Day 18. Stony Plain - Post trip summary

There is a little feeling of emptiness now, like something has been taken from us. For two weeks, we have had bikes pretty much on our minds all of the time. Even when we took a days rest to see somewhere or do something, we were always glad to get back on the bikes and get moving. We saw some wonderful places, met some great folks and had to cope with some pretty testing experiences. All of this made the trip a true adventure. From the troubles with both bikes, to the ride from Watson Lake to Fort Nelson, nothing really spoiled the adventure.

We learned a lot from this trip. Firstly that we have to do this again - we both wish that could be now! However, back in the land of reality, work beckons as a means to take this sort of adventure. The maps have already been out, and fingers tracing possible routes back into the Yukon and Alaska. Roads like the Dempster Highway, Top of the World Highway all have a meaning now. We've read about these roads and spoken to people who have tackled them. I'd love to ride the Dempster Highway, the most northern highway in the country, running from Dawson City in the Yukon, to Inuvik in the North West Territories. One of the last true adventures left in North America, who knows - one day.

We learned a lot about preparation, or lack of it. We said before we left we must get to know our bikes better. So when we were sat at the side of the road with 'Sydders', we didn't even know how to check the oil level. No real problem really, out came the owners manual and we had the job done - however!!!! I watched a couple of Honda riders remove front and back wheels from their bikes in quick time to get new tyres. I knew the principal, but have never attempted it. Not that I needed to on this trip, but who knows in future! My aim this coming winter - get to know the workings of my bike a hell of a lot better and practice taking wheels on and off, changing light bulbs etc.

Another item which requires better planning was clothing. We have made a few trips on bikes in the past to reunions - the CCR - which are held annually at a different location each year. These trips generally consist of a day or two's ride to the event, a couple of local rides out then return home. Up to now always in the US, up to now, generally warm. The Yukon and Alaska in June presents a whole new set of problems if you are on a touring trip. We both took too many cotton T's - useless for wet or cold weather - and not enough 'wicking' underwear. Neither were our gloves capable of keeping hands warm and dry in extreme conditions. What feels right on a days ride out in a shower, is pretty bloody useless in a torrential days rain, up a mountain in British Columbia. Our bike suits though Gortex lined, needed assistance in extreme conditions. A quality rain suit was what was actually needed. We do have a lot of very good 'kit', we just need more of it. For Wendy, a heated under jacket is an absolute must, so we have a new shopping list that is growing!

Finally, better planning and appreciation of what we were actually trying to achieve. This was to be a biking trip, the emphasis on riding. When we sat back and analysed the trip, we had spent a lot of time off the bikes! Wendy had mentioned several times about riding north to Dawson City, but our schedule (hotel bookings etc) didn't allow for it. However, we spent over 2 days in Prince Rupert, 2 days on a ferry, then another 2 days in Skagway........... Six days of no riding! Poor planning. We should have and could have ridden more and seen more, including Dawson City and possibly the Top of The World Highway. What a tale that would have been!

For all the lessons, good and bad, we had a wonderful trip. I hope those of you who logged into the Blog have enjoyed reading my 'scribbles', as much as I've enjoyed writing them. I still have to finish the last couple of days and add photo's. Then I have to down load photo's onto the Blog 'slide show'. So don't turn your back on this blog just yet, still a little more to read and look at. So, thank you for joining us, I hope next time we venture out, we'll have your company once again. I'm considering helmet and bike video camera's next time, so a little less reading and more watching/listening.

With the trip behind us and reality setting in, I thought my last blog photo should emphasize just that. How much more back to normal can you get than cutting the grass? I swapped my riding ger for jeans and T shirt, swapped my Beemer for my lawn tractor, and set out to cut the grass. Well after all the rain it was more like a 'Savannah'......

For the last time then, nite nite from Wendy & I, and for all the bikers out there on their own adventures big and small - keep the black stuff down.

Day 17. Dawson Creek BC to Stony Plain AB (Home).

Next morning I was dreading going to start 'Gertie', I wanted to complete the trip on my bike, not the back of a bloody trailer! We packed up all our bags one last time, checked out of our last hotel and went into the car park. I was quite hesitant about putting the key in the bike, my mind was racing with the options. I turned the key, wound back the throttle, hit the start button - nothing, BUGGER!!!!! I tried a second time, still nothing. With my heart now sinking into my riding boots, I tried a 3rd time and she spluttered into life, not without a little help on the throttle from me.

Once started, I vowed not to switch her off until we got home. I left her running while we loaded, then led Wendy out of the car park. We both needed gas, neither of us could make it to Grande Prairie (GP), so we stopped in the little town of Pouce Coupe! I used a spare key to open the gas tank and refuel. There was only low Octane regular fuel available, so I only partially filled up. That done, on we rode to GP. Nothing to say here really. We were now out on the northern Prairie, no mountains to see and none for protection. The wind came whistling in from the east and battered us both on the bikes. Not so bad for Wend on 3 wheels, but I was getting hammered. At least it wasn't raining and the temperature was a lot warmer.

The road out of GP to Edmonton is all dual highway, and one I know very very well. The only benefit to this was that we could set a good pace! But as we saw earlier, the police were out in force, so we had to be careful. On the way into GP, an impatient woman driver dove in between Wendy and I, into a space that quite frankly wasn't there! She then hung on my tail for a while, but there was no real place to pass. Eventually she had to overtake - couldn't possibly sit behind another bike. So past me she shot, well WELL over the speed limit. I remember thinking, I hope the cops are about, she is bang out of order. Ahead of me I saw a white car pulled off the road. Idiot woman in car recognised it for what it was moments before the 'Blue & Reds' were lit!!!!!!!! It felt so good sailing past while she was about to get ticketed!!!

On we rode, pulling into another well known spot for me - Fox Creek. This because it was a Greyhound agency, and a regular stopping point for this route. We pulled on the gas station forecourt, again Wend needed fuel not me, so I left the bike running. As well as fuel, Wend was in much need of a break, she was getting very tired. Just as we had decided to make a move, 'Gertie' coughed and spluttered, then died! I had noticed the temp gauge rising, but I was surprised at this, given that it wasn't that warm out. Wendy had got a bit 'vocal' as the bike spluttered, "get on quickly, ride round, I'll catch you up"........... The it died. I however didn't have helmet, gloves etc on, plus stuff in my hands. Quite how I was to perform this riding miracle, I don't know. Anyway, fully booted and spurred, I stabbed at the started button, she spluttered into life and off I went. Next stop Sangudo south of Whitecourt for a last suck of fuel.

Once again, nothing of interest or note for this leg of the journey. It was still bloody windy, not pleasant and now we were both starting to tire as the end of the journey came into sight. We rode into and out of Whitecourt, another Greyhound agency stop, so a town I'm well familiar with. The wind was still blowing, but generally from behind us, so no real problem. Sangudo is a small town standing above a river valley, and once again, has a Greyhound agency. The small store just outside of town also has gas pumps, so we made our last refueling stop for 'Sydders'. I kept 'Gertie' running, no mishaps this time.

There was now a little over an hour left to ride and home. We came to the end of Highway 43, and joined the Yellowhead heading east. Our turning was only a few miles down the road, and I'm so glad it was. The traffic for this part of the world, was very heavy, every other vehicle an RV. I was quite happy to see Range Road 13 come up, and we left the Yellowhead for the 1 mile run to home. Two left turns later and we swung into the drive and up to the garage. That was it then, adventure over, we were home safe and sound. How we wanted to turn round and do it all over again................

Day 16. Fort Nelson BC to Dawson Creek BC

On to the penultimate day now, and it's all winding down far too quickly! The way I feel at the moment, I could stay on the bike for a lot longer yet. Well, that was right up until a couple of hours ago!! More of that later.

We'd had a good rest at Fort Nelson, and stayed in another lovely hotel. The nice big room was quickly littered with all of our soaking wet riding gear, scattered about to dry overnight. I thought I had been clever standing my boots up on end to drain in a drip tray, but all they did was suck up all the water which was draining out of my riding pants & jacket. Wendy was very smug about it, as she had suggested that this what would happen & placed her boots elsewhere. Don't you just hate it when they are right!!!! Again following another of her suggestions, I used the hair dryer & got gloves & boots dry enough to wear again. It wasn't raining, so I figured everything would dry out in the wind as we rode. Everything packed, I got a luggage cart and we headed down to the bikes. I'd managed to park them under the entrance awning, so they were dry and close at hand. Pretty well practiced now, the bikes were quickly loaded and we were heading off for gas.

Fueled up, me good for about 600 km which would just about see us into Dawson Creek, we headed out of town. The scenery was quite different now, the mountains and hills had given way to vast open land covered in endless forests. The road undulated, but for the most part was pretty straight. This looked like it could be a boring ride...... I had told Wendy the importance of constantly looking into the drainage ditches while we rode. For the benefit of folks in the UK who may not have seen these before, they are not little gutters at the side of the road. They are often 20 feet plus wide and 5 feet upward deep. After heavy winter snowfall, the melt has to go somewhere and these ditches are often running very deep in water. This is where you are likely to see all manner of wild life, who have no idea on rules of the road and safe crossing practices! At night I have often seen big Moose running in the ditch beside my coach. So, pretty important to keep an eye on what may be in there. As it was, it was me that spotted another Black Bear laid out in the ditch munching away. Very tempting to stop for a photo call, but I know better! So on we rode making good time, in weather that was improving and better still, temperatures that were climbing!

