Home Sweet Home

And she's still smiling!! Just made it home, a long hot ride with lots of construction. Total mileage for trip is 11,400 kms. Thanks to everbody for tuning in, we had a blast and hope you enjoyed our pics and comments. I will post more shots later too. Its good to be home!

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Mr President

Rode to Custer, ND today, temps were pushing 93 degrees. Got to our hotel, had a shower and went for a ride. Did Mount Rushmore and even better the Needles Highway. 60 Miles of paved bliss all told. Awesome way to end the day and really end the trip. The long haul home starts in the morning, we are slabbing it home to see if we can get home a day early.(take note kids!) I lost the charger to the computer, might be the last entry.

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Holy Awesome road Batman!

Look close and see how many times you see the road. This is the Chief Joseph Highway that climbs up to almost ten thousand feet. It was the last hour of our ride to Cody Wyoming today. What a gorgeous ride even if it rained off an on.

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Yellowstone Canyon

This canyon was so far down it was kinda scary looking over the edge.

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Nice Rack

Yellowstone Park was a beautiful area with lots of wildlife and grand vistas and great roads. One of the best days today.

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Sunset

Yesterday we rode south to Ennis, just outside Yellowstone Park. The evening sky was brilliant, the colours amazing. It was a hot one yesterday and looks like we won't be complaining about the weather now, lots of sun ahead.

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Flo's Cafe

Don't ask me why but somehow Caroline had this spot marked on her todo list. I think it had something to do with the tshirt that they had. She didnt know where it was but just caught the sign for the place as we wizzed by. We were looking for a place to eat and it was in Grand Coulee, turns out to be an awesome local spot that had a great breakfast! It was perfect! Oh, the tshirts? They say "Flo's Cafe, 10,000 Flies can't be Wrong"

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WOW

Pictures cannot show the size and power of the Grand Coulee Dam. We are on our way to Columbia Falls Montana today. Beautiful weather and roads again! Life is good. And yes Bill, the old girl is holding up well.

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Winthrop

Not much to do in Winthrop, WA. What can I say!

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In the Cascades

It was very cool but awesome scenery and roads as we drove through the Cascade National Park. Still lots of snow at the side of the road.

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Back to the USA

Waiting for the ferry to Anacortes, and the awesome Washington roads. Little sad though, we are on our way hpme.;(

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Carberry Gardens B&B

For Victoria Caroline picked a place with an ocean view. They didnt mention that because of recent tsunami threats there were modifications made to the joint! At least the breakfast made up for it!
Tonight we went to a little Italian restaurant to have a belated anniversary dinner. It was a great meal and more than made up for the two dinners and one lunch we squeezed out of a rotisserie chicken from the Ucluelet co-op grocery

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Taxi!

We travelled around the harbour in these bathtub sized water taxis. It was a great way to check things out and see the city from the water

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Victoria Wharf

Actually felt like touists today! Did the sightseeing thing around Victoria's Inner harbour. These floating homes are moored to the dock as a floating village. There are a few for sale, they range 300 to 400 thousand. A great place to walk aound and we had Barb's famous fish and chips. Notice the sunshine too! What a nice change.

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Fireworks in the harbour

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Victoria Harbour

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Canada Day, Victoria

This is the main spot in Victoria as we wait for the fireworks. It is crrraaazzzzyyyyy down here. Thousands of kids, cops taking their booze, a great place to people watch! This is a happening place for sure. Fireworks in 45 minutes.

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HAPPY CANADA DAY

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday! Just getting ready to leave for Victoria, of course it is pouring rain! This photo shows Chesterman Beach, a popular surfing spot near Tofino. It also shows that we did in fact have some sunshine!

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Ucluelet

The Lighthouse Trail around the tip of Ucluelet was only 3kms but was packed with rugged scenery and ocean vistas that were around every turn. This is definitely a beautiful part of our country. We also went up to Tofino, a very touristy but beautiful town, travelling through the Pacific Rim Reserve to get there. Lovely beaches with crashing surf, old growth forest and lots of hiking trails. A great day that actually finished with sunshine after a wet and dreary start. Tomorrow we leave for Victoria, another spot to look forward to. Happy Canada Day everyone, we have a beautiful country that we should be very proud of.

