decided to aim for International Falls for my border crossing just cuz I liked the name and thought there might be some cool falls to see. Nope.
Not to mention it smelled from the giant sawmill there and they charge a toll to go over a bridge about the size of the one near the CNC barn.
Even though it rained all day (the skies looked clearer if I had gone to Duluth and then up to Thunder Bay) it was worth it. Unfortunately my waterproof pants didn't perform quite as well as they did at the beginning of this trip. Luckily it wasn't all that cold.
Tomorrow, a little closer to home on more roads I've never been on before.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
North Dakota and wind
started the day at the gas station worrying that the wind might knock over my bike if I let it go. Everybody assured me that it's always like that around there so I knew I was in for a rough day ahead. Once I got on the bike I was pretty sure I could see Minnesota, 360 miles away.
Apparently the people on the east side of the state were a little smarter than the people on the west a couple generations ago. Either that or the guy that was planting all trees started in the east and died before he got to the west.
It's kinda cool to see that all the trees were intentionally planted as wind breaks for houses, crops, airports, roads.... In the east the trees are least 50 years old. In the west they're very small or not there at all.
The ride across the state was pretty nice other than the wind. Only saw one windmill though. Maybe there are only 300 people living in the north half of the state.
Grand Forks looked nice but I was there a little early to stop so I pressed on.
No buffalo sightings.
Apparently the people on the east side of the state were a little smarter than the people on the west a couple generations ago. Either that or the guy that was planting all trees started in the east and died before he got to the west.
It's kinda cool to see that all the trees were intentionally planted as wind breaks for houses, crops, airports, roads.... In the east the trees are least 50 years old. In the west they're very small or not there at all.
The ride across the state was pretty nice other than the wind. Only saw one windmill though. Maybe there are only 300 people living in the north half of the state.
Grand Forks looked nice but I was there a little early to stop so I pressed on.
No buffalo sightings.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
nother wind farm Judith Gap
This one was huge. Couldn't count em all. Musta been 200 of them with room for at least ten thousand more.
The cattle din't seem to mind them and the 17 people that live in this part of the state could probably be paid off pretty easily.
The blades are 126 ft long and the tower itself is 262 ft tall. Each turbine can power 300 homes.
They are privately and stae owned.
OK, Montana is growing on me. At least some parts
And I don't think it's because there seems to be a fair number of hotties, at least in certain areas. Not that I pay attention to that kind of thing seeing that I'm quite happy with my 'better than a wife'. I'm just sayin.
Dang this state is big. Something like 680 miles across. I jumped off the highway again after only about 50 miles to head north, then east, then north, then east....I think their compasses only worked in quadrants out here when they were building the roads.
There are white crosses staked in the ground every 100 yds or so it seems, to honor those killed in car accidents. Do you think it has anything to do with the 70mph speed limits on 2 lane roads? Nah, me neither.
Speaking of which, I squeezed out a quick 535 today, with only 50 of it on the highway. Rode through some really pretty stuff and some really ugly stuff. Temperature went up and down with the elevation. You can go from 5000 feet here to 3000 feet without really noticing except for the temp.
Decided to go through the old hometown of Glasgow. We lived there for a couple of years in the early 60's when my father was stationed there for the Air Force. I considered staying there, or at least taking a picture but I was on the other side of town before I even realized it and figured it was hardly worth turning around. No evidence of the air force base. I wonder why. I'm guessing they looked around one day and said 'what the hell are we doing here?" My father helped build a 6 hole golf course there that had to have greens made out of wetted down sand if that gives you any picture of what the place looks like (and how much my father likes golf)
Saw some deer today
Saw some antelope too.
They weren't playing.
Didn't hear any discouraging words but then again I hardly talked to anyone.
Sky had plenty of clouds all day, but they were the nice fluffy kind.
I'm just sayin.
Dang this state is big. Something like 680 miles across. I jumped off the highway again after only about 50 miles to head north, then east, then north, then east....I think their compasses only worked in quadrants out here when they were building the roads.
There are white crosses staked in the ground every 100 yds or so it seems, to honor those killed in car accidents. Do you think it has anything to do with the 70mph speed limits on 2 lane roads? Nah, me neither.
