Custer's Last Stand

Friday 27th of June
Leaving Great Falls Montana this morning we were glad of the sunshine.  David did a great job with the duct tape on our dry liners last night but thank goodness we didn't need to prove them.  Breakfast this mornming cost $2.10.  We already had the cereal so banana, milk and yoghurt reached that grand total. 
We stopped at a small petrol station just down the road from Great Falls to get coffee and a muffin to share while we are enjoying it out in the carpark another bike pulls in.  His pillion (?wife) hops off and goes to use the facilities while he stays there and doesn't even put the stand up so we strike up a conversation and they are from Minnesota travelling to Fairbanks we tell him all about the shocking condition of the road between Destruction Bay and Beaver Creek and he says "Oh don't tell my wife!"
 ha ha so we keep our mouths shut when she comes out and says Hi.  They go on their way and David and I both need the bathroom and there is only one but there is a toilet and a urinal in the same room so we share LOL.
Our next stop is another service station further down the road.  We have just ridden through a huge wind farm and the buffeting was incredible I cuddled right up to David so my head didn't blow off.  We saw a cautionary sign on the side of the road with the image of a horse and carriage ha ha must get a photo the next time we see one LOL then we saw an ?Amish ?Mennonite man mowing the lawn in pants, white shirt and suspenders with a bowl cut hairdo was too funny.  At the station is a western outfitters it's an amazing array of everything cowboy/girl including boots, clothes and horse accessories.
Our next stop was Billings for lunch, we are actually staying in Billings tonight but after lunch we are heading up to the site of the Battle of Little Bighorn aka Custer's Last Stand.  We go into Subway for lunch and just ahead of us is a woman and her 5 children and her Mum & Dad they have also carried in a baby carrier carseat and placed the baby on a table, they are ahead of me in the queue and I look over to the baby and notice she has clenched hands and her forefingers cross over and she is 'mouthing'.  I order our food and when I get to the table I say to David "I think that baby has Trisomy 18" when I go to get our drink I say to the mother "It looks like you are feeding an army!" she laughs and says "it feels like it some days"  David and I talk over lunch and I decide to go and talk to the woman.  I introduce myself and say "I couldn't help noticing your beautiful baby and tell her we are from Australia and run a support group for Trisomy 13/18 and related disorders and are in the States to attend a conference.  She says oh this is Gabrielle she is 9 years old and at first they thought she had Trisomy 18 but as yet she is undiagnosed.  So we chatted for a while and I pointed her to the SOFT USA website and asked her name which is Mary Margaret.  It's amazing that we both stopped for subway at that precise moment in time.
Then we head up the road to Garryowen which is where the Battlefield is.  There is a huge storm which looks like it's straight over where we are headed.  We don't get too wet but we need more fuel so we pull into the station near the Park and there are HUGE water-filled potholes!!  we almost come a cropper!
We head up to the Battlefield and notice there are reenactments all weekend.  We didn't really think it appropriate to go watch a reenactment after learning more about the battle it just seems like it makes the whole thing entertainment like Disneyland.  We did wander around the site, watched a short film and listened to the ranger talk (which was so interesting).  We walk up to Last Stand Hill where there are markers which mark exactly where soldiers/indians fell.  There is a mass grave at the hill and a memorial to the soldiers on one side and to the Indians on the other side.  Then we drove around the battlefield which is 5 miles long.  We stopped at the Reno-Benteen site and got out to read some information boards and got talking to one of the volunteers there and another couple were listening in, the volunteer asked where in Australia we were from and we said "about 100miles north of Sydney" (cause no one knows where Newcastle is!) and then the husband of the other couple says Oh I took my daughter over there just north of Sydney to a place called Newcastle LOL turns out she was doing a short term mission with YWAM!
 After learning about the history of the battle, why it happened and why Custer died it just reinforces my belief in the futility of war.  One mans need to conquer another so that he can possess what the other owns.
On the way back to Billings from the site we rode completely around a MASSIVE storm!  As we rode along the highway another biker pulled up beside us on the left and gave us the thumbs up and was smiling (not unusual for bikers to acknowledge one another but he seemed to want to talk) then he pulled over to the right of us (the side our flag is on) and was smiling and pointing to himself then our bike so I reached back and touched the flag and he nodded.  Not far up the road was a rest stop so we pulled in and he pulled in behind us.  Sure enough he was an Aussie from WA named Ashley he came to the USA 28 years ago first of all as a shearing contractor and now he's a builder and married with kids.  He was heading to Billings to meet up with some other Aussies.  He too plans to ride down Bear Tooth Pass tomorrow so we may catch up with him.
We get a recommendation for dinner from the yound woman at the front desk of the hotel.  She suggests Montana Brewery so we go up there and have pasta for dinner it was very good with the local brew.

cowboy shop

Custers marker with black

Soldiers memorial

Native memorial

native markers

storm chasers

big black cloud

so that's what it's like to wear a nappy!!!!

Thursday 26th June

Everything I said yesterday about my dririder pants.......I take that right back!!

