Motorcycle Adventures

Well It’s great news…. Eryk, Michelle, Nicole and I are on all board with the same plan to travel back to Nelson this August for our long awaited best friend motorcycle adventure

I’m thrilled.  I have reserved 2 rooms in the hostel I stayed at before for the length of our stay.  The reservations can be changed if needed, but for now we have all the firm plans we need in place for our vacation!

Well those of you who know me know that I love to plan.  This year I have three holidays, in July, August, and September.  At least 2 out of these thee will be motorcycle trips this year, and I have a funny feeling all three will end up being a motorcycle trip.

In January 2009, Eryk is getting his new BMW, and he and Michelle can start to enjoy their new bike.  In August all 4 of us are going to go on a motorcycle trip together – that will be the highlight of the motorcycling year for me.

As those holidays are now the main thing I’m looking forward to, it’s time to start planning. Originally the idea was to take a trip over to Vancouver Island, head as far north as we could go, and then take a ferry further north, into the Queen Charlotts.  From there we would travel back down to the coast.  While I think the trip would be interesting, on further investigation, I’ve discovered that the drive itself is perhaps not the best for our trip.  It’s relatively straight and uninteresting, and for our trip of the year, I’d really like it to be beautiful with lots of wonderful things to see, and as it’s a motorcycle trip by design, it needs to be fun to ride.  It is also a long trip, with a lot of necessary kilometers to get back home.

The more I think about it, the more I think a trip to Nelson might be the best bet.  As you probably know I already love Nelson, and the idea of revisiting my favorite little town hardly needs serious arm twisting to get me on board.

There are several things that sell the Nelson idea for me. Firstly, the roads are beautiful.  I really enjoy the ride and am sure that we would all really enjoy the trip.  It would be nice for Michelle to see Nelson as so far she is the only one who hasn’t seen Nelson ye – at least not by way of the motorcycle.  Because of the beauty of the surrounding area, I also like the idea of using Nelson as a base camp of sorts, from which we make trips to the surrounding areas. There are beautiful roads and areas around Nelson and dipping down into the US that we have not explored.

I suspect that not all of us are going to want to ride all the time every day, and moods will dictate some of what we end up doing.  We may also not always want to ride in our group of 4.  Someone may wish to stay behind, or just a couple of us might go for a trip.  Using Nelson as a base camp, makes it possible for the 4 of us to have maximum flexibility. If someone wants to stay behind, they can. Nelson is the perfect place to hang if someone does want alone time, or if the weather isn’t very good.  What I propose is that we book the White House Backpackers Lodge for the duration of the trip, give us all a place to stay.  A room is only $50/night and includes a double bed and some privacy.  Eryk and Michelle and Nicole and I would each have our own room giving us even better privacy when we, eh-hem… Need it

There are many trips that we can take from the Nelson area – most are day-trips with a round-trip distance of up to 350km.  A few are part of the larger Selkirk Loop, which extends north of Nelson, and South into the US.  The US part of the loop is a longer ride that would probably be best served by an overnight stay or two. See a map of the Selkirk Loop for some ideas about the motorcycle trips from this area. The two grey maps are maps of a couple of the northern loops from the area – easily done in a day including some relaxation time and stopping.

I realize that it will be a little more expensive to do things this way perhaps than camping, but I think it would be worth it.  This way no one would feel that have to go somewhere because the rest of the group wants to, and it gives us all a chance to have time as couples and by ourselves – which I think will be a big plus on a longer trip like this! If bad weather does hit, we have a safe and comfortable place to spend our time. it also might be cheaper than many places we could stay. See a link for The White House here

Here are a couple links to reviews of some of the roads in the area:
Between Kaslo and New Denver
Kootnay Pass between Crawford Bay and Creston

I would also welcome the time to explore a little more.  I would welcome a trip to spend mond time near that wonderful beach in near Boswell, to spend a little more time in Kaslo, and to visit many more of the small communities that dot the area. I would love to drive down south and visit some of the US.  It looks as though there are many more great roads and places to visit there.

I’m open to ideas however, so if my wonderful friends come up with with another great plan, than I’m open to a different adventure.  It will be great to spend a vacation touring through the mountains on our motorcycles this summer.

