Bellingham, WA, to Crescent City, CA (Saturday, August 28th, 2010)

Day 36 - 591 miles

Believe it or not, this was my biggest mileage day so far. Almost 600 miles. It probably was 600 miles when you add in the detour to Salem Honda/BMW in Salem, Oregon.

My back tire was getting pretty worn down. I noticed it in Alberta, and thought, "Yikes! Where did that all go?" I got new tires, front and rear, before I left San Francisco. By the time I got to Bellingham, I was starting to push it a bit. It probably would have got me to San Francisco okay, but you run a greater risk of punctures, as well as aquaplaning in the rain. Better safe than in an accident and sorry. Rain was forecast today for southern Oregon, near Grants Pass, as well as the very northern part of California, near Crescent City, where I was headed. I needed a tire, kind of badly.

Big shout-out here to Don Borcea back in San Francisco. Don has been my "technical advisor" for this trip, and I don't think I could have done it - certainly not as easily nor as comfortably - without his help and assistance. Don is great for tips - those little things you forget, that matter a lot - and useful knick-knacks that just make travelling on a bike a lot easier. He loaned me some great gear items for this journey.

I called Don last night, and he scouted out a few BMW places for me on the route today. I was up early this morning...well, early for me...8AM. I called Salem Honda/BMW, I think second - the first crowd didn't answer. Sean Henthorn, at Salem Honda/BMW, was very helpful and open to taking me whatever time I got there. Sean is a great guy. They have a great shop.

I hit I-5 South, about 9:45AM. It was moving, but fairly heavy-flowing traffic, all the way to Seattle, and the same down to Tacoma, and Olympia, and really didn't lighten-up until after Centralia, getting into the southern part of Washington state. I didn't realize I-5 was this busy, this far up. It's three lanes each way, much of the route. Shows how "California-centric" I am, I suppose!

I refueled, pushed on through Portland, and then made my way to Salem Honda/BMW in Salem, Oregon. Sean immediately came out to greet me, and got me a soda and we shot the breeze about all kinds of stuff while they fit my new tire. Sean persuaded me to go with the Michelin Anakee 2, as they didn't have the Dunlop I was using previously. I like the look of the Anakee, and it looks more "crossover" than the Dunlop - probably better off-road or on gravel. I'm certainly not an expert in this area, and unless you're really pushing the limits, I think it's probably hard for the average person to tell on normal roads.

The forecast was for "occasional" showers further south. It was 4:45PM or so, by the time I left Sean & Co. I went and got something to eat, and as I suited-up into the rain gear while I ate my "burrito" in the gas station forecourt, I had an interesting conversation with a rather unlikely-looking classical guitar player. By the time I got on the road again, it was 5:30PM. I had my room booked in Crescent City though, and I was determined to get there tonight.

As I moved south through Oregon, the scenery started to look more like I was used to. The sun was quickly heading down and towards the west to my right.

I hammered it out down I-5 to Grants Pass. I decided upon Crescent City for the day's destination, and tonight's stay, as I wanted to come down the California Coast as a welcome home present to myself tomorrow. Also, US-101 and the Golden Gate Bridge, would be a nice way to finish the journey.

Getting from I-5 to Crescent City and US-101, meant taking US-199 over the Siskiyou Mountains in the dark. It wasn't too bad at all. I was in a little "convoy" of cars for the first half of it. I stopped about 3/5 of the way in, when we hit the California border. I suddenly felt happy, at peace, and didn't mind driving alone in the dark (the convoy had moved on). I kept it slow, 30 or 40mph. I didn't meet many other vehicles. There was one biker, going very slowly through Patrick Creek...I think he was just travelling locally.

This, very remote, part of California is very beautiful. Okay, it was dark, but I felt like I was up in the Sierra Nevada. It smelled like a cross between that, and perhaps the Russian River area, much further south. I felt at home here. It's good to be back in "my" state!

The last bit of US-199, before it joins US-101, you pass through a magnificent grove of redwoods. This is the original Redwood Highway. I was gasping as I went past these giant sentinals by the side of the road. It was as if these ancient living ancestors to the past, were silently welcoming me home to California.

I fortunately never hit any rain all the way. It had been raining in a couple of places, but had passed by the time I got there.