The day started out raining all good we stopped for fuel and then carried on to Waterton (part of Glacier National Park) and went to a cafe for coffee and cheesecake.  The cheesecake is divine Saskatoon berry oh yum!! so creamy and the best made latte I have had in Canada.  It continued to rain and got heavier just as we were leaving Waterton.  About five minutes out of Waterton I had this sudden very wet, very cold feeling down below ewwwwwwwww  We stopped at the border at Chief Mountain and I shifted in my seat oh yuk it feels so bad.  A few miles down the road we stopped for fuel and lunch.  I went into the ladies and sure enough wet, wet, wet!!!  I was so happy when I noticed a roll of paper towel at the table ha ha I folded three sheets and put them under me mmm better.  Once they were soaked I swapped them out for three more.  It helped alittle but then it was back onto the bike and the rain just got heavier and heavier.

Not able to see much scenery today due to the heavy rain and fog.  so not many photos.

The joy of my day was getting into a steaming hot shower and thawing out and getting into nice dry underwear.  So now I know what it's like to wear a nappy ha ha

light fitting made me laugh!

this shower rose is amazingly awesome!!!!

our bed comfy as!

Fort Macleod - last day in Canada

Wednesday 25th June

As we leave Lake Louise it's raining but you what?? I don't care we have ridden through so much rain this holiday I am so getting used to it.  I have to pay credit to Venture (gloves) and Dririder (our pants and jackets) for keeping us dry and warm.  Even though it is raining it's not very cold.  And even though it's raining the scenery is still spectacular.  Driving along the freeway out of Lake Louise the freeway is completely fenced all the way past Banff and the overpasses aren't to drive on they are freeways for the wildlife it's so cool.

The most amazing thing today is that we drive for over 130 miles without a stop the most incredible part of that is, that I don't need a nature stop!!  Finally we stop at a service centre to fuel up the bike and us.  The fast food restaurant is an A&W, I've been wanting to try their food for a while.  It doesn't disappoint I have a chicken chubby BLT and sweet potato fries yum and the drinks come in huge pint sized glasses. It has stopped raining and we get back on the road only another 75 miles to go.  We arrive in Fort Macleod in bright sunshine at 2pm we made very good time.

We go for a walk through town and learn a bit of the history of the town.  A fairly unfortunate place that relied on the railway for it's economy but despite several assurances over the years that the railroad would definitely come to the town it never did.  It came close within a mile and a half of the main town but not close enough according to the town's business people.

The supermarkets in Canada have the best pre-cooked microwave meals available for purchase.  So dinner tonight is cheap and tasty
!! roast beef, mashed potato, vegetables and gravy.  And David chooses chocolate fudge Ben & Jerry's for dessert.

In honour of our last day in Canada I have decided to let you in on a few of my observations about Canada and Canadians

Canadians
1. are very friendly and so cute (they say "eh?' after pretty much everything, "holy!" as an exclamation and "right on" quite a lot)
2. they are very social - several times we have seen groups of locals, men and women, having breakfast together particularly on Saturdays.  One group stated that they eat breakfast together at the same MacDonalds EVERY morning.
3. like stacking rocks - everywhere and anywhere they stand as sentinels beside rivers, highways and at lookouts (viewpoints)
4. use river stones for "artworks" beside the highways - sometimes it's a name, sometimes a phrase and sometimes an image.  Sometimes natural, sometimes painted.  Today I saw an image, river stones coloured and in the image of a dreamcatcher it was quite clever and aesthetically pleasing.

Canada
1. has plastic/coloured money like us - truth be known they stole our technology.
2. measure ambient temperature in celsius like us.
3. travel in kilometres like us
4. have a lot of the same products as us in the supermarket.
5. has so many beautiful mountains.
6. has amazing wildlife
7. has won my heart.

coke A&W style

fries and sweet potato fries with chipotle dipping sauce

EF Holden on the highway today we had one of these in the late 60's early 70's it was green with cream trim and we called her Effie

Lovely Lake Louise

Tuesday 24th June

This morning we thought it would be great to run the 5.6kms up to Plains of 6 glaciers Tea House for breakfast ha ha ha ha - insert maniacal laughter.  Anyone who has been to this Tea House will know why I am laughing so hard!!  We ran a lot of the way and the rest we climbed, skiied (on our runners!) and walked (puffing very hard).  Hill training for City to Surf (C2S) is going very well!! sooo it took us 1 hour 15 mins to get to the teahouse, plus we got a little off the track at one point and had to double back.  The girls working at the tea house were very impressed as they hike in and out themselves each week and it takes them 1 hour 40 mins.

Plains of 6 glaciers Tea House

This place is amazing built in 1927 by two Swiss mountain guides it still stands and is just a beautiful little oasis at 2100m elevation.  It has been owned by the same family since 1959.  Supplies such as flour and sugar are helicoptered in once at the beginning of Summer.  Raw supplies are carried in by horses and the staff in their packs.  The staff themselves hike in once every 5 days and live in little cottages next to the teahouse.  The toileting facilities are two drop boxes which are built on runners like railway tracks so they can alternate between two 'holes' to allow composting.  Very clever.  And they are the only toilets up there so used by visitors and staff alike.  There is no electricity so they use propane (LPG) to bake all the treats and make the teas.  the teahouse itself is very hidden in the trees so minimal impact on the surrounding environment.  From the verandah we can hear the cracking and the thunderous noises of the avalanches on the nearby peaks.