That’s all for now.

Al

Well today was a sad day.  A day that we remember the wonderful summer that has now past us, and look forward to another year of riding enjoyment.

With loving care I put our two blue babies to rest today.  They got a clean and scrub, and some fuel stabilizer, battery charger, and were covered for thier winter rest.

I envy those who live down south for thier all-year riding season… But it makes the warm weather that much more enjoyable I guess.

Well we wanted to have a nice relaxing day, and we had heard of this great beach on Bowen Island, so we decided to have a closer look, and take our bikes to do it.

It has been a long time since I had been to Bowen.  I used to tie up my boat there.  I used to visit more than 6 times a year.  We were in for a little bit of a shock when we saw the prices.  Motorcycles are always cheaper, so we had expected perhaps $15 per person. No… Not so… $26 per person!

It was a nice sunny day, and we found the beach right away.  It wasn’t sandy, but the rocks were small and not too sharp, and the water was clear.  It’s the kind of beach where if you came at high tide, there would be no beach at all!

Sadly we had not gotten ourselves organized until a little too late in the day, and by the time we got there, the sun was starting to hide behind the island.  It was getting a little cold, and so we couldn’t stay as long as we had hoped.

We did enjoy ourselves, happy to find a new beach, and a new place to relax.  As we sat on our blanket we watched two dogs, so competitive that as the owner threw a log into the water, both dogs went after it, and both dogs held on as they swam back togeter (see photos).

When it got too cold, we went to Doc Morgan’s for a nice dinner, and then back to the ferry after a walk on the docs.  A wonderful day together with my sweetie.

This was the first time in many years (close to 9 years) that I’ve been on a vacation for any extended period of time by myself.

In some ways it was difficult to convince myself to go alone. I’m glad I did.

It was different in many ways compared to going with someone else. It was great to do everything on my own schedule. It was nice to be able to make plans, have early starts to my day, and to not have to stop for someone else when I wasn’t ready.

It was however not as good as sharing the experience with my sweetie or a good friend. I enjoy the company and the social aspect of being with someone, and so in this respect I felt my trip lacked.

It was ultimately very much worth going, and given a time when I wasn’t able to go with someone, I wouldn’t hesitate to go on my own again.

I loved staying in the backpackers lodge. It was very affordable, yet still private. It was clean and comfortable. I would happily go back again. It was much more comfortable than camping, and it made poor weather enjoyable.

I very much enjoyed my time with Larry and his family and am very grateful for thier wonderful hospitality.

Of course the best part of being away, especially without Nicole, is coming home. I can’t tell you how wonderful it was to see Nicole this afternoon. I love missing my wonderful wife this much, even after all the great years we’ve been together.

Photos from my trip will be available shortly.

Today is the drive home. I’m up at 6:45 and about to get ready.

I hope to avoid the rain as much as possible. The forcast for Kelowna is for rain in the afternoon, but for Vancouver it looks like rain all day long. I’ll be getting all my wet gear on right away today. Hopefully I can make it at least some of the way home without being rained on!

I will probably leave in about an hour, and expect the drive to take roughly 3.5 hrs, so I expect to be home some time around noon.

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The drive was much warmer than I expected. I was very warmly dressed so I was often a litter warmer than I expected.

The drive along the “coke” was borning. What can I say, compaired to the amazing roads of the number 3 highway, the yellowhead is just plain bland. Like dry toast.

The advantage of that route of course is that it is fast. I was able to ride at higher speeds and not get stuck behind any traffic with the many passing lanes.

I ledt just before eight in the morning, and pulled into the driveway at 12:44pm.

Saturday was a very pleasant day.

The room I was sleeping in had no windows – only I didn’t know this. Every time I would wake up, thinking it must be morning, it was still completely dark! So, I went back to sleep. After doing this 3 or 4 times, I started to wonder what time it was, and when I looked, was very surprised to find out that it was almost 10am!!! I haven’t slept that late my entire trip.

After a lazy morning. Larry and I dropped off Zhila for a fundraiser m, and went foe a wonderful walk by the water.

The park and condos next to the water are really something to see. The park is incredibly well maintained, with lush green grass and beautiful landscaping. There boardwalk along the edge is also very beautiful, and the views are gorgeous.

