Ride Report- Mississippi to Alaska & Back - Pic Heavy

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Headed to Missoula on the 90. TG ran great at 75-80 the whole way.





Fun road coming thru the range that surrounds the Missoula valley.




Yep, all that stuff, and more, was on/in the TG. :icon_lol:



First things first! Grandma Mary and Lydia!



Then she wanted to get on the bike. lol



Yep, I can reach the handlebars dad.

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Then she got on the passenger seat and wanted to hear it.




It's Loud! When you move "that thing" it gets louder. lol



Then a pic or 10 with grandma.



Off to dinner, when we got back she wanted a ride...we putted around the parking lot.



Many hours were spent in the pool this weekend.

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This morning we started out in Missoula, MT. Cut thru Idaho, then Washington State, then crossed into Canada. We're at Grand Forks, BC right now.

Packing up in Missoula. The right side of the trunk has tools, oil, pledge, octane booster (just in case).



All the rest of this stuff, plus a little, gets put into the rest of the trunk!



Trunk and Tour-Pak pretty full. When it is colder we wear more, and it's a little easier to pack.




Headed out of Missoula on the 90. We ran behind an Adventure Tourer guy for awhile.



Headed toward Idaho.




Montana has some great roads!




Idaho is nice too! But definitely not the glass smooth like Montana.



Couer d' Alene lake




In Washington now. Was unpleasantly surprised by the part of Spokane we saw.




North of Spokane, on the 395, great roads and country.



More in next post.

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North Washington, about 100 miles from Canada.



Stopped for some gas, saw this. Sounded great too!



Old time Drive-in ... wasn't near any city, but there must be folks up in the hills.




The Columbia river.



Fresh batteries for the video camera and Mary's point & shoot.



So we could get some pics like this-

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Coming up to the Canadian border. We did not get any pics, but they must have asked us a half dozen times if we had any firearms or ammo with us...all while pulling stuff out of the trunk and tour-pak.

They were quite nice about it, but left it to me to re-pack. lol



After rolling thru Wyoming, SD, Montana, Idaho and Washington at 75-80 mph, it's gonna be different here. lol





It will be easier for Mary to get pics at 50-60 mph!



Here's where we are tonight-



Most nights we hit a grocery store and pick up some food for the night and the next morning. That was a bit of an experience at the store across from where we're staying.

Tomorrow going to be changing some USD to Canadian dollars.

While there, saw "The First Canadian Custom Bike Magazine".





Tomorrow we go a short hop to Salmon Arm to see Katie!

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Gonna have to do a full report on today sometime in the next day or so.

But here it is briefly...One day in Canada and it is amazing!

We rode up to Salmon Arm. Met up with Katie, she showed us around a bit. What a fantastic area she lives in.

Tried several times to upload a short video...failed each time.

Went and had a great meal and time visiting at a friend of Katie's Italian restaurant.

In the morning we're going to meet up and Katie is going to ride with us as far as Revelstoke.

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Ok. Wow. We have been in Canada 3 days and are blown away. Sitting in a log cabin in Jasper (which is nicer and less expensive than the motels in the area)starting to catch up.

Back 3 days ago we left out of the border town, Grand Forks, to go meet up with Katie in Salmon Arm.

This was the view from the motel door.




On the road to SA.




The roads, scenery and vastness of Canada are amazing! We are having the time of our lives.




Stopped in Rock Creek for some gas. Area map on side of the building.



Katie confirmed that the main industry in the area is logging. We saw plenty of these!



Cruise control has many uses....Cleaning the lens of the video camera before some twistys!




The creek changed directions/overflowed...that used to be the front yard, and the water is 2-3 foot deep at the garage and house. Bummer.



I think part of what takes so long to do a report each day is that Mary takes a couple hundred pics a day...and they are all good. Can only post up a few. Great riding!




At Salmon Arm! Gonna see Katie in a bit.

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Katie took on a nice tour around part of the area. We hit rain a few times, not too bad or cold though.

That's steam coming up off the road. (Where Katie lives is MUCH warmer than the glaciers we've been riding thru the last couple of days)



Riders paradise!




Coming back into town after seeing a small part of the lake.



Katies good looking & sounding Deluxe and the Traveling TG parked at the curved pier.



Pier and a small part of the lake.



It was great meeting Kate after knowing her for years on the internet. We had a nice dinner, and great time. Thank you Kate!!!

The next morning we rode out to Revelstoke on our own while Katie was stuck in court. More pics coming tomorrow.

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After a great afternoon & evening with Katie in Salmon Arm, we headed out to Revelstoke.

We did not know what to expect. Except, when I saw the first set of mountains covered in snow, I thought, this must be the beginning of the Icefield Highway. :lmao:

Wrong!!!

There are hundreds and hundreds of miles of mountain after mountain covered with snow. Literally mind boggling.

Off from SA toward Revelstoke (we missed you Katie!)



Starting to climb and get a bit chilly.




Lakes everywhere. No shortage of water here, and what comes out of the faucet everywhere we've been smells and tastes good.