I eventually got to 101, and a couple or three miles after that, I was in Crescent City, in Del Norte County. I checked in, went to Denny's for late-night "dinner." Then I came back and wrote this!

Tomorrow, we head down the coast....and home.

Onwards!

Jasper, Alberta, to Bellingham, Washington, USA (Thursday, August 26th, 2010)

Day 34 - 511 miles

NOTE: Low bandwidth. Better photos to follow.

Today was a very difficult day driving. It was hands-down the worst weather I've ever driven in. I've said that before on this trip, and I don't like using superlatives, for fear of tempting fate. "Oh! You thought that was bad? You wanna see what I've really got in store for you?!!" Or something along those lines.

Suffice to say, it was both the worst rain, and the worst wind I've ever been in on a bike, probably a car too. It seemed to get worse and worse. There were also signs warning, "Winterlike Weather Conditions - Expect Snow and Ice." I didn't stop to take pictures, as the visibility was so poor, I was afraid I'd get run over by a truck.

Speaking of...there are a lot of trucks on the highways in Canada. Some of them are even bigger than the ones in the States. They seem to allow - perhaps only in rural areas, I don't know - trucks with THREE trailers. Also, you see many with two, but they are two BIG trailers, not the smaller ones you see in double rigs in the States. These guys are pulling full-size trailers behind them.

It is no fun passing out these bastards. Nor is it fun when they are coming the other way. The "blast" from them is phenomenal. It is much, much worse when the weather is windy and gusty. The trucks and rigs amplify the gusts. It's terrible. When you add torrential rain into the mix, your visibility goes right down, especially when the trucks are throwing up mountains of water behind them.

At one point, I was getting kind of scared, coming over a very high pass in British Columbia (BC). I'd read the warning signs mentioned earlier, and now, alongside the torrential rain, I was starting to see snow on the nearby ledges, only a few hundred feet above.

Today was also one of my biggest drives. Over 500 miles.

We finally got out of the mountains, and down onto the flat for the run into Vancouver. I would be turning off before then, to cross the border around Abbotsford/Sumas. I was headed for my friend Lurene's house, in Bellingham, in the good ol' US of A.

I took a few pictures at the border crossing (I'll post later), and my bike parked in "no man's land" raised the ire of the US border guard. However, he was a nice enough fellow, and chatted a bit, as he went through the normal procedures. He was a welcome change from the Gestapo going into Canada a few days previous. It was good to be back across the border, although I've left a bit of my heart in Canada, I think.

The weather had cleared up nicely, and it was a cautious but enjoyable ride along a fairly remote country road into the town of Bellingham.

I'll rest up here for a day or two, then it'll be the final push down the coast for home.

Onwards!

Calgary to Jasper, Alberta, via Icefields Parkway & Banff & Lake Louise (Wednesday, August 25th, 2010)

Day 33 - 258 miles

NOTE: Low bandwidth. Will add more photos later with better resolution.

I don't know how I ran out of time on this day, but I did. I was one of the best days so far, but I was a bit bummed at the end. I probably lingered too long in Banff and Lake Louise, but...who wouldn't! Again, you simply need A LOT more time. Another mental note to come back. You could spend WEEKS just in this area.

The day started with a pretty serious crisis at one of my clients, which delayed me an hour or two. I managed to get it sorted before I left Calgary, fortunately. I then had to pick up some "bathroom items" in a nearby drugstore. Plus, get gas. This all eats into your time, of course, but the map was telling me 5 hrs 37 mins, so I figured, "I have loads of time." NOT!

This was really an epic days drive, though. As you get out of Calgary and up into the Rockies, the scenery changes fairly rapidly, and dramatically. Banff is a fairly quick hop away.

You pay a Parks Canada fee to get into the general Banff/Jasper area. It allows you to traverse all the highways their-in. I was beginning to wish I'd bought a yearly pass, as I was racking up my Canadian national parks at this stage.

I had lunch in the magnificent Banff Springs Hotel, out on the terrace. The weather was perfect (about 78F) and I just soaked it in. I was cognizant of the time, but also probably over-stayed a bit. Hard not to in a place like this though.

Lake Louise is about another hour on from Banff. I stopped here for about an hour. Another place right out of a painting or even your imagination.