So we had planned to have breakfast here and then hike over to Lake Agnes teahouse for lunch.  Due to the isolation of this teahouse the menu is limited and quite pricey.  We had pie for breakfast apple for Dave and blueberry for me served on paper in little baskets.  Hot Chocolate for Dave and licorice chai tea for me served in paper cups.  The paper products are then used to fuel the fires for the staff accomodation.  This minimises the use of precious water for washing up.  And yes the licorice chai was delicious.  I could of chosen from a number of flavours but that one intrigued me.  Because we had run up we only carried a small amount of money with us and so had none left for lunch!!  only enough for another bottle of water if we needed it $4  We got 2 bottles of water and condensed them into one after drinking the other one between us.

We hiked over the mountain towards Lake Agnes and the views from the trail to Lake Louise were absolutely spectacular.  It took about an hour and 45 minutes to get to Lake Agnes but I am so glad we went there it was just lovely.  The Lake itself still had a lot of ice on it.  We went in and had a look at the teahouse and bought a bottle of water as we had finished the other one.  I forgot to mention it was an absolutely, amazingly gorgeous day for a walk!  By the time we got to Lake Agnes though the clouds had started to form.  We walked down to Mirror Lake again a lovely place and then took the horse trail back to Lake Louise.  By the time we got back to our hotel (2:30pm) we were so hungry having only had a slice of pie each and a cuppa all day!  Just as we walked into the hotel it started to rain. :)

We enquired at the desk about our package and it still hadn't arrived.  We went up to the room to fire up the laptop so we could find out where it was, I was just about on the FEDEX website when the phone in the room rang.  It was the girls at the front desk to say our package had arrived.  Hallelujah!

So Dave went outside to fit the new brake pads while I went downstairs to print out the meal entertainment form from work.  Dave came to me in the computer room and says "I've got good news and bad news, the bad news is they are the wrong brake pads but the good news is we don't need them because these have heaps more wear on them."  He decided to go to the mechanics to do the oil change and I went upstairs to have a shower and read for a while.

When David got back all my muscles had started to ache and seize up and so had his and the only way to fix that is.... the hot tub.  It is outdoors but we go up anyway and it was soooo lovely!

After the hot tub we went to sit by the fire and have a predinner drink and sort out the last few days photos.  We had dinner at the hotel again as neither of us was keen on walking down to the Fairmont in the rain.  Early to bed tonight!!!

view from my bed 7am

Plans of 6 Glaciers teahouse

6 glaciers lookout

Lake Agnes

horse trail

Mirror Lake

 

 

us in the tub

view from the tub

Lake Louise!!!!!!

Monday 23rd June

A tad emotional this morning when I realised we were heading to Lake Louise today.  I know I'm a dork but that's just me.  Our precious girl impacted our lives so greatly.

We ran around Jasper for just over 3kms this morning and then went to the supermarket to pick up food for breakfast.  I just love those breakfasts raisin bran, banana and yoghurt simple but fulfilling!  Coffee was good this morning because I made it!!

We got moving at 10am stopped for petrol and then headed to the Napa store for some oil, tools and brake fluid.  It was so funny David asked for a spanner and the guy says "What is a spanner?" LOL so I said "wrench?" Hopefully our pads and oil filter will be there when we get there.

We are driving on the Icefield Parkway.  The road is nowhere near as bad as the Alaska Highway but it does have it's ugly bits.  Dave is becoming adept at riding on the good parts of the road.

Our first stop is Mt Edith Cavell (yes all you Newcastle University Nurses THAT Edith Cavell) they named the most majestic mountain in her honour and it is so awesome.  I am running out of superlatives for the environment and scenery.  It's just stunning a new, more magnificent scene around every corner.  The road up to the mountain is really good with a few 15km/hr and 20km/hr hairpin bends but when we get to the top there is gravel so we park just to the side of the pavement and walk up to discover that there is a great paved carpark!!  When we come back down we have started a trend oops and we inform the drivers that are still in their cars that there is a perfectly good carpark just around the corner.  Maybe Parks Canada need to use some of the funds from the park entry fee which is charged per person/per day ($58.80 for us, with an annual pass $136, US Annual pass is $80!!) to post signage pointing to the parking!!!!!  On the way back down the mountain there is a small black bear walking on the road much closer than the grizzly we saw yesterday as the road is really narrow with no shoulder, I got some film of him on our Olympus.

Our next stop is Athabasca Falls.  It's just beautiful and we wander around on the walkways.  When we get over to the other side of the falls there is an amazing rainbow due to the massive amount of spray.  There is huge amounts of water tumbling over the falls every minute, what amazes me is it just keeps going and going where does it all come from and will it ever run out? ha ha

Next we stop at Columbia Icefield Discovery Centre for a late lunch.  While looking for the cafe we hear an aussie accent behind the counter of the gift shop and I call out "Aussie Aussie Aussie" and she says "woohoo!!!" LOL.  It is sooo crowded as there are people buying tickets for a ride up onto the glacier.  They transport people up to a point in coaches and then you board 4WD tractor buses with large viewing windows.  They drive up onto the glacier and you can walk on it.  No we didn't take the tour, we caught a helicopter onto a glacier the other day and walked and mushed on it :P

We stop about 30 miles down the road for a drink of gatorade (the girl behind the counter is another Aussie from QLD) as we are both feeling dry and get talking to some bikers from Sasketchawan (sp?) they are amazed that we are riding so far.  One is riding one of the Stratoliners I talked about a few blogs ago very cool.

