Visiting yet another BMW dealership

We were happy to leave the KOA behind us this morning. Instead of riding IH-5 all the way down we rode about half way on highway 9 which winds its way through the country side filled with dairy farms, orchards and small towns. Since this was taking longer than expected, we cut across to IH-5 in Arlington in order to get to the BMW dealer before it got too late. Continue reading Visiting yet another BMW dealership

Back in the U.S.A.

We picked a bad weekend to be in Canada – the first Monday in August, known as British Columbia Day was in full effect. It felt like half the province was on the move. We were heading west on 3 with ‘ok’ traffic but the east bound lane was packed with cars, motorcycles and campers. Although the traffic wasn’t in our lane it was still stressful riding, especially in the mountains past Princeton. Continue reading Back in the U.S.A.

Most northerly point reached – heading back south

We reached the most northerly point of our journey yesterday – New Denver, British Columbia. We are now on the second leg of our tour, heading back south and inevitably home, though it will take us a while since we are not taking the shortest route. An odd sensation – one of both sadness that the northerly push is over and anticipation of returning home – in knowing that a turning point has been reached.

Continue reading Most northerly point reached – heading back south

Banff will have to wait

What, not go to Banff when you are this close? Yes. Diane’s pretty anti-social so the thought of throngs of tourists, RVs, tons of traffic all while riding on our bikes just didn’t appeal to her. Gregarious me wanted to mix it up of course ;-). In the end, we decided to skip the crowds, knowing that it would be just as bad as Glacier National Park. Crazy? Perhaps, but it’s our journey and we like to travel on the less beaten path. Plus it gives us an excuse to come back, combining it with a trip to Alaska and to Deadhorse in Prudhoe bay. Continue reading Banff will have to wait

Whitefish, MT to Bonners Ferry, ID

Rain, rain, rain – that’s what the forecast for Radium Hot Springs, CA called for today. Not good. Instead, we decided to move laterally (west) to make our roundabout approach to Banff where better weather was expected later in the week. No big deal really, since this trip isn’t always about taking the most direct route. Continue reading Whitefish, MT to Bonners Ferry, ID

Great Falls, MT to Whitefish, MT

We tried to get an early(ier) start but still didn’t leave the hotel parking lot until 9:00. Instead of just going to St. Mary and spend the night there the plan was to ride to east Glacier and see what time we got there. If it was early enough and we felt up to it we would ride through the park during the afternoon rather than in the morning when it was likely to be colder. Continue reading Great Falls, MT to Whitefish, MT

Missoula, MT to Great Falls, MT

We are trying to time the weather and our drive through Glacier National Park on the Going-to-the-Sun Road, hence the intermediary stay in Great Falls. The weather should clear up tomorrow. We could have also gone to West Glacier first but the hotel situation in Kalispell and Whitefish was not good. Few available and rather pricy. Continue reading Missoula, MT to Great Falls, MT

No motorcycles today :-(

Diane’s bike is done but the the R1200GS is still being reassembled. Joe the service manager called at 17:15 (they close at 18:00) and said that it would be ‘really close to 18:00’, if at all, that the bike would be ready. By the time the cab would have gotten to the campground, plus rush hour traffic we may have not made it to the dealer by the time they closed.

Since we had already planned on staying until tomorrow anyway we decided it would be best to pick up the bikes tomorrow morning. Should be early in the morning – they open at 9:00. I’d rather not have the mechanic rush to finish by tonight and then forget something – oops left over pieces :-o. Not good, especially since there are no BMW dealers where we are heading.

So, another night and morning without our cooking gear since we left the panniers at the dealer (note to self: if bringing in the bikes for service, leave the panniers wherever we are staying). Dinner tonight was some vegetarian sushi rolls and beer – the sushi we picked up at a restaurant within walking distance from the campground, the beer at the campground store.

The natives are getting restless :-).

Motorcycle Update

We arrived at the dealer shortly after they opened. The plan was for them to fix the leaking transmission/final drive/counterbalancer (?) seal on the R1200GS and get the valves on Diane’s F650GS checked. After browsing the store we set up shop in the very nice customer lounge area were I hooked up the Apple Airport Express so we could get wireless access. Continue reading Motorcycle Update