Ready? Set? GO!

Carter and I are finally ready to go about noon Saturday July 12.

Our plan is to go south into the US and make it to Osoyoos BC, for Monday morning. ( I have a meeting at 9:00 am), then come home to Calgary.

This is in front of Holly and Jared's place. We are really ready to go here.

We push pretty good and get to Sandpoint Idaho, stop for fuel and check out the Bugs, this buggy mess is after about 40 minutes of riding. But what a great ride!

Whoosh! What did I get myself into? I should know better than to hang with that "Old Guy"... It's late and we need to sleep.

After we fuled up we found the LDS Church in Sandpoint and camped on the grass. Great sleep! We're up about 7 am go to get a Scottish breakfast at McDonalds. We clean up a bit and get ready to go to 9am Church.

On the way to church we stop and visit with this feller who chopped and rodded his 2 door chevy 150 waggon. Cool Kar.

After Church we push west and north and get to Winthrop, Twisp and North Cascade Pass. Great roads except for a freshly oiled section, it was nasty. Here's Carter on the Boxer Cup.

On the GO! Carter is a very good rider. It's great to hang with him.
We pulled over to get this picture. Very nice spot. Having a great time.
Me and the "Tractor".... What a great Tractor. Love this machine.
Hangin' out in the North Cascades... Nieeeece!
We stop in Osoyoos and head north to Kelowna. We think we've outsmarted the "Construction Devils"... the joke's on us. Look at the traffic behind us, it goes as far as you can see.
Here we are Monday afternoon waiting for the Ferry, very nice spot.

Here are some fellow riders. They are out for a week or so Cruzin on their Harleys, Campin', and hangin' out. There is no such thing as a "Bad" motorcycle. The adventure is Great.

When I took this picture on Mcleod Trail after midnight, Carter thought he had just recieved a Multi-Nova (camera) ticket. I laughed hard. Great ride, nice ending.

Mark's Musings: I wanna ramble for a minute. We (Carter and I / Father and Son) spent 3 long days together riding hard going fast, and lovin' life. We are really fortunate to be able to have / make these adventures together. Carter, Thank You for taking the time and effort to hang out with yer DAD! I am a blessed man. "mark"

The Quick trip home

I started to come home (Calgary) at about 8:00 am Sunday July 6th. As I was riding through Phoenix heading North I made the executive decision to go through Prescott, Jerome, and Sedona, then on to Flagstaff and points North. This is by no means the shortest route but definitly a fun and scenic way to head North on highway 93 and turning right on 89.

This is a shot of the narrow winding road into Jerome AZ, an old mining town, turned to be a tourist attraction. The town is built on a steep hill side with the main highway (89) switchbacking and acting as the main street to town. Cool spot.

At about 2:00 am, about 20 miles south of Sun Valley Idaho, I was so tired I began to halucinate animals on the road. Time for a power nap. I came on a rest stop and pulled in. I then set up camp on a picknick table, therma rest, sleeping bag and all. Boots off .... I estimate that about 45 minutes into my power nap ......... the automatic sprinklers came on, being really tired I didn't wake up right away.... thouroughly soaked and now not needing a shower, (already had a sleeping bag shower) I got up tried to get back to sleep on the asphalt parking lot, no luck so continue on. Stopped for fuel in Hailey and gulped a redbull... Good to go ... Kinda.
It is a good idea to pay attention to the signs. Or else be ready for a short nap.

As you get into the town of Ketchum / Sunvalley there is a road that goes North (Trail Creek) and hooks up to the Challis Road (highway 93) in about 80 miles of an amazing gravel road. This was early morning about 5:30.

I stopped when I spotted Lorne Arfman standing on a ladder in front of his clothing store in Salmon Idaho. Lorne is a great individual that I am honored to know. When I stopped Lorne let me know that his Brother in law, Bill Studebaker drowned in a kyaking accident on the 4th of July. We spoke of Bill and his accomplishments for a while ..... I left Lorne to work and I pushed North, on 93.

As I continued North out of Salmon, I reflected on Bill's fate. Bill Studebaker, who played the roll of professor, author, poet, activist, extreme adventurist, mentor, friend, example, husband, father, grandfather, son, brother and many other rolls not mentioned here. A wonderful man who lived his life fully. Wide full open. He died while partaking in one of his lifes passions, Kyaking the Salmon river. He pushed hard and enjoyed much. Bill positivly influenced every one who spent enough time with him to know him. Even those of us who know Bill casually knew that when you were around Bill you were in the presence of a great individual. Thank You Bill. We will miss you. Thank You for setting the bar high, and for giving us the drive to live every day... Completely. A big hug and thank you to Judy, for sharing Bill with so many of us interlopers. We wish you well, and are sincerely sorry for your loss, Bill will be sorely missed by all who knew him. May God bless you and your entire family in this difficult time. Mark

I continued to push North and made it home around 10 pm Monday July 7, 38 hours after leaving Phoenix. A strong push. I was able to pack a lot of travel, distance, experience, and living into a pretty short time. Lovin' it. mb

Next: Father and Son go on "Rideabout"

Mark & Nola go South

This trip started with Nola deciding she would go down to Phoenix for 6 weeks to assist our Daughter (Holly) by helping babysit while Holly takes a course on teaching infants how to swim. Then came the question that every "Motorcycling" husband longs to hear.... "Will you take me to Phoenix?.... Will you take me on the Motorcycle? Answer: It will be my pleasure!

Here we are packed up and ready to go... Ready to camp ... ready for anything?

We stopped in Raymond for the 1st of July festivities. Here's Nola and Donna.

What Raymond parade is complete without the Raymond Canadians?

Blair Proctor (brother in-law) on the drums.

Babes and Motorcycles.....

Great Burger at a road side joint in the SawTooth Mtn's MMMMMM.

This is me with Dyan (sister) and her husband Tink in their store located in Twin Fall Idaho... July 3rd 2008

This is an un-named motel in Ely Nevada... Nola calls it the "Fear Factor Motel"

Soon after the "FFM" we came to Atlanta? The sign said we were close. We thought about stopping to visit with Dylan, and then thought maybe it was a nasty trick.

So instead of going to Atlanta (sorry Dylan) we decided to cross the desert and go visit Robbie and Tammy Brandly in Las Vegas. The desert was warm 44 C. Smokin hot on a motorcycle, but not as hot as it eventually gets later in the afternoon!We left Vegas around 4 pm, got our hand slapped by the State Patrol for splitting trafic on the I-15, opps. Then proceeded to the Hover Dam where Nola took some shots from the back of the bike. It was really, really hot here 49 C. Nola said she was feeling sick and asked me to move as quickly as possible. The air was still and dead in the "Dam Valley" . We stopped at Kingman for a "Trucker Supper".... MMMMM average at best.

Well we were shooting to get to Phoenix tonight 4th of July. As we got closer to our destination, it became obvious that we were going to get a firework show by "mother nature" . The light show was great, it came with lots of rain and wind, my bride took it all in and said keep going, so we did and pushed (splashed) through to "Queen Creek" ... where Holly is staying.

This is the place. We arrived around midnight. The last few miles seemed to be the hardest, directions were a little sketchy, but we made it with out incident.

Here's "Helmet Man" aka Hunter.
And that handsome guy "Austin"...

It was great to get to the destination, especially to hang out with family for a few hours. Everyone was great. We owe a huge thank you to the Sackley family and the Nathan Tanner family for their hospitality and kindness. Thank You.

Next: The short way home! 32 hours of GO!