After a couple of hours or so on the road, we came across the Buckinghorse River crossing and the opportunity to get gas and breakfast. We pulled up at the pumps to see a notice attached to the pumps - 'Out of gas'. The holiday weekend had probably cleaned them out. However, someone stood outside the cafe building, pointed across the road to the other small gas station, and indicated they had gas. We decided to stop for breakfast, then head over the road to fill up. As we pulled up in front of the cafe, we spotted a large Greyhound sign on the building. I also noticed another BMW bike with GB number plates! Not a common sight in Canada! As we stood taking helmets and gloves off, a 'Hound' with pup trailer pulled in - wonder if I knew the driver? Turns out I did, quite well as it happens. His face was a picture when he looked over & saw me in biking gear and not in my GH grey uniform. At about the same time, a guy in BMW riding gear came out of the cafe, spotted Wendy's Spyder and said something like, "What is that". Obviously BRP are not big in the UK! As a major manufacturer of sleds, not too surprising really. Turns out, the chap was also called Brian, and was making a trip from northern Alaska, to South America.......... made our adventure seem like a trip to the end of our drive and back!! We got some breakfast and chatted with Brian for some time, it turns out he is doing his ride for charity and also has a Blog. Take a look folks, should be a fascinating journey: http://www.bri-journeyforhope.blogspot.com/ Please take a look, the guy has an amazing journey ahead of him, and he is using some video coverage to document the trip - well worth the look.

After the chat with Brian over breakfast, we headed across the road and Wendy filled up 'Sydders' and we rolled out onto the highway once again. The countryside was changing again and in the distance tall peaks were once again dotting the skyline. The hills were growing more distinctive out to the side of us, and we were once again climbing. Brian had got ahead of us, as he had refueled before we had got over the road, courtesy of 'Gertie' not starting once again! Here we were out in the middle of no where, and my damned BMW with all of it's sophisticated electronic wizardry would not fire up. After my problems at our night stop in Hazelton, Ron had loaned me a set of home made jumper cables for such eventualities. We positioned 'Sydders' as close as possible, only to find the cables were too short. Out of desperation, I tried starting 'Gertie' once more and reluctantly she fired - phewwww. So with that behind us, we were charging down the road toward Fort St John our next stop. Although Dawson Creek our night stop was only about another 100km away, 'Sydders' just doesn't have the range, so stop we must.

Not too far down the road from Buckinghorse River, was the Sikani Chief river and the first of the 'big hills', quickly followed by Pink Mountain. Wendy had been anxious out the big hills - not so much the going up as the coming down. Because the riding position on the Spyder is like a sports bike, you tend to lean more on your hands, especially going down hill. I had suggested she shift her weight through her 'butt' into the saddle and take weight off her wrists. It seemed to work and she had no trouble with either of these big hills. In fairness, I knew about them from a couple of trips up and down whilst training with Greyhound. It is a little different driving a standard (manual) shift 45' coach up and down these hills, than it is riding a motorcycle - power to weight and all that crap! Anyway, safely over and down both of these big hills, we forged on to Fort St John. Along the way we passed a gas station and noticed Brian parked up. I looked over my shoulder trying to see if he was ok, then we powered on.

First indications of arriving back in civilisation was the huge increase in traffic. It was a holiday weekend and I'm sure many folks would have tagged in Friday as an extra day to give them selves a nice long weekend. The roads were packed. We pulled into the first gas station to come into view. Wendy headed for the pumps, and I moved out of the way, not needing any fuel. Not long after our arrival, Brian turned up on his BWW GS650. Once he had refueled and moved his bike off the pumps, he came over. 'You two are moving aren't you"? was his opening comment. Couldn't deny it, but I'm not going public on how quickly we were going...... Again, the three of us sat and chatted, Brian asked where we were staying and suggested he may pop round for a beer with us that evening. As he was heading in a different direction from Dawson, it seemed a great idea.

After our little break, it was back on the road for the last leg of the day, a short run to Dawson Creek and another big hill - Taylor Hill. Again, I am more familiar with driving a bus up and down this one that riding a bike. However, I knew there were a few 'juicy' bends going up the hill so I was looking forward to a little 'sport'. As we crossed the river bridge, I said to Wend that I'd see her at the top, as I was going to have some fun! It appears that my comment was taken as something of a challenge to hers and 'Sydders' integrity! Half way up Taylor whilst cranking 'Gertie' over to get round a lumbering truck, I looked in my mirrors and to my absolute surprise, there was Wend, not that far behind! I had to laugh, she had come a long way in the two weeks we'd been on the road, she was now a damned fine little 'pilot', handling the Spyder very well indeed. At the top of the Taylor, we headed on into Dawson Creek, which happens to be mile post 0 for the Alaska Highway. We thought this would be a great final photo session for the trip. We headed off the main highway and found the Mile Post in the middle of town. parked up and went to take photo's.

The mile post sits on a plinth in the middle of a cross road controlled by traffic lights, so not too accessible. We started by taking photo's from the roadside, with the mile post as a back drop. Ok, but not what we really wanted. Then a passing motorist stopped and shouted out, "most folks go onto the milepost"............. That was enough for me, I picked a gap in the traffic and ran into the middle of the crossroad! Up on the plinth, Wendy took photo's. Then a passing pedestrian offered to take our photo, so Wendy dodged the traffic and joined me at the milepost. We even have a photo of us both running back to the safety of the curb! We both agreed these would be perfect photo's for the blog. All done, we headed back to the bikes and the last mile or two to the hotel and the promise of a nice meal for our last night on the road. Then the world turned to crap!

As those of you who have followed this blog will know, I'd been having intermittent starting problems with 'Gertie' from before we departed on our trip. I'd been assured that the 'computer' couldn't find anything - well that's ok then isn't it!!!!! The bike would not start. It turned over, but no hint of firing. I even tried bump starting down a side street which had a slight slope - nothing. Wendy rode round the corner to join me, and it became apparent that I wasn't going anywhere soon, so off came jackets and helmets to cool down. I thought if we left the bike for a while, it may start - it had in the past. Not this time, and now there was real danger that I'd flatten the battery. Once again Ron's jump leads came out, we jammed the bikes next to each other, taking off one of 'Sydders' panniers. No matter how long we tried - nothing. So here we were probably a mile, mile and half from the hotel with a dead bike. Fortunately we have membership with a motoring organisation, so I called them for recovery to the hotel. Our wait wasn't very long & we were soon outside the Best Western Dawson Creek. A pretty ignominious way for a BMW to travel, and we have the photo's to prove it - in case BMW Motorad Canada are interested!!!!!!!

We decided there wasn't much else we could do for the day and we both needed showers and a nice meal, so we tried to put the problems with the bike behind us. I had one more card to play in the morning if the problem continued, I have 2 years of BMW road side assistance which includes recovery. I'd call them and suggest they come and remove the bike from the hotel car park and deposit it at the nearest dealer. Which as it happens, is in Edmonton where I bought the bike! Anyway, as I said, we tried to put those thoughts behind us and get showered and changed for dinner. Whilst doing so Brian called us to say he was downstairs and would see us in Tony Roma's (chain steak bar famed for it's ribs). We knew Brian had already been having a rough time on his trip, and had just discovered he's lost his cell phone............ My heart went out to the guy and I asked Wend if we couldn't stand the poor guy dinner - of course we could. So, we all met up in the restaurant and had a very pleasant evening. Brian got to try proper ribs, not the poor imitation found in the UK, and thoroughly enjoyed them. We sat gassing for ages, and eventually decided to call it a night. We exchanged email and Blog addresses, and parted company. Good luck Brian, we'll be thinking of you & following your Blog. Time for bed and try not to think too much about the problems with 'Gertie'..........

Day 15. Watson Lake YK to Fort Nelson BC

Now from the warmth and comfort of a nice hotel room, the day doesn't seem to have been that bad. Ohh yes it does............. No mechanical problems, no problems with us, just the weather, and the weather, oh and more bloody weather. It started raining last night in Watson Lake after we had returned to the 'Nice Motel', and we were assured from 'them that were in the know', that is what the forecast was for the following few days. Deep joy! So no surprise then when we woke this morning to discover it was raining. Not too hard, but rain none the less. The motel has no breakfast facilities, and Watson Lake seemed pretty devoid of any possibilities. I suggested to Wend that try 'bubba' once again, turns out he wasn't on duty. Probably his collage day............. I was fast running out of patience to bother with breakfast. Both bikes needed gas, and we wanted to take some photo's at the signpost forest before departing the glories of Watson Lake.

The signpost forest is an unusual place. It is probably the worlds largest collection of illegally obtained town signs, and now mimicked the world over. Started in 1942 by a homesick GI, Carl K Lindley of Danville IL. Carl was a member of Company D, 341 Engineers, working on the Alaska Highway. He erected a sign here pointing the way and stating the milage to his home town. Others followed his lead, and are still doing so to this day. On 20 July 1990, Olen & Anita Walker of Bryan, Ohio placed the 10,000th sign. In 2009, there were over 67,000 signs on display. The town still asks visitors to bring their home town sign. In 1992, Carl K Lindley and his wife visited the site, 50 years after his first post was erected. When we visited it was raining and we were about to get on our way, so we didn't spend a lot of time here. However, it would be fun to return with a home town sign one day. Trouble is, which home town would it be?????

