We made it!

It took Steve and I three days to make it from Julie's to Littleton.  We changed our route in order to find the Big Sky Brewery in Missoula, MT.  We had planned to go through Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, but how often do you get to visit the birthplace of Moose Drool Brown Ale.  We loaded up on T-shirts, hats and pint glasses and after two small samples we were back on the road to go all the way across the street to the Missoula Harley shop to stock up on more T-shirts.  Then we hit the highway for Butte, MT.

The home of Moose Drool Brown Ale

Day two, was rough.  We hit rain and more road construction.  This slowed us down considerably.  That was OK though as we saw some incredible scenery.  Too bad I couldn't take any pictures.
The second night brought us to Rock Springs, WY, just a little fart of a town.  We scored a $77.00 room at the Days Inn.  Sweet digs.  Next door was a place called Bombers.  Kind of seedy looking but the dining area was newly renovated and looked clean enough.  The food turned out to be really good and it so happened to be the hang out for bikers from all around as well as local.  Go figure with a place named Bombers.  We engaged in conversation about Harley stuff and how to get more horse power and tourque outta our Hogs, ya know, gear head stuff.  Steve and I then figured to finish the evening with a cold one and went over to the "other side" of the establishment.  Oh wow!  So this is where the underbelly of Rock Springs hangs out.  No doubt most folks here have a parole officer to report to.  We order a beer and to our delight, they were about to have Kareoke night.  We were witness to some of the worst singing ever but the singers exhibited real confidence and what I am sure was a switch blade in their pants so Steve and I offered each one hardy applause.  I decided to call it a night before Zelda, the tattoo bearded chic at the bar asked me to dance.  She gave me a long stare when I came in and I was a bit unconfortable.

Made it safely.  High fives and a Moose Drool.  Now, where is the wash bucket?

Day three was an early start with about 380 miles to go.  Nothing to report as the drive went smooth enough except for the heat as we entered Fort Collins, CO.  After pealing off a layer of leather it was comfortable enough to carry on and cruise into Littleton and up Steve's driveway.  SUCCESS!!  3,900 miles and enough memories to fill a book.  Best of all, no incidents or injuries even though we got to experience some rather dicey moments thanks to Mother Nature.
I we loved the trip made even more special with Steve and Cheena on the road with us.  Maybe next year we'll look into an East Coast trip.  Get your motor runnin'...

Back In the Good Ole' USA

July 7

We made it back into the States or South of the Boarder as they say in Canada.  The road to Seattle was a bit tortuous as all the highways in Vancouver were torn up and it began to rain.  We hit some real wet weather about 25 miles from my sisters.  Bad weather in Seattle?  Who knew?  I was really happy to get to Julie's and get off the bike for a break.  Here are some pics of our time in Seattle.  What a great visit.  Lots of great food, drink, (really, really fine wine) and good company.

Public Market.  What a neat place.  

On Lake Washington with my guide Addie.  Cool dog.

Space Needle in Seattle

My newest favorite brew: Moose Drool 

Cigars, wine and the fire ready to make Smores



A little lunch before full bore wine tasting



I think I might try to get one of these casks on the Harley

Bev and Julie on our private tour.            

              

A private tasting with some really, really special bottles.  Very nice indeed.

So, Steve and I head out tomorrow,  July 11 for Denver.  Bev has decided to fly back to Denver with Cheena so Steve and I will make the trip ourselves.  It should take three days, 1,400 miles and it's gonna be pretty hot.  We actually changed our route to include the Big Sky Brewery, where we can see the home of Moose Drool beer and get a T-shirt.

Many thanks to Marty, Julie, and Addie  for the oustanding hospitality.  We had a great time and can't wait to go back.

Heading West to Kamlooks and Whistler

"Take a picture. Ain't I pretty?"

We left Jasper and made our way towards Kamloops while runnuing through an Indian reservation. Right out of Jasper we ran into an elk on the side of the road.  He hung around for a while as he checked us out.

Taken a wee break on the reservation

Shortly after there was a Bald Eagle flying close overhead.  I took it as a sign of good luck.  It turns out we would need it.  After we worked our way down to the bottom of a valley, we stopped for a rest at the Indian reservation gas station.  Little did we plan on hitting a short stretch of dirt road and a really bad one at that.  The fully loaded and two in the saddle Harley was a challenge to get up the hill while staying out of the ruts.  Another moment of pucker factor.  But my prowess as an expert rider paid off.  Yeah right!  That eagle brought luck, that was all.
Once we exited the reservaion and entered better maintained roads we were treated to beautiful water falls so close to the road we got cooled off as we road past them.  Later we came across a rather large Brown Bear not ten feet off the road.  We did not get a picture as I felt we shouldn't stop that close and take a chance to cause him a reason to charge.  Everywhere we went we heard about bear attacks.

The traditional "After A Hards Days Ride" brew

We later entered Whistler Village in the afternoon and was really taken with the village.  Great food, pubs and shops.  I would like to come back some day and spend some time.  I bet this place was just crazy during the Olympics.

At the Olympic Rings.  The T-shirt says it all "Eh"?

