Day 37 Mile zero and home

After 15,361 klm, 33 motel rooms, 10 Provinces we are home safely.  I thank the Harley gods for keeping us safe on our adventure.  O Canada our home and native land, is huge, with lots of friendly people, delicious food, beautiful cities and wide open spaces.  We can check this one off our bucket list!

Day 36 Victoria

On the road by 730 this morning trying to beat the heat; last night at 9 pm it was still 27 degrees.  The road thru the mountains was deserted with only the animals and a few logging trucks on it. Crisp air was a refreshing way to start the day, the eastern sunrise kept the chill away.
Hope was a gas and breakfast stop and then on into the Fraser Valley with the sun picking up heat.  We rolled into Denco Cycle at about 11 left my bike for them to check out while I dragged Al down main St for a much needed haircut.  He was panicing when the girl got the clippers out and started chopping away at it, no worries she did a great job.
We were in awe of the view at the ferry terminal, both if us have been missing the smell of the ocean.  We drove off the ferry at 5 pm with intentions of heading to mile zero, after observing the traffic and the heat we figured we would rather go to Mariahs. Mile zero can wait for the morning!!!

Day 35 Princeton poolside

Early morning stroll to the coffee bar downtown Grand Forks; where Al met some new biker buddies to compare notes with.  Back on the Crowsnest highway cruising thru the brown grasslands, where the deer and cattle graze.  Greenwood for breakfast at the Copper Eagle Bakery, omg French toast with REAL maple syrup.  It was busy!
We chugged along thru Osoyoos and right on thru to Kermeos where we stocked up on fruit at Parsons roadside stand, to be enjoyed poolside at the Evergreen Motel pool.
Early check-in again, then off to wash the bikes which is long overdue, it hasn't been done for 12000 klm!!!  We were clean until the gumbo in Saskatchewan!!  Oh well this is the last day for a motel room, I'm ready for my own bed!

Day 34 Pool day in Grand Forks

We did a walking tour of Creston at 6:30 this morning as we both are still not used to the time changes.  We left early to have breakfast at our favourite place The Dragonfly in Salmo.  The weather was crisp the sky was blue and the sun was shining as we rode the twisted mountainous highway.  It is good to be back in BC.
We checked into Johnny's Motel in Grand Forks at 11:30 unloaded the bikes and went to Lordco for oil.  The bikes needed some new oil, they were so kind to us and allowed us to do it in the shade behind the building.  It was a hot hour and a half but we changed the engine and primary oils, grabbed some beer and snacks and headed for pool!!!
We had a great day poolside!

Day 33 On the road again!!

I forgot to mention that while we were riding Highway 3 we watched a Crop dusting biplane do it's thing on the ripe crop beside the highway.  We could smell it long before we saw the act, I have read they do this but now I KNOW they spray the ripe grains before harvest and we are consuming the poison as it doesn't get washed off.  What about those breathing the fumes and handling the product???
Google the real reason grain is toxic.

We were waiting at the shop by 9 am hoping the mechanic would go in before 10, sure enough he got there shortly after but didn't stop to talk to us.  After about 45 minutes we heard the engine start and then the big door opened.  Al finally quit pacing it was fixed; the plug from the rectifier to the stater was corroded so they cut it off and made a new plug.  We rode out of there before 11 to go to Sideline Motorcycles who had a new one for insurance.  While waiting for the tow truck a guy drove up and gave us the shops phone number just in case we needed more assistance.

Off to Cranbrook and then Creston for the night.  We stayed right downtown at the Creston hotel and suites which was totally renovated with a great restaurant and pub.  The sheets and duvet were so nice!!!

I was so happy to have fruit and veggies to snack on!

Day 32 F@#k Broke down east of Lethbridge Alberta

We were off to a great start this morning heading out of Weyburn at 7 am, riding into dense misty fog on Highway 13 for 370 kilometers before hitting the TransCanada at Gull lake.  It was similar to riding in Montana, fields of gold for miles with rolling dips and climbs.  The fog burned off within an hour making the grey cumulus cloud visible; just when we thought we were going to be riding into them the road would change direction.
We were shooting for Sparwood for the might which was 800 klms, unfortunately just east of Lethbridge Al' s bike stopped running.  We were traveling west on the Crowsnest highway at 120 and it just stopped, good thing for the head sets as he was able to tell me he was pulling over and I was able to stop without hitting him.  Headlights were dim, no signal lights, wouldn't start so we took the seat off, everything seemed tight.
Now what?  Good thing for BCAA they were there within 45 minutes and had us to the shop before closing. Only thing was the shop didn't tell me they had no technicians working on a Saturday and that they were closed Monday.  Go figure it is August!!!!  The only technician there volunteered to come in when the shop opens at 10 am.......must be just a retail store as they don't have in stock a stator or regulator.
Hopefully it is just a lose connection or ground, stay tuned!!Look at the sign in the background, my favourite Corporation was beside where the bike died.  Is it an omen?

Day 31 Back in Canada

The bikes were surrounded by puddles of water this morning, they survived a huge storm. It was nice that we were not riding in it!!
Crossing the Red River into North Dakota we rode thru Grand Forks following highway 2, into a misty morning.  The water was running off the windshield, visibility was limited but it wasn't raining!
You could smell the fields of sunflowers long before you could see them. We pulled over on the highway for a photo, on my way to the field I got two soaked feet going thru the ditch, I hate wet boots.
Highway 2 runs thru farm lands and ranches, crops of ripe grains, hay bales, and closer to Minot oil rigs.  West of Minot we turned North West on Highway 52 to the Portal border crossing. The terrain was varied with rolling hills, lakes and fields with beef cattle grazing with the calves.
Near Kenmare the hills on either side of the highway had the year of the different grad classes written with white rocks on the hills.
I finally got one of the train engineers to blow the horn for me.
We rode into Weyburn escorted by a rain storm, we couldn't see and pulled into a parking lot, only to find it was slippery gumbo.
We stopped and immediately sunk into the goo, my boots had 2 inches stuck to the soles.  We waited for the rain to stop and then searched for puddles to wash off the grey mess.