We have sandwiches for lunch and we are soon back on the road.  The scenery just gets better and better the further you drive.  Glaciers visible from the road high on the mountains.  Another bear on the road this time there is a large shoulder so he is a fair way away and OK for us but there are two cyclists trying to get by him and he is very interested in them and the large blood spray in the middle of the road.  A pick up truck in front of us stops and he runs toward the other side of the road until an RV comes barrelling along and does not look like he's stopping making the bear run towards our side again.  The RV slows a little and drives on the shoulder while the bear looks like it's going to run off onto our side it suddenly runs back over to the other side and nearly gets flattened by the RV which then speeds off!!! meanwhile the pickup has driven off too and as we start moving ahead the bear comes back out onto the road towards the large patch of blood and us/cyclists.  Dave revs the engine and toots the horn to try to scare it over to the other side of the road so the cyclists can pass.  It works and we help them pass.

We arrive in Lake Louise Village and stop for petrol and there are two young Aussie men behind the counter one from QLD one from WA.  We ask them if there is a mechanic in town because if our pads and oil filter arrive Dave will have some oil to dispose of.   They point us in the right direction and we drive down there the guy is a bit prickly at first but once we tell him we have all our own stuff and will just need an oil disposal option he is happy.

We are staying at Deer Lodge and the girl at the front desk is....you guessed it Aussie from VIC.  No parcel yet but when I tracked it on the FEDEX site it was in Calgary at 8:30am this morning and Dave tells me this is only 2 hours away!! why is it not here!  We are a bit bummed about that cause Dave was going to do the brakes tonight and the oil change early tomorrow so we would have plenty of time for exploring.  Oh well hope it gets here tomorrow!!

Our room is pretty tiny but the hotel is lovely with an outdoor hot tub that we will try out later after dinner and a walk.  We have laundry to do.  The laundry is located right next to the games room so while the washing is being done we watch the news and Dave plays a game of pool with himself while I blog.  We walked up to the lake and it is just gorgeous.  We slipped into the Fairmont to have a sticky beak at the shops and of course use the facilities.  Then we went over to check out the canoes we think we might go for a paddle tomorrow.  The four people working the canoes have just stripped down to their swimmers and are holding hands on the pontoon.  1......2.......3 and in they go they surface simultaneously screaming and laughing it must be freezing!!!  By the time we get back it is a tad late for the hot tub oh well maybe tomorrow.

bahahahahahaha

Lake Louise

view from our window 10pm

The video is the canoe vendors jumping into Lake Louise at 8pm on June 23rd bbbrrrrrrrrrr

Fraser Lake - Jasper

Sunday 22nd June

Up early and the manager brings us our breakfast to our room because the dining room isn't open on Sunday morning.  Oatmeal and toast, the coffee leaves a lot to be desired.  I'm glad I took my long johns and spencer off before we got going for the day.  It's cool to start off but soon warms up and we ditch our neckies and gloves at morning tea and then our jackets after lunch, it feels good to have the sun on our skin again.

We have lunch in McBride and as we are finishing we see John and Terry pull into the service station across the road so we duck over to see them before heading off again.

The scenery today has changed as the day has progressed, at the start of the day it was quite flat with farmland.  As the afternoon progresses the mountains return and the lakes and the snow it's just gorgeous.  We see our first grizzly beside the road today and I got a bit of video of it.  Just before we arrived in Jasper we were riding along and I noticed a waterfall right next to the road, not huge or spectacular but there.  As we rode past it there was an artic blast of glacial air it was so cold and if we had had our jackets on we probably wouldn't have felt it.  Jasper is so pretty and our accomodation is very comfy.

It's actually really warm this afternoon so we walk to dinner.  We go to the Brewery in the main street.  A six beer sampler and appetisers because we ate lunch fairly late.  The bacon wrapped bacon lollipops are my favourite, calamari and chicken wings.  Dinner was great especially the bacon lollipops with maple syrup mmmmmmm.

rest stop this morning

Brewery

Prince Rupert - Fraser Lake

Saturday 21st June - Summer Solstice

It's 1:45am and we get "knocked up" as Terry calls it LOL
rap rap rap "Prince Rupert in 45 minutes!!"
we drag ourselves out of bed I feel like I just went to sleep!!!
It's lightly raining and really dark so we've all decided to go to Tim Horton's to wait for daylight.  Someone said they are open 24hrs.  Immediately as we get off the boat there is a border crossing.  The attendant asks if we have any fruit that we purchased in Alaska and why yes we do we have 2 apples.  "Well as long as you don't dispose of the cores on Canadian soil I'll let you keep them"  trusting soul!

We finally find Tim Horton's and it's not due to open until 4am??  There are some teenagers standing out front and they tell us that Maccas is open 24hrs so we ride over there only to find out that it's only the drive-thru of course!!! so we go back to Tim's and decide to wait, in the meantime more bikers pull in but not any of our friends.  We chat to them and soon 4am comes around.  We get coffee/hot choclate and a muffin and sit talking to the three guys from Idaho.

