Go Big or Go Home Tour - Day 41 - West Coast Vibes

We woke up to a cloudy but beautiful morning.  We packed up our stuff after an awesome breakfast at Muddy Waters Cafe.  As I dropped the key off and headed to the bikes, the folks in the room next to us were just leaving.  Lo and behold it was the couple we had run into the night before and had a great chat with.  They had returned to Harrison Hot Springs were they met and had married.  He was Canadian and she from Australia.  We exchanged emails and phone numbers as they will be travelling through California around the same time as we will be there.  We also got an invite if we ever decide to travel to Australia.

We had a fun ride along Highway 7 connecting to the 11 especially as we left Harrison Hot Springs.  We climbed around the mountain with a 11% grade and sweeping turns.  There was a little rain, showers mostly but it was still cool at 17 degrees when we left.  Made for a very comfortable ride.

We came into Surrey along 16th Ave.  A lot of very large homes and horse stables, and fruit farms.  This was a much nicer drive into Vancouver than the TCH 1.  We arrived at Mori and Kelly’s home around 1 p.m.  probably the most refreshed since we started this trip.

After supper, Mori took us down to White Rock…this was an area of Vancouver that I did not know about and had not explored.  The site of Canada’s longest pier.  That is not the only thing it is known for however.  Aside from a lot of shops and a great trail along the sea wall where you can see Washington State and Mount Baker on a clear day, they have “San Francisco” type streets heading down over the hill…we are talking serious grades.  The one we came down was 23% grade with two level areas and rotaries on the way down….the sidewalks are two part smooth and raised for walking up, especially in the winter.  Apparently the road is closed to traffic in the winter which is of no surprise.  I am told that there is one other street that has an even steeper grade and is one way only.  

We had a great walk along the sea wall, got to see the original White Rock.  A bit of debate as to whether the white colour of the rock is natural or “enhanced”. We didn’t do a close inspection but suffice to say it is a large natural rock on the shore and very visible from the pier.  We walked out along the pier and as we were returning to the car the sun was getting ready to set.  One of the restaurants along the street advertises “free sunsets” and given that is the west coast, I am sure all of the sunsets are as beautiful as this one as it was getting ready to set.  We finished off the evening with a little wine around the fire in the back yard.  Next on the agenda are a couple of berry farms and getting together with some friends who live in the area.  Here are a couple of pics from our walk.

Local art work

White Rock

Washington State

Go Big or Go Home - Day 40 - Cool Runnings

Well it has been a busy Day 36 -39 and today we were headed out on the bikes to our next gathering.

Day 36 - this was an easy day…we walked downtown to have breakfast at Sonny’s.  Eggs benny, and French toast were amazing.  We ate so much we needed to “walk it off” so we walked along the lake into some of the Lake neighbourhoods.  Beautiful homes, lots of shade cause it has been hot as all get out!

We spent the rest of the day “resting”.

Day 37 - This was a special day!  P and B were celebrating a 40th wedding anniversary.  They had travelled to the east coast to get married, on their bikes.  Larry was best man.  Lots of stories about the trip, the wedding and of course, many stories for all the years in between.  We celebrated with a 2 course lunch with wine pairing at Cedar Creek Winery over-looking the Okanagan Lake.  The meals were amazing and the wine pairings were also really good.  We had bought a bunch of stuff to make a charcuterie board for the evening anticipating that we would have a large lunch but alas, we couldn’t even think of that….it came on Day 38 along with a special bottle of wine that was saved for when we all got together again.  

Day 38 - Another low key day but this time we did some touring in the car with a lovely lunch at the top of Big White.  This is a ski resort between Kelowna and the US border.  This is where we met up with Buddy when we arrived in our 2016 cross country tour.  It was a lovely ride up to the top with some great views.  It never ceases to amaze me driving through the mountains.  We also made this a 2nd celebration Anniversary day.  2016 Oculus and an awesome charcuterie board  and a table filled with lots of love.

Day 39 - Laundry Day…enough said, although we did have another great meal and another fabulous bottle of Pinot Noir.

Day 40 - On the road again.  Well…we headed out about 8:15 am in 27 degree weather and temps rising.  The heat has been a thing!  We travelled across the bridge to West Kelowna, through Peachland to Penticton and by the time we reached there the temps had risen to 33 degrees…after less than an hour.  We turned on to Highway 3 heading to Keremeos.  This road is quiet, not much traffic but an amazing ride.  