There are several large and fancy condo developments, complete with a private section of the lake, closed off with a lock (sp)? There is space for the residents to tie up thief boats along side the condos. It’s quite fancy!

After our walk we enjoyed a beer and a snack at the local pub, and then continued on back home. Larry put a chicken in the oven, and we spent more time relaxing and chatting. After dinner it we had a veryvlong soak in the hot tub. It was wonderful.

I stayed in the tub far too long!

A nice sleep, and a quick shower and I was ready to go! I had prepared everything for my trip the night before.

The weather was as advertised – the sun finally came out.

I had debated taking highway #6, but after looking over maps and the suggestion of my GPS, it seemed better to take highway three back towards Osoyoos, and then connect at highway number 33 to Kelowna.

The ride was beautiful, though the sun didn’t spend all it’s time with me. It was also much colder than expected. I had prepared for a high of 30 degrees. Based on my previous trips, I only had about half an hour if cooler temps before things started to heat up. I was wrong (really wrong).

Not only did the temp not rise, but things started to cool down. I spent most of the day riding in 12 degrees. It dropped to as low as 8, and went as high as 19, but my trip was cold, and I’m all honesty, I really didn’t dress for it. I stopped for warmer gloves, but otherwise put up with it. Finding warmer clothes would have meant unpacking the bike, repacking the bags, and a lengthy stop.

I did make excellent time, compelled by my frozen parts. I left at 730am, and arrived at 1130am.

The rest of the day was pleasantly spent relaxing with Larry and his family.

Zzzzzzzzz

Oh, Hi!

Well. Um. Today is a lazy day. I thought yesterday was lazy, but today beats yesterday!

It was raining hard when I first got up this morning around 8am. I got ready. Had some breakfast, and crawled back into bed! (nap #1).

I got up a little later, learned all about Nelson from the brochures I picked up, and then had another nap (nap #2).

Then I got up. And off I went to have some lunch. I’m leading the life of Garfield today! (lazy cat with an attitude).

Lunch was nice! The sun came out after lunch an a went for a nice walk. My afternoon project was to buy and write post-cards, so found some nice postcards, some stamps and went back to my cave to write!

Afterward it was time for a quick walk to a mailbox.

Now it’s time to pack up for tomorrow’s journey. According to Google and my GPS, the trip from here to Kelowna is less than 400km. They can’t both be wrong. I estimate it will take me between 4 and 5 hours to get there so long as I don’t make any long stops. So if I leave around 7am, I should make it there around noon. This, of course is if the weather is sunny as expected. If it rains I will be much longer.

Well wish me luck. Not sure how easily I can update the blog when in Kelowna.

Wow, Nicole got her tattoo finished on Monday. It’s amazing. I’ve just seen there photos for the first time and had to share!

My girl is so beautiful!!!!

I slept in this morning – no really! I knew there was no rush. Weather was clearly not going to be very good, so I enjoyed a sleep until after 9am.

I must say one of the advantages of staying in this place is that there us no housekeeping. Therefore you are never disturbed by someone desperate to clean your room. I love that!

I did however have to wait an hour and a half to get a shower. Served me right for sleeping in!

By the time I made if out of my room it was already 11:15!

Weather was wet and typical bi-polar Nelson weather – raining one moment, and not the next.

I ambled through town, barefoot, and ended up back at the bead shop for a rainy day project. I was going to make Nicole a bracelet. I found beads that matched the theme of her new tattoo and very slowly made my way back my room.

I spent the rest of the afternoon listening to podcasts I downloaded before I left and made Nicole a bracelet.

Then, after such a stressful day, I needed a nap!

As I woke up I saw that the sun was poking out between the clouds. Like a reptile I made my way outside to soak up some sun.

I spent some more time walking, and then went for dinner.

After dinner I enjoyed a long walk, this time walking far up the hillsides, looking at old houses, churches, and enjoying the view. There doesn’t seem to be a boring house, or a boring street. Fantastic!

I can hardly imagine a more relaxed day.

Tomorrow I will need to find a new activity to keep me occupied.

Oh today was fun!

A reasonable rise @ 6:45am, quick shower, and a weather report from my sweetie via crackberry started the day.