We had read in a tourist brochure, that the Alaska Highway from Watson Lake to Fort Nelson, was probably the most beautiful of the whole highway. Shame then that it was raining and preventing us from making a few stops along the way. The road snaked through the cloud covered mountains, perfect biking country. Wendy remarked this evening that I have a different way of approaching twisty roads. She told me that where most riders appeared to slow, or approach the corners/bends with a little caution, I increased my speed! Don't know what she is talking about, 'Beemers' are made to lay over into bends. Unlike Harleys which take them much more cautiously - in the back of a truck............ Anyway, the roads were lovely, and at the beginning, had very wide cut edges. That is to say the bush was cut back about 50' plus from the edge of the road. The reason for this becomes evident as you ride down the road. Even more so when you learn the area is known as the 'Serengeti of the North'. We saw 3 bears, including a sow & her cub by the road side, and several woodland Bison. One group had 3 males - big buggers at that! The only thing to dampen our spirits, was the persistent rain, which at times was quite hard.

The planned leg today, was to be about 510km/317miles. I refuelled in Watson Lake and that would see me through the entire leg. 'Sydders' on the other had, only has a fairly small tank - not that size is an issue you understand - and requires more frequent stops. I had planned to take breaks every hour and half so Wendy could get fuel and we could stretch our legs. At the first stop, we were both getting pretty wet, and Wendy was quite cold. She filled 'Sydders' and we both went inside for a hot cup of coffee and a 'hearty' breakfast. While we did so, we met another couple from Toronto on their trike. They had also pulled in for fuel and a warm up. Fed, fuelled and warmed, we were back on the bikes and on our way.

After a while where we had been following a beautiful river valley, we crossed a bridge, left the river behind us and started to climb. I noticed in the mountains above us, the cloud covered tops were still covered in snow and ice. What perturbed me more, was that we were getting ever closer to the snow line which at one point seemed very high above us. Now through the teeming rain, there were occasions when we were almost at the same altitude as the snow. I took a glance at the OAT gauge on 'Gerties' travel computer and was horrified to see we were down at 4'C/39'F. I was starting to get a little cold now, so I knew Wend would be bloody frozen! A hotel/lodge came into sight, and I dropped into the car park. We parked up the bikes and were discussing the options when the couple from Toronto also arrived at the Lodge on their Harley trike. We were all soaked - this was not fun any more, it was survival - I kid you not! Other people were arriving and due to the weather, elected to stay - as did our companions heading to Toronto. We also bumped into another Harley couple, who we had met on the way to Prince Rupert.

Wendy and I discussed the options, including the possibility of staying - it was very tempting I must say. However, we were already 2 days behind schedule and further delay was not really an option. If we did stay, we'd have to 'crank out' about 650/700km tomorrow!! Instead, we brought in some bags from the bikes, put on some dry clothing, got back into our wet riding jackets and headed back into the pissing rain. Now before everyone jumps on my back as the heartless bastard who pushed Wendy back into the cold, I did offer to stay if that is what she wanted to do. I also said that her safety was of paramount importance, and if at any time she wanted to stop and overnight, I would have no objections. I have a much greater tolerance for the cold, and I was acutely aware that Wendy was suffering with the cold and wet - we both were. So, under those terms, we elected to push on. I think the couple from Toronto thought we were mad, especially after one biker who arrived at the Lodge from the south, said he had encountered snow at the top of the pass, and that was a good two hours away.....................

On we went and the scenery was really beautiful. Well let me qualify that statement - it would have been if we could have seen it all and without the rain. As it was, we followed the valley getting ever higher with some remarkable views of a tumbling ferocious river out to our right. We arrived at the much vaunted 'Muncho Lake', once again, this would have been idilic on any other day - a dry day that is! The road beside the lake hung to the lake shore and twisted and turned all the way down the lake. Still we were not at the highest point which was at Summit Lake. By the time we arrived at this picturesque lake, we were at about 3.5'C and pretty well soaked. At least we could now look forward to a decent, and hopefully the temp would start to rise again. We had spotted a couple of potential refuelling spots for Wendy & 'Sydders', but each time we arrived the rest stop was either closed, or as with the last one, out of gas! We later learned that as this was Canada Day and lots of folks heading home for the weekend, they'd probably cleaned out these small service stations. Our only option - press on.

Now out of the mountains, the road improved and was a lot straighter - we could get the 'hammer down'. Well, certainly Wendy thought that as when I checked in my mirror, she and 'Sydders' were practically getting onto my luggage rack! I had been concerned about fuel conservation, Wendy more concerned about 'getting there'! By now we had been riding in appalling conditions for a little over two hours and I wondered if Wendy would make it all the way to Fort Nelson. For the last 80 or so 'klicks', we held our breath to see how far 'Sydders' could string out a tank of gas. As we arrived in Fort Nelson the low level light came on - perfect timing. We found the hotel pretty easily - well, Wendy did. She called me on the radio and said, "I think that's the Woodlands to your right". The give away being the 'kin great' hotel sign! This quite new four story hotel, has a large canopy at the front entrance, which is pretty much where we dumped the bikes, and got out of the saddled for the first time in a little over 3 hours. With the extreme cold and being soaking wet, Wendy immediately cramped up, and had to be helped of off 'Sydders'. Inside the hotel foyer, we both started to uncontrollably shake with the cold and wet. We looked a really sorry sight! As quickly as we could, we stripped bags from the bikes, checked in and fled to our room on the 4th floor. There we discarded wet cloths all over the room in an attempt to dry them overnight. Even our passports and wallet/purse were not immune from the soaking.

Once again warm and dry, we headed down to the restaurant for dinner. It being Canada Day, most folks are with their families, so it was pretty empty. However, the food was great and they served AAA Alberta beef! We had a great dinner, washed down with a passable BC wine, a couple of 'special' coffee's, then into the bar for a nightcap. I think we had earned ever last morsel of food and every 'splash' of booze'. Once my latest scribblings have been published, it's time for a nice comfy bed and hope all of our biking gear is dry by the morning. Just two more days riding to go, one more night on the road. All being well, we'll be in Dawson Creek tomorrow, and I will be back on well trodden roads - courtesy of Greyhound. So for tonight, nite nite all, talk to you again tomorrow.

Day 14. Whitehorse to Watson Lake!!!!!!!

Dear diary - what a bloody day. If we had alcohol available now, we'd both be pissed as parrots! As you can see from the title, we have actually moved from our permanent summer quarters in Whitehorse, and now making our way homeward bound. If those few words bring relief to our readers, imagine how we feel! It also makes the days events sound so very simple and straightforward - trust me, they were not.

The rain arrived in Whitehorse last night, and with it our feeling of isolation and despair grew. We'd been trying to keep each others spirits up, but the longer the situation dragged on, the harder it had been. We went out for dinner last, but neither of us really wanted or felt like eating. That and we were becoming pretty fed up with eating out all the time. Can't wait to be in my own kitchen cooking something for us again. We ended up with pizza at the hotel, it was ok but........... Up in the room, I took a look at the DHL site to track the spares shipment from Red Deer. It still showed being in Edmonton earlier that morning, but hadn't moved since. We then started to realise that if the shipment hadn't arrived by the morning, we were in DEEP trouble! This was because Thursday is Canada Day so everything would be shut, adding another two days to the two we had already been waiting. This was now making our nerves 'jangle'! Wendy tried to convince me that DHL probably only updated their site once a day, so we'd have to wait until the morning.

Sleep was very difficult to come by even though I stayed up watching a very bad Sean Connery film, and I was awake too early. I got up to check the DHL web site only too discover that the internet connection was down. Made me feel quite at home!! I went back to bed for an hour then tried again, still no joy, so I decided to call DHL and find out directly from the shippers. Initially I felt like I was once again getting the run around, but once I explained our situation and how desperate we were for this shipment, I got a lot more sympathy and help. Linda at DHL in Toronto promised to make some phone calls, and get back to me with an update. When she did, it was not quite what I had been wanting to hear. Basically no one knew exactly where the shipment was! Because it was heading to the back of beyond, it seemed the bar code tracking system was no longer effective! I was told that there is no such thing as overnight to the Yukon - at which point I almost exploded, but restrained myself. I explained that this was actually nearly 48 hours after shipment, not 24. Linda had also spoken with the DHL rep in Whitehorse, and asked them to call me with an update. I beat her to it!

It appeared that Stephanie didn't know where the shipment was either. However, we could possibly - only possibly you understand - expect the shipment to arrive by air that afternoon at about 3pm! I was getting a little hot under the collar at this point and explained if that happened, the dealer would be shut by the time they attempted delivery and because of Canada Day, we would be stuck here another two days. This was not going well. To compound the general feeling of gloom, the clouds were down over the river valley and it was pissing down with rain. I pride myself with having a reasonable sense of humour, but after the umpteenth person who saw us in riding gear commented that, "it was a good day for a ride", I was ready to choke them.

We had decided that what ever was or was not happening with the shipment, we were going to ride over to the dealer and throw ourselves on their mercy. If things went badly, Wendy was planning on calling the local media, or play the 'girlie in distress' card! We vacated our very own suite, which had since been named in our honour as we had been there so bloody long, left most of our luggage stored at the hotel and went out to get on the bike - too yet another, "great day for a bike ride", bastards!!!!!!! We rode to the other end of the town, feeling as wet and miserable as the weather. Inside the service manager was absent, so we waited for him. When he arrived in the show room, he gave us a, "hi both, any news on the part". We both started with the latest update, then it all became way too much and Wendy broke down. Floods of tears, trying to explain the stress of it all and in amongst it all, asking if he couldn't see his way to help us. Especially tomorrow being Canada day etc etc. He actually relented and said he go and see the owner......... Minutes later, he emerged with a smile on his face, a slight nod and said he would rob a sales machine and get us on our way. More floods of tears from Wendy and she threw herself at him, giving him a big hug and many thanks for helping us out. I was wondering why this hadn't been done two days ago and saved us both a lot of heart ache and undue stress. However, I did manage to keep my mouth shut this time, and let my wife rule the floor!

