Back home!!

We missed the snow last night, but got to see it on the mountain tops from Radium onward. Just beautiful. Really the best road of the whole trip. 

Glad to be home!

Now to plan the next trip! 😆

Stew. 

Stayed at Blind Bay last night

We stayed at good friends last night at Blind Bay. Bill and Evalyn are building an amazing new house on Kootebay Lake. I can't wait to see it when it is done. 

We left this morning to keep ahead of the rain. We pulled into Cranbrook for lunch and decided that the black clouds ahead were a sign to stop for the day. Good thing because it is raining and hailing pretty bad right now. I'm glad we were able to get a room at the Sandman!

The view from our hotel room. 

Here are some pictures from the last few days. 

The kids on the ferry by Nelson. 

Bill relaxing, with the kids swimming in the background. 

Bill, Jerry, Connie and Jada. Good times!

Playing on the rocks with Bently. 

Kelowna at Good Friends Place

We got into Brian and Deb's place in Kelowna early this afternoon after s nice drive from Valemont. It was super cold this morning until we hit hwy 16 when it warmed up considerably. 

The highway from then on was 120 km/hr posted limit. Karen's bike was too unstable past 135, so we kept the speed reasonable. Our best roads so far and best weather in the afternoon. 

Kelowna is always amazing. Brian and Deb's place is spectacular!  They have a great view of the lake (see day and night pictures below).  We will hang out here tomorrow and get oil changes for all the bikes. Maybe we will do some swimming too. 

Here are our gracious hosts. 

Brian played hooky from work today so he could spend some time with us. Thank Brian!  We really appreciate it. 

Have a great night everyone,

Stew. 

Valemont for the night

We left Smithers with new tires and headed East. We are only 390km from home, but turning south towards Kelowna to see Brian and Deb for a couple days. Then on to Nelson/Creston to see Bill and Ev for a couple days. Looks like we might be home sometime during the weekend. 

It was a nice but cool day today and I'm hoping for sun tomorrow. Although more sun means an even worse tan line. 

Karen looks way better and more relaxed. 

Here are some other pictures from the last few days. 

Our hotel view in Smithers. 

A nice lake off hwy 37 North of Smithers. 

New tires

Apparently the road topping in highway 37 eats tires. We had lunch Friday with a couple fellows from Mexico and one of their rear tires was worn to the threads. We looked at our tires and saw that they were worn too, but I figured we had a couple mils on each tire before we needed replacements. I was planning on getting oil changes and tires in Kelowna when we got there. 

However, once we got off hwy 37 and into hwy16, Karen noticed threads on Brandon's tire. We stopped and checked all our tires and now needed 3 rear tires and 2 front tires. Yikes!

We got into the Smithers Harley shop first thing this morning and are in the process of getting the last tire put on. Thank goodness he had the tires we needed in stock. Mike (service manager) said they plan on at least 2 emergency tire changes a day, but today had 10 as of 8:15 am!

I still can't believe the tires wore down so quickly. Oh and I think they are washing the bikes too, which is awesome, because they were all filthy from all the gravel and construction in the rain. 

Hopefully everything is good to go today, so we can get South before the rains come (forecasted to rain again Monday)!

No pictures because the wifi is terrible. 

TTFN,

Stew. 

Deace Lake

We had a full day with no rain!!!!

We left Whitehorse this morning at 9 am and holy cow was it cold, but at least it wasn't raining. Great day of driving. We stopped for lunch near the intersection of the Alaska highway and highway 37 at Nugget City. Never stop there!!  It was very expensive for very little and it sucked. 

We headed South into BC towards Deace Lake. The road was narrow and had no lines, but it was beautiful. However, we were just getting out of a slow area behind a big RV when I thought I could see far enough to pass, but as I pulled out, the road dipped, so I braked and pulled back in. Brandon was too close and while braking he hit the back of my bike. He went down. He is okay, with a couple scrapes and his bike is ok (he wasn't going that fast ~20 km/hr).  But it scared him and us. 

We took it much slower after that and when we got to the hotel, we got pizza and beer to calm down. 

Here are some pictures after the crash. 

Stew. 

Lazy day

LWe spent a lazy day in Whitehorse today because it rained all day. Tomorrow is supposed to be nice, so we will head South to BC. 

Early beers with my Bonny lass!

Jada and Brandon excited for appies at the Burnt Toast Cafe. 

Waiting for the Frantic Follies cabaret show. 

Playing a song on saws. So cool. 

A fellow negotiating with a lady hanging out at a light post. Seems like it is cheaper down South. 

Hot Can Can girls😍. 

A nice sunset at 10:30 pm. 

Goodnight everyone,

Stew. 

Whitehorse after a day with almost no rain!

Today looked hit or miss on rain, but luckily we dodged around most rain clouds. It was not a warm day and we did have to go through 35 Kms of torn up  highway. (See the cold and muddy crew in the pictures).

It was a long ride today, but through some gorgeous scenery. Destruction bay is one cool place. 

Tomorrow's forecast is rain all day, so we've booked in another day here and the kids are pumped. Hopefully the weather turns around so we can enjoy the riding a little more. 

Have a good evening,

Stew. 

Dirty bikes

Nice tan lines for bizarro Zorro!

Great view at Destruction Bay. 

Back in Tok

So, no ferry for us, we headed back inland towards Tok. The forecast said partly cloudy with chance of light rain. What it really meant was hard rain for most of the day. We were all tired and cold when we got here tonight. 

Sorry, no pictures today. 

Stew. 

Anchorage Alaska

Crappy rainy day today. Everyone was soaked by the time we hit Anchorage. The rain was hard and steady for 4 of the 4-1/2 hours today. 😫. And some tempers flared because of the rain and general bike stuff. 😤

Tomorrow is supposed to be no rain, but I am not counting on it. Day 9 of the trip and we have had 2 no rain days, and one of those days was a short one, so we could go into Denali National Park, which nobody but me enjoyed (and maybe Jada a little).

I will try to get us on the ferry down to Prince Rupert, but I think there is only a 5% chance of getting on with no reservations. The website is booking late September now and does not have an Anchorage (Whittier actually) to Prince Rupert as an option. 

Sooo, that means heading back to Tok on a new road and then on to Whitehorse again on a road where we know that there is about 75km of construction. Then South to Prince George BC. Then South to the Okanagan to see some friends and take a break from driving. We should get there on the weekend if things go well. 

For a positive note, here is a picture of our hotel last night. It was a very pretty place. 

Our babies need a good bath (too much rain and mud)!

Stew. 

Denali National Park

We drive 3 hours South of Fairbanks to Denali Park and took an 8 hour return trip bus ride to look at animals and scenery. Anchorage tomorrow. 

We saw 7-8 grizzly bears, 2 moose, 12 or so Caribou and some partridge. Here are some select pictures. 

Fairbanks Alaska

Sorry this post is late. We got into Fairbanks early Friday, but stopped in at North Pole Alaska to see Santa and his reindeer. Cool place, but no room for Christmas stuff. 

We walked around Fairbanks until we found a restaurant looking over the river. Nice place. 

TYFN,

Stew