Post-Ride Blog Navigation

P-Rock, keeping the blog alive

For anyone coming to this blog after our trip was completed, blogspot can make following the events a bit of a challenge. The only posting option we had available to us was to post with the most recent submission at the top of the blog, thus this hopefully helpful post.

For those of you that want to follow the entire saga, including trip planning, our pre-departure rants, etc...: Go to the right column and scroll down to the blog archive area. Starting with our first post (at the bottom of the archive) click the link and read the post, then progress UP through the list until you get back to here :) NOTE: Clicking on the month name in the blog archive will expand to lists the posts made in that month.

For those of you that would only like to read about the trip itself, follow the same instructions, only start with the first post (the last one on the blog archive list) in July.

ENJOY!

Oh, and in case you were wondering, both Blackie and I have done complete servicing of our rides and are now enjoying fresh engine, transmission and final drive oil, a clean air filter and new metzler rubber front and rear.

P-Rock, sunsetting.

Blackie Blog - Epilogue

Some further thoughts at the completion of the ride - but first, Jersey Jake getting a Beemer escort from Pittsburgh to Hazelton:



Blackie's "Biker Glove" tan - a color complement to P-Rock's fingertip tan:



Finally, courtesy of the Szakalys, our biker good luck bells (given our good luck, these will not leave the bikes):



Having been asked the questions a few times already, here are some answers that might be of interest - my perspective - P-Rock may additional thoughts.

Best Ride Day
Tough to say, they were all good, but my vote goes to the Cassiar Highway and our run to Stewart/Hyder - sustained great scenery, bears, Hyderization...

Worst Ride Day
Easy one for me - Day 28 on Route 80 in PA. While we did have a good time riding with Jake, the construction delays and aggressive tractor trailers were a necessary but less than fun experience.

Best Town/Stop
Tough one there as well - I'd put Tok AK, Dawson City YT, and Seward AK on my list. Honorable mentions to Jasper and Banff as places I could hang out.

Trickiest Road on overloaded LTs
No question the Dalton Highway was the longest and trickiest overall, but our (at least my) most tense moments came in construction zones riding loose gravel in a low visability dust cloud conditions dodging travel trailers hogging the oncoming road. Honorable mention to the Top Of The World highway due to the sheer height, sharp turns and drops, and the lightning storms.

Best meal
I have to give the edge to the Blacked Salmon and Cowboy Sushi at Evil Dave's in Jasper AB, but honorable mention to the grilled Halibut in Whitehorse YT and Seward AK.

Hardest thing to deal with
No question living out of bags for 28 days - realize I had 5 main bags, each with 3-4 pockets. What started as a well-organized system gave way to travel entropy by day 7 - never did recover organization. Second hardest thing was the northbound temperature swings - start the day riding in 42 degree weather, finish at 82 - no good way to adjust.

Please check the SmugMug site - over the next few weeks we'll pool our pictures, and add some that are missing. Usable video will also appear:

http://jrpimages.smugmug.com/gallery/8654567_ByKRt/1/571278936_DfRP4

Thanks for your support.
Blackie out (for now).

The Big Finish

P-Rock - Posting from the Office

Day 28 - Fremont, IN to HOME






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It sure is odd to be posting from my office, with a normal keyboard and screen, but it's great to be home. It sure felt odd today to be driving a car. I felt as though I had no vision in my surroundings. I already miss the open road - now that's not to say that I'm ready to head back out - but the experience is just starting to hit home now.

Yesterday was probably the worst travel day of any we had. We started out early in Indiana and just before we left the hotel it started to rain. Blackie and I took a quick look at the sky and decided that if we motored on the weather would get better.

For once we were right. It got sunny and warm within an hour.

But it was Ohio. Driving through Ohio is just not fun. I'm not sure why, but I'm not a big fan of the Buckeye state. Except for Drew Carey that is.

Then we hit PA and our friend and blog follower Jake had happened to be working in Pittsburgh and happened to have ridden his Softail Harley out and happened to be heading home today.

Hmmm. Coincidence???

