Oceanside – Key West – Fairbanks – Oceanside: Completed.

Yesterday I drove the I5 down from San Francisco.  The less said about the drive, the better. It was easily the worst day of driving.  But that was almost assured right from the start.  Though I still rank Floridians as the nation’s worst drivers, Californians’ are the least civil.

81 days elapsed, 69 days of actual driving, 17,203 miles, 22 states, 3 provinces and 1 territory.

The drive was awesome.  Words or pictures can’t describe the various experiences.  “America the Beautiful” really should be our national anthem.

Didn’t become a member of the “I Dropped My Bike” community.

The GoldWing performed beautifully. Small compartment door broken by my foot: Rear part of the front fender slightly cracked by gravel. (Worth mentioning; a BMW GS1200, supposedly built for rough roads, broke a fork on the Alaskan Highway gravel. Just because the GW is prettier doesn’t mean she isn’t tougher too.)

My plan to go east to Nova Scotia is delayed until September/October due to three factors: 1) Fall is a much better time to see the Northeast; 2) Reserving lodging/camping spots in the summer would be more difficult, and 3) Dealing with a multitude of noisy tourists would degrade the overall experience.  I think the drive down from Washington confirmed the second factor.

My walk across Scotland begins July 7th.  I’m not sure what the wifi situation will be there, but it was available in the most outback of Canada’s outback.

Tuesday, May 24th.

Crooked River Canyon is impressive, with good historical signs.

Collier Logging Museum is worth a stop.  Still a work in progress, but is very peaceful and informative.  More than logging.

Played tag with three rebuilt roadster convertibles.  We shared the pain of occasional rain squalls.  They said the Yosemite pass was closed due to snow.  Road was busy!  Clearly, summer vacations have begun.

Got hit by a bug squarely in the glass lens with force!  Thought it might have cracked.  Stopped to clean it off and a CHP officer came by.  Impressed with my trip.

Drove through Weed, CA.  “I [heart] Weed” t-shirts for sale.

This shall probably be my last story-telling post of this Adventure.  The rest of the ride covers ground already traveled.  A recap entry on Friday is likely.

Crooked River Canyon. 300 feet. Three impressive bridges.

Mountains in the background are nice.

This old bridge is still sound. Just too narrow. So they built a new one.

I like the fact that Oregon tore down the billboards. Southeastern states should consider this.

Collier Logging Museum. Free. Really great place. Wood carved boots, but with real laces.

A log would go under the axle and the hoist would lift the log’s leading edge so it could be dragged easily.

Portable wine container.

This Mack truck model had a longer production run than the Model T.

Wearing a Tilley hat.

This dude crawled up into my rear wheel well.

Oregon/California border. The entire display was once very fancy, but has fallen into disrepair.

Mt Shasta. I never saw the top.

Monday, May 23rd.  Yakima has many wineries.  Wow.  Stopped at only two.  OwenRoe has two; one here and another in Oregon.  The tasting room here is just their barrel room.  Nothing fancy.  Wine is okay.  Trevori makes sparkling wine.  Nice place.  Very good.  Says they sell at Costco and Trader Joe.  I’ll have to buy some.

Crossed the Columbia River twice today.  I had to do a zigzag route much of the way.  Wind towers spot the landscape.  I don’t mind them.  Pretty.  Mt. Rainer was in the distance for most of the day, through clouds.  The countryside kept switching from intense farming to wilderness.  Cattle certainly need a lot of hay.  Wind was fierce, but not dangerous.  Tiring.  Towns might have some history, but I didn’t see many markers.  A lot of driving down into a canyon, then back up.  Construction.  Loose gravel!  Saw rain, so stopped early.

Columbia River

Interesting fence

Sunday, May 22nd. From Cache Creek to wine country I had to drive through a mountain pass that warned of serious weather fluctuations.  Bone-chilling cold under threatening clouds was the result.  Fortunately, no rain.

Wine country is a long, thin valley containing a string of lakes and cliff walls.  Very impressive views. The vineyards are spread out on the edges and narrow slopes.  Lots of wineries.  After getting recommendations from the wine tourist center, the first non-stop was at a winery with a short, steep, downward sloping entranceway with a closed gate at the bottom.  I could see that the idea was to stop on the slope and push a button for entry.  But what if no one answered?  On a motorcycle, the concept of backing out up the slope was a nonstarter.  So I skipped it.

Second was Painted Rock.  Really lush.  Lots of money went into the facilities.  The wine maker was full of himself.  Wine was good/bad, but the presentation was off-putting.

