Final Thoughts

First, I want to thank everyone for your thoughts and prayers during this trip. Things went very well and I'm sure this had something to do with it.

Second, I'm glad people enjoyed following along with my daily adventures by reading this blog. I had never done anything like this before and I wasn't sure how well it would work. The feedback I have received is that everyone enjoyed it. The photos, maps of my journey, and comments were appreciated by many. Thanks for reading along. I'm glad I could share this experience with you.

I must say this was a wonderful trip and experience; I have no regrets - only memories (and 400+ photos). I got to see many places that I have never seen before and I really believe there is no better way to see nature and beauty than on a motorcycle where you can take it all in. Unfortunately, the trip had to end a little early and there were still a few places I wanted to see. I don't want the little deer incident to be the defining moment of the trip; there are many other highlights, memories, and experiences that are more important to me.

Here are some of statistics of the trip:

• Total Mileage: 10,226 - daily average of 465 miles per day.
• Days Riding: 21
• Lowest mileage day: 183 (day I hit the deer)
• Highest mileage day: 716 (last day getting home)
  
• I spent about $1,000 on gas and averaged 43 miles per gallon - this was my largest single type of expense
• Lodging: I spent 3 nights with relatives, 4 nights in hotels, and 13 nights tenting. A total cost of $550
• States I drove in (9): Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Alaska, and North Dakota
  
• Canadian Providences I drove in (2): Alberta and British Columbia
  
• National Parks Visited (9): Rocky Mountain, Arches, Natural Bridges (National Monument) Bryce Canyon, Zion, Tetons, Yellowstone, Glacier, and Banff/Canadian Rockies. Most were covered by the $80 annual pass I purchased. I guess I got my money worth from that!
• Best road to ride: Beartooth Pass (Wyoming/Montana)
• Best canyon carving: anything west and north of Denver - can't beat it!
  
• Most boring ride: From Calgary through Montana on the trip home
• Steepest incline/decline: Black Canyon of the Gunnison (16% grade)
  
• Best views while riding: Hwy 550 around Ouray, Silverton, and Durango Colorado
• Most spectacular views: Bryce Canyon
• Best Mountains: Canadian Rockies from Banff to Jasper. Followed closely by the Grand Tetons.

Day 21 - June 20

I'm home!!!

I made the 700+ mile trek from Montana, across North Dakota, and home today. I got home around 7:00 p.m. I have to admit my butt was getting a little tired and sore on the way home today. Not a whole lot to see or do but drive, and drive, and drive.

I 'm tired now and need to get some rest. I will post a summary and final thoughts later.

Day 20 - July 19

Not much to report today. I drove from Calgary to Wolf Point Montana (553 miles). The ride today was pretty boring compared to what I'm used to seeing on this trip. Oh well, it is the fastest way home and at this point, that is what is best.

It took 45 minutes to get through customs at the border. I guess a lot of people want out of Canada!

The bike has been doing well.

If all goes well, I should be home tomorrow night! Then I get to start working on next steps with insurance and repairs. Yippi!!!!

Day 19 - July 18

I called the Honda dealer this morning at 9:30 and my radiator from Vancouver had arrived so I went there right away. Their Honda tech was on vacation so they had someone else do the repair. The old radiator and fan assembly were removed and the new radiator (without fan) was installed. Since there is no mounting places at this point, the hoses and a few zip ties are holding the new radiator in place. They added some new coolant and the bike was ready to ride by about noon.

The bike performed well today - I had no problems with over heating. I was pretty confident that as long as I kept moving, the bike would have enough air flow by the radiator that over heating would not be a problem. So far so good. Even with much of the plastic missing on the left side of the fairing, the bike handled very well today.

Several things slowed my progress today. First, was the weather. It was OK when I left the dealer but after about 1 hour of riding it began to rain off and on so I put on my rain gear. The off/on rain continued for another hour and then it was "on". After riding in the rain for some time I took a break at a gas station for about 20 minutes. The rain then let up and I was on the road again. The next 2 things that slowed me down were accidents. Between the 2 accidents, I was parked on the highway for about 2 hours. The first involved a semi and 2 cars. I heard reports that the second involved a motorcyclist that was killed. The two accidents were only a few miles apart from each other.

I made it as far as Calgary today. I'm staying in a motel tonight and plan to see how far I can get tomorrow.

Day 18 - July 17

Today I was supposed to continue my journey south and east towards Idaho, unfortunately there was a little problem this morning. Remember earlier in the trip when I had two days in a row where I had road kill of birds? Well, today it was a deer - yes you read that right.

I left this morning as planned and was going on a nice country road (the one between 97 and 5 in my trip map for the day). All at once a deer came out of the ditch and was beside me. He (small fork buck) collided with the left side of my bike. With help from God, many years experience, and some good luck, I was able to keep the bike up right and not crash it. It all happened very fast but I never felt in danger of tipping over. The deer never moved after the crash, I had to move it to the side of the road so it didn't cause another accident.