As we approached Keremeos, we started to see where the valley had been ravaged by fires.  If I remember correctly this was just last year.  It really had an eerie feeling to it, almost apocalyptic.  It was a sharp contrast to the lush green we had seen all the way through. 

It is hard to imagine the devastation when we hear about the wildfires in the news.  It is something else to see it first hand, or really second hand.  I can’t imagine what it was like for the people who live in this valley and what they went through.  Their view is now a daily reminder.  This particular fire had to be huge…we followed this for several kilometres and the scorching was all along the valley and all the way up to the top of the mountain.  It was certainly a reminder to us just how vulnerable we have become to global warming….and I certainly can appreciate how vulnerable nature has become to the increasingly hot temperatures on our earth.

We arrived in Keremeos and made a stop for a break, water and a snack.  The morning sun (it was only 10:30 am) was really warming up the temps.  We parked the bikes, found some shade close to the fruit and vegetable stand, and enjoyed one of the best peaches I have every had.  The first bite went everywhere, like biting into a ripe tomato.  It was soooo sweet.  Just as sweet as Keremeos itself!

We left Keremeos headed for our next stop in Princeton for lunch. As we entered the Fraser Valley, the temperatures started to drop….27 degrees, 24, 21, 17 degrees….It has been more than a month since we experienced these temps and I don’t mind saying that they were more than welcome.  The question we get asked the most is about riding in the rain…I would take 3 days of riding in the rain than I would 3 days riding in 36 degree + temperatures.  We don’t always get a choice though, so when we run into temperatures we love, we celebrate them!

Often times we are also reminded about how small this country and world really are.  In Princeton we ran into a woman who’s family was from NS and her parents are still living there.  In Hope I caught the accent of an East Coast lady who had me guess where she was from…of course she was from Newfoundland, cause you can’t miss that accent anywhere.  We had a great chat, she being a geology student at MUN, touring through the Rockies and recognizing all the formations.  A bit like summer school!

We arrived at Harrison Springs just before 4 p.m., dropped all our stuff in the room, changed quickly and went out for a walk to decide where we would eat supper.  What a wonderful little area and it is full of sasquash (Big Foot).  Big ones, little ones, angry ones and some that looked more afraid of us that we of them.  We decided on a German restaurant for supper, trying something different than the usual.  The service and the food were equally great…..the pouring rain when we got up to leave, well thankfully we were not far from our hotel.  Tomorrow we are headed to Vancouver to get together with more work peeps. 

Go Big or Go Home Tour - Day 35 - Salmon have arms?

We have been enjoying a lot of downtime as well as the surrounding area.  Won’t bore you with the details of our lounging or shopping time but I will share some of our more “adventurous” excursions.

Top of Knox Mountain - fire

Day 33 - we hiked up Knox Mountain early in the morning….thankfully!  This whole week has been hot as an unpopped kernel if you ever picked one of them up.  Monday was warm but at least it was early and there was a nice breeze…from what I understand, a nice breeze is rare in these here parts.  Knox Mountain was the scene of a small forest fire a couple of weeks ago that was quickly extinguished thanks in part to a ground clean up (due to the very large and expensive homes in the area) and quick reaction of the forestry who doused the fire with retardant.  

City from close to base of Knox Mtn

The hike was almost 7 kms (up and down) and equivalent to 29 sets of stairs according to my technology (CN stair race here I come).  Needless to say it was a hike but the views were phenomenal!…Now when I say hike, I mean there is a road, paved but it is extremely steep.

City from near the top of Knox Mtn

 We hiked down through a path that brought us to a    residential area that even if we all gathered as a commune, we could not afford the mortgage….I am talking about overhanging infinity pools, 3 angled garages with smoke glass garage doors (probably spandrel panels that look like glass but still expensive), solid steel retaining walls (3 levels)…out of respect for homeowners I did not take any pics…except for the deer resting on someone’s lawn…can’t resist nature.  We ended our hike with lunch at Cecil’s Diner for some homemade perogies with cabbage roll and a smokie.  I actually chose one of the smaller plates and still couldn’t finish it!

