Monday August 8th, 2011 Camrose, Alberta to Jasper, Kamloops, Mill Creek - 857 miles

Left Camrose about 0600 local time, clear but very cool. So cool I had my fleece on under my jacket. I used the GPS to get to the Yellowhead Trail (H16), and made really good time around Edmonton. The heavy highway construction I saw last year was still there, some completed, but the crews hadn’t started for the day so I had no delays. I had forgotten that H16 is a dual highway (I used it last year to get to H43 to head north), and in fact it is dual until about 50 miles from Jasper. With very little traffic I made really good time, with no photo stops as the scenery is repetitive.  Jasper National Park is quite spectacular into the Rockies. I must be getting familiar with mountains as I didn’t really see anything that was a ‘wow’ factor, I have to take that photo. I guess having traveled the Rockies many times, and the North Cascades, one gets used to the scenery. 

Jasper and the Rockies:

 After Jasper, the scenery is still great, and at times with more snow on the mountains.  Once clear of the last range, the scenery becomes more of the foothills type, and so into Kamloops. I had expected a lot more holiday traffic, and so made good time, arriving in Kamloops about 2:30 local time (now Pacific). It was far too early to make a stop for the night, so I headed west, across the border at Sumas about 6:00 PM, and arrived home at 8PM.
857 miles, 15 hours travel, not bad. The bike just eats the miles.
So my summer road trip for 2011 has ended. I am not sure about next year yet.

Saturday August 6th, 2011 Shelby, Montana to Camrose, Alberta

Left Shelby with cloudless skies, and the sun just hitting the horizon. It was very cool, but the best morning so far the past few days. No problem at the border and into Alberta., and onto Route 36. A long, straight, flat, and virtually free of traffic road. The scenery was typical eastern Alberta, but progress was great. After about 3 hours I hit Route 56, and into dark clouds, very high winds, and really cold. I was the coldest on the bike I have been in a long time. After Drumheller the sun came out again, and as I rode north the scenery changed quite dramatically, with trees, valleys and even agriculture instead of cattle. It was obvious there had been a lot of rain in July, the grass was really green, and the sloughs full of water. Some fields had part under water still. About an hour before Camrose, clouds again, this time very ominous, and rain started just as I hit a long area of road works, with the sign “slippery when wet”. How is that for timing. Slow riding was in order, and a long single lane area didn’t help. Still by about 15 miles from Camrose the sun came out again and I entered Camrose. First impression was that it was a nice place to live. The surrounding area was certainly a surprise, with evergreens in places. Totally different from the Hanna area.

In Camrose tomorrow, then as Monday looks like being sunny, I’ll most likely head for home via Japer then Kamloops.

Friday August 5th, 2011 Devil Lake, North Dakota to Shelby, Montana 672 miles

Left Devil Lake about 0600, under fairly clear skies, which I had just before Minot. The town was surrounded by thick black clouds, with the occasional lightning to the south. The scenery for that part of the day was same old, apart from heavy flooding still around the Mouse River area. The river was really high, well over its banks. Still, with hardly any traffic on US2 dual lane highway I made good time to Minot, after which the traffic pattern changed dramatically. The oil boom has come to North Dakota, and how, changing the landscape dramatically. Minot seemed like a frontier town, pickups, big rigs, and dirt. The road from Minot to Williston was packed with big rigs hauling tankers, drilling equipment, and large construction debris trailers. As they generally entered the road from a dirt area, the road was very dirty. Which meant when I hit heavy rain showers, instead of washing my bike, it got dirtier. It was interesting to see the various oil sites along the road. Areas cleared to house oil pumping donkeys and storage containers, with the flames burning off the gas, drilling platforms, mobile and RV cities, and pipe line construction sites. These were sited amongst the normal prairie sights such as grain and cow pastures. I bet some landholders are making a killing. Many of the big rigs are those used for long distance hauling, and it would seem that it is more profitable to haul dirt than produce for the owner driver. Some signs were out advertising for drivers. All in all it was a very interesting ride, and the time zipped by as did the miles. Williston is much like Minot, busy, noisy and dirty.

After Williston I entered Montana, and my dual highway disappeared, but traffic also lightened. At times I was on my own for miles, and the scenery became the normal prairie for miles until Shelby. Despite showers and light rain for most of the day, progress was great, with very little traffic through Glasgow, Malta and Havre. The only delay was extensive roads works just before Havre.

So into Shelby for the night. The sun was actually shining here, which was nice after a cool and damp ride under black skies for most of the day. No thunderstorms though, which was great. The town is full of bikes, most likely from Canada on the way to Sturgis. It starts tomorrow. Many bikes were heading the opposite direction to me after Williston, all most likely heading for the big event.