Coming into Revelstoke, got some gas, and headed on.

btw, gas is in liters and costs anywhere from 1.59 to 1.69 per for 91 octane, ethanol Free.




Mary does a great job of capturing pics!



Somewhere along here it was getting cold. We turned on the heated jacket liners.

A little over a year ago Mary said she wanted to get a heated jacket, and thought I should too. I resisted for all the normal reasons. Never had any problem with layering up. Don't want wires hanging everywhere, etc. etc.

Well, we both got them last year and I gotta tell you, they are Very Nice! All last winter it was much easier & warmer than the normal layer upon layer that I used to put on and still not really be warm.

This is Rogers Pass coming out of Revelstoke toward Lake Louise.




We have so many pics of mountain after mountain from just this day, here are just a couple...







This road has some nice twistys, then it opened up into a 4 lane with great sweepers.



What I found very interesting (no complaints at all), the Canadian drivers will follow the speed limits in town and close to the towns (which are quite slow compared to the States). Then when on a road like this they open it up!

The speed limit on this 4 lane was 100 km (62 mph), but I was doing 75-85 mph and getting passed by almost everyone!



more pics coming.

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Still on our way to Lake Louise, stunning everywhere you look!



Here we are!




Took more than a few pics, but none of them really did it any justice. You can google and see some amazing pics of the glacier fed lake.

Here's one of Mary.




Our plan was to head up to Jasper from Lake Louise, via the Icefield Highway. However, due to our dawdling it was a bit late in the afternoon. So instead of paying crazy high rates for any of the motels at Lake Louise we made a 40 mile hop to Banff.



Glad we did. Stunning mountains the whole way. Plus we saw a bear on the side of the road. Did not get a pic, but he is on the video we'll be posting when we get back home.




Couple shots of one of the mountains surrounding Banff.







Banff turned out to be a nice town, lots of tourists, but we got a nice room for less than half the least expensive in Lake Louise.



We did the tourist thing and walked the main street. Had some dinner and walked back to our Best Western and spent some time in the jacuzzi with a Canadian couple learning a bit about life in Calgary.

On the walk back.

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Riding from Banff to Jasper was simply overwhelming.

Mary took 250 pics, choosing these few left out so much of what we saw.

The views were spectacular and went on for hundreds of miles.

Hopefully these few will give you a taste.

Leaving Banff....how's that for a view at the edge of town?



Speaks for itself...



Another shot...



Along this road there was fencing up on either side for about 100 miles. Every now and then they put these crossovers so the wildlife could cross from one side to the other without playing dodgeball with the traffic.




Stopping for some coffee. This was the coldest day so far. 40* with some sprinkles now and then, plus wind chill.

We were pretty toasty with the heated jacket liners, long johns (mine are the Walmart variety, Mary has some sort of silk ones she likes.

Also, I have 3 windshields for the Tri-Glide.

My summer one, which is a low profile with a recurve. It kicks the air up over our heads, but still lets it by on the sides so it hits our shoulders. Also does not do much in the rain.

The winter one which is a monster with a square shape at the top, and a recurve. It lets virtually no wind past, and no matter how much I sit up straight I cannot see over it. It is great for those really cold days I ride in during the winter.

Then I have the stock one....it is between the two above, and it is the one we decided to use on this trip. It's a good compromise since we're riding in weather between 35* and 90*.




Entering the Icefield Highway. Little did we know what we were going to see. Fantastic road and spectacular sights. This is a Canadian National Park and the fee for one day was 19.60 USD






More in the next post.

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Mountains, lakes, streams, snow, trees everywhere you look!




A look behind us.




We came up on a mama bear and 2 cubs on the side of the road.

Stopped and took some pics. They saw us there and just continued eating. I eventually turned of the engine, but was ready just in case. lol










Glaciers, you can see where big chunks had fallen.



Panoramic shot.

There was so much to see that a 5 hour ride took over 7 hours.



More on next post.

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Pics just do not capture how big this country is. Emerald green is what this lake looked like in person.





Moving on down the road. By now I had stopped looking for the end...had come to the realization that these just went on and on.




Stopped at another lake. Have no idea what I was doing. Did not know Mary had taken the pic til I downloaded the camera.



More amazing country!



Stopped for gas, ate a sandwich, and solicited another tourist (that did not speak English) to take a pic of us.



More in next post.

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Stopped for some road construction, decided to walk around a bit and take some pics.







Back on the road, more amazing sights!




We were stopped, looking back at the pass we had just climbed. Mary caught this bird that was riding the air currents.



Riding into the clouds!



In Jasper. We were checking out the map from Milepost, seeing how far we had come, and how much further it was to the artic circle!

Our little log cabin for the night!

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We left out of Jasper and it was quite a bit colder, and looked like rain.

We put on the rain pants and kept the jackets handy in case it got too heavy for the leather.

Great way to start the day, elevation changes and curvy roads!



Entering yet another park.



Did I mention...water everywhere!



Riding in the clouds...light rain off and on for the first hundred miles or so.



For the last couple of days I have felt like I was in Switzerland!



Cool bank of clouds hanging low on the mountain.



The terrain has changes. More rolling forest now, but still a snow-capped mountain every now and then.