Less than 30 mins later, 'Sydders' appeared from the workshop and we were on our way at long, long last. We headed back to the hotel to load up both bikes. It was still bucketing down, but quite honestly, I was oblivious to the rain, I saw only escape. We both wore boots, riding suits and gloves that were Gortex' lined, so I had no fear about getting wet. Wendy took a little time to get back into riding again, and to be fair, get used to riding in pissing rain. On a sunny day, there would have been ample opportunity to stop for photo's - not today. Low clouds clung to the thickly wooded mountain slopes limiting the visibility. It was quite cools as well - 'Gerties' OAT gauge showed a cool 8.5'C.......... Undaunted, we headed out of town, filled up with fuel and headed for Watson Lake, about 5 and half hours away. We made a couple of brief fuel stops, once of which was for much needed warming coffee and a snack. Warmed up again, off we set.

We made excellent time, getting into Watson Lake a little after 5pm, completing the trip in about 5 hours. I had been pushing quite hard, but to her credit, Wend had hung in there and was never that far behind me. Well done Pickle - proud of you! Watson Lake is a one horse town, where the horse had run off, so there wasn't a huge choice in hotels. Through searching the internet, Wend had found a place called 'A Nice Motel' - I know, sounds naff doesn't it! However, reviews of the other choices in town ranged from rat infested flea hole to worse, so I was happy to try A Nice Motel. It sits directly behind a PetroCan gas station, so doesn't have a great outlook. Once inside - what a great surprise, it's a nice motel as advertised! A truly great little motel - I'd have no hesitation in either staying here again or recommending to fellow travellers.

Once we'd dumped bags, dinner was the next order of the day. Who would ever have thought of going to the local RV park???? Well we did on recommendation from 'bubba' in the gas station. We were a little dubious, but what the hell! There were dozens of RV's jammed into the small hard standing, beside which was a wooden office building. Just the place you'd expect to meet a Scott running the place - right?? We were directed to a tent at the back of the office, parted with $22 a piece and took one of the six picnic benches. The price included a salad, tea/coffee, dinner & 'puddin'. We elected to try the spare ribs and were not disappointed - thanks 'bubba'! Fully fed, we got chatting to some of the RV sorts, who were heading to Skagway to spend 4th of July. They were a 22 RV convoy from the US, up in Canada for a 35 day trip. So sooooo glad we are headed in the opposite direction. Lovely folks though. We bid them a good night & a happy 4th of July. I was wondering if any would counter with a Happy Canada Day - ahhh well, one can hope!

So fed and watered, and more importantly now on our way home, we headed back to 'A Nice Motel'. Me to write to you good folk, Wend to sort out the horizontal hold on the 'charpoy'. The gentle 'snoring' coming from said 'charp' tells me she has sorted out the controls and now giving it a good run. That's it folks, time for me to relax a little and let the experiences of the last few days 'wash over me'. You never know, if the weather behaves tomorrow, there might be a few more photo's. Nite nite all.

Day 13. Still in Whitehorse.

The anger and frustration of yesterday, was pretty much washed away by way too much Yukon beer last night. What was left this morning, was still an element of frustration, as no one really seemed to care about our plight. Not too surprising I guess! I tried to look at the positives of the situation. Firstly and most importantly, no one had been injured! Secondly, we did actually manage to get the bike into the only dealer for hundreds of miles. Next, our dealer in Red Deer had gone beyond the call of duty, and the spare part was on it's way. Lastly, we were actually on vacation, so this was just an unforeseen extension! So when you looked at all the plus factors, it wasn't too bad really, especially as the weather was glorious and we still had things to see and do.

Wendy had been looking through an area travel guide called 'The Last Great Road Trip'. In which she had seen an article on Muktuk Adventures. In short, Muktuk is a family business based a few miles outside of Whitehorse run by Frank Turner, a Whitehorse dog 'musher'. Many people would probably have heard of the Iditarod sled dog race held in Alaska. There is a similar race held in Yukon, called the Yukon Quest. Apparently, the Quest was started because many felt Iditarod was becoming too commercial and had lost touch with it's roots. As I understand it from a 'musher' at Frank's Muktuk kennels, the Quest was started in 1984 aimed at being a more 'pure' challenge. Although the races are of similar distances, ie 1500km, Iditarod has 20 check points, Quest has 8, some of the legs being 3 days long! Frank is unique in that he has competed in 24 Quest's since they started in 84. Ok, so that's a little background, you should also check out the Muktuk Adventure web site at www.muktuk.com . The site has over 130 Alaskan Huskies of ages, which you can play with and even take for a walk to the near by river - under supervision of course.

So, we hopped on 'Gertie' and rode the 15/16 miles to the Muktuk kennels and had a guided tour by one of the staff. What first struck me, was how 'slight' these dogs were. To think they not only pulled a sled, but several of them competed in the gruelling Yukon Quest. I listened into Frank telling one small family group, that the dogs in the race team, were capable of running about 150 miles a day!! He said that the dogs were still full of running, while the 'musher' was fighting falling a sleep on the back of the sled! We also went with some of the dogs down to the river. That sounds domestic enough for those of us with 'normal' dogs, but these 'athletes' are anything but normal. All the dogs are on long chains attached to their 'house', and when we arrived we were amazed at how quiet it was. For the most part, the dogs lay on or by their 'house' in the sunshine. We were able to go amongst them and make a fuss of them. Everything was very quiet until Manuella one of the staff there came out. At that point mayhem broke out. Dogs running round their house in circles, barking like furry, all seemed to be saying,"pick me..............". They all knew when Manuella came out, it meant a walk to the river. However, sled dogs don't do walking! We were told to walk slowly down a path that lead from the lines of kennels, through a pasture and woods to the river. We were warned that the dogs would come tearing past us. I swear, there dogs would out pace a Greyhound (dog not bus..............). Six of them were selected to join us, and they came like bolts out of the blue. I don't think I have ever seen a dog run that fast before, and they didn't care what or who they ran into! Wendy & I were amazed and stood out of the way to let these furry bolts of lightening past.

Down at the river, we chatted and the dogs ran non stop. Either chasing each other through the bush, or out into the river with one of the other volunteers. Either way, the dogs were having a whale of a time. After a while down by the river, we sauntered back to the house and the rows and rows of kennels. It took a little while to 'round' up the dogs and get them back on their chains. This commotion set off all the other dogs, and it was funny to watch them. Many were up on the flat roof of their 'house', straining to see what was going on and of course, all barking! One of the six that we had accompanied was eventually 'captured' & returned to his/her house and all went quiet again. Then another of our walk 'companions' would bolt down the line of kennels, and all hell would break lose again. Eventually all six were rounded up and peace restored. It was quite amazing how quickly they all went quiet again and lay in the sun shine. We followed Manuella to a sled that had been laid out, to show us the in's and out's of a racing sled - very interesting. Once we were finished there, she said we could wander round at our leisure, even going in to see the pups who were now about 6 months old.

Heading to the pen where the pups were, we passed Frank who was talking to a small group of visitors, and I hung about listening to him. Meanwhile Wendy headed over to play with the pups. Once Frank had finished and some of the visitors moved on, I decided to find out where Wendy was and make sure she wasn't about to smuggle any pups out!!! I soon found here in a pen with six pups, she was in her element. I declined to go in and waited til she had finished. I suggested that we get a coffee at the house before we headed back to Whitehorse, and that's when the fun began................ Not quite sure which was the best direction to open the gate, I suggested pulling it toward her, but watch the pups! Too late, one saw a chink of light between her leg and the gate post, I tried to stop this one with my leg, but another popped out with it. Now with Wendy stuck in the partly open door, two more escaped, then a fifth. Did I mention these dogs run like the wind????? I tell you, when five puppies make their bid for freedom, no one was going to stop them, they were out like lightening then running hell for leather out of the compound for the tree's.......... Wendy looked very sheepish, but I said she had to tell Frank. He could hardly have missed it as five of his pups went charging through the yard, setting off most of the other dogs tied up at their 'houses'. Once we had established that Frank was not at all concerned, it was quite funny - well not for Wendy who was mortified that she had allowed the 'great escape'. Before we left I had helped capture one escapee, and another couple were rounded up. Like I said, quite funny once we knew Frank was ok with it. After a coffee, we got back on 'Gertie', headed down the 3 1/2 km gravel track, then back into town. Time to visit the brewery!!!!!