Speaking of which, I squeezed out a quick 535 today, with only 50 of it on the highway. Rode through some really pretty stuff and some really ugly stuff. Temperature went up and down with the elevation. You can go from 5000 feet here to 3000 feet without really noticing except for the temp.
Decided to go through the old hometown of Glasgow. We lived there for a couple of years in the early 60's when my father was stationed there for the Air Force. I considered staying there, or at least taking a picture but I was on the other side of town before I even realized it and figured it was hardly worth turning around. No evidence of the air force base. I wonder why. I'm guessing they looked around one day and said 'what the hell are we doing here?" My father helped build a 6 hole golf course there that had to have greens made out of wetted down sand if that gives you any picture of what the place looks like (and how much my father likes golf)
Saw some deer today
Saw some antelope too.
They weren't playing.
Didn't hear any discouraging words but then again I hardly talked to anyone.
Sky had plenty of clouds all day, but they were the nice fluffy kind.
I'm just sayin.
Missoula to Bozeman
A quick 215 miles on the Interstate to Bozeman after getting my bike back at 3:30. The miles go quickly when the speed limit is 75.
Went over something something pass at 6480 ft on a nice twisty highway. Truck speed limit on the way down was 25mph. Didn't see a sign for 'others' so I blasted down at a daring 30. Not really but it was pretty steep and twisty.
After a month away Bozeman is still a cool little college town with lots of groovy eating spots. Good location near the mtns and rivers too.
Went over something something pass at 6480 ft on a nice twisty highway. Truck speed limit on the way down was 25mph. Didn't see a sign for 'others' so I blasted down at a daring 30. Not really but it was pretty steep and twisty.
After a month away Bozeman is still a cool little college town with lots of groovy eating spots. Good location near the mtns and rivers too.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
plenty a nub left there
Actually coulda made it to Winnipeg after all. It was amazing, in the Yukon we could watch the tread go down daily but the roads got so much smoother as we got souther that I might've even been able to get all the way home but the bike'll be in the shop in the morning to get road tires back on it plus get the 24k mile servicing, albeit a couple k late. Probly a little safer this way too.
Almost sold it right there in the shop when I stopped by this afternoon. Some guy was looking at a 'sold' version of my bike sitting there on the floor. Tempting but that wouldn't complete my mission, plus I'm looking forward to those desolate miles thru Montana and North Dakota. Hasn't rained more than a half hour in the last month either. Couldn't possibly be lucky enough to finish the trip on good weather now could I?
Here, no telephone pole to obstruct your view
of the Rocky Mountains near Missoula.
You'll know what I'm talking about with the next entry.
cool telephone pole
made out of engineered lumber. Guess they don't have enough big trees out here??
i know I'll be gettin plenty of crud about posting those 2 pics but when you write your blog you can post any stupid pictures you want.
Flahead Lake, MT
stayed therelast night in the nice little village of Big Fork. Luckily there's a lot of money in the area so there's no giant statue of a fork made out of cement or anything. Funny how that stuff is never in the high dollar areas. hmmm.
Kootenai Falls and swinging bridge
got to enjoy this little gem of a rest stop with a 15 minute walk because i took the less traveled route from the north thru Idaho. Too many damn bikers on the road straight south to Montana.
very Northern Idaho
Idaho is still the only place I could see myself moving to. It's like a really big Vermont from what little I've seen.
Don't know about the poltics though. Kinda partial to VT politics.
ealy morning from my balcony
in Radium Hot Springs, BC
Cute little , soon to be overrun with condos and golf courses so make your real estate investment now, town a few hours from Jasper and the US border.
forgot about Dawson Creek departure
We were all packed up and ready to ride our last day of riding together when Dan noticed that I had fuel leaking from somewhere. Not too frightening right at that moment but once the exhaust system heated up it would've been a different story seeing that the fuel was running right onto it.