I think not. But that's all good because Jake is such a cool guy, and having an extra set of eyes in amongst the trucks on I-80 is always a good thing. We hooked up with Jake and started out on our battle with the 18 wheelers - and man were there a lot of them. Between the trucks and the construction we had our hands full for the 250 miles of ride through PA. Once we left Jake and started our final trek south we hit an accident that had Route 309 closed - which coincidently set us up for a great entry time at Slacker Tuesday, this week being held at the world famous Lammy's Fury Lounge. It was quite a scene and I have to thank all of the people there for the warm welcome home.

AND, Mrs. Rock and Mrs. Blackie were there - that was the best of all. Oh, and I want to send out a big thank you from our friend Lammy, who took the arrival pictures!

We hung out for awhile and unwound from the ride, then Blackie headed out for home followed by yours truly a few minutes later. I rolled my trusty steed into the garage and didn't even think about unpacking - I can do that later. I went in and greeted our Golden Retriever, Sadie and our Boxer, Riley (they were both extremely excited to see 'ol Dad) and then took a good look around the house and went up for a good night's sleep in my own bed. I can't tell you how good that felt.

I was asked last night if I'd do this trip again. In a flash I responded with "Change the tires and fluids and let's go!". Now seriously, I'd be a single man if I did that - but what I meant was that the experience was so good that how could you not consider doing something like that again?

I think part of what made this experience so special was the synergy between Blackie and I - both in riding styles and thoughts, and in our differing perspectives on what we were experiencing and how we related to them in the blog. The Blog certainly added a whole different dimension, and in some ways energized us to ensure we were getting (and relating) the experience to our followers. Yes, you guys and girls were as much a part of this adventure as we were. In some ways we felt a responsibility to post - but it was never a burden. I want to personally thank each and every follower for their time, attention and comments. We looked forward to the hit counts and comments each day as much as you looked forward to these posts.

I've been asked if we'll write a book. At this point that's really too much to consider, but I would not totally rule it out. I think we have something to work with here for sure. Stay Tuned.

And now, the final mileage, as told from my odometer. As Blackie related, there were some differences in his odometer vs. mine in total mileage, with mine being about 400 miles higher. That could be odometer error, or perhaps I rode the outside of every turn and made bigger circles when we had to turn around in parking lots. Yeah, that's it!

Um... I think we'll go with Odometer Error.

P-Rock - Ignition Off.

BB28 - Journey's End

Final posts to follow, for now the boys are home (after a stop at the Fury Shack).

Official trip mileage (average of the trip odometers): 11,415 miles

Blackie Out.

Homeward Bound

P-Rock - Pointed East

Day 27 - Rock Island, IL to Marengo, IL to Fremont, IN







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Today was my family day. This morning Daughter Rock (now K-Rock) stopped by the hotel as we were checking out and took us to this cute little diner for a great breakfast. We had good conversation about school, politics (I hate to discuss politics, but she made me) and various and sundry topics.

After that we rolled northeast toward Mother Rock's house. (We need a name here - help out followers! Mother Lode? Volcano? We need something catchy!). For me, this was a great flashback to my college years. My undergraduate work was at a small midwest liberal arts college (similar to K-Rock's Augustana College) about an hour south of Rock Island called Monmouth College, in Monmouth, IL (Where the corn grows wild...). At any rate, when I was in college I never owned a car, but did ride my motorcycle du jour to and from school when weather permitted. NOTE: Snow flurries were just fine back in the day. So the first leg of our route today was along the same general route I used to slog on the old Honda 350 and 550 from my youth.

We stopped in at Mom's house for a great meal and to sit and chat for awhile. We were watching her new hi-definition TV and Blackie and I were noticing that the picture just wasn't up to snuff for Hi-Def. Well after some poking around we found out that her cable guy (who apparently wasn't too sharp about a lot of things) did not use a high-def cable for her TV - so I had to run out to the local store and pick one up and get her set up properly. She was insisting that she was going to call Charter Communications to discuss this. Now knowing my mom as well as I do, I want to show some pity for the poor person (probably in the Phillipines) that will be taking this call. When Mom's on a mission, get out of the way!