Soon it's light but overcast not really raining so we leave and head for our first stop Terrace.  When we arrive there Rick and Paula are doing their laundry (their whole trailer had been full of washing ha ha) then we continue on to the Junction of the Stewart Cassiar Hwy and Yellowhead Hwy (which we are following) just before we get to the petrol station there we see Wolfgang & Michaela and Carol & Harry pulled over to the side of the road together.  We decide to have second breakfast eggs, bacon and country fried taties yum! and of course toast.  Our next stop is in Smithers Harry & Carol's hometown.  It's mainly a loo break and stretch stop but there just so happens to be Farmer's Market near the Visitor's centre.  We go over and have a look there are some cyclists there that are escorting a totem pole to the Children's Hospital in Edmonton and raising money along the way.  Of course I find some earrings they are tiny electroplated pine cones and then covered in burnished copper, very pretty.

Our next stop Houston we skip and decide to push on to Burns Lake, we fill up with petrol at Decker Lake and ask the woman behind the counter for a recommendation for lunch and she suggests Spirit Square and the burgers at the Spirit Bus so off we go to find it.  It's National Aboriginal Day and there is a lot going on in Spirit Sq, dancing competitions, all the first Nation people are represented and we feel a little out of place.  The bus is amazing and Terry the owner comes out with hats and offers to take our photo.  Then he hands me a sharpie and says sign the bus you are the second Aussies to do so..  The burgers are good and we are soon back on the road.  David is so tired and so am I although I have been dozing on and off all day.

Fraser Lake is a welcome sight and we are soon in our bed and napping.  We walk down the road for dinner which is Chinese beef chop suey and chicken chow mein (different to ours but tasty).

Inside Passage on the Alaska Marine Highway!!

Friday 20th June
I slept so well I slept in until 8am!!!  Breakfast on board the ferry is OK.  None of the meals are super hot.  Terry gave me the lowdown on the cappucino machine which makes a pretty good cup.  At breakfast we meet Wolfgang & Michaela (a German couple travelling from Anchorage to Buenos Aires! 9 months!) they are on a BMW and are loaded to the max!  And Dan and Betty a couple from Iowa who are riding a HUGE Victory.  So from not seeing any females I now have half a dozen new friends.  We all share stories of wildlife sightings over many cups of coffe as there is not much else to do.  Then we break out the laptops and compare and swap photos.  A couple of games of Pass the Pigs helps the hours to pass more quickly.

We dock in Ketchikan at 5:00pm and we get an hour and a half to kill.  There's not much close by so we walk to the nearest pub for a beer and use their wifi LOL Terry phones a mate who lives in Canada.  We decide to have dinner back on the ferry because it would have been too rushed otherwise.  I choose the steak and it's the fattest chunk of meat I have ever seen and cooked pretty well.

To bed early tonight because we will be up at 1:45am to disembark. yuk!

all the laptops appeared

Razorback

no bears only a bare bum!

Thursday 19th June

Our last day in Juneau.  We have organised a 2pm checkout as our ferry doesn't leave till 5:15pm and we don't have to be there till 3:15pm.  So we walk downtown and go for a ride up Mt Roberts on the tramway.  We walk to the top of the mountain, crossing over snow four times and it is a fairly strenous exercise glad we didn't run this morning!!  We are walking along the track at one point and come up over the hill to be confronted...not by a bear but a BIG bare bum!!! an older woman has not tried to hide the fact that she is relieving herself right beside the track....really!!! there are children on the track!! 
We come to a patch of snow on the track and at first we think that a person has walked across the snow but then we see they are quite obviously bear tracks not sure if you can make them out in this photo

bear tracks in the snow

On the way back down the mountain we are passed by heaps of people running up the trail.  And we see eagles soaring above the tramway station.  I buy a cute pair of jammie pants at the gift shop as the ones I bought with me have very, very loose elastic.

We buy lunch at a little street cart the food is good but I am stunned by the selfishness of some people namely those who smoke.  We are literally in the middle of our lunch and a man smoking comes and sits right next to us and continues to smoke his cigarette!!!!!  A lot of butts are left lying arpound too it makes me so angry that people think it's OK to leave them lying around.  Rant over!

We pack up after lunch and have decided we'll do a drive by of Mendenhall Glacier and get some petrol before going to the ferry terminal that way we won't need to stop for 160 miles or so at 2am when we disembark in Prince Rupert.  We ride out to the glacier and it's amazing it comes right down to the water and there are huge chunks of ice floating in the lake.  When we get to the terminal to collect our tickets the woman behind the counter says "they will be loading in about 30 mins"  we thought we would have to wait at least an hour or more.  Once in the ferry queue we get talking to a couple who are riding a canary yellow Goldwing and towing a trailer the same colour.  Rick and Paula (who looks uncannily like Betty Cowie my Mum's friend) are from Texas.  It's not long before we are loading.  David has to tie down the bike himself (on the Spirit of Tasmania they do it for you) and we had to provide our own tie-down straps.  We settle into our cabin and then we go looking for John and Terry we know they are here because we are parked behind their bikes.  We can't find them so we end up sitting on the deck talking to Rick and Paula some more.  It's so nice to finally have a female biker to talk to. 