I'm pretty sure he told me just cuz he figured there'd be no way he could capture it on video once we were on he road. Either way I'll take it. Thanks again Dan. (woulda been a cool video though)
We determined it was a loose hose clamp so Dan headed next door to Canadian Tire while I started dismantling a bit. Of course it wasn't open yet so he went to WalMart (next door the other direction), which surprisingly didn't have any so he went back to C.T. I needed a pair of tile nippers so off to WalMart I go. Both of us get back and finish up the repair so we can finally get on the road.
Say what you want about WalMart (wait a minute, that's me that's always pissing about WalMart) but they have a lot of stuff in those stores. It might be crap but sometimes crap is all you need.
I'm pretty sure he told me just cuz he figured there'd be no way he could capture it on video once we were on he road. Either way I'll take it. Thanks again Dan. (woulda been a cool video though)
We determined it was a loose hose clamp so Dan headed next door to Canadian Tire while I started dismantling a bit. Of course it wasn't open yet so he went to WalMart (next door the other direction), which surprisingly didn't have any so he went back to C.T. I needed a pair of tile nippers so off to WalMart I go. Both of us get back and finish up the repair so we can finally get on the road.
Say what you want about WalMart (wait a minute, that's me that's always pissing about WalMart) but they have a lot of stuff in those stores. It might be crap but sometimes crap is all you need.
ultimate setup
heavy duty single wheeled trailer like I have for bicycle touring. Then you don't have a giant bike that falls over in the tricky stuff that you can't pick up by yourelf. Probly doesn't do 70 on the highway too well though. This bike was a 400cc.
Little Salmon Lake
this lake was at east 25 miles long. Never saw Big Salmon Lake.
There wasn't a single boater on the whole lake. They may have been eaten by the hordes of mosquitoes that give you about 3 minutes to stop, take a mouthful of snack, a slug of water and get your gear back on before they've let all their friends and relatives know there's some fresh meat in town.
Boundary,AK
mark wants a truck like this for some reason and I don't think the dog was dead but he din't seem to care when I told him it was about to rain.
Friday, June 20, 2008
finally made it back to civilization
Don't know if it's necessarily a good thing or not. With it comes WalMart and McDonalds n stuff and lots of traffic. Hard to believe the price of fuel is so high. There's a never ending stream of RV's heading North. My plan to solve the high trucking prices up here was to ask each RV to bring one more thing up with them. There would definitely be no need for trucks.
We're in Dawson Creek, one day away from Jasper, the end of the line. Today the scenery was pretty boring but yesterday from Watson Lake to Fort Nelson was gorgeous mountains, lakes, rivers, real trees again. I didn't realize how depressing it would be with nothing but little spindly spruce trees and some small Alders up North. Now we even have grass and fragrances again. Pretty weird how it changes so dramatically. The mosquitoes are still bad but nothing like they were.
We finished up the last of the dirt road riding when we pulled into Watson Lake unfortunately. Everyone liked riding on those roads much better than on the pavement. You couldn't go as fast but the miles went by more quickly because you had to concentrate much more intensely. Not only were there patches that could send you down quickly but some good size potholes that could really send you flying. And some of the roads were pretty narrow with not much room between the raod and the treeline. Definitely dangerous with the amount of wildlife we saw. Lots of black bears just walking across the road as well as moose munching on the grass and also bighorn sheep eating the salt left over from the winter. even a little porcupine that wasn't much interested in talking to me.
The top prize for the worst place we had to stay won hands down. The TND Motor Hotel in Ross River. Only choice and more than 200 miles from anywhere else, on a dirt road. The smells were incredible but even worse in the second room so we all stayed in the same room. I flipped over the futon and pulled out my new sleeping bag, which will now need a good washing. Amazingly enough none of us got sick from the food and as far as I can tell, none of us brought along any bugs to the next place.
the saving grace was the very pretty college student working there for the summer. I'm still not sure she'll last but I have to applaud her effort. She and her friend didn't want to work in Dawson City because it's such a tourist trap. they wanted some place real. Well, they got real. the few locals there were that we saw just sat on their trailer porch drinking beer and throwing the cans in the yard. when I asked the local store owner what people did for work and he laughed and said ' government', meaning welfare. It was quite a place and we'll all be happy to never go back there, or even stop for gas if we happen to pass that way again.