We rode back to the hotel, parked up 'Gertie', and after dropping biking gear, called for a cab. After the previous days aborted attempt to get to the brewery on foot, we were not going to make the same mistake again! The brewery is a fairly recent addition to Whitehorse, but has gained a reputation for some great beers. Take a look at this link for more info: www.yukonbeer.com . We have already sampled some of the beer at eateries round town, so the brewery visit was certainly on our schedule, given our enforced stay in town. The tour was due to start at 2pm, and there was already a crowd gathered inside the small reception, sales area. The only other micro brewery tour we had experienced was in Fredericksburg at the 'Blue & Grey'. Here we had a great look at the brewing process from start to finish. This tour was to be quite different and lasted about 10 - 15 mins! We were shown the bottling plant, the canning process, and oh yes, a quick couple of words on the brewing process.............. Shame really, there was the real potential for an informative look at this fine little brewery. After the tour, it was into the shop/reception for sampling - so not all bad. As a Brit brought up on dark ale, I was really impressed by their 'Lead Dog' ale, which was based on British bitter. Apparently they had taken the brew to the UK & competed in an International Real Ale competition held in Wolverhampton. There the 'Lead Dog' had won them a 2nd place! Unfortunately riding bikes does not lend its self to carrying beer, so I settled for a polo shirt............. Not quite a 'slab' of beer, but a nice memento all the same.

As there brewery was at the northern end of town, we had a long walk ahead of us, but remembered the waterfront railway. This is a section of the old rail track running along the river bank. This had been the end of the line for the Skagway to Whitehorse railway. Now they have an old electric trolly bus running up & down the line as a tourist attraction. We found a 'station' near by and as luck would have it, along came the trolly. We jumped on, and had a leisurely ride back into town. This left us with quite a short walk to the hotel.

We are both feeling pretty low now, really fed up with the way we are being treated by the CanAm dealer. Tomorrow the part HAS to arrive, or we are in real trouble! Canada Day is on the 1st July, so the dealer will be closed! Wendy has already rebooked hotels along the way, likewise the kennels. We are both pretty dumbstruck that anyone could be this callous, and heartless. The service manager had it in his power to remove a switch from a sales unit and have us on our way. Especially after our dealer in Red Deer provided confirmation that a part was on it's way. A recent check of the DHL web site still shows the consignment being in Edmonton at 5:10am this morning. I'm hoping this has moved by now!!!!!!!!! I have run out of ideas of how I can get through to this person, words for once fail me! Tomorrow we HAVE to get out of the hotel and from there, I have not a clue what will happen. I'm hoping tomorrows blog will be a very short note from Watson Lake. No I guess I'm not hoping, I'm PRAYING Mr Johnson has one tiny scrap of decency in him and gets us on our way. I'm too pissed off to write anything more upbeat - sorry.

Day 12. Whitehorse

Todays blog should have been started with the good news that 'Sydders' was well again, & back on the road. It should then have been filled with details of our departure from Whitehorse, and the splendid ride down to Watson Lake marking the return leg of the journey. Instead, we are still in Whitehorse with no clear indication of when we will be getting away! So you will forgive the lack of jocular prose, complete absence of photo's, and just let me vent.

My blog a couple of days ago reported a problem we encountered with 'Sydders' on our way to Whitehorse from Skagway. What appeared to me to be a quite minor oil leak, but linked to the engine not producing power past 3950rpm. This was I suspected, some sort of rev limiter to protect the engine. As we arrived too late on Saturday to see the service staff, we had to cool our heels for the remainder of the day, and all day Sunday. I was pretty convinced that rectification would be quite simple, as the problem had not been catastrophic. First thing this morning we rode the short distance through town to the dealer, arriving a little before 8:30am and opening time. One set of doors were open, so we made our way in and found the service reception desk.

The service manager was pleasant enough and listened to the problem as I outlined it. First of all he said he'd have to wait to see who came in - mechanic wise, then he told us he had servicings booked for the next couple of days!!! I resisted the temptation to remind him that this was something of an emergency, and went to wait patiently - well as patiently as I can manage - by the coffee machine. Several 'bods' came and went, getting the first cup of coffee for the day, but we sat quietly. After a fairly short time, the service manager directed a mechanic in our direction and we saw the first glimmer of hope for the last few days. Once again I explained the problem and the mechanic asked Wendy to ride the bike to the workshop door. He told us he would look at the bike immediately, then let us know the outcome. We headed back to the coffee machine, with a little more spring in our step and the prospect of being on our way fairly quickly............. All that was about to change!

The mechanic came out from the workshop and went to the parts counter, a pretty clear indication that something was needed to fix the problem. He and the parts 'guy' chatted, and consulted the computer screen but there was a lack of confidence in either of them. Then I thought I heard, "....we don't have...." from the parts guy. That made me pay attention. The mechanic went over to the service manager and was obviously explaining the situation to him. At this point I had to intervene and find out what the hell was going on - or not! It turns out that the leak was caused by a faulty oil pressure switch. It took the mechanic minutes to find the problem and given the spare part, would no doubt have taken minutes to rectify. However, not only did Yukon Honda not have the part, neither it seemed did Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP), manufacturer of the Spyder, Ski-Doo etc etc. Not only did they not have a part available, BRP customer service were closed on a Monday, and the problem was now dropped back in our lap. There was not the FAINTEST offer of assistance from the service manager, who basically stood there while our world collapsed in a heap at our feet. I had expected a,"let me see if..............", or,"let me try...........". But no, nothing, he just stood there while Wendy and I tried to come to grips with the problem. Thank you for fuck all Mr Matthew Johnson of Yukon Honda! All I can hope is that someone, somewhere does you a similar courtesy when you are in a corner!

Obviously the situation wasn't going to be sorted for us by this dealer, so we had to do things ourselves. I went back to the parts guy, who not only confirmed the nil stock situation, but the lack of customer service on a Monday! A stroke of corporate brilliance on BRP's part, who's have thought to do that, closed on a Monday following a weekend where folks generally get out on their machines, which occasionally have problems! Masterstroke, I'd never have considered that move!!!!! Now the only life line was tossed our way by the parts guy, why don't WE try (not them you understand, but we the stranded BRP customer) our local dealer to see if they can help. It seemed an obvious solution, one you thought a caring sharing service manager would have considered to help out a customer???????? Bitter me - ohhh, I haven't started yet folk!

Armed with this thin lifeline, we headed back to the hotel. The very hotel we were due to vacate at 11am. I explained our plight to the lady at the front desk who couldn't have been more helpful, or sympathetic of she tried. She quickly booked us back into our existing room. Then later she added another day for good measure - just in case! All I can say with hind sight is that she had an 'inside track' to events which were unfolding. So a great big thank you for your compassion and help to the Best Western Goldrush Inn, Whitehorse. Back in the room, I called the dealer in Red Deer Alberta where Wendy bought the bike last year. Here's another big shout out for Turple Bros of Red Deer. When we explained our plight, they couldn't do enough for us.

Although they had nil stock of the pressure switch themselves, they took a brand new machine off the floor and robbed the switch. Now making this unit unsellable!!! The switch was then dispatched DHL to Yukon Honda. While we waited for confirmation that the switch had been sent, Wendy spoke again with the ever helpful Mr Johnson, and offered a solution. Would he consider robbing a switch from a unit in stock so we could get on our way. They would then have a replacement switch arrive from Turle Bros and their unit would be saleable once more. No, not at all was his response. They had been 'stung' in the past and would not disable a new unit on a promise. I spoke with Brenda at Turple Bros, explained the situation and asked if she could possibly apply a little 'leverage', even confirm shipment. She did so, but the ever helpful and resourceful Mr Johnson would not budge. He would do nothing until he had the part in his clammy selfish hands!

Well folks, it looks like a lot of hard effort has been 'dumped' down the electrical toilet! I spent ages documenting further events of the day, including a visit to a delightful Mexican restaurant where we had dinner. For some inexplicable reason, all of this work appears to have been dumped. I guess it must have been down to me, so what the 'feck'!!!!!! Suffice to say that in my original draft, I appologised to Wendy for me acting like a complete arse! The combined effects of the day had so pissed me off, I was behaving like a real jerk. Once again Pickle, I publicly appologise for behaving like a prat! Not your fault, or 'Sydders', just the combined efforts of the arse Johnson & Co to really wind me up! It took several glasses of local 'brew' to allow me too relax sufficiently to say so!! To all those of you considering a BRP Spyder as a vehicle of choice, I still think it is a great machine - I love riding it. However, I'm a little pissed off that BRP provide a part time customer service, for my full time pay to purchase one of their machines!!!!! If they are happy to take $20k+ for a bike, they should provide proper customer service. This is shabby & cheap, get real!!!!

I'm sureI have missed half the stuff I wrote originally but it looks like I've 'shit canned' it somewhere 'out there'. Now I'm too tired to worry & doubt there are many people reading my thoughts, so bugger it, I'm off to bed. I hope tomorrow I am be able to 'educate' BRP to the error of their ways, & get them too stick a hot poker up the pompous arse of Mr Matthew Johnson. So enlightening him to the ways of proper customer service. Failing that, I'll just have to stick my boot up his ignorant arse!!!! I'm sure the original text was better thought out than this rushed replacement, so be it - I'm off to bed! I hope tomorrow brings better news, and I can cheerfully report on our continued progress southward and home. Nite nite all, and to my fellow bikers, keep the black stuff down.

Day 11. Whitehorse

Today was going to be all about a little relaxation, and see some of Whitehorse - we succeeded on both counts! We woke this morning to a lovely sunny day. Not completely cloud free, but still very pleasant. First things first, breakfast. We got ready to go out and find a suitable 'eatery' close at hand. After a short wander, we ended up in Starbucks of all places. I suggested we try another Tims, but this was swiftly vetoed due to previous bad experiences. So Starbucks it was and with no savoury food available, it was coffee & cake again.......... At least it would fill a hole!