Terry and John find us on the deck and we all go into the bar for a drink and they introduce us to Harry and Carol a couple who are riding a yellow Can-am and towing a camper trailer.  They live in Smithers BC we all end up eating dinner together and chatting till late.  The beds are fairly comfy although bunk beds.  I grabbed the bottom ha ha

Heli-mushing

Wednesday 18th June

I have been looking forward to this day for a very long time!!  When David first told me we were going on a heli-mush I was like "What is that?"  Once he explained what was involved I've been so excited.  It's raining this morning though so I hope it doesn't spoil the trip.

So we were picked up at our hotel by the people from Era tours.  The driver said "one of you get in front and the other in the back" so I got in the front and David tried to get in the back it was full of people with 2 women spread across a 3 person seat and at first they didn't budge until the driver suggested one of them scoot over ha ha and then one of them asks "how many of us are going to be in each helicopter?" the driver said "6"  did she think they were going to have one to themselves?!

We arrived at the heliport, got weighed and had a safety briefing.  All we had with us, was on us ie. in our pockets as no bags were allowed on the helicopter due to weight restrictions.  I was regretting bringing my sunglasses cause it was raining and I had nowhere to put them. Then we are sorted into groups some staying for the extended tour, like us, some just an hour.  We ended up with just 4 people in our helicopter.  I got put in the front seat on the way up I could not contain my excitement and I was physically jumping in my seat.  I have never been in a helicopter before and it's magic!!! there was a little window at my feet and I could see everything on the ground.  We flew over our hotel and I could see the motorbike parked in the parking lot.  When we arrived up on the glacier it was sunny and really glarey so I was so glad I had sunglasses.  We get out of the helicopters and the dogs are all going ballistic!!  We get a briefing on how to stand on the sled and to make sure we are holding on and when told to brake to stay on the brake.  Then the short stay groups go off on their mush and we get to go meet the dogs, our musher Eric takes us over and shows us how to harness the dogs and we each get to do it on a dog (we are with another 2 women Marisa and Martha from Cancun Mexico) the dogs are so cute and Eric picks the more friendly ones for us to meet.  Some of them are wary of strangers so we give them a wide berth.  Then we get to put their booties on.  We each took turns on the two sleds Eric was at the front with two of us sitting in front of him and there was a sled behind that one of us stood and the other one sat down, during the mush we all switched places so we all got a turn mushing.  While we are out on our mush the short stay people leave it makes us feel very special. When we got back to camp we gave the dogs a snack water and kibble and then they were given lunch and as one (180 dogs) all howled a chorus of thankyou after they were fed it was amazing!  Then Eric handed us over to Stephen to show us around the camp.  We saw the kitchen, the dining tent and then...........he showed us a puppy OMG!!! she was sooooo cute.  Her name is Enya and she is 2 weeks old so her eyes are not even open yet and she was making these cute little groaning noises she was a fat little sausage and so warm and I got to hold her!!!!!!  Then we were taken to a tent to eat lunch after washing our hands of course..  The helicopters came back with another load of people coming for a mush and took us back to the heliport.  Our once in a lifetime experience is over but I am so glad we did it.  They took a photo of us when we first arrived at the camp and when we get back they have a print available for us to buy.  We buy the print because we want this day to be a great memory forever.

Dinner tonight is frozen dinners which are actually quite good pasta Marie Callender's for me and beef pattie Hungry Man for Dave.  We do some washing and organise a 2pm checkout for tomorrow.

ready to jump in the helicopter

me with gorgeous Enya

me in the helicopter

glacier from the air

Dave filming from the helicopter

Jumpin Juneau!!

Tuesday 17th June 2014

We slept until 10am due to being late to bed last night and the day starts out rainy and cold.

We have a small kitchen in our room and seeing we are staying here for three days we decide to find a supermarket to buy food so we can cook our dinners.  There is an IGA within walking distance, we get cereal fruit, yoghurt, steak, fresh vegetables, two frozen dinners, cider, wine and some snacks.  About $100 for 3 breakfasts, 1 lunch, snacks and 2 dinners.  We have allowed a $100 daily food budget so it helps when we can save money like that and it's great to be able to cook for ourselves.

Due to the rain we decide to go see a movie this afternoon so the X-men movie it is.  We ride over to the cinema in the rain but when we come out of the movie theatre it's bright sunshine.  The movie was great and a good way to spend the afternoon.  On the way back to the way back to the hotel we ride around Juneau which is jumping with tourists off the three HUGE cruise boats moored in the harbour.  Coral Princess, Norwegian Pearl and Radiance of the Seas.  Juneau is a very pretty small town which obviously thrives on the cruise ships visits.  A rainbow appears as we ride along it's just beautiful it gets bigger and bigger until it arcs completely across Juneau. 

Back at the hotel I cook us a pretty awesome steak dinner which goes down well with a nice Jacobs Creek Cabernet Merlot.  I was pleasantly surprised that the JC only cost us $7.99.  I decided to buy what I knew was good!

After dinner we take a walk through Juneau and it is completely deserted because the cruise ships have left.

rainbow

cruise ship moored right in town

take that frosties!!

