Great Afternoon with a Georgeous Woman

This is the Highwood Pass along Highway 40 in the Kananaskis region of Alberta.
As you can see the scenery
is wonderful

The Long and winding road

Moving at speed... and taking pictures is always fun...
especially when it's done at the same time.

Here we are at the top of the pass. I have a hard time putting to words how great it is to be out on an afternoon cruz with the love of my life. She is a wonderful passenger, I could easily go to the ends of the earth with Nola as my co-pilot. She told me that when we are rippin' she just closes her eyes and goes with the flow, now that's trust. Wow! I Love you darlin'...

Our total mileage today was about 450 km... and included a buffet supper at the Kananaskis Lodge.
It was a Great day.

July 14 2007 Calgary to Salt Lake and Home

This trip comprises 2 days of riding (July 14 and July 21) and includes 5 days of business in Orlando combined with a family reunion in Brigham City Utah... Start day is July 14 2007

A short little "giddy up" ride from Calgary to Salt Lake/Provo via the twisty Mountain roads of Montana and Idaho... Great ridin' .... Hotter than blazes. I take off from Calgary about 10:00 am and go visit our daughter Holly and Hunter and Marshall our 2 Grandsons before leaving town.

Leave Calgary and go through Kalispell Montana down to Missoula Montana and over to Salmon Idaho... I stopped in at Lorne and Erliene's in Salmon just to say hello and hit a home run... they are actually at their store and it's 7 pm on a Saturday. It was only a short 10 minute visit. An absolute pleasure to reacquaint. Then off to Provo to meet up with family, Nola and Auz. Arrive in Provo ... find the hotel and get to sleep around 2 am... Great day... Wonderful ride.

I had a run in with a motorcycle cop ...
Aka Hunter Murray. (our Grandson)
I bribed him with some ice cream...
It worked...

Head back to Calgary on July 21, 2007

This is the top of Galena Summit. Great day. It's about 6pm here and I want to get home without stopping overnight ... We'll see if the Old Guy has it in him.

Here's another raving Motorcycle fan.
He needed to have a sit and just get the view.

There was a fire some where in the Sawtooth mountains... it got real smokey for an hour or so between Stanley, and Challis Idaho. The Gallina Pass to Missoula is a great ride.

So here's how the ride ends... It's late about 2 am and I'm trying to push home... It becomes evident that there is just no way I'm making it home unless I stop and rest my eyes for a few minutes. I think to my self... It will be cool and comfortable if I stop at a tourist pull out on the way down Logan Pass near St. Mary's Mt. So as I'm slowing down and pulling into a pull out, I startled a very large Bear. It was about 4 feet high at the rump and about 4 feet wide. It was the biggest bear backside I've ever seen. With adrenaline pumping from my close encounter I continued to St. Mary's and pull into a parking lot, lay out my therma rest and lay out on the ground covered up with a sleeping bag...boots and gear, minus helmet still on... It's amazing how well a person can sleep in less than ideal conditions. This was one of those sleeps. Up early and get to the Border around opening time. I got home to Calgary in time to prepair a lesson and teach my Sunday School Class of energetic 16-17 year old keeners. Great trip...

June 29 2007 R.B.T. Home Sweet Home Day 12

Up early... On the road out of Jasper by 7:00 am.

It's cold .. down to about 4 degrees C for an hour or so. up and over the pass and stop at the bottom of the 270 degree swooper and check out the river that falls into a rock crevasse. Cool spot. We get hung up by some trailer traffic. and work our way through it. then on to Canmore for fuel and I need 2 RED BULL for the final leg back to Calgary. ..

It's now a few days later and while I write this it would be great to be back out at it.

It has taken me hours to clean up the calcium chloride (dust suppressant) that was used on the Haul Road. ) when wet. that stuff sticks to bike parts and bakes on to exhaust . it is hard to get off! As opposed to Jon Lee who is easy to get off, or so I'm told. I enjoyed the trip immensely.

Apart from Ryan and I we were 4 guys that knew each other casually. We have become "fast friends" . Like James "the Hammer" said: "No one can take this away from us!" Great time. A little painful at times. What great adventure comes with out the reality checks and a "bit" of pain? We all stretched our capacity for endurance and have tested these machines to the maximum of our present capacity to push them. The machines are amazing.