Day 35 - We got up and left on the bikes at 9 a.m.  The temperatures were not too bad at that point.  We headed across the bridge towards West Kelowna and then swung to the right.  The night before there was a small forest fire on the route we intended to take.  They managed to get that forest fire out and the route was down to one lane as the forest fighters were covering the area to make sure no flare ups.  The road itself was narrow, twisty and windy around Okanagan Lake or as I come to describe it as “Thelma and Louise” turns.  

We made a quick stop in Armstrong for gas and a “break” and then headed on to Salmon Arm for lunch.  We stopped at the Shuswap Pie Company to eat…they make every type of pie from savoury to sweet.  We enjoyed every morsel of it!  We were also greeted by a few folks who noticed our NB license plates and stopped to chat with lots of questions but mostly the response is in the form of either a question or a statement which goes like “you rode out here, both of you?”  It was a delightful stop and the city is very very active, bright and colorful.  Some of the streets are painted, the buildings are painted in lots of different colours and I think they also have a music festival which is a big part of their events calendar.  One thing is for sure, the sun is intense and hot.  By the time we left, it was already over 33 degrees.  The ride back meant a stop in the shade and getting our shirts soaked.  This is how we do air-conditioning on the bike…soak our shirts in water, gear up and ride.  Once you are moving it helps to cool down the body’s core temperature…it doesn’t last for very long is the problem, but it sure feels good for as long as it lasts.

We are heading to Vancouver for a couple of days next week…stay tuned.

Go Big or Go Home Tour - Day 30 - On a Mission

The Harpoonist and his Band at the Dream Cafe in Penticton did not disappoint.  The next morning was Brad’s birthday and he headed back to Calgary very early.

The four of us decided to do a little shopping downtown….Bud and Larry at the vinyl shop, Patti and I at a little shop she really likes for some light, loose clothing….now one of my favs as well.  

After meeting up again for a quick coffee, we left to have lunch at the hotel Mateo on the waterfront as it was getting close to noon.  Best. Pizza. Ever. Strangely the waterfront on Okanagan Lake was where I had the last Best. Pizza. Ever.  Must be something in the water and the plate is all that is evident of just how good it was.

 

We then headed out to the “Mission”.   The was the first European and Catholic settlement in BC I think….first of the “orchards” were planted here.  It is interesting in the construction of the buildings as well as some of the equipment that was used.  Father Pandosy led the settlement and a major street is named after him here.  The whole area has a tremendous amount of weeping willows…some of them are huge.  Mom I took a picture of where they conducted mass for you!

 

 

We ended a great day learning how to play golf…with cards!  You will love this game Dad and can’t wait to teach you (and beat you) when I get home.

Take care and have a fabulous day!   

Go Big or Go Home Tour - Day Whatever - Where are they now?

Well...sorry to be so long getting on this post.  As I noted in my last blog I wouldn't be posting for a few days, however a few turned into a few more for reasons I will explain....so let me do a quick summary by day of what we have been doing up until now.

Day 19 -  We spent the day with our friends in Calgary and friends from Saskatchewan who travelled to spend time with us as well.  

From the day we arrived there were a ton of stories told, shared and remembered.  A lot of the stories were from Larry's good ole days as many of our friends in the west are from that time but there has been plenty more of them since I joined the gang. Rick and Linda, our Calgary hosts, visited us in NB and we stayed with them on our previous western trip.

Vic and Jan travelled from Saskatchewan to visit with us.  I had met them once many years ago, but had the pleasure of really getting to know them this time around.  We are now ALL life long friends for sure.

Day 20 - We left our Calgary hosts and friends to drop off our bikes for servicing, pick up a rental car and then pick up my parents for a mini vacation.  They were in Calgary for a wedding and we had two days before they flew back home. 

We said our good byes and headed around the loop only to find a crowd of people in the PJs cheering us on....they looked a lot like the folks we had just left on the other corner lol...cameras in hand, waving like mad, mostly because in our excitement of the cheerleaders we made a wrong turn.  We got turned around again, another wave to the crazy crowd and off we went....many people have come to know if you are a friend of ours, most likely you are prone to doing fun, off the wall kind of things.  These friends were no exception.

After we finally dropped off the bikes, we got our pick up from the rental company.  The gent who picked us up was retired from CP rail, so of course I had to ask THE question.  How long are the trains that travel across the prairies?  As you know my fascination with how long these trains are has made it to the blog on a couple of occasions.  He told me the longest train is usually 14,000 feet long with up to 200 cars....so to help you with the math...that works out to 4.2672 kilometres......