After I gassed up once again, and down a can of Rock Star, I was on the road, and a few kilometers (remember, we're in Canada) later, took the turn off for the fabled Icefields Parkway. This was something I'd been looking forward to, really since Cape Breton.

The Icefields Parkway, is STAGGERINGLY beautiful. I would say, it it one of those drives you have to do in your life. The scenery is truly breathtaking, and you at times will literally "gasp."

I didn't realize how much ice I would actually see. Walls of it. Hundreds...I don't know...thousands of feet thick in places.

As I got past what I thouhgt was about the halfway point, I realized it was getting a little late. It probably would have been okay, but the weather, which was supposed to be clear overnight, was beginning to change - for the worse. Fortunately, I got to see all the good bits before it really started to close in. This is a road I would like to drive again though.

I also think it might be better to drive it from the northwest - from Jasper down to Banff. A lot of the glaciers and icefields were on the left-hand side, and were better viewed coming from the northwest. Also, the sun would be better placed coming that way.

I met a friendly Canadian girl at one of the stops. She offered to take my picture - on my bike - which was welcome, as most of my pictures of either of me, or the bike, but rarely both. I told her I was camping and she recommended one, right as you come into Jasper. I figured it might be my last night camping, and I was kind of looking forward to it.

The weather really closed in suddenly, and obscured the sunset, and with it most of the remaining light. By then the scenery had changed and we were out of the icefields and on a more mountainous, wooded road to Jasper - still 40 or 50 miles away.

I got in behind an SUV that was really blasting along. I think they were trying to "lose" me most of the time, and I was probably freaking them out, but they got me into Jasper just as it got completely dark - and just as the skies opened to a downpour. I would not be camping tonight.

I saw a little hotel ahead, with a restaurant attached. No vacancies. Try further on in town, they assured me. Thanks...and I headed back out into the rain.

All the hotels and motels in Jasper were either full up, or wanted $200 for the night. Thus goot me kind of pissed off. If I underestimated one thing on this trip, it's the cost of motels. Long gone in the United States and Canada, are the days, or should I say nights, of $39.99 and $49.99, and the like - forget about it. Make that $139.99, and $149.99 - if you're lucky. And, if you can get in. I'd say I must be up to (at least) $3,000 in accommodation costs by now.

I finally got a place for the bargain of $179.99. With tax, it would be $200. The one behind the desk was a bit of an auld cow, and wasn't interested in my moaning and complaining.

I went out for something to eat, and as I pulled in to look at a place, a guy yelled at me, "C'mon in here! Great food, great fun!" Didn't sound too bad, so in I went.

I think the place was called "Downtown," and the staff here were really cool. Did I mention before how nice Canadians are? THEY ARE REALLY NICE. Cultured, civilized, and friendly. And good fun too. I had a good evening in this place, and it cheered me up, after my slight downer of an early evening.

A few other notes:

1) The bike is covered in bugs. Lots of wasps keep hovering around it when I stop. I guess they can sense all the dead ones.

2) The tread on the rear tire is getting kind of low. Almost bald. I may need a tire change somewhere.

3) The weather has been changeable. I've been wearing rain gear most days.

4) It is noticeably colder. I need a lot of warm clothes on, especially if I'm driving near sunset, which I try to avoid, but seems to happen more as I try and hammer out those extra miles.

I better go to bed. Weather is supposed to be bad tomorrow, and I've got to drive through the mountains of British Columbia.

Onwards!

The Train on the Plain (runs about a mile long)

Blasting across the Plains: Cloquet, MN, to Grand Forks, ND, to Estevan, Saskatchewan, to Calgary, Alberta (August 22nd, 23rd, and 24th)

Days 30, 31, and 32 - 1,156 miles

NOTE: Opening picture is of Road Warrior prepared for battle in the morning.

So much to write, so little time. I write this in Calgary, on Tuesday night, August 24th...well, really August 25th, because it's 2:30AM. If don't write it now though, I never will.

I've very tired. Kind of physically tired tonight too. I drove 572 miles today, my most ever in a day.

I blasted across the Plains really yesterday and today. The WIND was terrible, especially yesterday and this morning and afternoon. It died off a little this evening.

