So Far I've Gone…

Today I went for a ride out west of Ottawa.  I had arranged to meet Mike at the Tim Horton’s in Perth, but after that I had no idea where we would end up. 

When I got there at 9:00, he was already there with a couple of other riders having coffee, and after we sat and chatted for a bit, it was time to head out.  I filled up the tank on the ST while everyone else was getting ready, and off we went.  We took it easy, winding through the farmland north of Perth, then crossing over highway 7 and into the “Highlands”.  The leader took us on some pretty un-travelled roads, but I don’t think there were any places with really bad pavement.  (None that I remember anyways.)

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We left Sudbury this morning just after a light rain.  The roads were a little wet and our visors misted up, but the temperature was bearable at 9 degrees Celsius.  Only the tips of our fingers froze a little but it warmed up to 12 degrees Celsisus and stayed steady at that temperature for quite awhile.  I think the fact that we were so close to home kept us going, despite the chilly temperature.

Our goal was home as quickly as possible, so our only stops were for gas in North Bay and gas and  lunch in Cobden.  The kilometers just seemed to fly by but we also got to enjoy the beautiful fall colours.  The Ottawa Valley must have gotten more frost then Northern Ontario, because the fall colours were more prevalent.

Before we knew it we were at our March Road exit and driving that last stretch to home.  We got behind a slow-poke driver (possibly from Oregon?), but maybe that prevented us from getting a speeding ticket from the cop at the Carp Road intersection.  That would have been great – 13,000 KM under our belts and a speeding ticket within 5 KM of home.

And then we were home.  Ahhhh . . . what more can I say!  We had an amazing trip but home is where our hearts are, for sure.  Now, we need to start planning for next year . . .

Today, started out with our now customary first 100 KM in freezing temperatures.  We stopped for a warm up at Robin’s Donuts in White River – the birthplace of “Winnie the Pooh.”  We were too cold to do the photo with the Pooh statue, though, and it was overrun with tourists already anyway.

Once the sun had some strength, we started to enjoy the Northern Ontario roads again.  Its still boggles our mind, though, that we can be driving for three days in Ontario and still only be in Northern Ontario.

We drove through Lake Superior Provincial Park.  What a beautiful area!  The glimpses of Lake Superior and its rugged beaches are spectacular.  We have officially put Lake Superior Provincial Park on our return to explore list.

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Well, the roads in through Northern Ontario are beautiful . . . when they are not under construction.  There is a lot to see and nice, gentle curves and hills to keep us alert and slightly challenged.  Northern Ontario is definitely the “Land of Lakes.”

Northern Ontario is also the “Land of Characters,” to put it nicely.  At construction section on Highway 17 before Thunder Bay, I had a truck containing three “yahoos” pass me in the no-pass construction zone and split Jeremy and I up.  They had to stop at the flagman just like Jeremy and I, so passing me did not get them any further ahead.  While we waited at the stop, the three “yahoos” decided to get out of their truck and stretch.  The driver went in front of his truck and then Jeremy, over the intercom, told me he was actually peeing on his own front bumper!  My Dad would be appalled that someone would defile their brand new Dodge Ram truck like that!  Anyway, I stayed to the left of the pee puddle when we started up again.  We thought we would see these types of characters down South – not, so.  Northern Ontario is where to see them!

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We were a little late getting going this morning.  We were still worn out from our unexpected extended ride from yesterday.

Once we got going this morning, we discovered Manitoba was pretty flat but the trees hide it much better than Saskatchewan.  Manitoba also has just as many bugs as Saskatchewan, if not more.  I had to keep cleaning my visor every stop, but it got coated almost immediately after I started riding again.

We by-passed Winnipeg via Highway 100 and then navigated back onto the Trans Canada highway.  Before we knew it, we had crossed into Ontario and Highway 1 became Highway 17.

We stopped in Kenora, Ontario for lunch and then navigated back onto Highway 17 only to be bogged down by CONSTRUCTION!  Now, we have seen a lot of construction on our trip . . . and I mean a lot of construction . . . but it has not been worth mentioning until now.  What a mess between Kenora and Dryden.  At one point, we sat for 15 minutes in the heat and the bugs and then we still had four more stop points after that, huge dips and bumps, uneven pavement and even two stretches of gravel!  We had wanted to get a little farther than Dryden today, but after the construction and our troubles with accommodations we decided Dryden was our best bet for the night.  And, lucky us, we got the very last room at the Holiday Inn Express.  It has the Dryden city bear seal of approval . . . apparently, they frequent the dumpsters at the back of the hotel.  So far, we have not seen them, though.