Blackie and I then rolled on, with me almost getting hit by a car right in front of Mom's house. I was too focused on leaving and not focused enough on the fact that I do indeed NOT own the road. My next bright idea was that after all we've been through, why not finish strong and we'll just roll right through downtown Chicago on the way back... No using the by-pass. No wimpy traffic avoidance strategy. Mano-a-mano with Chicago's finest driving public. Traffic ended up not being too bad and with a few minor slowdowns we blasted through at great peril to life and limb and ended up here in Podunk Indiana. We thumb our noses at Chicago drivers.

I meant to take a picture (but forgot - I'm like that) of my rear tire, or what's left of it. I'm pretty sure it will make it home, but it will be by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin. It's seen a lot of UGLY roads in the last 28 days, and it's time for the pasture, or wherever old tires go to die. I'm going to miss that tire. It saw incredible scenery, wildlife, the arctic circle, the pacific ocean, purple mountain's majesty, amber waves of grain, Mt. Rushmore and a whole boatload of brake fluid that got spilled on it. And I only had to add air to it twice the entire time it was on the bike.

Tomorrow we stretch for home. Hopefully with good luck, good weather and some postive tire mojo we'll roll in safely.

P-Rock - Stuffed with Mom's cookin.

BB 27 - What goes up, must come down

Greetings from Fremont Indiana - our Day 27 rides end. Breakfast with K-Rock (aka Karin Bergquist) at the Rock Island Waffle House, then a 2 hour blast to Marengo IL for lunch and visit with mother of P-Rock (Nancy Bergquist). Superb lunch and visit - thanks Nancy. We left Marengo around 4, aiming to brave downtown Chicago on our way east. Captured at great personal risk (I took the picture, but P-Rock's lane ownership is also questionable):

Other than traffic, another slabber to here.

So, Day 27 reflection - the boys made it UP to Alaska, and are now back DOWN and almost home. Aside from the scenery and venues previously described, thought it would be interesting to share some of the general contrasts going UP and coming DOWN.

UP

The shiny side of the Beemo-potomai

DOWN

The rubber side - Szak, the bells just need to carry us one more day. We have been lucky - aside from a few close encounters with deer and imbeciles (could be a forward reference here), we've had no rolling incidents.

DOUBLE DOWN

That said, I did have a vertically challeged moment with my ride on the ferry into Dawson City. P-Rock and I were loaded onto the front of the ferry, having crossed the sand loading area. Engine off, both feet solidly on the steel ferry floor. After completing the loading process (2 bikes, 4 cars, 6 pedestrians), the ferry pulled away from the bank and executed a sharp turn into the current. The boat listed left, taking the 1100 pounds of bike/rider for a hard left lean. I had the bike until the sand on my left boot and the wet floor of the ferryboat caused my boot to skid out - the bike went over in slow motion. Admittedly, P-Rock almost lost his as well - we were only one patty and special sauce short of a Beemer Big Mac. The bikes have tip-over bars, so the only damage was my (deployed) J-Peg bolt and a small scratch on a rear chrome section (not very visable). The only thing I hurt was a pulled shoulder muscle lifting the bike back up. Lesson learned - deploy the center stand on ferrys.

UP

Our spirits. They started sky high, have continuously been good, but the excitement built as we reached the higher latitudes.

DOWN

Spirits - we downed a few. The ale seemed to get stronger as we headed north, peaking in the Yukon (particular caution when experiencing Yukon Grasshopper Ale and a long rubble ride the next day).

UP

Dust and bad roads increased steadily as we ventured further north. The sign "Loose Gravel" gained higher relative importance as we headed north. Interestingly, the planned challenge roads (Top Of The World, Dalton Highway) were less fearsome than some of the high lattitude construction zones.

DOWN

Our average speed as we headed north, no doubt due to above. Hitting a 75MPH speed limit (then adding trooper margin) when re-entering the US allowed us to cover some amazing distances in comparison.

UP

Our happiness with the machinery - the Beemer LTs have been a pleasure to ride (at the time of this blog 10,700 trip miles). Ditto for the J-Pegs, adjustable windshield, and the Throttle Boss.

Down

Usable tire tread - replaced my front tire in Anchorage, both of us will be driving rear slicks when we hit PA - hoping for good weather...