Rednecks, the metric system, and the $18.00 six pack

A discovery I made while on this trip.  Redneckness is universal.  I guess I should not be surprised because the cause of redneckness is not confined to the South.  You can find mindless, toothless folks riding around in rusted out trucks with no mufflers, wearing wife beater t-shirts and 80's Glam Rock blasting from out the cab.  From WY to MT to Calgary, to Alberta, to British Columbia, the redneck way of life is well represented.  One of the best examples I saw was in Alberta.  I saw a guy pulling a travel trailer cut in half lengthwise leaving only the bottom half with wheels.  He had a cow loaded in it and was hauling it somewhere.  I must say that's pretty creative but redneck just the same.
The Metric System was a challenge, especially the speed limit.  Imagine my delight when I saw the posted limit at 110 kph.  Bev did some quick Googleing and figured it was about 70 MPH.  I thought that was bogus and figured to just make up my own speed by just guessing what the Royal Mounties had in mind.  It worked pretty well.  At least I never got pulled over so I did all right.
Gas is $5.00 a gallon.  Good thing we get 40+ miles per gallon.  The dollar has taken a beating as we all know.  I never thought I would see the day where I would but two T-shirts for $100.00. You spend less than that at a Springsteen concert.  Steve and I went to a local liquor store in Kamloops, BC.  We thought a six pack was in order a little spiked lemonade for he ladies. $30.00, holy crap!

Happy 4th of July

Due to some scheduling manipulation we had an extra day during this trip to do whatever we felt like.  We decided to stay another day in Jasper.  We  felt we had pushed it pretty hard over the last four days and the experience of going over the pass yesterday still fresh, we figured to take some short trips around Jasper and take it easy.

We took some time for Bev and Cheena to go shopping in town.  There is not one gift/junk store that does not go unexplored.  Steve and I spend time on the bench and hope that don't come out with a load of junk that has to be caried on the bike.  The only purchases were some books.  Cheena had her eye on a stained glass window.  Where you gonna put that?  So no sale. 




Waiting fo the money to run out







Gotta show the chariots











 







 





 

Bev, ya have to kick it to start!

After shopping we got some lunch together and rode up to Maligne Lake for a picnic.  A beautiful setting except for the mosquitos.  It turns out they have real problem with them this year because of all the rain and snow melt this year.  The best way to get rid of them is to ride faster than they can fly.  We then turned south to Athebasca Falls.  What an unbelievable natural wonder.  The park has a series of paths that go all around the falls and follow it down to the river.  Really cool.  The bad thing about pictures is that they never do the subject justice.  Steve and Cheena later teated us to a fantastic meal at Fiddler River. 

Tomorrow, we are going to head west to Kamloops.


















The top of the falls.   People are off to the right for perspective.





Maligne Lake

 

I'll take a pass on the ice.



Mr. Grizzly



What a day we had.  Five minutes after we left Banff we hit rain on our way to Lake Louise.  We threw on our rain suits and as usual the rain subsided.  We figure the rain suits unleash the good weather JuJu.  We saw a Grey Wolf today walking across a road and later we ran across and Grizzly Bear in a meadow.  Not a big one but fun to watch as he dug a hole looking for something.

Lake Louise

Lake Louise is beautiful and the Fairmont Hotel next to it is unbelieveable.  I have noticed however that this entire area is a draw for a very diverse group of international visitors.  The largest group of folks we saw are Hindus and other middle eastern people.  In fact we saw one woman washing her clothes in the lake by beating them on a rock, and her kids were bathing next to her.




At the Ice Fields during a break



Upon entering Canada we lost the ability to use the IPhones as a GPS.  Go figure.  So, we have to rely on old school technology, paper maps.  I KNOW!!  They still make them.  But now that the human element was introduced we got lost going to Jasper and had to back track 40 miles.  Anyway, onto Jasper.  We stopped to look at a glacier and I met a guy who left his home in Florida on April 18 on a bicycle on his way to Alaska.  ALASKA!   I thought doing a couple of laps with a beach cruiser around Hilton Head Island, that has no hills, was a big deal.  Things were going great on our way to Jasper until we started to get a few drops of rain.  We then began to climb up a pass that only God knows how high it was.  We were hit with freezing rain and wind making it really difficult to follow the road given you have no windshield wipers on the bike.  On top of that add about a thousand Pakistani cab drivers on vacation in rental cars, passing us with no regard to the situation.  This mix lead to some major pucker factor.  We eventually pulled over to the first place possible for some hot tea.  It turns out it was the Ice Fields Glacier Tours operation.  The weather eventually cleared on the backside of the pass.  The remaining 65 miles was uneventful other that some outstanding scenery.   We pulled into Jasper with a big rainbow greeting us.  It was amazing to me how quickly everything changes around here.  You have to be ready for anything at anytime.  Time for the traditional end of a days ride brew.

Days 2&3: The cow goes MOO

Steve and Cheena cruising

Daily download in Great Falls

Hey folks.  Over the past two days we have seen more farmland, ranches, horse farms  I am here to tell you there is no shortage of land.    Man, you can go for miles and see a shack here and there and then a house may show up. The residents in WY have trees planted around their houses out here so their houses won't blow away.  Anyway we covered 900+ miles over the past two days and not a lot to report.  Yesterday we wound up in Great Falls, MT after 500 miles.  We were all pretty beat and went straight to the bar to wash the taste of the road and cow manure out of our mouths.  The only interesting thing we saw all day was an animal husbandry lesson real close to the road.  A bull and  cow decided that they were made for each other.  I can't blame the bull cause on a scale of 1-10, that cow was an 11.

Now these are mountains

Bathing and laundry day.

Today we moved further north and made it all the way to Banff, Alberta, 400+ miles.  Wow these mountains are spectacular.  We went out for Pizza and took a walk downtown.  But the best was that we had our own hot tub in our room.  Just what the Dr. ordered.  I gotta get one of these at home.  Here's a travel tip.  When you have a hot tub in your room, add shampoo or laundry soap and let er' rip.  Now you can take a bubble bath as well as bring in your dirty laundry for a quick cleaning.  Tomorrow, if I get outta the tub, we head further up into the mountains and lakes.  It should make for some beautiful pictures, finally.

Luckily we have had great weather.  The locals tell us this is the best weather they have seen in weeks.  Looks like our timing is good.