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Snug Harbour B&B

Tonight we are staying at possibly the nicest spot yet. We are in the Lighthouse Room, top of the house that overlooks the ocean. Just outside our room is pair of bald eagles, on the shore below there are otters laying on the rocks. Our host bakes goodies twice a day, we are just having blueberry crumble for dessert. Tomorrow we are going to ride up to Tofino, through the Pacific Rim park, and it will be the most westerly point of our trip.

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Old Forest Growth

On the way to Ucluelet there is McMillan Provincial Park. There are old growth Douglas Firs here that are a thousand years old. They are massive in size, both girth and height. Walking the trail around the park makes one realize the passage of time is hard to fathom. The road to Uclulet is 135 kms of up and down, twisting and turning asphalt that made for another great day of riding. We started off in rain this morning and the sun broke just as we stepped off the ferry. Couldn't ask for much more!

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A Special Night

For our last night in Abbottsford Dan went all out and invited Mehgan over for a BBQ. A great night was had by all!

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That was an expensive oil change!

we figured it would be easier to get a new bike rather than change the oil! Our bike has performed flawlessly over the last week and a half. It has carried a heck of a load, run in some hot weather, some rainy weather and lots of dull weather and never missed a beat. The least we could do was change the oil. The crew at Western Powersports fit us in, gave it a onceover and even washed it up. Just like new again. Out for dinner tonight with our hosts Dan and Debbie, and off early tomorrow to Vancouver Island and Ucluelet. We will be sad to move on, it has been a great time but also excited to see what is next!

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Stanley Park

A beautiful park in downtown Vancouver, Stanley Park boasts some huge redwood trees and lush forest growth. This shot gives an idea of the size of some of the trees.

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Hanging Out

We made it to the outskirts of Vancouver on Sunday night and we are staying with our friends Dan and Debbie. We won't be able to ride any further now because they are feeding us far to good! Today we toured downtown to Stanley Park, Coal Harbour and the Vancouver Aquarium. Riding downtown was quite the experience after 11 days of open roads and mountain passes. Can you say lots of traffic and crazy drivers. Fortunately for us a local biker escorted us right to Stanley Park. He didn't tell us where to park though and that cost us a nice little parking ticket. 5500 kms on the clock now, time to do some maintenance tomorrow.

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The Real Straw House

The Ravencourt B&B is a eco friendly home built from straw bales in a post and beam structure. It was a lovely home on a beautiful property and was certainly a hidden gem for us.

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The Straw House

When we arrived at Ravencourt B&B this isnt quite what we expected! Luckily it didn't rain for a change and even though it was a bit cool we had a great night!

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Radium Hot Springs

Coming into Radium Hot Springs the mountain splits and the road threads through the gap. This part of the ride went over the continental divide, with rushing rivers full of spring melt crashing along beside. Had to continually be on the lookout for deer today, you just would never know where they would appear.

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Ferry Ride

This is the Kootenay Lake ferry. We have just finished the top rated motorcycle road in BC. 87 KMS of smooth twisting fresh pavement that follows up the lake. We even had to stop for a brown bear cub in the middle of the road. It was 4 degrees when we left Banff this morning, with several rain showers thrown in to make the ride intetesting. It was nice to see the sun for the best roads we road in the afternoon. We finally found our B&B 6 kilometres off the main road in the boonies. It is a house made from straw bales, really cool and we have had a great evening with our hosts and their wwoofers. That's not a spelling mistake, look it up and see what it means.

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In a pinch

While walking the trail today it started to rain (of course) and i had to use the best thing we had to keep me dry. Next time i must remember my foldaway Tilley.

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Johnson Canyon

It was a long hard walk to the top of Johnson Canyon today but well worth the effort. A catwalk attached to the side of the canyon made it a breathtaking 4 mile hike.Of course it wad cold and raining but we were glad we did it. There is a lot more to this area than Lake Louise and the usual spots. The high today was 6 degrees!

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And then it got BAD

That's right, hail. All the way home on the Bow Valley Parkway i could see black cloud behind us. 5 miles from home the wind picked up and then the hail started. We made it home and got inside to warm up just as the power went out. That was 4 30 and it has just come back on at nine. Can you imagine a tourist town like banff with no restaurants open! Caroline and i went to the grocery store which was a zoo and picked up some munchies and made the best of it! The adventure just gets better every day.