The only thing that could have made it better would've been if Dug and Brian were there too. Not that I missed them or anything. I just wish they cou'd've been as disgusted as we were. Plus it would've been fun watching Brian tell yet another girl how he did an Ironman and that he had a goal of getting his picture with "someone" every day of his trip. Funny how he never used that line on any guys.
All of the knobbies on our tires are getting down to nothing. Dan still has to make it to Edmonton. Tomorrow plus 4 hours.
Mark doesn't really know how much farther he needs to go cuz he's meeting his family tomorrow and I need to go 2 days past Jasper down to Missoula because the Canadian BMW dealers are jerks and oh yeah, the dirt road I was planning on taking today was closed, which is why I'm heading south to Montana. Should be ok with the slicks as long as it doesn't rain. The way i see it no knobbies just meeans more rubber touching the road.
I'll let you know how it's going as I get souther.
We're in Dawson Creek, one day away from Jasper, the end of the line. Today the scenery was pretty boring but yesterday from Watson Lake to Fort Nelson was gorgeous mountains, lakes, rivers, real trees again. I didn't realize how depressing it would be with nothing but little spindly spruce trees and some small Alders up North. Now we even have grass and fragrances again. Pretty weird how it changes so dramatically. The mosquitoes are still bad but nothing like they were.
We finished up the last of the dirt road riding when we pulled into Watson Lake unfortunately. Everyone liked riding on those roads much better than on the pavement. You couldn't go as fast but the miles went by more quickly because you had to concentrate much more intensely. Not only were there patches that could send you down quickly but some good size potholes that could really send you flying. And some of the roads were pretty narrow with not much room between the raod and the treeline. Definitely dangerous with the amount of wildlife we saw. Lots of black bears just walking across the road as well as moose munching on the grass and also bighorn sheep eating the salt left over from the winter. even a little porcupine that wasn't much interested in talking to me.
The top prize for the worst place we had to stay won hands down. The TND Motor Hotel in Ross River. Only choice and more than 200 miles from anywhere else, on a dirt road. The smells were incredible but even worse in the second room so we all stayed in the same room. I flipped over the futon and pulled out my new sleeping bag, which will now need a good washing. Amazingly enough none of us got sick from the food and as far as I can tell, none of us brought along any bugs to the next place.
the saving grace was the very pretty college student working there for the summer. I'm still not sure she'll last but I have to applaud her effort. She and her friend didn't want to work in Dawson City because it's such a tourist trap. they wanted some place real. Well, they got real. the few locals there were that we saw just sat on their trailer porch drinking beer and throwing the cans in the yard. when I asked the local store owner what people did for work and he laughed and said ' government', meaning welfare. It was quite a place and we'll all be happy to never go back there, or even stop for gas if we happen to pass that way again.
The only thing that could have made it better would've been if Dug and Brian were there too. Not that I missed them or anything. I just wish they cou'd've been as disgusted as we were. Plus it would've been fun watching Brian tell yet another girl how he did an Ironman and that he had a goal of getting his picture with "someone" every day of his trip. Funny how he never used that line on any guys.
All of the knobbies on our tires are getting down to nothing. Dan still has to make it to Edmonton. Tomorrow plus 4 hours.
Mark doesn't really know how much farther he needs to go cuz he's meeting his family tomorrow and I need to go 2 days past Jasper down to Missoula because the Canadian BMW dealers are jerks and oh yeah, the dirt road I was planning on taking today was closed, which is why I'm heading south to Montana. Should be ok with the slicks as long as it doesn't rain. The way i see it no knobbies just meeans more rubber touching the road.
I'll let you know how it's going as I get souther.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Recap #3
Paul - Wishing he had learned to read in school.. there are some nice pictures though! He's prepared for a moose attack with helmet on..
Brutha's livin large on the Dalton.
Outside of Cafe..
5 of us relaxing and chowing down at the counter in the Home Style Cooking Cafe on Denal hwy.
Mark and Dan sharing a moment of tranquility..
The group shooting a Cingular commercial at the Atigun pass (on the Dalton)..
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