Truly impressed with the versatility of these motorcycles..

Oh and did you know "Red Bull gives you Wings"

June 28 2007 R.B.T. Push to Jasper Day 11

Early start and good going. Stop at Fort St. John for Timmy's and fuel and Red Bull and scoot off to Dawson Creek. pictures at the mile '0' monument and continue to Grand Prairie. Stop for some fuel and pep & ched and Yep Red Bull and then off to Grand Cash.. Great Road. rippin fast. eat at Grand Cash and on to Jasper.

The 4 stooges

June 27 2007 R.B.T. Rippin' the Alaska Highway Day 10

The Alaska Highway “Scenic Section” Watson Lake to Fort Nelson.

What a beautiful road… we stop to chase some Bears and to wait for the Buffalo to cross the road … then hold up at Liard Hot Springs for an hour or so… good times.

Watson Lake Sign Post Forrest

What a great Road... Rippin'

Greg with his Super Man Rally Suit chasing Bears... with the Paparazzi following...

Ryan showing us a different kind of Bare.

Where is it! I wanna soak in the Hot Springs.

Puttin' out the vibe

Once Liard is done we Red Bull up and look at the road ahead it’s dark, Dark and stormy looking … a guy comes up to us and says: "that was the hardest rain storm I've ever been in"… we look at each other … swallow hard and do what we always do when we face adversity… get on the bike and ride. We got a little damp but the bulk of the storm passed before we got there. Beautiful country.

We stop at Ft. Nelson and fuel up eat and get ready to head out to Fort St. John. It’s 8:30 pm and we won’t get to Fort St. John for 3 ½ hours if we push… so we wimp out and take a room… so we can get up early and head er’…

Oh I forgot Greg and I started to chase bears mid way through the day... He wanted to wrestle them and I wanted to get pictures to sell them to the tabloids... It was fun... And we got some pretty good pics...

June 26 2007 R.B.T. Skagway Day 9

Breakfast at 8:00 meet up with a biker coming from the south and ask how the roads were he tells us of a nightmare construction zone ahead. We tell him that the road north is bumpy but not too bad. The construction zone south was cake, in fact it was a lot better than what was north of us. Sorry Dude... we didn't know.

We scoot down to Whitehorse fill up and Red Bull up. "did you know that Red Bull give you wings?" Then off to Skagway.

James taking a drive by picture of a Griz in the ditch while I take a picture of James

Some good times in Skagway.... So much fun it hurts...

Best meal of the trip... "Thanks Ryan"...

Posers!

What a drive! That road is beautiful. It is one of the most remote and away feeling places I've ever encountered (next to the Haul Road and Top of the World and White Rim and West Coast Trail and...) to think of the work and man hours spent hauling stuff up and over those passes during gold rush times makes me weak just thinking about it. The town is delightful. Lots of period dress and touristy stuff to take in . We went to the Museum and wandered around town for a while . Ryan bought us all a great seafood meal and we fueled up bike and mind and took off into the wild blue yonder once again. North East at Carcross and pushed through to Watson Lake. I got so tired at one point that we stoped at the road side to sleep on a gravel parking lot for 15 minutes and then head out again. We do some rippin' with Greggy at the head end of our train.

June 25 2007 R.B.T. Anchorage Day 8

We go to Alaska Leather and buy stuff, Barb finds me some R1200 GS rear brake pads. Mine are done. At 12,000 km. We go to Alaska Rider and they have pads and let me change them in their shop.... 30 minutes later and we're fueling up and Red Bulling... up and out the door.

We go through a radar trap that consisted of a mini van on an over pass with a lazer gun. whoosh. slip through that one. We stop at the musk ox tourist trap and rest a while. Then back on the road. We take the Glenn Highway . It's a twisty ripper... Loads of fun

This youngster was so keen on motorcycles that he really needed to climb on board...

Midnight on the Alaska Highway

Up to Tok Junction and down the road we go. Next stop the Border. slip through and are so tired at Destruction Bay Yukon that we try to get into the hotel but the front desk is closed for the night. 1:00 am.

Ryan Greg and I get out camping stuff and are ready to camp out in the entrance of the Hotel. Out of the rain . Next thing you know James has found the Hotel manager and we're getting checked in. for a decent sleep. Way to go James!