Before breakfast, we'd roughed out an itinerary for the day. This would include a ride out to some hot springs for a soak. Then head back into town for a wander and look at the SS Klondike, a beautiful restored paddle steamer on display as you arrive in Whitehorse. So on with some biking gear and off to the hot springs. The Takhini hot springs are about 28km north of town, so wouldn't take a long ride. All the better really as we were doing this one '2 up'. Due to 'Sydders' being laid up, we both climbed on to 'Gertie' and headed out of town. I could tell very quickly that Wendy was nervous at being on the pillion. She twitched about like a beginner, but it has been a long while since she has ridden behind me, and the 'Beemer' doesn't have the luxury of a back rest which offers some protection. Not wanting to frighten her, I was very careful on the throttle & brakes, making it to the hot springs without incident.

I could give you all chapter & verse about the history of the hot springs - I won't. instead, I'd draw you to another web link: www.takhinihotsprings.com . The OAT was about 17'c/63'F, with a bit of a breeze coming down off the mountains. Cool enough to make you get into the waters a bit 'sharpish'. The main rectangular pool was a very pleasant temperature, not overly hot. There were only two things in the water that were not too pleasant. Small but dead black flies by the score, creating something of a luke warm fly soup..... It wasn't a carpet or anything like that, but you were certainly aware of their presence if you sat still long enough. The other was far more offensive, and unlike the flies, was well & truly alive. An 8 or 9 year old girl, whose 'heffer' of a mother was constantly making the little brat squeal. I was for drowning both of the buggers, but Wend thought that a little excessive!!!

Instead, we decided to move into the hot waters in a 'D' shaped pool at the far end of the rectangular pool we were in. In an attempt to keep the temperature difference, there were two small sprung gates at the top corners of the rectangular pool, through which you gained access to the 'simmering pot'! I'm here to tell you, it wasn't just the bloody flies that were boiled on impact!!!!!! We slowly immersed ourselves in the hot water, and lay back to enjoy the relaxing sensation. Now I know what a lobster must feel like being dropped into the pot! We were actually starting to enjoy the pool when 'heffer' & brat made their way in to visit Grandma, who was reclining against the wall about 6' feet from where we were. Ohhh and the hot waters did make the adorable child squeal with delight. Wendy had to physically restrain me from drowning the pair of the buggers! Fortunately for all concerned, the 'gruesome twosome' decided to go get something to eat. We relaxed for a while longer, then decided to call a halt to our 'boil in the bag' experience!

Changed, and skin returning to a more normal colour, we threw on the bike gear. The hot springs are at the end of a side road, off the main Whitehorse, Dawson City road. On the way down the road to the hot springs, Wendy had spotted a coffee shop tucked in the trees. They advertised using organic coffee, so we thought we'd give them a try. Now even if you have a wild imagination, you would never come up with this location as a trendy coffee stop. I'll try to include a shot of the place as a 'picture of the day'. It was a delightful place and the coffee was wonderful. It really helped wash down the home made carrot cake...................., what????? Suitably refreshed, we got back on the bike and headed back to Whitehorse.

At the hotel, we dumped wet swimming 'togs' and bike gear. Changed again, we headed out to hunt for - luggage! We have bought so many 'bits & pieces', the luggage we brought with us has reached overflow! So we dropped by a chain camping, hiking, 'outdoory' sort of place ( I felt right at home - not!) to look for a suitable bag. Long short, we got a good sized bag, which is completely waterproof and will fit perfectly on the back of 'Gertie'. However, this will be ON TOP OF, the BMW waterproof bag I already strap to 'Gerties' luggage rack. So glad we came on a biking vacation where luggage is limited................ So, clutching new bag, off we headed to get some history.

History in Whitehorse doesn't come much more important than the SS Klondike. A beautifully restored paddle steamer, which was in cargo service until 1952, then a river cruise ship until she was finally retired in 1955. Take a look at this link: http://www.yukoninfo.com/whitehorse/info/ssklondike.htm . In the early 60's, she was restored and relocated to her current position on the approach into town. Parks Canada look after her, and run regular guided tours round the ship. We joined one such tour for a trip back in time. I love this sort of living history and thoroughly enjoyed every minute. Our guide Zoe was very knowledgeable and we were fortunate to have a fairly small group. We toured the ship from stem to stern, boiler room to engine room and gangway to bridge. Basically we saw the lot! Tour complete and lots more photo's taken, we headed back to the hotel.

Now we plan to have a relaxing evening reading and packing, not trying to think too much about tomorrow morning, and getting 'Sydders' on the road again. That's it then, we've reached the norther most tip of our little adventure. Tomorrow all being well, we start the run home, about 1000 miles in 4 days! In the end, that is what this vacation was about, to see some of this wonderful country from the vantage point of a bike. That's it for today then, more tomorrow - nite nite from Whitehorse.

Day 10. Skagway AK to Whitehorse YT

Skagway had been way better than we had expected, and we'd had a great time here. Now it was time to move on, head home to Canada and sample the Yukon Territories along the way. The day looked quite promising, though weather forecasts the day before had predicted some rain along the way. We also knew that climbing out of Skagway and over the pass, temps would certainly drop. So, as any boy scout would do, we got prepared! Our Gortex liners went back into the riding suits, Gortex gloves came out as did long sleeve tops. We'd done a bit of packing the night before, so we just had a little more to stuff into pannier bags after breakfast. We met Zahara and Norman at breakfast, they were staying a few more days in Skagway, so we said our farewells & promised to get in touch once we were all home back in Edmonton. Breakfast done, it was back to our lovely room one more time.

How we got everything into the pannier bags, the good Lord only knows. Carrying them out to the bike was like having a small person on my shoulders! I stuffed, crammed, forced the larger of the bags into the metal pannier and clicked the latch shut - phewww. If customs ever asked to look into that pannier, there would be problems. Bags loaded, we were almost ready for the off. Wendy was pretty sure 'Sydders' tyres were a little soft, and after checking we discovered they did indeed need a little air. Wendy headed down to the one & only gas station in Skagway while I finished loading 'Gertie'. I swear she groaned!!!!! Down at the gas station, we finished off with the air line, fired up both bikes again & headed out of town.

Skagway is only a very small place, so we soon found ourselves crossing the Skagway river on the edge of town, following 3 slow moving RV's/camper vans. The road immediately went into curves and turns following the contours of the valley, and quickly gaining altitude. That was fine for our bikes, not so good for the RV's who laboriously made their way up the side of the valley. We were in no hurry, so hung back waiting for a gap. The last RV kindly pulled over to let us past & we soon found a straight long enough to shoot past the other 2 RV's. We now wound our way steadily up the side of the valley, with a great view across to the rail tracks we had been up the day before on the train trip. It was quite sobering, looking over at the thin ribbons of steel which made up the track. It was hard to believe the train we had been on, managed to make it's way along such a precarious perch. As we pushed on, the temp was dropping, and by the time we hit the summit at about 3,500', we were at a 'cool' 9'C/48'F. Thank heaven for the liners! The photo at the top of todays blog, was taken just over the top of the summit. It even looks cool doesn't it?

We'd hardly stopped & Wend was pushing us along again, concerned that the convoy of 3 RV's would catch us. So, we climbed back on the bikes and were of again in a 'jiffy'. Now what does that mean folk? Has anyone witnessed a 'jiffy', and how quickly do these things move. Anyway, any contributions or ideas always accepted. On our way again, the terrain looked very very menacing. We were riding on what could best be described as a plateau, but the plateau it's self was smooth boulder like rock with short vegetation & shrubs. Not a very good description I'm afraid, but it didn't look like somewhere you'd want to be stuck overnight that is for sure. A few miles down the road - sorry, kilometres, we were back in Canada now - we approached the Canadian border post. Having had a pretty nasty experience the previous time we entered Canada on bikes, I wanted to prepare a little better this time. We pulled off the road about 200m from the small border post building, where we prepared our passport & permanent residents cards. We also removed gloves & undid helmets - all so we could have the bikes switched off PDQ, and helmets off.......... As it turned out, the female Officer was very pleasant, and we went through the formalities very painlessly. We were soon officially home into Canada and on our way to Whitehorse.

After about an hour on the road, we rode over a river & into a very small town. I had suggested that if we found a 'Timmies', we should stop for coffee! The town was way too small for Tims, but we decided to stop all the same for a leg stretch and coffee. All that was available was a small gas station/general store, so we popped in, got some 'proper' money from the ATM and had coffee & 'stickies'. After a short break, it was back in the saddle & heading for Whitehorse, and that's where we ran into a little bit of a problem with 'Sydders'! Wendy was hanging back behind me & called over the radio that she was having problems. I stopped, swung round & headed back to see what the problem was. A red 'oil can' light was illuminated, and 'Sydders' was not running smoothly. Wendy had only just had an oil change carried out before we left, so I couldn't see how it could be low oil. Neither had I seen a puddle under the bike. Anyway, to be safe, we checked the oil, of which there was plenty. We decided that as we were stuck in the middle of no where, and there was actually a Can Am dealer in Whitehorse, we should push on. The warning light remained on, and at about 4000rpm, Wendy said there was very bad vibration from the bike. We settled for a speed of about 85km, and headed into Whitehorse.

The pair of us were getting increasingly tense with the situation, but the GPS was indicating that we were getting close to Whitehorse so we pushed on. Some time ago Wendy got hold of a short program from a fellow 'Spydereer', which detailed all of the Spyder dealers in North America. I'd loaded this into my GPS. Wendy now remembered this & I reprogrammed the destination on the GPS. We rolled into the dealer at the far end of Whitehorse at about 3:25pm. The dealer closed at 3pm!!!!!!!! BUGGER!!!!!!!!!! I said there was nothing we could do, so we might as well get to the hotel, unpack & start to see what Whitehorse had to offer. We'd get back to the dealer first thing Monday morning, which was our scheduled departure day. After that, we'd be in the hands of the dealer.