I don't have time to write an essay tonight, so bullet points will have to do:

• Wasps: Lots of them. They are now attracted to my bike because it has so many dead wasps on it. Read about wasps and pheromones.
• Canada Border Control: Very unpleasant people.
• Canadians in general: Very, very nice people (apart from their border control). Nice to back here again.
• Had a "Silence of the Lambs moment: Met these drag racer guys (from Winnipeg) in a restaurant in Grand Forks, North Dakota. After dinner, they were like, "Hey! Come and check out our bikes." I went to look out in the car park. Their RV and trailer were parked in a corner. There was NOBODY around, except me and these four guys. One of them opens the door to this trailer - you can't see a thing inside. I get my camera out to take a photo...I snap it...then I'm think, "Let's get the fuck outta here....this is kinda freaking me out." One of the guys is all, "Hey! Get in...take a closer look...check it out." I don't want to be a coward, but I also don't want to end up down a well, holding someone's puppy (see the movie). I had also left Don's knofe back at the motel. Anyway, I did step inside once the 2nd (side) door was opened - figured I might have some out. As it turned out, the guys were really cool, and they were just excited to show a fellow biker these INSANE machines they had. Afterwards, I did indeed feel like a bit of a wuss. Still, you DO never really know for sure.

I passed through a weird looking place that looked like it had just been hit by a tornado. The sky was starting to look that way to, getting close to the border.

• 
  
• I didn't plan it, but as I figured out the route towards the Canadian Rockies, I realized I would pass through Estevan, Saskatchewan. This is where my cousins Elizabeth and Catherine grew up. My mother had sadly visited my Auntie Betty here, when my Uncle Donald sadly died in 1988. I was in London (UK) at the time. I felt a tinge of sadness as I approached, as I knew those last few years in Estevan were tough for all of them. Still, they also had a lot of happy memories, and I felt happy that i could at least connect with the place. The wind was terrible on Monday, and the border crossing even more so, that I decided to drive no further, and spent the night at the - let's say "unusual" - Bus Depot Motel in Estevan. I just got some food and went to bed. It was a hard day in the rain and howling prairie wind.

(Those bullets are starting to look like mini-essays themselves.)

Monday was also a crap day, because my clients kept bugging me. I had to frequently stop to answer calls and emails. I spent the morning and early afternoon in the lobby of my motel, remoting into the various client sites to fix things and set things up. It sucks not being able to TRULY switch off. THAT was why I was the real reason I felt anxious a lot of the time when I was in Nova Scotia. At least now, I was within a few days of home if I really had to get back. So far, so good. It would be great to not have to worry about this stuff ALL the time though. Still, if I worked for a company as an employee, I probably wouldn't get five weeks "off" to go driving around North America.

However, I'm digressing...

Today, Tuesday, I was back in the saddle. I had to call my mother in Ireland to finalize flights for next month's visit with them - more driving, this time in Utah and Arizona! I also ha d to call a credit card company to "unblock" my card. Always seems to happen while travelling.

Because of that, I was on the road later than I wanted, 12 noon. However, I was DETERMINED to cross the Plains, and make Calgary today, come hell or high water.

The wind was hammering away at me all day. I went through towns with great names - places I had always seen on maps and liked the sound of - Moose Jaw, Medicine Hat.

I also don't get this thing about people not liking the Plains, when driving cross country. I love the Plains! I think they are beautiful, and have a wonderful "openness" about them. And they are not entirely flat. There are parts with gently undulating "bumps" and little hills. Sometimes there are trees, houses, little things on the horizon. Sometimes it is just really flat, but that has its own beauty too.

I hammered away at the road, while the wind and the passing trucks hammered away at me. The trucks are MUCH worse when it's windy and gust, and they really BELT you when you pass one by.

I got to Medicine Hat about 7:30PM. It was still another 297km to Calgary - about 200 miles. I thought about staying in Medicine Hat, but then decided against it. I hoped I wasn't making a foolish decision. If I could get to Calgary tonight, I knew the weather tomorrow in the mountains would still be good. It would not be good on Thursday, so I HAD TO get to Calgary tonight.

I did. At 10:45PM. Showered and it was 11:30PM. Food, and 12:30AM. Then back to blog. Now 3AM. "Macker Time," as Yvonne calls it!

Better get to bed. Another big day tomorrow.

Onwards!