We had rented an SUV for us and my parents to do our 2 day road trip...when I got there someone had done a little switching around with vehicles and we had gotten upgraded to a Mustang...most times this would have been gladly accepted however it is difficult to get us older folks into a low vehicle with little to no trunk...I indicated that we required an SUV which was apparently no issue...so we ended up with a Mercedes Benz....still travelling in style!

We picked up Mom and Dad at the hotel...got a chance to see the groom and meet the bride and some of our East Coast friends as well.  We finally got Mom and Dad loaded into the car and we headed out of the city for the mountains...with a quick stop to get something to eat before Larry made meals of all of us.

One man, 2 provinces

Mom blocking AC

After a quick lunch we headed through Banff National Park and caught the 93 which took us through Kootenay National Park.  This was a first for me and my parents but for Larry it had been a long time since he had travelled through (he used to live out west many years ago).  Dad wanted to get a photo of the continental divide.  Unfortunately I think the one that he was looking for was in Revelstoke.  Regardless we made the best of our stop here.  The location of this divide also happens to be the boundary between Kootenay and Banff National Park as well as the provincial border of BC and Alberta. 

                                       

We continued our journey through the mountains with one more stop at Numa Falls.....this was breathtaking.  The rock has been smoothed by the glacier water, which itself is a beautiful color for anyone who has never visited these parks.  Glacier water is a beautiful jade color.

The whole trip through the Kootenays were just beautiful.  Mom and Dad both enjoyed seeing the changing mountain scape all the way through, as did we.  It was great to experience all of this together.  We made our way to Cranbrook for the night.  At this point I had never been to Cranbrook...and it was not to be my last visit.

Day 21 - This was the last mini vacation day with Mom and Dad.  Today, Larry had a special stop in mind.  Franks' Slide.  I have heard Larry talk about Franks' Slide and all of the stories surrounding it.  I never could have imagined the size and scope of what this was and what happened here.  Larry originally understood that the whole town had been buried by a rock slide when in fact it was the mining housing that was buried.  90 lives were lost in the middle of the night on April 29, 1903 when a whole peak of the mountain collapsed....110 million tonnes of limestone slid down Turtle Mountain.  Mom and Dad really enjoyed this stop as did I.  It was eye-opening for sure!  Take a look at this photo.  We are up on a hill at the Interpretive Center.  The mountain peak which collapsed (you can see where it slid from) is on the other side of a river, railway tracks and the highway through Crowsnest Pass.  The rocks that you see in the foreground are at the same level as the Interpretive Center which as I mentioned is at a higher elevation.   On the far left of the photo is the highway which comes out through the slide on the other side....so many stories of resilience and heroism even during a time when communications and access were not easy or quick.  If I remember correctly, they said the slide was anywhere from 1foot to 150 feet deep in places but that is spread over a very large area.

After leaving Franks' Slide we made a quick stop in Okotoks to visit the sister of the groom who also now lives here in the west.  Then off to hotel to get Mom and Dad ready for their trip home.  Larry and I took a run over to visit our Calgary friends again and pick up all of our bike stuff as we were meeting up with Bud, Brad and Jimmy in the morning to pick up our bikes after we dropped Mom and Dad off at the airport.

Day 22 - We got the parents all set up at the airport, got to see the whole East Coast family that were hosting the wedding (their parents were also flying home), back to the hotel to pick up our stuff, drop Larry and said stuff at the bike shop and then drop the rental.

By the time I got back, all the boys had arrived and Larry was bringing out my bike from the shop.  We loaded all the stuff on the bikes and began the next part of our trip.  Brad had just purchased a new to him BMW 1600 GTL from NS and had it shipped out before our trip.  As he was still getting used to it, this afforded us many opportunities to tease him especially about leaving his blinkers on.  Today I got to visit Cranbrook....again but only passing through.

Our stop for the night is in Nelson, which for us means a lot of great winding roads and a ferry!  At the ferry I took of picture of me and my haram, my boys!  Teddy also enjoyed the ferry ride!