UP

Mileage on the way up: 44MPG

DOWN

Mileage on the way down: 47MPG

Other than windage, this has yet to be explained.

UP

Fuel quality and fuel availability became important planning points the further north we got - one did not want to miss a fuel stop, particularly if the local Octane was higher then 87.

DOWN

Once again spoiled by pay at the pump, credit card acceptance, and REAL PREMIUM fuel

UP

Quantity of pictures and video increased steadily - hopefully leading to some decent post-production material

UP

The number of RVs per square mile increased steadily with Lattitude

DOWN

Heading back down to the states (and Interstates), the number of imbeciles (drivers) per square mile has grown exponentially, perhaps owing to the population density and the availability of texting while driving. The largest road hazard we've faced (by far) during the trip has been other drivers during the past few days.

A couple of new pictures in the SmugMug gallery - mind you these are raw images - will hopefully have a cleaned up version available soon after return:

http://jrpimages.smugmug.com/gallery/8654567_ByKRt/1/571278936_DfRP4

See ya soon.

Blackie out.

BB 26 - Ridin' The Sun Out (Opus 2)

Picking up where I left off late last night (Internet/site bombed, and it was late). Huge slab ride as mentioned - around 850 miles and 13 hours of riding. As we approached Sioux City, the Blue Angels zoomed across our starboard side easily 100yds away. Managed to catch one group as they crossed in front:



Did we mention the bugs? At one of the many gas stops yesterday, captured this picture of my nose (note the turn signal patch - rock victim from the haul road trip). At this point, the bug splats are 3-4 layers deep.



In Minnesota, my trip odometer wrapped - apparently BMW designed it to only go to 9999.9 miles, so caught the wrap. At Mrs/ B's now sitting at 10,550.



Heading through our Iowa hours, caught my evening shadow getting taller:



For the first time, we rode past sunset - pictured here in my rear-view mirror:

Actually, 850 miles on the beemers was no problem comfort-wise. The scenery was a bit "consistent", so thankful for in-flight entertainment (finished my 9th unabridged audio book on my iPod Touch).

Good dinner/visit with K-Rock (Karin) and Mark last night, and a much-appreciated home-cooked meal. Late lunch today (day 27) at P-Rock's mom's place (M-Rock, G-Rock?) - then some riding to at least Ohio - as far as we can get. Looks like we will successfully freeload through Illinois...

Blackie out.

Blowin' In The Wind

P-Rock - One Tired Pup

Day 27 - Spearfish, SD to Rock Island IL
The Question is "Why did you do that?"





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^
VIEW LARGER MAP if you haven't already.

I'm certain that we've already lost the geographically challenged, but yesterday your Ironbutt wannabe travellers put in (according to Google) 827 gruelling miles across South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa to get to Rock Island. Now whether you're geographically challenged or not, I'm sure you're asking why?? Why?? WHY??? We were about 170 short of an Ironbutt Ride (to learn more go to the IRONBUTT site).

A few reasons for that. First, we needed to put in one very long day anyway in order to get back into PA on Tuesday sometime. The original plan was to do that long day Monday, but good weather, a tailwind and too much Java pushed the plan a day ahead. Second, I wanted to see my daughter who is off at college, and an overnight stay in Rock Island would make for a better visit.

So we blew out early from Spearfish, SD, near Sturgis (but West of, mind you) and set the cruise controls and rolled through South Dakota. Our first view was of the tourist trap that invented tourist traps. That would be Wall Drug in Wall, SD. They still have signs hundreds of miles out luring you into their dust collecting tidbit lair. Of course we didn't stop. Then we rolled past the badlands, which from a distance don't seem so bad. Looks can be decieving.

When we got to Sioux Falls, SD, we were treated to a display of the Blue Angels putting on an airshow. Blackie got a picture which I believe he will be posting later. We had a good vantagepoint for their routine, getting to drive right under them at one point.

As we crossed into Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes (I can confirm this - I have been to Minnesota a few times and there are lakes everywhere), we did not see one single stinking lake. South West Minnesota does not live up to their state's moniker - but they apparently are trying to also be the "Land of 10,000 Windpower Generators" We saw quite a few of these wind farms rolling east.