Third stop was a winner.  Blasted Church.  Named after a true event when miners, to disassemble a church, used explosives to “loosen the nails”.  It worked.  I actually accidentally saw the church.  The wine is drinkable.  The bottle artwork is great.  The names are cool.  One wine, “Big Bang Theory”, caught the eye of the Bare Naked Ladies group, who autographed some bottles on display.  The place is definitely fun.

Other wineries were really pretty, though I didn’t try much more wine.  Overall, the area is outstanding.  I’d love to go back.

Crossing back into the USA was a non-event.  Visited some heritage sites and the Grand Coulee area.  Interesting and pretty.  Continuing south the wind picked up.  The gusts began to make it dangerous.  Shortened my trip, ending it in Ephrata.

The vineyard is actually several hundred feet above and away from the lake.

View from Blasted Church Winery.

True Canadian wine picture, with snow-capped mountains.

Saturday, May 21st.  430 miles.  Route 16 holds no excitement.  Route 97 south towards Vancouver has some potentially great valley views.  It is huge, side to side.   A little Sound of Music quality with a touch of How Green Was My Valley.  I took a few pictures,  but the cloudy conditions ruin the views.  Rained some too.

I’m definitely in Cowboy Country.  Lots of horses (a few donkeys and three llamas too).  My hotel would, in the big city, be the kind that charged rooms by the hour.  Here I guess it’s a place for cowboys to stay.  But it’s cheap and so far quiet.

Last full day in Canada.  I want to say thanks and goodby to terrific views, great people, and cheap campsites.  I further want to just say goodby to loose gravel, dust, a ridiculously high bug-to-windshield ratio, expensive hotels, kilometers, and the ever-present chip reader.  The last item, I fear, will soon be a thing in the States.  Be very afraid.

Going to drive through Canada wine country tomorrow.  Look, but not taste.  Maybe one place.  Certainly ice wine if they offer it.

Drove down to the lake. No swans.

This does not come close to what it really looks like.

Besides the cowboy, note that A&W is very popular.   However, the far most popular outlet is Subway.  If the community’s population can staff it, there is a Subway.

Friday, May 20th.  Cold!!  I planned for cold, but I didn’t plan on my age making cold weather more uncomfortable.  Departed at 7:30, the earliest start time of the trip.  Partially due to the bike’s heated seat.

Had breakfast at a heliskiing resort.  Can’t imagine what staying there would cost.  The young Paris-born waitress talked to me throughout the meal.  Her dreams come true!  The world is controlled by a hidden organization. Conspiracies are in themselves conspiracies.  Spoke in a whisper.  I had the image of Twin Peaks in my head.  I was very relieved when the bike started up.

Route 37 becomes absolutely gorgeous.  Seriously, it makes the Blue Ridge Parkway look pedestrian.  Trees, sweet smelling flowers, rivers, lakes, mountains, snow, and no traffic.  Nine vehicles went past in the first 60 miles.  And three more bears.

Took a beautiful detour 40 miles down 37A to a small town called Stewart.  Past Stewart I reentered Alaska, in the little town of Hyder.  No bank, gas station, police, fire department, or US customs office.  It does have a Post Office. In fact it’s called Hyder rather that it’s desired name of Portland because the USPS rejected that name: “too many towns in the US are called Portland.”  This is the only town in the lower part of Alaska accessible by road, and it was only built in the 70s.  Now there are twice weekly seaplane flights to deliver the mail.  They do have two bars where it’s popular to be “Hyderized”.  Drink a shot of 151 proof whiskey.  I resisted the urge.

It also has a National Forest, managed oddly enough by the Department of Agriculture.  It has a viewing platform where one can supposedly see black and brown bears.  A drive up a gravel road is required.  I was tired of gravel roads, so I gave it a pass.

Made it to the end of Route 37 and headed east on 16.  Warm and sunny.  In Hazelton I booked a room in the farther town of Burns Lake, 130 miles east.  Suddenly the temp dropped and clouds formed.  The temp went from 73 to 45, with rain!!  Not a fun ride.  But I made it.  Stopped in Houston long enough to take a picture of the world’s largest fly fishing rod.

I had breakfast here. Extremely fancy place. Very weird waitress. 

Plates are from Quebec.

Thursday, May 19th.  Completed my first 500 mile day.  I didn’t wait for the museum to open.  I think I’m like the horse smelling the barn.  Also, as I’m retracing my steps, I assume any good pictures have already been took.

(By the way, if you come up this way in a four wheeled vehicle, you must bring a bicycle.  Every community has bike trails.  Amazing.  I guess they’re also snowmobile trails.)

Met a gentleman on a BMW GS1200, the kind of motorcycle designed for rough roads.  He damaged his front forks on the gravel and had to send away for a replacement.  My Goldwing might look out of place in bad places, but it’s built for dependability.  (No jinx!)