Plans made, we back tracked and found the hotel, parked and locked the bikes, then checked in. After a quick unpack and shower, we headed out for a look at town. We found a great gallery with some beautiful artwork and carvings. Now we have yet another piece to get home.............. The girl in the gallery asked if we were going to ship, but as it is a rather heavy wooden piece, we said no, we'd take it! 'Ohh, you are in a car then', the girl said.'No', I corrected her, 'even better, we are on motorcycles.................'. We all had a good laugh, and now we are pondering the purchase of ANOTHER bag to be attached to 'Gertie'. I need a bloody pack mule not a bike! New prize in hand, we headed back to the hotel via a lovely 50's style diner. We'd seen a girl exiting clutching a gorgeous looking banana split, so had to investigate. See photo of the day!!

After that, we took a slow 'mooch' back to the hotel and decided to have an early dinner. Oh yes, and sample the local beer! Well, we're fed & watered and settling down in the room for the evening. Well, Wend has settled and I'm finishing chatting to you, then it's into my book. Today has been a strange one, more especially with the worry about 'Sydders'. I'm sure it will turn out to be a 'computer' problem which they will put right, and we will be on our way. In the mean while, we are heading to the hot springs and the brewery tomorrow - not necessarily in that order!!!!!! Nite nite all, talk to you tomorrow.

Day 9. Skagway

The rain had stopped earlier the previous day, but it was late into the afternoon before we could view some of the snow capped mountains round Skagway. We could see patches of blue sky, but a lot of cloud still hung about the valley. When I got up, I took a peek through the curtains and the weather was pretty much as we'd left it the previous evening. Warm enough, no rain, but still quite cloudy. So, first things first, get scrubbed & washed then see what was for breakfast. Together with the usual cold breakfast 'fare', our host had made fresh chocolate chip scones - wonderful. We sat and enjoyed our breakfast and the much needed first cup of coffee. We got chatting with another couple staying here, who had come all the way from - Edmonton! It turns out that they have been in Edmonton about as long as we have. I should add that the White House is a lovely old house, originally built in 1902 and restored by the current owners following a nasty fire in the early 1970's. We have a delightful ground floor room which is huge. Although very close to all amenities in town, it is none the less in a very quiet location - take a look at their web link: www.atthewhitehouse.com. Pretty perfect really.

After breakfast, we headed into town and down to the White Pass historical railway. This amazing piece of late 19th century engineering climbs out of Skagway nearly 3000', in about 22 miles, and was initially used during the Klondike Gold Rush days. It is a fascinating piece of living history, and Wendy had booked seats for us on the train leaving the down town depot at 8:15am. If you'd like to read more about this amazing feat of engineering, may I suggest you take a look at this link: www.wpyr.com The return trip takes about two & half hours and strangely enough, we came to a halt at the top of the pass inside Canada! No one is allowed to get off of the train, so there were no border formalities, but we passed the actual border marker which was clearly marked by the two National flags and a large stone. With the engines - three of them - now repositioned at the front of the train, we proceeded back down the mountain. After a fairly swift decent, we were once again back in the centre of town, and the old train depot. It had been a remarkable journey with many many photo opportunities - I'm so glad we did this one!

Back in town we did a little more shopping - window & other! Amongst the standard tourist 'crap' in town, there is still a lot of beautiful local art work to be seen. Over the last few years, it appears that the cruise ship corporations have 'muscled' in on the Skagway high street. Buying up several local business locations, and planting much needed 'Diamond' shops!!!! These 'planted' shops look totally out of place in the old Skagway and most have brought in their own staff. The 'prey' for these shops, are of course the thousands of passengers that pour into town from the cruise ships. However, you can still find fine quality carvings and local artwork without too much difficulty. Some of the shops actually carried signs stating that they were 'locals', so we pretty much restricted our shopping to these shops. Clutching yet more bags, we headed back to the 'White House' for a rest before dinner this evening. We also took the opportunity to fire up the bikes and take them to get refuelled.

It was nice to rest up in our lovely room, then get ourselves ready for dinner. Once again we'd decided on the Skagway Brewery - good food, good beer, why bother trying to find the right combination. We did a little repacking before getting ready to go out - save a little time in the morning. While we were getting some refreshment, we got talking to the Edmonton couple we had met at breakfast. Just before we headed out for dinner, we bumped into Norman & Zahara again and said we were having dinner at the Skagway Brewery. We'd been at our table only a short while before they arrived , also looking for dinner. Long short, we had a great evening in their company - good food, good beer, good company. The simple pleasures in life.

That is about it for Skagway. To be honest, I'm sad to be leaving this lovely town quite so soon. It has been a revelation staying here. So warm & friendly, like slipping on an old sweater. I wasn't quite sure what I had expected of this town, but it has turned out to be so so much more than what ever that was. This is one place I must come back to, and spend a little more time. It is a beautiful little town with a huge heart, and makes everyone welcome. Thank you Skagway, we'll be back. Now, it's time for bed, then in the morning repack, load the bikes & head off to Whitehorse. I wonder what awaits us there.

Bye for now folk, hope you are enjoying our adventure as much as we are.

Days 6, 7 & 8. Prince Rupert to Skagway

Well fan, I bet you guessed I had deserted you and given up the ghost - not that easy I'm afraid. We departed PR on the 22 June and have been at sea for a couple of days. Unlike our old friends at Princess Cruises (heads together & cheesy smile), the Alaska Marine Highway vessels do not carry internet. So, we have been rather like Apollo 13 on the dark side of the moon for the last couple of days.......... This afternoon we got into our B&B, connected to the internet and were able to make contact with 'Houston' once more!

I discussed with my dear wife how to best encapsulate the last couple of days. Given that I am likely to make this part of the trip into a veritable 'tomb', I sought her advice and some comments. Here is her suggestion: Left hotel at midday, pissing down with rain. Sat in pissing rain with the bikes for nearly six hours - got on boat. Next day, pissed down with rain - Wrangle Narrows was high point. Got up early this morning, pissing with rain and low cloud. Got to B&B, parked bikes, went to spend shed loads of money!!!!! Not sure I can better that, however I will try to 'flesh it out' a little.

We'd met a chap in the hotel the day before we left, who appeared very knowledgeable about the process at the ferry terminal. His advice was to take an early lunch, then head to the dock and get into line. Thus ensuring a place at the front - or bow as we call it - of the ship. We had a leisurely morning, bought a couple of books for the trip, but ignored the advice re lunch. We were still pretty blown from dinner the night before, so we skipped lunch. Earlier I had been out to 'Gertie' to see how she was fairing, and she duly fired up like a 'good un'. I was a happy camper! We checked out and loaded the bikes, and yes, it was as reported earlier, still pissing down with rain. We were at the terminal before the ticket office opened, so had to wait. After a while waiting in the rain, we were told to drive a few 100m to the ticket office, which was also the location for US Customs. At least were were back inside for a while! Then the Customs Officers were ready to begin processing.

I confess to being a little apprehensive of this part of the journey. Not because of any contraband, but my experiences with coming into the US were not all that good! I'll say no more. However, I really to have to say what a great pair of Officers were on duty that day. Courteous, pleasant, polite, even managing some 'banter'. In no time, we had the bikes and ourselves processed and back into another line. At this point I recognised one of the Officers as the guy in the hotel who advised us to get in line early. I resisted the burning temptation to thank him so 'feckin' much for his crap advice - seemed the smart thing to do. Ohh yes, it was still pissing down!

More vehicles joined us, and by late afternoon, there was quite a throng waiting to board. There were also several bikes, but they had been directed straight past the cars to the front of the lines - ahead of us!! Now we were pissed off & pissed on! Anyway, the crew eventually started boarding the vehicles which seemed to take an inordinate amount of time. One of the crew finally directed us onto the ship. Thank God, out of the bloody rain! We were directed to the Starboard (or right) side of the single car deck, and secured the bikes two abreast. All of us two wheelers had to use some sort of lashing. Wend just jumped on 'Sydders', applied the foot brake and was done. Even the crew looking after parking were impressed with 'Sydders'. One even knowledgeably called to his coworker, 'it's got reverse, great'! Parked and tied down, we unloaded the bags and made our way to the cabin deck.

Thankfully one of the deck crew directed us to the elevators. We both have 4 bags a piece, so getting up a few flights of narrow, steep shipboard stairs would have been purgatory it's self. We popped out of the elevator by the Pursers office & got out cabin keys. Now when I say cabin............... Bare in mind that the last time we ventured too sea, it was aboard a cruise ship, in a suite! We now had the keys to our broom closet, a closet with bunk beds at that! The cabin would be about 10' long by 7' wide - no room to get the cat in there with us, let alone swing it! We also had a narrow space to hang coats etc, and our own bathroom with shower. All very, VERY basic, but at least we had privacy. We decided to do as we usually did when boarding a ship - go and explore. This took 10 minutes.......... The MV Manuska is a lot smaller than we had become used to, but she was perfect for the job she was built for. I'm sure her first Master - a Mr Noah - had no problems getting the animals in two by..................... Exploration complete, we got some dinner and retuned to the sanctum of our cabin. We both read for a while, but it wasn't long before we were both sleeping - knackered!