But if you want to do things right, leave it to a farmer. As we crossed into Iowa, we soon learned that you can take wind farming to a whole different level. This is the Iowa example. Go Big or Go Home. I do have to say that this sort of scenery helped us on our 14 hour ride yesterday.

Blackie and I rolled into Rock Island long after dark and were treated to a nice, 3 mile long cattle chute in some road construction as the cherry on this insanely challenging Sundae (on Sunday too!).. We checked in to the local downtown hotel and Daughter Rock picked us up in her hot sports car, an '80's vintage Buick Century. Oooohhhhh. We went over to her very cute apartment and I got to meet her Boyfriend, Mark. We didn't get to spend a lot of time, but I approve of Mark. First off, he's really very nice. Second, he was finishing up the dinner for us as we got home. I have a soft spot for men who like to cook. Third, the food was good. Fouth, and most importantly, Daughter Rock seems happy. They made a nice chicken alfredo dish with broccoli and mushrooms that was really excellent - especially for two travellers that hadn't eaten in 12 hours, and sitting down to food at 11pm. I told Mark I'd allow him to continue to see my daughter for a few more weeks based on this - OK - even longer if he's nice. It was really great to meet Mark and see where my money is going.

Today we're off to see Mom, have a nice steak dinner and then try to get far enough that we can make the stike for home on Tuesday.

P-Rock. Winded.

BB 27 - Ridin' The Sun Out

Huge ride today - 850 miles - basically crossed South Dakota, half of Minnesota, and quartered Iowa on our way to Rock Island IL. Internet is very poor tonight - will try to post tomorrow.
Blackie Out.

BB 25 - My Aching Butte

Really nice weather to start out of Watford City ND - rolling hills and VERY straight roads. Managed to catch my morning shadow:



Cruised the straight roads into South Dakota with Loreena McKennitt's An Ancient Muse album playing on the in-flight entertainment system - seemed well matched to the scenery (where the antelope were indeed playing - many of them). As we approached Spearfish, the Black Hills of South Dakota appeared:



As we entered the Badlands, adjusted the in-flight tunes to a live Widespread Panic album (very fitting or seemlingly ill-advised, as the highway speed limit in South Dakota is 75MPH). Cruised through Spearfish Canyon for the scenic path though the Black Hills to Mt. Rushmore - see the SmugMug site for more pics:

http://jrpimages.smugmug.com/gallery/8654567_ByKRt/1/571278936_DfRP4

Mt. Rushmore was better than anticipated - some we had met during the trip said they were dissapointed - we were not. You get a glimpse from the road as you climb the mountain to the park (which is very well done). I have video of the climb and approach (I hope). I am also collecting what I hope will be good HDR images (ask Bill Arey) of the good stuff.



Could not resist an attempt here - will do better Photoshop when I have time...



Could have stayed longer, but we wanted to stop in Sturges on our way back to the night stop-over in Spearfish. Old Main Street in Sturges was not much, but we did drive around the area to see just how big Bike Week is here - HUGE. The campgrounds, bars, tatoo parlors and more bars stretch for many miles. Many bikes in town early - unimaginable how it must look and sound during the official bike week. We stopped at one of our favorite bike week taverns (the Myrtle Beach counterpart) for a quick refresher mid-afternoon - The Broken Spoke. They have a board with pins for biker visitors to mark home - one side the US, the other the world. We added our pins (and had our ale).




Tommorow - slab time east.
Blackie out.

Dead Presidents - In Rock and On Paper

P-Rock - Breaking Spokes

Day 25 - Watford City, ND to Sturgis, SD






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Another one for the books folks. First off, we saw literally at least a hundred antelope today (but no deer and no buffalo roaming either). As we exited our hotel room early this morning, this is what we were presented with. Now frankly, if it was me, I am not sure I would have picked this name for a convenience store. What do you you think? It might have a ring to it for some, but how would you like to say you work at the "Kum and Go"? Hmmmm?

The ride south from Watford City started out boring enough, with the same rolling hills we saw yesterday. But that all changed about 20 miles in when we crossed the Little Missouri River. We started to see some real scenery and had a very enjoyable ride down to the Sturgis Area.