Sunday 15th June 2014

We had awesome oatmeal at Buckshot Betty's before taking on THAT road.  We thought we knew what to expect but it was a little worse because as well as the frost heaves, potholes and roadworks there were VERY frequent patches of gravel some short, some miles long.  To start with in the rain the one saving grace was that the sun came out and made us very happy.  And we saw a coyote so that was pretty cool.  After a hundred miles of that we needed a treat so when we stopped for fuel we got some bumbleberry pie and ice cream mmmm yum.  While I was paying for the petrol I looked out to where David was moving the bike and who should I see but Terry!!! and John the English guys that we have become chummy with so funny that we should catch up with them right here in the middle of nowhere.  They stayed in the accomodation attached to the gas station last night so they are just starting out for the day.  So we chat for a while and then they go.
Riding along today, once over that damaged road we are very happy the scenery is great, it's sunny and we are heading to catch a ferry tomorrow so we are really excited.  There are not many places to stop and when we get to Haines Junction we visit the Cultural Centre mostly to use the loo but also to have a look around.

As we ride out of Haines Junction we see a sign no gas for 203kms Dave does a quick calculation and says I think we'll just make it.  So as we ride along I'm praying for a petrol miracle ha ha some of you may remember our incident just outside of Broken Hill last year I wasn't keen to repeat that especially with the possibility of bears or moose around.

We stopped for a break about 60miles along the way and who should be there but Terry and John and we share with them that we think we are going to go really close with petrol.  They carry small cans of extra petrol so we make sure they are behind us ha ha.  About 35kms before the border crossing we switch to reserve.  At the border crossing our front brakes make a loud noise and when we look we realise we need new brake pads.  We tell the border guards that we are running on fumes and they say the gas station is 7miles away and all downhill.  So we coast down the hills and try to preserve fuel we get to about 3 miles away and the bike stops nnooooooo!!! LOL We pukk over and I have to push for a while so we are in a turn out lane and well off the road.  And after talking to another biker who stops we decide to try leaning the bike over and starting it again.  It starts and Dave starts and stops it  until it finally gives up the ghost again just a little less than a mile from the gas station.  We decide that it must just be over the hill and think we can push it up the hill and coast it down again.  shortly after we stop Terry and John come along and save the day ha ha and sure enough when we get going the gas station was just over the hill.  It was lunch time and John and Terry ate with us.  I fully intended to pay for their lunch so I went inside to do that and John came too and said "no way! I'm paying for ours"  so he asked the server how much and he paid their bill and then asked how much ours was and I went to hand over the payment but he beat me!!
Anyway we waved them off but I don't think that's the last we've seen of them.
Now today was one snow-capped mounyain after another so I have heaps of photos.
We are in another lovely B&B and tonight's dinner was REALLY good mexican fish burrito for Dave and fish taco for me.

what a place to run out of petrol

John and Terry

Haines Harriers

Monday 16th June

What an absolutely stunning day in Haines Alaska and what better way to start the day than a run around town?  Seen on our run, town surrounde d by snow covered mountains, sunshine and bald eagles.  What a great day to be alive!

Breakfast at our B&B cereal, pancakes and sausage yum!

We pack up and plan to check out Haines completely as our ferry doesn't leave until 8:15pm.  We check out the Hammer Museum it was very interesting.  It'a amazing what they use hammers for.  Then we share halibut and chips for lunch with a side salad.  After lunch we ride out to the ferry terminal and validate our tickets and find out what to do, which lane to wait in etc. 

We ride out to Chilkoot Lake to try to see some bears.  Nooo we didn't see any!!  There is a weir out there where they catch salmon and sex them and then release them back into the river.  We watched for a while it was very interesting.  It was such a pleasant day we watched some fish jumping in the river and some eagles flying around.

Then we went back to town and got a cup of tea and a brownie sundae (wish I had taken a photo of it, was massive!) Then we bought sandwiches for later.  We hung around the food van for a while and sat enjoying our tea and the sun.  And then we rode out to the ferry terminal again to wait for the ferry.  There were several bikes lined up in different lines.  The ferry goes to several stops and Juneau (our stop) is the first one so we will be last one loaded.  We strike up a conversation with a guy who is in the process of moving from Anchorage to Sitka and is riding and travelling on the ferry.  His name is Rob Davis and he is a really nice guy.  He's riding a BMW and is very chatty.  While we are chatting to some guys from Seattle John pulls up to say goodbye they went on a flight out on the glaciers today and are heading to Scagway tomorrow.
We ride onto the ferry almost last and strap ourselves down.  We make our way up to the Purser's desk to get our room key.  We are only on the boat for 4 hours but we got a room so we can relax it will be 1am when we arrive.  Once we are settled we explore the ferry there is a restaurant, a cinema and a bar.  We have a beer in the bar and then go back to our room.  We end up falling asleep on the bedand wake at midnight in time to watch a bit of the scenery go past.  When we arrive in Juneau it's just after 1am we ride to our hotel.  Google maps fails us again, our instructions say to turn right so after riding in circles for a while we decide to try turning left and HUZZAH our hotel is right there LOL we park out the front of the office and the guy behind the counter comes scurrying out and says you need to move the bike there is a shuttle coming in with passengers soon.  So we have impeccable timing we just beat the shuttle to the check-in desk.  Once we are checked in we go back out to the bike and are about to move it closer to our room when the security guard on duty comes out and says "you need to move that bike to a designated parking spot"  OMG!!! these people need to get out more! I replied "yes that's just what we are doing!" it was 2am so I was using my inside voice of course!