Tomorrow I ride the 15 miles to the Canadian border, then on to Camrose for a couple of nights. Most likely I will not blog until I leave there for home.

Thursday August 4th, 2011 Ironwood, MI to Devil Lake, North Dakota 474 miles

I hadn’t intended to stop here, but circumstances made the decision. I stopped here for gas, and asked how far to Minot. “About 90 miles, and I think the road is open”. Huh?. I guess they had serious flooding there a couple of weeks ago when a dam burst, and so the question then became, what about motels. I phoned home for Google help, and it turns out all the motels are fully booked, the next stop would be 90 miles into Montana. So I checked in here in Devil Lake.

So the day was really riding US2 for 474 miles, and many more to go. Immediately after leaving the motel, I crossed into Wisconsin. The morning was OK, very cool, and some good scenery when passing a view of Lake Superior. Some towns on the lake looked interesting. Most of the scenery is basically riding through forests, with some lakes behind the trees, according to the signs. Plenty of Resorts, and camp grounds. It seemed very much like Northern Ontario again. Onto Duluth, a major Minnesota industrial town and port on the Great Lakes. One forgets the lakes have many ships transporting goods. It marks the western end of Lake Superior, and seeing as I had been riding along it for 2 days, it shows how large the lake is. After that it was much the same, and then Minnesota became prairie like and continued so into North Dakota. US2 was a good road to Duluth, after that it is a dual highway all the way to Montana, and beyond. Incredible to ride what is basically a freeway, with hardly any traffic, yet is a red road. One passes through a variety of towns, with populations varying into a few hundred. Although it is a great road to ride, one needs to be aware of the lack of gas stations, and motels. Towns with both a few and far between, and if you miss one, the next may be 90 miles or so down the road.

Devil Lake must be the dust bowl of North America. One sees a mass of huge dump trucks moving dirt up and down the road, convoys of them. Everything is covered in dirt dust, roads, sidewalks, vehicles, the lot. My bike was covered just by riding a few miles down US2. Dirt must be an industry in town.

I also found out why everyone drives here. I walked for a meal and cut across some grass. I was swarmed by mossies. Small but numerous. Talking of grass, no shortage of rain on the ride to-day. The grass was really green all the way. I did cross the Red River at Grand Forks, and it was still very high, with some banks under water. I also crossed the Mississippi River, and it must have been near the source as it was really just a creek.

So tomorrow I hit US2 again, for some 650 miles to Shelby in Montana.

Wednesday August 3rd, 2011 Waterloo, Ontario to Ironwood, MI 750 miles

So my time in Ontario visiting family and friends ends, time to head west for home. Had a great time, and the bike got plenty of action with pillion riders.

Left Waterloo at 0600, light rain, drizzle and low clouds. Not too much water on the roads, and light traffic so it was good going. I took H7 until cutting down to the 402, and then to Sarnia. No waiting at the border, and into Michigan. Most of the morning weather was on/off drizzle, but it was much cooler than of late, at least 25*F, and I was glad of the jacket besides it being waterproof.

So west on I69, then north on I75 and across the Mackinaw Bridge. Very impressive, and quite the site of the lakes as you cross. The scenery until then was like northern Ontario as one went north. Woods, marsh and some lakes. Northern Michigan is obviously a large recreation area, camping, fishing, canoeing. Once across the bridge I picked up H2 (the same one in Washington), and headed west. It travels right alongside the northern shores of Lake Michigan, and has many sandy beaches. I then cut north to pick up R23, and rode along the south shore of Lake Superior. Scenic if you like a huge lake, more like an ocean. It was windy, so lots of whitecaps.

Most of the day I experienced little traffic, but did see an enormous number of bikes on a road trip. I guess the area is very popular for that as well as recreational vacations. Along H2 were many touristy places and stores, but at times nothing in the way of houses, or gas stations. I thanked having my 6 gallon tank a few times to-day.

About 4 pm I entered into blue skies, I guess the tail end of the front, and it soon warmed up. I found out that Ironwood had torrential rain yesterday, and the motel was struck by lightning. It seems the forecast is good for the next few days, so hopefully I’ll get good weather.

So tomorrow, it is onto Duluth, then H2 west for a few hundred (or thousand) miles.

Wednesday July 13th, 2011 Macedon to Bowmanville, Ontario

Back along I90, across the border at Niagara, QEW, 403, and then the 401. The only part of interest was heading from I90 to the border crossing, all the bridges and crossing the Niagara River. Quite scenic.

So 3 weeks of visiting family and friends before starting for home.

Monday July 11th, 2011 Portage to Macedon, NY

Uneventful ride along the I80/I90 turnpike, then onto I90, past Buffalo to Macedon, spending a couple of nights with friends.