After that we went to see "the Presidents" at Mt. Rushmore. I found the monument to be an incredible piece of sculpture and frankly very impressive. Of course, we have Mr. PJ Hat sitting on George W, right where he belongs.

Following that we dropped up into Sturgis, walked around the town (not much going on yet, 2 weeks before the big rally) and stopped into the Broken Spoke for a beer. Again, pretty sleepy yet - but I am thinking it'll be thunderously loud soon enough.

We start hauling noogies east tomorrow in a big way. Also, there are reports of forecast Thunderstorms moving in here tomorrow so we need to get and stay at least a day ahead of them. I think it will be good to get home now. My butt needs the break.

And now for a few of my thoughts on the trip in reflection as we start to head home.

GPS

A device that has not really failed me until this trip. In Northern Canada and Alaska it really had quite a few very flaky moments where it lost position for minutes at a time. Very surprising really if you ask me. Also, it has steered us wrong on a few occasions, the most notable being a hotel location last night. It dropped us off right in a residential cul-de-sac, when the hotel was across town. Go figure.

GMRS/FRS Radios.

Probably the most unused, but most handy device we have had on board. Blackie and I were of the mind to take in the scenery and experience and not ruin it with a whole lot of chat. In fact, we ended up having a decent set of hand signals worked out even though we had the radio handy. When we needed them they were a godsend.

Satellite Radio.

I had XM, Blackie Sirius. Both worked well up until the Yukon, which is their advertised service limits. For that part of the trip we used IPods most of the time. However Sat reception is actually very good and reliable up through Alberta and BC, and it was a lifesaver on the long days.

All-Weather Overboots.

Lasted less than one day. Total Trash. I'm not really sure why they are still packed in with my stuff, and I would not recommend them to anyone on a bike. Just waterproof your biker boots and you will stay as dry as you can imagine.

Border Crossings

Avoid remote border crossings. Really. We made several border crossings and did not have a bit of trouble until we encountered Officer Fife. In fact, in all my years of travel we have not ever been searched like we were yesterday.

Anti-Monkey Butt Powder

A real necessity. This stuff is magic I tell you. I have had the softest, driest, monkey-butt free posterior known to any man astride a motorcycle for 9000 miles in 25 days. Two thumbs up to Robin and Paul. You can touch my tushie anytime to check it out. OK, not really. At least you Paul.

Beer

We have not found a bad local brew yet. I'm sure they're out there, (bad ones, that is), but our experience has been superb the entire way.

Money

A necessary evil. Canadian money really stinks though. It's funny colors and they have no one dollar bills. They also use one and two dollar coins which really are a pain. Honestly. Besides, is it really real money? It doesn't look like it to me.

Best Westerns

Going into this trip I had a really bad opinion of the Best Western hotel chain. My past (limited) experience was that they were old hotels and not well kept up. However to a location - we stayed in several of them too - we found them to be clean, neat, well kept and a good value.

OK, long winded enough, again.

P-Rock - Looking for a local brew.

BB 24 - Roaming the Buffalo Home

Day 23 wrap-up - Bison Steak in Medicine Hat was outstanding.

Day 24 - first "Slab" ride in some time - flat, straight - objective = get to North Dakota, and as far south (toward Sturges) as possible. Riding was buffalo/cattle country all the way, with the odd smattering of oil wells - very flat. Took a right at Moose Jaw (the lunch stop), and headed for the border crossing, which we made at mid-afternoon. The last of the Canada countryside:



The US crossing at Fortuna ND was empty except for us - border guard boredom or PA bikers looking suspicious, the crossing resulted in a full search of the bikes (my guy was going through the motions, P-Rock got the full treatment). Odd questions like "are you carrying any citris?" - citris from Canada? Apparently we were deemed no threat (nor were we citris smugglers), and allowed to go eventually.

So - back in the USA! Northern ND is pretty sparse. We pushed through our original destination (Williston ND), and on to a recommendation from the border guards stopped in Watford City ND - this gives us a little time heading to Sturges tomorrow, which is good as we are now on Central time again. In North Dakota, start to see hills and bluffs starting:

Tomorrow, Sturges (Spearfish) with the obiligatory stop at Mt. Rushmore. Sturges on a Saturday night - what could go wrong?