The weather was sunny with a bit of cloud. Nothing concerning.

I had some breakfast out my squishy bowls, and a cookie (breakfast of champs), and off I went.

The ride to Balfour was wonderful. We had ridden this road in our previous trips, but it was always cold and rainy. Today it was great.

I got to the ferry terminal almost 50 minutes early. The terminal has several shops to while away the time. It felt like ten minutes and it was time to board.

The Balfour ferry is the longest free ferry ride in the world, serving 9 small towns on east Kootney Lake (Riondel, Kooteney Bay, Crawford Bay, Grey Creek, Boswell, Sanca, Twin Bays, and Wynndel). The towns are connected via a highway on the east side, but the highway is often impassable due to snow, and so the ferries are deemed an essential service.

The ferry is small, with enough room for perhaps 50 cars, and a very small space for passengers, both inside and out. The time between terminals is about 45 minutes.

I enjoyed the ride on deck. Passing the time taking photos for a family with thief malfunctioning camera and keeping the wind from stealing my hat.

The clouds were starting to get a little blumper above, but nothing concerning yet.

I had expected, due to some misleading marketing, that I would encounter community after community of interesting trinket shopping that would compel me not only to stop and drool, but also to involuntarily empty my wallet. Sadly aside from two small places, the first and the last, nothing could have been further from the truth.

These small “towns” were nothing more than a small Ma and Pa corner store, and an adjoining house or two. Maybe they kept the real town hidden somewhere away from those pesky motorcyclists.

Thankfully the drive was well worth the trip alone. Wonderful and curvey, and so perfectly empty! Since almost all the traffic in the area comes via the ferry, and much of that is local, it doesn’t take long for the streets to empty.

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Last night was hot! I was up until 1030 at least – sweating. I love the quality of our tent, but it’s not very breezy unless the cover is removed, and then everyone can see you.

I slept in a little – didn’t leave until 7:45am.

Weather was a bit cloudy but with rays of sun filtering though. The ride was wonderful. It’s my favorite stretch – anywhere! Clouds eventually gave way to beautiful clear skies and more heat! Temps were between 21 this am in higher elevations, and 29 – in Nelson (drip).

I went straight to the White House, a backpackers lodge right off the main drag in Nelson. It’s a great big house with several additions. I’m staying in a room to myself. It’s a little cozy room, with a bunk bed. I’m still trying to decide whether to stay on the top or the bottom bunk – OR, wait for it, – alternate – I do exciting things on my vacation! Let there be no doubt!

The room has a little table, and best of all, it’s nice and cool. Probably 10 degrees cooler than outside. The bathrooms and showers are shared, but they all have their own room, and they are very clean.

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I decided that when I woke up this morning, that I wasn’t going to check the weather. I was going to just get ready and go! I didn’t want to give myself a reason to worry. It didn’t work

I made the mistake of turning on the radio. The weather report painted a story of rain, high wind, and thunderstorms. Shit! If that wasn’t something to worry about.

The night before I had booked a room on a hostel in Nelson – a place called the White House – As you all know I love the USA and the president, and so this made me feel good. I digress. Its a private room room in a hostel, so it’s just like a hotel, except I have to share (hog) the bathroom. Anyway, since I already paid, I wasn’t about to back out, but I was worried I’d be rained on or that heavy rain would make the drive difficult.

I left, rather grumpy and tired, around 7:45am.

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OK, so, after a nice dinner, lots and lots of thought, a critical look at the weather forcast, and some stressing and worrying (cause you know I have to have a little of that or the day just isn’t complete!), I’ve decided to go to Nelson.

The weather looks like it will be ok, and after finding this place, which still had a private room available for the week, I decided that it would really enjoy my time even if it was raining, if I had a place I could go to that wasn’t a tent.   The room is just $50, which is only $15 more per night than the campsite…

I will leave Sunday morning, stay overnight in Osoyoos, and then stay in Nelson for the week…

If weather is good I’ll have many opportunities to go and explore roads around Nelson.. There are many.

Then on Friday I’ll head to Kelowna to meet Larry and his family and enjoy a couple nights camping in the back yard… Apparently there is also a hot tub to enjoy!!!