Oh, and we lost the MicroSD adapter for the laptop, so no more pictures until we get home…

It was a chilly start to the day but not as chilly as yesterday.  Packing up the bike this morning, I found a little travelling companion on my front grill (a grasshopper).  I am not sure where he joined our ride but he is in it for the long haul now.

Much to our surprise, driving through Saskatchewan on the Trans Canada is not all that flat!  We kept expecting to see this incredible Prairie flatness that everyone talks about,  but it just did not materialize.

We stopped in Swift Current for a rest and a quick coffee.  I found another little travel companion on my bike that must have hitched a ride somewhere after Medicine Hat (a little yellow moth that had formed a perfect seal stretched across my right turn signal light).  The bugs are just coating our bikes, luggage, jackets, and visors as we ride.

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After a day of rest and relaxation with Jeremy’s Mom in Invermere (thank you again Judy for such a good visit and all those home-cooked meals!), we were ready to hit the road again.  Mother Nature must have confused the first day of Fall with the first day of winter, though.  There was frost on our bikes this morning as we were loading them up.

We definitely had our coldest ride ever after we said goodbye to Jeremy’s Mom and headed to Fernie, British Columbia.  The thermometer on our bikes said 2 degrees Celsius.  For every 10 KM/H on a motorcycle, it feels one degree cooler.  We were going 100 KM/H, so it felt like -8 degrees Celsius.  And, as we drove, it was just not getting any warmer.  In fact, it dipped to zero degrees a couple of times when we drove through the shade of the trees and the mountains.  After the first 120 KM, we had to stop in Fort Steele to try and warm up.  We could hardly get our gloves and helmets off because our hands were so cold.  And then the pain as they started to warm up!  We grabbed a coffee and a snack in the little general store and wondered around the souvenir section trying to warm up.  I could not stop shivering and then I came across the store cat, Bella, sleeping in her little bed and I petted her for awhile.  I felt better afterward – I think it just distracted me from thinking about how cold I was.

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We started off this morning in beautiful weather for riding yet again.  On the cool side is always better for us.  We look at our KMs less when we are not battling the heat.

Our riding today took us through the “green” part of the “Evergreen State” of Washington.  No more desert for us.  What a relief!  Before we knew it we were in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho . . . or were we in British Columbia and we just crossed the border illegally?  Northern Idaho is definitely very similar in landscape to Jeremy’s home province of British Columbia.  We knew we were getting close to Canada, for sure. 

We crossed the border at Kingsgate, British Columbia.  The Canadian border crossing agents were very nice to us, for a change, but we still had to pull over, pay a little bit of duty, and open up our luggage on our bikes for them to take a peek.  You can never be too careful with motorcyclists, I guess . . . we have a bad reputation, you know.

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Well, we did it.  We actually did a 700 KM day today.  Our bodies are complaining right now, but we covered a lot of ground today and we are within a couple of hours of the Canadian border.  We will be crossing tomorrow only a day later than we told American customs.  Hopefully, they have not sent out a search party for us already.

Our day began with a farewell to the ocean at Lincoln City.  We took one more walk out t0 the surf and took a few more pictures.  Time to start heading North-East now.

After gassing up in Lincoln City, before we knew it we were in Oregon lake and cottage country.  The trees grew over the road and everything was lush and green.  We have to say one thing about drivers from Oregon . . . they are very cautious.  If the speed limit is 50 MPH, they will go 45 MPH, maybe even 40 MPH just to be on the safe side.  We can not really complain about that, though.  It is a beautiful state with very friendly, warm people.

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Our first stop today, was the giant redwoods grove just past Orick, California.  We took photos of these sleeping giants, but these trees really need to be seen in person to really appreciate their grandeur.

After the giant redwoods, we continued on Highway 101 into Oregon.  Oregon is as picturesque as California.  As soon as we crossed the border into Oregon, gas went down 50 cents too.  Another very good reason to visit the Oregon coast!

The small, sea towns we drove through in Oregon were quaint and only slightly touristy.  The bridges we crossed today through some of these small towns were truely ironwork sculputures – they could do a movie on “The Bridges of the Oregon Counties.”

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