I wanted to take route 37 south rather than continue on the Alaskan Highway, but I was concerned with road conditions.  It was built by Canada in 1972 and appears less useful than the Highway.  Fortunately there were several people going north and had current news. (Canada wisely has a web site for provincial roads, but the word is that it’s not up to date.)  All said the road was really good.  So near Watson Lake I hung a right.

Wow!  This is the road to take, though you wouldn’t know it based on traffic.  Nearly no one else.  The first section is surrounded by the remains of several recent (2010-11) fires, which gives the more distant views an eery quality to them.  Road has no shoulders and no lines.  Both sides often drop right off.  I’d be concerned if I thought about it.  They also didn’t smooth out the terrain, so there are ups and downs.  But the road is pretty smooth in detail.

Saw three black bears and one cute little fox.  I stopped at one bear, who took an interest in me and ambled over in my direction.  I took pictures/video until he got about ten feet away. Once I started the engine, he moved off in a real hurry.  Hopped up on his rear legs and did a 90 degree pivot.  Didn’t even wait for the horn I was ready to blow.

I thought I’d try a lonely and near vacant lodge, but $110 a night!!  Canada’s hotel, fuel and food prices are becoming a real drag on my enjoyment.  Drove another 70 miles to Kinaskan Lake Provincial Park, where I paid $8 for a lake-front view.

The fire started as a lightning strike and they let it burn.

The fur makes this look out of focus, but I don’t think it is.

Two seconds later I started my engine and he took off down the bank.

Wednesday, May 18th.  Got out of Tok at 7 AM, or 8 AM Pacific time.  Spent too much time in Alaska looking for a proper Alaska ball cap.  Finally, in desperation, bought one today.

Customs was all good.  Nice guy, no silly questions.

Spoke to two motorcyclists, both traveling into Alaska and alone. Their timing was probably better than mine.

Cold, partly cloudy.  Just a touch of rain on me, but lots around me.  Snow too I think.  There is new snow on the hills/mountains.  All in all, it was a fabulous view for hours.  Hills, mountains, lakes, rain squalls.  My words cannot describe the beauty.  Sadly, I wasn’t feeling especially eager to take pictures because it was cold and . . .

I had to drive through 30 miles of gravel, then 20 miles of mud.  Horrible.  The gravel of two weeks ago had had another layer applied.  The mud was insane.  They even had a grader pushing some, but not all, of the mud to the center.  I’m not an engineer so I didn’t understand their intent, other than to provide financial assistance to car washes.  And stress out motorcyclists.  I think a bicyclist got hurt on the road, but I had my own concerns and can’t be sure.  My shoulders are in pain.

Anyway, I made it to Whitehorse as per plans.  First thing I did after checking into the hotel?  No, buying a drink was the second thing.  First thing was washing the bike.  The capital of the Yukon Territory is mine to explore tomorrow morning.  I’ve got a much easier drive tomorrow.

No pictures worth posting.  No animals seen.  I think I’ll be out of wifi range for the next few days.  We’ll see.

Tuesday, May 17th.  Rainy day.  Views would have been great in sunshine.  They’re not half bad even in clouds, but don’t translate well in pictures.  Drove through mining town with nice display of old equipment.

Rough road in spots, perfect road in others.  No rhyme or reason (seconded by a local construction worker).  One construction site with muddy bypass; slippery!  Tok hotel manager (Golden Bear Motel again) said a blinding blizzard passed by in the morning.  Roads seem a little more crowded with RVs.  Season coming to life.

Got about 75 yards from some moose, which is the National Park’s standard safe distance.  The moose apparently agrees, for when I tried to get closer, they departed.

For the next two days I retrace my steps out of Alaska.  Tomorrow I will attempt to reach Whitehorse.  387 miles, including 30 miles of lose gravel (unless things have changed in the past nine days).  It’ll be difficult, but the shorter alternative is reaching Haynes Junction, which didn’t impress me coming west. I get to enter Canada again.  I still don’t have any brass knuckles, so I should be okay.

Monday, May 16th.  Took the Alaska Railway Tour train to Seward. Upper deck seating with an open-air balcony.  Beautiful sights!  Commentary along the way.  Train would slow/stop for good scenes and even stop for wildlife sightings.  Moose, eagles, no bears.

In Seward rushed to boat for six hour cruise.  Sea otters, sea lions, whales, eagles, goat, various birds.  Saw large pieces of ice fall into the sea from a glacier.  Crew hauled a piece of glacier ice on board.  Crystal clear.  National Park ranger, who neither talked too much nor too little, admitted we were lucky to see all the things we did.  Began to rain towards the end.  Cold.

Return train was under clouds.  Views not so good.  Arrived at 10:15, still daylight!

Nice day, way too many pictures.