, thinking there is more to life, but in actuality, we will rot, no matter what the outcome may be. Brandon is asleep, though I doubt he would object to my insubordination. We all will die. Some of us choose how. There are worse ways to die..."
I'll update pics later for you all to see! We're too busy riding and drinking...
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Day 1 - Mountain View CA to Bonanza OR - 637 miles
Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/brandonjhuff/CanadaSeptember5
By the numbers:
By the numbers:
- 1 – Nightmare of crashing
- 1 - iPod Idiot
- 10 - beers to a sampler
- 16 - hours in the saddle
Things went so well the night before. I was feeling pretty confident that I’d have it all taken care of. And I did…for the most part. Happy hour with Jeanine was a must – who else would encourage extra margaritas the night before a big trip? I was good and made it home by 7:30pm to get the rest done – one load of laundry, clothes laid out, various toiletries in a bag, passport, etc. I was “done” by 11pm and figured I’d get a pretty good night sleep. Almost.
I woke up at 3am with a jump and my heart beating fast. Turns out my bike wasn’t running right and caused me to crash. My worst fears came true in my dream, er, nightmare. I half wanted to go back to sleep to see who the gorgeous brunette was – hubba hubba. I decided more sleep would be the best idea and try to put her, and my bike concerns, out of my mind.
I get up before my alarm and put everything in place in about 15 minutes. Sweet. I’m ahead of schedule. Or so I thought.
I get everything down on the bike and remember I wanted a few audio books on my iPod. Back up to my room to quickly download a few and slap them on my iPod. I want to add them to my playlist and check and un-check a few boxes and begin the download. I grab some breakfast, double and triple check everything and go to grab my iPod and get outta town. I unplug it and look it over only to find that all I have on my iPod is my books – and none of my music! Doh! An hour and a half later, I’m frustrated but on the road.
It’s chilly out but I figure it would warm up a bit by the time I hit Healdsburg and I was right. It’s the picturesque scene you see in the movies. It really is a pretty area…and happens to by just a few miles from one of my favorite roads. I decided that if I was headed north, I might as well ride my favorite roads. Sure, I could ride them anytime but why not ride them every chance I get?? I head from 101 to Highway 1 on the coast and it’s great. No traffic, no cops, sunny weather and not hot. Perfect. A great way to start a vacation.
I make it to the coast and the weather has turned cold and overcast but that’s nothing unusual. I look at my watch and realize it’s already noon. Shit. I’m late. Real late. I take off up Highway 1 to Fort Bragg to have lunch at one of my favorite breweries – North Coast Brewery. As I ride up, I see a full lobby and wonder if I’ll even get a seat. No worries. I slip into the last table in the bar area and order the beer sampler. Yum – 10 delicious beers to make me forget about being late. A south-western burger gives me a taste of New Mexico I’ll be repeating in a couple weeks.
I head north. No, I haul ass north. I need to make up some time. And Highway 1 agrees and let’s me make turn after turn with ease. Until I get about 60 miles north and I’m thwarted with a rain storm. I expect fog and mist on 1, but this is rain. Real rain. Shit, again. I’m slowed down to 15 mph since visibility is a few feet ahead of me and the road is snot-slick. Well, this isn’t looking good for making it to Oregon before nightfall.
Fortuna can’t come soon enough and I make a quick right to my favorite road in America – so far! Highway 36 is the most ideal road for a motorcyclist – great pavement, banked turns, elevation changes, varying scenery, and turns of every kind. It’s 140 miles of pure awesome. Awesome with a cherry on top of a sundae made by Mother Theresa blessed by the Pope. Yeah, that good. I have lots of luggage so I can haul all kinds of ass – and I do. I don’t think I’ve been moving this fast on this road before. I ‘d like to think I learned a few tricks watching the pro racers but I can’t. It’s the bike. I’m glad I took the time to set it up right. Despite all my problems, it’s perfect.
I but north on Hwy 3 to Hwy 299 to Redding. I roll into Redding as the sun sets and stop for some gas and my first fast food of the trip. It’s 8pm and I now have 200 miles to go. Uggh. I take off into the night towards Oregon and hope I make good time on the desolate roads. It’s dark and it gets to be dangerous as the deer come out and the temp drops to the high-40’s. I’m not prepared for this and hunker down for 2 hours of cold riding. I’m just trying to make it there and get some sleep. I’m beat.
I roll in at 11:30pm, 635 miles and 16 hours after starting. I take a quick shower and hit the sack. I’m asleep before my head hits the pillow.
Tomorrow will be a long day too…
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Where's Waldo...er, Brandon?
Last year, we used a SPOT tracking device and everyone loved to keep track of where we were. Some watched a bit too closely (you know who you are!) but you could easily see where we were and how much progress we made each day. Tim was nice enough to loan me his SPOT (a fair exchange for beer) so we can use it again!
You can follow our daily progress at: http://www.timothylynn.com/whereami/
Now this assumes I actually use the device correctly...which is a BIG assumption. Somehow, I'll figure it out...
You can follow our daily progress at: http://www.timothylynn.com/whereami/
Now this assumes I actually use the device correctly...which is a BIG assumption. Somehow, I'll figure it out...
Can't keep me down!
The last week has been rough but you can't keep me down!
Since I last posted, I've had the stomach flu, been told I don't have a Lemon Law case for my bike, canceled a couple dates, and have worked way too many hours getting ready to go. But I'm almost there - just one more day!
All that's left is to tidy up a few loose ends at work, do some laundry, put everything in my luggage, and hit the road! I had planned on doing most of my first day with a few friends but they all decided to get lives so I'm going it alone. It's a bit of a bummer but it's actually a bit better for me - no stress to leave at a specific time, stop when I want to, take as many pics as I want, etc. Sounds perfect - just what I need.
Now, if I can only get those last few items done before I go...back to work!
Since I last posted, I've had the stomach flu, been told I don't have a Lemon Law case for my bike, canceled a couple dates, and have worked way too many hours getting ready to go. But I'm almost there - just one more day!
All that's left is to tidy up a few loose ends at work, do some laundry, put everything in my luggage, and hit the road! I had planned on doing most of my first day with a few friends but they all decided to get lives so I'm going it alone. It's a bit of a bummer but it's actually a bit better for me - no stress to leave at a specific time, stop when I want to, take as many pics as I want, etc. Sounds perfect - just what I need.
Now, if I can only get those last few items done before I go...back to work!
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