Monday, September 21, 2009

16, 17 August 2009 west of Kamloops, and Vanderhoof, British Columbia Canada




16 August 2009 west of Kamloops, British Columbia:
I got up about 9:00 a.m., ate some breakfast and finished loading my motorcycle. Things did not progress very fast because we were doing a lot of talking. Like I said before, when you stay too long in one spot; house, hotel or campsite, it’s hard to get moving. I’ve never been wrong, at least about myself. It sure was true in this case. Anyway, Ken printed out a map showing me a short cut for how to get to the border crossing at Sumas, Washington, which was helpful. I followed it to a ‘T’ and arrived at the border just fine. Carol informed me I was to tell everyone I ate too much ice cream and that Ken tutored me on the proper way to eat spaghetti. Now I know. I decided I needed a proper motorcycle send off so both Carol and Ken guided me to Interstate 5 heading north, and I waved good bye as I entered the on ramp. A couple of short bursts on the horn and I disappeared into traffic. First thing I noticed is the motorcycle’s handling improved with the new tires. I have round or radial tires instead of the old, worn out square tires. Of course I had the familiar howl of dual purpose tires. Matilda was working like she did before I went to England which really made me happy. So things are looking up and it was a beautiful sunny day. Getting across the U.S./Canadian border took about 30 minutes. It was a short wait compared to coming into the United States from Vancouver, British Columbia. The wait there started at 90 minutes and probably took two hours plus. The border or customs officer asked me how long I was planning on staying in Canada and I told him I was driving to Alaska. He didn’t even flinch and told me to have a safe journey. I miss the old days when you went through this routine. I miss all those money questions: “how many Canadian dollars do you have, how many U.S. dollars do you have, do you have credit cards, what are the credit limits on them, how much money do you have in your checking account, are you carrying Travelers Cheques and how much, are they in U.S. dollars or Canadian dollars. Let see your driver’s license and passport.” Then if they were having a slow day: “empty your pockets and let’s check your jacket out. Then just to make you mad we also need to check your motorcycle out too.” I was just reminiscing about the 1980’s thru 1990’s U.S. and Canadian border crossing on a motorcycle: more specifically, riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. I pulled off to the side out of the way of traffic, stashed away my passport and drove into Abbotsford, B.C. I then picked up Hwy 1 to Hope, then Hwy 5, the Coquihalla Highway, to Merrittt and Kamloops. At Kamloops I turned west on Highway 1/Highway 97 to Savona and Cache Creek. All the driving I did today was mostly mountains and very scenic. At one point I ran out of power climbing the hills. I don’t know if this was because the elevation was so high that the gas mixture was too rich and needed adjusting, or if the grades on the hills were so steep she just didn’t have the power to pull them. At about 7:30/8:00 p.m. I pulled into an RV resort and set up my tent for the night. I then oiled my chain and programmed Matilda for the next day’s travel. I was sleeping alongside a small brook that babbled all night. It was great to be camping again with no mosquitoes. I think that will change the farther north I go. I couldn’t hook up with the Wifi in the campground and wasted a quarter of my battery power to do so. I was a little miffed about that. I finally went to bed around 10:30 p.m.

17 August 2009 Vanderhoof, Alaskan Hwy, Canada
I got up around 7:00 a.m. and updated my blog until 9:00 a.m. There was no dew last night and the sky is cloudy. I have to get this tent and stuff put away before it rains. Today I will continue traveling north up Hwy 97 (Cariboo Hwy) to Prince George and then pickup Hwy 16 (YellowHead Hwy) west to Vanderhoof. I camped the night in an RV campground. The road was beautiful. I spent most of day climbing mountains and then riding down the backside of them. On one such climb I passed a semi-truck which had burnt to the ground. I believe it was a gas/fuel truck with an aluminum tank. The only thing left to the truck were the steel components like the frame and axles. The tires and rims were gone. The cab was gone as was most of the engine. Everything that was aluminum was melted and burnt. I never saw anything like it in my life. The whole rig was either burnt or melted. It must have been a hot fire. My bike continues to struggle to climb these mountains for lack of horsepower. On the flat road it can hold 65/75 mph just fine. The scenery is beautiful mountains. It appears like a lot of ranching is done throughout this area or at least there is a high presence of horses and horse trailers. I can’t tell you how I marvel at being able to drive without fixating on the highway looking for potholes to fall into and bridges that rise above the pavement four to six inches (10 to 15 centimeters) that you absolutely must slow down to drive over. Today I picked up some Ritz crackers and peanut butter just in case I get hungry and need some quick food. It’s not to live on, just to hold me over till I can find something better to eat. I camped in a city park that had a great shower. The caretaker was a nice guy. We talked for over 30 minutes about my travels and my experiences in Russia. Another great night of stars.

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