Oh! Some sweepers and sunshine! These went on for a while.

btw, I put on a new front tire about 1700 miles before this trip. Then went to Eureka Springs and literally wore 50% of the tread of it.

Those of you that have ridden a Tri-Glide know that when taking sweepers at speed the front tire "skips" thru the corners and just shaves the rubber off.

Will definitely need a new front tire before this trip is over.




Going downhill, getting 103 mpg. lol




We stopped and took a little hike up into the "Ancient Forest". Never seen ceders so large. They are monsters!



More next post.

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Saw a bear along the side of the road. We coasted to a stop about 20 yards away and watched him for a bit before he ambled off into the woods.





More rain. Almost stopped for the rain jackets.



Put new rear (Stock) tires on right before we left. They do a pretty good job of pushing the water!



Prince George!



Day after tomorrow is Mary's birthday! We will be in Dawnson Creek, headed for Fort Nelson.

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Short report today. Will catch up soon.

As you might have noticed, we are Motel "camping" this trip. We like the motels where you can pull up to the room door...makes for easier unloading and loading. Plus I always feel better with the bike right outside the door.

In Prince George we could not find such an animal.

But they had the luggage carriers, so here we are in the morning getting ready to load up and head out to Dawson Creek.



Yep, all that is going in/on the bike. lol



All done, and ready to go.



Let's go to Dawson Creek!



It was cold (in the 40's) but mostly sunny. We had a few sprinkles here and there.



Then we saw it off in the distance. Time for the rain suits!



We got pounded pretty hard. The camera was tucked away for the worst of it. But when we pulled out of the gas station at the MacKenzie turn-off the wind was blowing, lightening off to the left and we had hail coming down for awhile.



Will post more tomorrow.

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Eating up the miles.



For all the elevation changes, sweeper and occasional twisty, there are also long stretches of straight road. (fortunately, they are in the minority - lol )



ALWAYS



Dawson Creek. A fairly small town, lots of oil and gas business going on here.



Dawson Creek to Fort Nelson is next!

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This is a day we will remember. It was Mary's birthday, and we had quite an interesting ride. lol

We left out of Dawson Creek, it was cold but dry.



Within the first 30 minutes we came to a bridge that was down to one lane.

Took us about 30 minutes to get across.



I don't know anything about concrete or bridges, but I found it interesting that they were watering the concrete that had recently been put down.



Once we got across, this is the line going the other way that was waiting their turn.



Today was different, not much in the way of mountains. Beautiful country, rolling hills and a great road.





We stopped in Wonowon for gas and some sandwiches.



There is not much there. A gas station, convenience store, and across the street there are dorm trailers for the oil/gas workers.



Getting ready to head out.



There was a lot more to come, but before we get to that...first a Kawa cruiser and a Goldwing pulling a trailer came into the parking lot. The Kawa rider went to slow down in the gravel lot for a pothole...using his front brakes. You know what happened.

Ran over to help him. He was fine and we got the bike upright. Bent the front engine guard, not much else. Took a few minutes to start up, but it did after a bit.


Right after that Brad pulled in on his KLR. He is headed back home to Washington State. He has been on the road for 2 months, been up to Prudhoe Bay, over to Inuvik, he has had quite a ride...and he left when it was still snowing!



More in next post.

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We get back on the road and it is just amazing.

Long straight aways.



Long Sweepers.



Lots of elevation changes.



Even though the speed limit is 100 km (62 mph), almost everyone is running 75-90 mph out here. I set in at a comfortable pace of 75-80. Was getting 29 mpg, (even with all the mountains/hills, when I stay between 60-70 we are getting 35-39 mpg)BUT, I was not worried about 29 mpg because there were two more gas stops between Wonowon and Fort Nelson. I only needed one of them.



We came to the first one...NO GAS...talked to a local and he said the next stop was closed up also, and there was no more gas until Fort Nelson!

Uh-Oh. That was over 80 km away and I had about 1 gallon left (My low fuel light was on...so it was a little less than a gallon).

Some quick math let me know that even at 40 mpg, less than a gallon was not going to get me 80 km (50 miles). Plus, having never traveled this road, I did not know if it was going to continue to be rolling hills, or if we would be climbing a mountain pass.

The Power Vision came in very handy! I did a quick fuel tweak, leaning out the map by 14%. Another useful feature is that the screen can display both your throttle position and the real-time MPG you are getting.

Within a few miles I found that 9% throttle yielded the best MPG whether going uphill or downhill, no matter what gear I was in.

So off we went at speeds varying between 45 and as slow as 11 mph. Most of the 50 miles was between 30 and 35 mph.

lol I just kept the throttle at 9% and used whatever gear I needed to keep it from lugging.

This last hill is steeper than this picture looks-



As you can see I was going about 11 mph at 9% throttle (in first gear) up this hill for over a mile.



We were never happier to see a gas station!

We filled up and the 6 gallon tank took 5.95 gallons! That was close!



Got a motel, unloaded, went to eat a Birthday dinner, came back and parked on the walkway right outside the room.

This pic was taken about 11:30 pm, notice how light it still is.



A day to remember!