Blackie out.

Me and My Big Mouth

P-Rock - Swallowing a foot one toe at a time

Day 24 - Medicine Hat, AB to Watford City, ND






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First and foremost - to Mrs Rock. We have crappy beyond crappy internet and no phone service at all. I could hear everything you said to me, but obviously you could not hear me. Well, we're working with stolen local museum wifi anyway, so what do you expect.

Next, to my daughter Karin. We think as of now we will be in Rock Island on Monday, probably around noon where we'll have lunch with you. Then on to Marengo. Almost certain we won't be staying the night as we've overstayed our vacation on both AP and APT counts.

After that, to Mom. The current plan is to be there later on Monday to rest a bit and have some dinner before we set out once again to ride until O-Dark-Thirty or so, giving us a chance to get back into PA at a reasonable date and time. I will call you and Karin when we have cell service. North Dakota might as well be the North Pole as far as ATT is concerned.

Today was a true travel day. Blackie and I were single minded in our endeavour to get as close as possible to Sturgis.

So today Blackie and I started out from my always-wanted-t0-be-there town of Medicine Hat, Alberta - destined for as-close-as-we-can-get-to-Sturgis, North Dakota. The main goal was to get to at least Williston, which we exceeded by about a full hour by making it to Watford City. Along the way, we plotted a route which included Blackie's need-t0-get-there city of Moose Jaw, where we had a nice lunch at Smitty's, of all places. Both Medicine Hat and Moose Jaw surprised us with how big and developed they are.

So we spent a whole lot of time in Saskatchewan today, and guess what that means?

Yep.

Grain Elevators a-plenty. In fact, in many cases you can see the next town (even up to 14 km away by my experiment) just by looking down the road for the grain elevator. Pretty funny stuff.

Well our route took us to this very remote border crossing from Saskatchewan into North Dakota. Early this morning I had said something to Blackie of the effect "Just watch, it will rain today, or we'll get the full search routine at some remote border crossing".

Well gang. It didn't rain.

I am such a dork sometimes.

We had Officer Fife at the border with his sidekick Gomer. I swear to God. Well OK, his name wasn't Fife nor was it Gomer, but damn they fit the part. Officer Fife told us to stand in front of him to present our passports, then proceeded to tell us to open all of the compartments on the bike. Blackie - the lucky stiff - got Gomer, who didn't really care about this whole affair and got a half hearted inspection while I got the full-tilt-where-was-my-strip search on my effects. And he was so nice and pleasant through this entire humiliating experience. Me and my big mouth. Sheesh.

Oh and another note. You know those nice solid yellow lines on roads to indicate No Passing? Entirely optional in North Dakota, whether needed or not. Blind spots? Well you should know they're there! It made for some interesting slow traffic passing late in the day.

Watford City is a very nice place, although I think we may have the worst hotel room in town. That is all thanks to me too. Very friendly people and a decent dinner at the local bar.

Oh yeah, almost forgot. I was wearing my half helmet today and got the sunburn from hell. I look like Rocky Raccoon, Aye? Did I mention that I was a dork?

That is all.

P-Rock, shupping.

Bonus Post: So who is actually following this blog?

P-Rock: Asking the question

So who are all of you following this blog? I know, you have to register in order to leave a comment - but if you are indeed following, please post a comment here. You don't have to leave your real name, but something to go by and where you live would be great. Also, if you are someone who knows one of us, let us know.

We're really interested in seeing where all of these hits are coming from. We really appreciate your support here.

Oh, and if you see the Google AdSense Ads, please click through, we may earn enough for a beer each from this!

P-Rock. Out.

Blackie Blog 22/23 - Plains, Trains, Beemo-potomai

Combo post - Days 22 and 23 - Jasper accomodations lacked Internet - probably just as well, as we were bushed and broiled rolling in. The day started cold, and progressively warmed up to mid-upper 80s - tough to adjust the riding gear real-time, so rolled into downtown Jasper soggy and thirsty. The ride in was magic.