Back to Canada eh?

Saturday 14th June

A big day ahead and we had asked to have breakfast at 7am but somehow it ended up being 8am before we ate!!  We did, however, have a nice chat to some of the other guests one family that we think might have been the herd of elephants from last night.  The hostess Carol used to be a home science teacher and had to explain everysingle morsel of breakfast including the juice before we ate ha ha it was all very delicious even had reindeer sausage, homemade sourdough waffles with an assortment of syrups including maple and birch (very different).  Then she told us the story of the grizzly bear pelt on the wall.  Her Father shot it in 1947 when he was out hunting moose.  He had seen a moose the day before and had gone to shoot it when the bear charged him from behind he turned and as he went to fire on the bear tripped, the first shot went awry and his second shot he got off very quickly thank goodness got the bear just above the left eye you can see the stitch where the taxidermist fixed the wound.

turns out the bear had killed the moose already and hidden his prey and was protecting his stash.

It was raining pretty much all day today but we did OK.  It was a long ride 480 miles and a lot of the road was very rough with many gravel patches.  We are very glad of the new tyres as tomorrow morning we have to brave the frost heaves again!!

We have lunch a small restaurant and talk to another couple riding on one bike from South Carolina a lovely young couple.  We had tomato soup and sourdough toast it was superb!!

Going through the border crossing is a bit of a giggle the border guard asks "Where do you live?" Australia, "Where are you staying tonight?" Buckshot Betty's "I'm from Vancouver eh? and that is a great place to stay" ha ha Oh Canada how we love you!!! so cute!

So it's back to loonies, twonies, coloured money and kilometres at least for one night.

We arrive at Buckshot Betty's and Carmen has indeed installed two more cabins she is a hard worker!  We head straight up for dinner and we both have the pork cutlets which turns out to be pork schnitzel which I'm actually happy about (didn't need to fight with bones) it comes with mashed potato (which is just potato hallelujah!) asparagus and bernaise and veges it was delicious and just what we needed!

Skyped Jenny tonight and she tells us that she has made it to the karaoke finals so proud of her!!!!

Anchorage aweigh!!! LOL

Friday 13th June

Connie makes us another lovely breakfast.  And we chat chat chat till late.  We hoped the rain might stop before we leave but it continues until we get about 10miles out from Anchorage.  We see lots of eagles this morning they are huge bald eagles and so beautiful flying right next to the road.

We arrived in Anchorage at midday and spent the next 2 hours searching for somewhere to get new tyres for the bike.  A couple of places would have done it for us but didn't have the right sized tyres.  We end up at the Yamaha dealer in town.  They need the bike for 2 and half hours!!! so we walked down the road to Maccas for a cuppa while we waited and then visited Anchorage Harley Dealership, Harley has sooo much branded gear and heaps of bikes.

We got back to the Yamaha place a bit early so we start chatting to Steve one of the salesman about a couple of the bigger cruisers (Stratoliner) that they have there he is sooo passionate about his product and well he might be they are great bikes.  He shared a story with us about a man who visited him recently having purchased his first bike a Harley Davidson Road King.  He parked it out the front came in to Steve and said "Like my new bike?" and Steve basically said "It's OK it's a bike"  ha ha this guy said but it's a Road King and Steve said "yeah, is it your first bike?" and the guy replied "yes and I just wanted to come and compare it to these" pointing to the Stratoliner and Steve said "well it doesn't"  the guy was pretty angry when he said that and asked if he could take it for a ride, Steve said "Sure ride it twice round the block, the second time like you stole it" so after a bit of paperwork the guy sits on the bike and lifts it and his eyes go wide, then he starts it and off he goes.  He gets back and he says to Steve "I am so pissed!!! this bike is waaaay better than mine and all my mates said if I didn't buy a Harley I couldn't ride with them, I'm going home to line them all up and shoot them!"  ha ha sooo funny we were laughing so hard!

It is quite late by the time we arrive at our B&B Big Bear....OMG! this place is amazing it's like a museum with a black bear, polar bear and grizzly bear pelt to name a few things.  There are also many other animal pelts around the house and walrus tusks.  Our room is wonderful we have a bed with a small living area and huge bathroom all to ourselves!

We walked down the road to a Thai/Vietnamese restaurant.  Fresh (Vietnamese style) spring rolls to start and then Thai red curry (chicken) to...die...for!!!!

On the way back to the B&B 2 police cars came lights and sirens into the supermarket carpark we were walking across and intercepted a car, out of the car stepped two young men and then a paramedic truck pulled in too and the paramedics started attending to a third young man in the back seat and then a third police car pulled into the carpark all very exciting.  Not sure what happened to the young man.

The B&B was a very noisy place we got woken at 2:30am by what sounded like a herd of elephants upstairs!!

Anchorage Harley Davidson Dealer

Big Bear B&B

beautiful screen B&B

Polar bear Big Bear B&B

Grizzly Bear Big Bear B&B shot by owners' Father in 1947