Day 22 - A quick explore and breakfast in Nelson, and then a good-bye to Jimmy who is heading back to Calgary.  Now it is just me and my three....Amigos, Muskateers?....I promised not to call them Stooges.  We all head out for more fun roads and our final destination being Kelowna at the end of the day.  The roads are twisty and with some nice sweeping turns just as they were the day before...our favourite kind of ride and one of the big reasons we love it out here.  We made a stop in New Denver...Fire and Ice as I like to call it.  There was still snow on one peak and a fire on the other.  We stopped for a break before lunch down by a lake.

Lunch was a stop in Nakusp which is another beautiful area in BC.  Very small town, lots of artisans and small shops.  Also it was very hot.  By the time we made it to just outside Vernon, I think we were all done for the day.  We still had another 45 minutes ride after we gassed up, watered ourselves and took a break in the shade.  My shoulder, from picking up a bunch of bags and carrying them up the stairs in our hotel in Nelson, was starting to bother me.  Being tired and hot did not improve my situation and I honestly was glad to be at the end of our day...or at least almost to the end of our day.  We headed out, navigating through highway 97 (not fun) at 5 pm traffic, through Kelowna and finally pulled up at P and B's house.  I was thrilled to finally see Patti, tired, sweaty and sore as it was....and so that is kinda how this portion of it ends for now.

Day 23 - Day 29 - The day following our arrival, the gang all went to a Garage Concert.  I opted to stay home as I was still very sore from the Physio assessment that morning.  Needed some rest and I knew I would be too fidgety.  Aside from the physio appointments on my shoulder, we got to do a hike to Angel Springs with Brian, Kiernan, Nya and Timmy.  We didn't go all the way to the Springs but what a great canyon hike.  Patti and I got a little shopping in after our mani/pedi yesterday and tonight we are going to see the Harpoonist and his band in Penticton.  We became fans of the Harpoonist and the Axe Murder when they performed at the Fredericton Jazz and Blues Festival some years ago.  We always looked for tickets or opportunities for other performances near home or where we travelled.  This is their last year together and although we won't see them together, I am betting we will get an opportunity to enjoy a great night of music.

So that brings everything up to date.  My shoulder is A-1 although still resting before any big bike runs.  We are enjoying our time with Brad, Buddy and Pat.  Brad is heading back to Calgary tomorrow and then we will be down to just us 4.  We have a few side trips to plan before we fly back on August 4 to tend to some things at home, see some family, and celebrate some birthdays.  We will be back to Kelowna in September for part 2 of Go Big or Go Home Tour.  I won't bore you with the day to day stuff but will post any side trips we do between now and August 4....stay tuned!

Go Big or Go Home - Day 18 - The trip so far

We got up early again (time zones are a blessing when travelling West) and hit the road by 7 a.m.  Partly because of the temperatures we would see towards the end of the day and mostly so that we could get to Calgary and spend more time with our friends.

It was an uneventful day, except for the occasional prairie dog who ran out on the road and appeared to luckily dodge our tires (skittish creatures).  Lots of animal sightings like antelope (my first), but none playing with deer….amazing amount of hawks and a coyote.

We talked a lot about the changing landscapes even across the prairies.  

Manitoba seemed to have smaller farms, mostly agricultural and a lot of communities along the highway.

As we got closer to Saskatchewan we saw large grain elevators, fields of vibrant yellow canola and huge farms.  They also had huge tar snakes (that plastic stuff they jam into cracks in the pavement)…this stuff is not good when you are on a motorcycle and you have to do your best to avoid them even more than avoiding the paint…they are slippery as all get out and can give your heart a skip when you feel your wheels slip beneath you. 

While Saskatchewan has beautiful green and yellow fields, the transition to Alberta starts just before the provincial border but turns more brown and gold with a lot of sage brush which gives the landscape a break from the brown with a slight greenish hue.  Reminiscent of Montana and Wyoming….Alberta is not as flat as Saskatchewan or Manitoba (not including the Rockies). It is more rolling hills than flat.

Needless to say, none of them have as many trees as Northern Ontario!

We arrived mid afternoon to Calgary and made our way to friends house where we will be staying for the next couple of days before picking up my parents for a “mini vacation tour”.  The bikes will be serviced during this time…then we have a 2 day ride to Kelowna on the slow road.

All that to say, don’t expect a daily update for the next little bit but I will be posting some of our side trips for sure.

Sage brush….the stuff tumbleweeds are made of!

Ahead of us - Alberta border…clear skies and higher temps!

…behind us.