Said it before, will say it again - I hope the video I shot can somehow share the beauty here. Jasper is a nice little town (yes Sam and Molly - this Jasper made it to the real Jasper) - we found grub at a grill called Evil Dave's - might be up there with the best dinners of the trip. Our appetizer - the Cowboy Sushi:



Cowboys sushi is sushi with beef (no surprise), with a batter/deep fry finish. Ellen/Holly/Shera - Snuzzles might want to consider this - pretty good stuff.

The ride out of Jasper south was equally magic, but forest fires added a haze starting late morning - the haze stayed with us to Banff.



The Jasper Park has enough to keep you busy for weeks - we stopped at this waterfall for some pictures:



After Banff, the road became unnervingly flat - pretty quickly. So to the theme of the blog - rolling into Medicine Hat AB - captured a shot of the plains, trains, and one P-Rock:

Plenty of new pictures at the SmugMug site:

http://jrpimages.smugmug.com/gallery/8654567_ByKRt/1/571278936_DfRP4

Off to find dinner in Medicine Hat.

Blackie Out.

Ridin' the Canadian Badlands

P-Rock here - Catching up on lost posts.

Day 22 - Smithers, BC to Jasper, AB






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Most of today was rolling through the plains of Eastern BC and pretty uneventful. Blackie and I had a nice breakfast in Houston, BC, the self-proclaimed "fly fishing capital of the world". They even had a 25 foot tall fly rod to prove it. I do have to say that there were quite a lot of fishing outfitters in that small town.

We rolled into Jasper Park and were greeted with some spectacular sights of 10,000 foot (ok, 3000 meter - we're in Canada you know) peaks that are part of the northern end of Jasper park. That was not the end of the excitement for me though. When we got into the town of Jasper I was completely shocked. I had been to Jasper about 25 years ago on a day trip junket on the then-unpaved Icefields Parkway, up from Banff. the four of us travelling that day had lunch on "main street" Jasper, which resembled a wild west town - I am sure I have pictures at home somewhere to prove that. But today, Jasper is a thriving, even booming tourist town and other than a few buildings that I remember seeing on Main Street, is completely changed. It was pretty incredible.

Blackie and I consumed an excellent meal at Evil Dave's Restaurant, which I'd highly recommend to anyone going to Jasper, and then followed that up with some very fine IPA and nitrogen charged Red Ales from the Jasper Brewing Company. It was good stuff. We then finished off the night with a round at the hotel bar, the D'ed Dog Saloon.

Day 23 - Jasper, AB to Medicine Hat, AB








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Strangely enough, Blackie and I awoke on time today. You see the last few days we have been setting alarms that went unheard or did not go off, getting us out of the chute an hour or two late each day. That's really odd considering we both are early risers - and frankly we're both mystified by this. But now I feel we're back on track and won't be oversleeping again.

I am sure you are all wondering why in the heck we decided to go to Medicine Hat, of all places. Well, to make a short story long, it's a place I have remembered seeing on maps for as long as I can recall... and I have said to myself on more than on occasion that I need to go see Medicine Hat someday -- Blackie bought into the whole 'off the beaten track' concept so here we are.

But to get here, we had to drive the Icefields Parkway, which was even more spectacular than I remembered it on our winter drive long ago. The views, vistas and incredible scenery are really more than breathtaking. We spent fully half of our day on this part of the trip, which comprised about 20% of the miles we had to ride today. It was well worth it. At the end of the Parkway is the town of Banff, which is best described as the "Northern Exposure Town" of Alberta. It's a pretty cool town and even though we didn't stay long, was enjoyable. They even still have an occasional moose stroll through town, but we didn't catch that unfortunately.

The rest of the ride was a nice warm day cruise down the Trans-Canada Highway, with the only hiccup being Calgary, which seemed to be under construction and caused us about a 45 minute delay just getting through town. I'd say Calgary, from our vantagepoint, is a town to miss.

Most of my pictures from today did not turn out well, due to a fingerprint on the lens. Hmmm... I wonder who's it is??? At any rate, it will be gone tomorrow.

P-Rock - Taking his Medicine.