The following day, there wasn't a huge amount to report. We headed to the canteen and had some breakfast, then pretty much spent the day in the observation lounge. There we either took in the scenery, or read our books. The ship called into a couple of small towns along the route, which incidentally took us through the inner passage. This pretty much ensured that we had a smooth time at sea. The ship carried a US Park Services guide, who every now and then, popped to the front of the lounge and told us a little about the town we were about to dock in, or other interesting facts - such as the Wrangle Narrows. We had called into the town of Wrangle where cars and or passengers got off/on, then we headed off again. North of Wrangle, the ferry passes along a 22 mile long channel, which in places is at best 1/2 mile wide. The weather was none too pleasant, and as my wife capably assessed, was pissing down! However, it was a very interesting stretch of the journey and I have many photo's. Some of which I'll download onto the Blogs slide show. At the far end of the Narrows, we docked at Petersburg and we decided to stretch our 'sea legs' and venture ashore. However, the hour long lay over was now cut to 30 mins and with the town being a good 30 mins hike away, we altered our plans! We got to the car park at the small terminal, where we discovered a delightful bakery! We felt obligated to assist with the local economy, so popped in, got a couple of cakes & headed back to the ship! Apart from dinner, that was pretty much day 2!

And so to day 3, our arrival at Skagway and the end of our little shipboard adventure, within an adventure. The ship called into Haines and then onto Skagway. It takes a little over an hour to make this part of the journey. While the ship is 'in port', passengers are allowed down to the car deck. This gave us a great opportunity to take some luggage down to the bikes before we arrived in Skagway, and to prepare the bikes. It also meant I had the chance to 'fire up' Gertie. Once again, first stab of the start button, she fired into life - I was getting my confidence back in the bike! After securing bags into the panniers, we headed back upstairs and some breakfast. Fully fed, we cleared the last bits of luggage from the 'stateroom', and went to the observation lounge for our first view of Skagway - well we had a ruddy long wait! Nothing to do with the distance we had to cover, the valley was pretty much full of low cloud - down to the water and of course the ever present rain.

When we got a decent view of the town, the first thing that came into sight, were 3 big cruise ships, two we certainly identified as being Princes Line. As we edged closer to the dock, I saw the name on the first, the Sapphire Princess. Wendy & I gave a combined sigh, remembering the month long cruise we enjoyed on the Sapphire's inaugural cruise from Los Angeles to Sydney Australia. The two vessels were worlds apart, but we were on this one for a totally different reason. We eventually docked in Skagway and it was a miserable bloody morning. The heavy clouds hung to the steeply wooded hills/mountains, coming almost down to house top level. It was impossible to see the mountains which surrounded the town. For me, the overall impression was of arriving in a Norwegian Fjord.

On the car deck, we readied the bikes, lashed on the remaining bags and I fred up 'Gertie' once again - she didn't miss a beat. There weren't that many vehicles for Skagway, so in no time we were beckoned forward to the door and ramp. I followed Wendy down the car deck, turned sharp right, exited the ship over a very slick ramp and onto the dock. Here I popped past Wendy & proceeded up the final ramp. As the tide was out - a loooong way out - this ramp was quite steep and slick with rain. There were two perforated sections on either side of the ramp, intended to aid traction for cars. I picked one of these & made way way behind two other bikes. At the top of the ramp, an RV (caravan) was making painfully slow progress as a dock worker peered underneath to ascertain the clearance over the end of the ramp. This caused the 4 bikes to come to a halt on the slippery surface. With the RV cleared, I followed the two bikes & popped over the end of the ramp. It took a while for Wendy to appear, I later found out why. When she tried to move off, 'Sydders' slid sideways down the ramp, until Wendy managed to get traction on the back wheel. She tried to tell me, but I'd not connected my radio because of the short journey............... Anyway, all's well that ends well - so I'm told - and we made our way the few blocks to the B&B, 'The White House' and our accommodation for the next couple of nights.

We arrived quite early, certainly before most 'establishments' allow you to check in. We pulled up outside the B&B, right by another BMW GS and a young guy from Mexico about to head south on the ferry we just arrived on. We swapped stories about our experiences to date, and he told us we'd probably be able to leave our bags inside until we could check in. Not only could we leave our luggage, but we were able to get changed. We registered for our stay, then headed out to look round town. The 'White House' is only two blocks over from the main shopping area, so we didn't have too far to walk. We spent the remainder of the morning & early afternoon, walking round Skagway and doing a little shopping............! We returned to the B&B about 3pm, got to our room to find all of our bags had been moved for us. After a little rest, we showered & changed & headed out for some dinner. Wendy had already discovered the 'Skagway Brewing Company' on-line, and having found it in town, decided to have something to eat there. We were not to be disappointed, the burgers were home made, full of flavour and enormous! These were washed down with some of Skagways own ale - wonderful stuff. So it was we got to bed, knackered & very, very full................

Day 5. Rest day in Prince Rupert

Our room is lovely, and the bed is so comfortable, we both had a great nights sleep. However, always in the back of my mind was the question of whether the bike would or wouldn't start. I'd gone over plans in my head that involved repositioning the bikes so they weren't outside the lower level rooms at the hotel - just incase we had to jump start 'Gertie'. Also, the car park has quite a useful slope for a good old fashioned 'bump start'...... Anyway, first things first, breakfast! The restaurant has a wonderful view out over the harbour and down to 'Cow Bay', so we had a lovely start to the day.

After breakfast, it was time to see how 'Gertie' was going to behave! It took way more throttle than it should do, but second stab at the start button & she burst into life. There was a sigh of relief from the pair of us. I still relocated the bikes, but there was less pressure now. I'd already said I wanted to give the bike a wash, and Wendy was planning to wander round 'Cow Bay'. I found out where a near by car wash was located, and off I went. It only took a few minutes to pre wash and blast the bugs & crap off the bike. A quick rinse & we were done. I couldn't find a cloth anywhere, so I used my jacket sleeve to dry the saddle. If I was going to have any trouble starting, it would be now after blasting the bike with high pressure water, but she fired up first push of the button. Helmet back on, I rode the half dozen blocks back to the hotel, parked up and wandered down the hill to Cow Bay to meet Wendy.

As I mentioned in yesterdays Blog, there are not that many places to shop in Cow Bay, but Wendy still managed to find one with a 'cute' handbag she couldn't resist - love her!!! We then made our way to a lovely little cafe, suitably called 'Cowpacino'! This was another establishment recommended by Ron & Lila. He told us the coffee was good, but they are better known for the cakes and scones.... Well once again, his advice was on the money. I had a Blueberry scone the size of a small plate, and Wendy had a 'wedge' of home made Carrot cake, mmmmmmm! Then we decided to have a wander round town. PR is built on the side of the hills, so none of the roads are flat. Good chance to walk off the 'snack', before tackling dinner tonight.

Prince Rupert is in a wonderful location, but the overall feeling we had, was that it is a 'sad' town, way past it's former glory days. The town centre is quite small and runs along 3 avenues. We walked past so may shops and businesses that were either closed or closing. Whole buildings were up for sale - very sad & a little depressing. However, the Crest where we are staying is buzzing, as is the casino next door - no surprise there then! This is a Monday & the bar was busy at lunch time, and the restaurant was pretty busy this evening. A lot of the customers appeared to be either locals, or like us, waiting for the next ferry. There is also a cruise terminal here, and the pier obviously takes good sized vessels - not while we've been here though. Other than that, I'm not sure what drives PR these days. After the walk we headed back to the hotel to make a little use of our suite. Wendy found things to read & I made a start on todays Blog.

This evening we 'pushed the boat out' just a little for my coming birthday, and did some 'damage' to the bank balance by treating ourselves to a wonderful meal in the restaurant. There was the usual 'grill' fare, steaks etc etc, but we get Alberta AAA beef all the time, so having it for dinner was no real 'biggie'. I'm afraid if you are in BC, there is only one thing to have - seafood! Bearing in mind my comment re what we should be eating tonight, Wendy had already scanned the menu and seen a wonderful meal for two - an 'Ocean taster for two'.......... It had BC halibut & salmon, gulf prawns, Alaskan crab legs, coastal sea scallops, chilled shrimp & smoked salmon. Oh yes, and we added a lobster tail for good measure! I can not begin to tell you how much flavour was in this fresh fish, truly amazing. I'm sure there were some vegetables, the menu said there were, I just saw this mountain of fish. To use an oft used phrase of mine, we really kicked the arse out of it, but my God, it was amazing! This is one birthday meal I won't forget in a long time.

That is nearly the end of our visit to BC for this trip. Tomorrow afternoon we board the ferry, and at 6:30pm, we head out for Skagway and Alaska. A quick glimpse of Alaska to be fair, then we head back into Canada. This part of the trip has been such an eye opener, I never guessed the interior of BC was so stunningly beautiful. With the exception of Terrace, there hasn't been anything about this glorious Province that I haven't loved, and wouldn't come back for. We have had an amazing 5 days, and we both agree that if we were told we had to head home now, we would do so as happy people having seen and experienced what has happened so far. The prospect of more travel to places we've never seen before, seeing more of this wonderful huge country on the back of a bike - I tell you, life just doesn't get much better than this!

So, time to finish this days blog and head to bed. I offer my own advice to each & every one of you, go out there, live life to the full and 'kick the arse out of it'. You just never know when 'Big G' is going to call in his marker, and think how you will feel on that day saying, 'I wish I had................'!! Love to you all & to all the bikes out there, keep the black stuff down.