I'm fine, I only got few scratches on my leg - not sure what caused them. The bike is another story. I could tell the radiator was loosing a small amount of coolant and that the fan behind the radiator was damaged - these were my biggest concerns. It looks like all the plastic on the front fairing and around the gas tank will need to be replaced along with the left side controls and parts of the fairing.

Since the bike was still drivable and I could see a small town about 1/4 mile ahead, after moving the deer and moving some of my plastic off the road, I drive the bike to town and went into a small market. I told them what happened and asked who I should call (remember I'm still in Canada). They were not sure. There are a couple of organizations that deal with the insurance in Canada that the lady behind the counter mentioned but I wasn't sure that would be of much use. I suggested calling 911 and she said that would make sense. I called 911 but since I was OK they were not concerned and referred me to the insurance groups again. Not much help.

Next I called Cathy to let her know what was going on and she contacted our insurance agent in the states to let them know about the accident and find out what I needed to do. Since the bike was still drivable , I decided to drive it to the largest town near by (Kamloops B.C.) that has a Honda dealer. When I was ready to drive to the Honda dealer, 3 bikers (I will call them my angels : Jim, Joe, and Hank - 3 brothers) came along. I told them what happened and they just happen to be riding to the same town as I was going to. The three of them were out riding together on their vacation. They said if I waited until they drank their coffee, I could ride with them and they could help if I had any trouble - thus my angels. The good news is the ride to the dealer went without any problems - the bike stayed cool the whole time despite losing a little fluid. I thought they were going to ride with me all the way to the dealer, but when we got close and they knew I would be fine they waved and took off so I never got any contact information for my angels. Fortunately at one of the stops we made on the ride, I did get to thank them for allowing me to ride along with. Having them along with me on the drive took a lot of worries off my mind.

The dealer looked at the bike and we determined if the radiator is replaced, the bike should be able to to be driven back home where I can better deal with the insurance and repairs. They placed a rush order for a radiator from Vancouver - they should have it by 9:30 on Friday morning. The hope is they can replace the radiator and I can then drive the bike back home as is.

Now I just need to map out the fastest and most direct way home. I will be cutting this ride short to get home. I don't want to push my luck by driving the bike any more than I have too. It has been a great ride and I was able to get to the places I wanted to see the most. The rest would have just been icing on the cake!

I will try to keep you posted on the progress of repairs and my return trip. I will also post my final thoughts on the entire trip when I return.

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers during my ride.

Day 17 - July 16

There isn't much to report today. Most of the day was spend back tracking from Hyder Alaska - this was segments 2 and 3 that I described yesterday. Usually I don't like to take the same road twice but I had to make and exception in this case. So I went from Hyder back to Prince George and then headed south.

I'm spending the night at a camp ground in William Lake.

Day 16 – July 15

Greetings to you all from Hyder Alaska!!! I made it!!! The weather was great (other than about 10 miles of a drizzles shortly after I left this morning), the roads where all in good shape, and the ride was beautiful. What more can I ask for?

Today’s ride needs to be divided into 3 parts.

The first part was from my motel from last night to Prince George. This ride was very peaceful – the 2^nd most peaceful ride I remember (more on the 1^st most peaceful ride later). When I started out I saw many deer and one elk. Along the way I also saw a cow moose and her young calf. They were running along the road about 20 yards in the ditch. When I caught up to them, they darted into the woods. They didn’t want to stick around for photos I guess. This stretch of road was just an easy joy to sit back and watch go by.

The second section of the ride was from Prince George west on Hwy 16 (Yellowhead Highway). This road reminded me more of northern Minnesota (even some of the building sites look similar if you know what I mean!) except this road provided many mountain views off in the distance. There were cattle and horses grazing in the pasture, people making hay etc. Towns were scattered along the way with all the necessities for the locals.

The 3^rd section, north from Hwy 16 on Highways 37 and 37A, have to be the number 1 most peaceful ride I ever remember. It is like they laid the smooth stripe of asphalt in the middle of the wilderness. It provided slight twists and turns and some ups and downs but all I could do was sit back, breath deep, and take it all in so that maybe in the future I can recall these (many) moments of driving though this area. Pictures can’t capture what I saw or felt, but it was amazing. Along this route I also happened to catch a glimpse of a black bear. As I always needed to keep my eyes peeled for wildlife, at one moment I looked to my left and saw the bear running through a small opening. Again he also was not about to stay around for photos!

I’m spending the night in a tent at Hyder. When I got to the site, another black bear was spotted (my second!) They told me to put any food I had in the laundry building for safe keeping over night. While I was at my tent site, 3 guys came over that were very interested in my motorcycle. They recently purchased one (Red 2004) that someone that was doing some Iron Butt run crashed and totaled. Purchase price: 8 cases of beer! They had many questions. It sounds like the bike had every possible option added to it (I suppose to help in the Iron Butt Race). I’m not sure how far these guys will get with putting it back together, but they will have fun trying.

Tomorrow I start heading south again, back towards Prince George (along some of the same roads as today!) and then towards Washington state.