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Moraine Lake

Not far from Lake Louise is Moraine Lake, a spot we actually liked better. It is higher up the same mountain, but is less touristy and surrounded by Valley of Ten Peaks. You can also climb up to get a nice view of the lake. It was a hidden gem and with the sun shining we started to warm up.

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But then it got better

Finally the sun decided to come out and we were able to shed some clothes. That felt good and made walking less a chore. A nice couple from Iowa took this shot after we did the same for them. Not one of the three millon Asian tourists were interested. The bus pulls up, they file out, they snap 11 million shots with the pocket digital, they get back on the bus and away they go. Lord help you if three buses pull up at once. Its quite comical really!

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The Unknown Tourist

Well, not really, we all know who it really is. She was just trying to keep the rain off her pointed little head. That's how our day started, a wet run up to lake louise and then a very damp walk around the lake. Still a beautiful place.

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Bow Falls, Banff

Since there was 800 tourists at this spot we found someone willing to snap our picture. We went to these falls while waiting to book into the b&b. Several busloads came and went during the time we were there. These rapids were very fast because the spring melt is actually just begining. The local tarbender at the irish pub where we had supper said that flooding is still a possability. I wanted to find out more but we got kicked out because Caroline drank too much and started getting mouthy. Oh well, we will head to Lake Louise tomorrow. By the way, we were definitely spoiled in Drummheller at our b&b, this one is not near the same.

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We're here

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Almost there!

Left the "Drum" and headed to the rockies. Even from here they are looking good.

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The Rockies

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Hoo Doo

These strange rock formations are a result of erosion of the Coulles, where all the dirt around a rock gets washed away over time, leaving the rock on top. Oh, and who is that behind those Foster Grants!

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The big hike

This picture was taken shortly before i called in the medivac helicopter to airlift Caroline who was out of breath from hiking up the Coulles in the background. This is a view of Horse Thief Canyon, an area very similar to the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately the pilots wouldn't take Visa so i had to carry her out!

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Fairies

Looking a little battle weary, the feejer sits on the Bleriot ferry crossing the Red Deer River. The ferry captain had multiple ear and nose jewellry so Caroline nicknamed him Pearce! The river was 9 feet above normal and flowing like a runaway train. Even though it was a 2 minute ride it was pretty entertaining. Lots of scenery in Drumheller, this place is way better than we thought it would be.

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Now thats a dinosaur!

Drumheller is the dino capital of the world. Lots of cool stuff around to see and do. Just got into our bed and breakfast, it is just awesome. A beautiful old home with real english hosts. Best part was a hot cup of tea for Caroline. Looking forward to tomorrow when we do the tourist thing. Now i have to go find some beer!!!

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Get me off this bridge!

Back into Canada today, that feels good! Crossed at Wild Horse, a one man show in the middle of nowhere. Headed to Medicine Hat and then on to Drumheller. It was quite chilly and some rain thrown in for good measure! This suspension bridge used to be wood and was used by miners to cross the river to the mineshafts.

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End of day 3

Arrived in Havre, montana about 5 oclock today with 901.9 kms on the clock. A day with sun, wind, heavy rain and lots of bugs. Went through parts of north dakota that still has serious flooding. No crops this year for lots of farmers. We ended up at this hotel which has a 70's decor but is really clean and comfy. Lots of character! Back into Canada tomorrow!

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Breakfast

Good morning everyone! Having breakfast at the cornerstone cafe, the geographica
Center of north america! And we survived the motel! Anothet great day ahead!

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Happy Anniversary!

What a great present for Caroline! 985 kms on the road through
rain, 43 degree weather in Duluth, and fleabag motel as the only
place left in Devils Lake, North Dakota. What more could a girl ask for! Oh, don't let me forget the romatic dinner at the all you
can eat buffet at the Pizza Ranch!

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And we are off!

So its 8 oclock and we are just relaxing after dinner at Hudsons Grill. It is a 50's style diner with some great food. We went 890 kms today,
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New Booties for FJR

Checking out the lake