The Road(s) Less Travelled

Somehow or other, due to the miracle of excellent planning, Jim and I managed to miss not only the festivities of Canada Day, but also those of July 4th.  I don't know how that happened but we've got to do some serious thinking about this if we plan a trip on those dates in the future.  Everywhere we went we saw evidence that people were gearing up for the annual blowout.  Campers and boats were being prepared, fireworks stand were set up advertising the power of their wares, and Budweiser packaged their beer in patriotic cans with stars and stripes and the red white and blue.  The cans were so eye-catching that we were compelled to purchase a couple of six paks and sample the contents.  We were not disappointed.
 

I'm afraid that I tend to be a bit of a beer snob, pledging allegiance to out local Vancouver Island microbreweries and their excellent beers.  However, Budweiser in tall cans has been a guilty pleasure of mine for more than thirty-five years.  I don't know what it is, but I like the stuff.  Just the American version though.  The Canadian version tastes terrible and after an initial sampling to see how it matched up many years ago, I've avoided it like the plague.  Maybe it's the fact that I get the 'real' Budweiser, 'The King of Beers' only sporadically that make sit so desirable, but whatever the reason, I do enjoy the occasional quaff of the stuff.
 

We finished our ride from Sandpoint relatively early in the afternoon of July 3rd and were able to get the last double room north of Omak, the second time in two days we were able to get the last available room.  Something or someone was looking out for us I guess.

 

 

We left Oroville at about 7:45 a.m. hoping to stop at the duty free, pick up a bottle of single malt Scotch, cross the border, and have a straight run up the Okanagan Valley, ending up at Jim & Sue's house in Kamloops in the early afternoon.  We arrived at the duty free, and it was open before 8:00 a.m. so we were able to choose our beverage of choice without any pressure because we were the only customers in the store.  Jim picked a bottle of 12 year-old Glenlivet called 'The Master' because the master distiller supposedly chose it himself.  I picked up a bottle of Islay malt, Caol Ila which has a distinctly smoky flavor.
 

The border crossing was uneventful. 'How long have you been out of the country?' Are you bringing back any alcohol or tobacco?' and 'Have a good day.'  I little less formal than crossing into the US eight days earlier at the same place.

 

 

Osoyoos if just across the border on the Canadian side so after having the lead for a week and more than 3000 km I relinquished it and Jim took over.  Within two or three kilometres we made a left turn, began to climb, had great views of Osoyoos Lake and crossed the Richter Pass on Highway 3.  We rode to Keremeos, turned right and continued north until we were south of Penticton where we rejoined Highway 97.  When we stopped for gas in Penticton, I commented, "That was an interesting detour."  Jim replied, "I f#@%ed up."  No big deal though because the ride to Penticton the way we did it was far better than fighting traffic up 97 all the way to Penticton anyway.  It was a sort of bonus that we originally hadn't counted on.
 

Both the highway to Keremeos, and then north to Penticton are terrific motorcycle roads with a great deal of elevation change, scores of curves, and a long section that skirts Yellow Lake.  There are few things that make riding better than riding curves alongside a lake.
 

Highway 97 north from Penticton to Summerland parallels Okanagan Lake for what must be close to twenty-five kilometres and offers great views of the mountains on the east side of the lake.  Much of the mountains aren't yet forested after the big fire of 2003 that destroyed tens of square kilometres of forest as well as the Kettle Valley Railway trestles in the Myra Canyon.

 

Okanagan Lake north of Penticton

Another view of Okanagan Lake

Our trusty steeds at Okanagan Lake

Highway 97 runs through Kelowna after passing through Westbank and crossing the floating bridge.  We avoided the traffic and congestion of Kelowna by taking  Westside Road, so named because it runs along the west side of Okanagan Lake for more than 40 kilometres.  The BCAA has designated Westside Road one of the worst roads in the province, but many motorcyclists, Jim and me included, think that it's one of the best rides in the province.

 

Kelowna across Okanagan Lake from the Westside Road.

The road is generally high above the lake leaving the waterfront for all the housing developments that have sprung up along the lake, and it provides a series of wonderful views of the lake and surrounding mountains.  The only thing marring these beautiful panoramas was the excessive number (one or more) of Christy Clark election signs that were scattered along the edge of the road.  Hopefully they'll be pulled up on Thursday and used in another riding next month.  That is, if the people in West Kelowna have any sense at all.

 

The floating bridge over Okanagan Lake between Westbank and Kelowna, BC

 

Okanagan Lake from Westside Road.

Okanagan Lake from Westside Road.

Looking north on Okanagan Lake from Westside Road.

Across Okanagan Lake from Westside Road.

 

The road rejoins Highway 97, north of Vernon.  We headed north and stopped for lunch at the Falkland Inn, a bar that is popular with bikers.  At least every time we ride that way we see several Harleys parked out front.  This day was no different with about half a dozen bikes parked out front.  Some left and others took their places so there was a bit of a turnover.  After having lunch I rode back south to take some pictures of Falkland so I could email them to the owner of High Desert H-D, in Meridian, ID.  When we met him earlier in the trip he mentioned that his wife was from there so I figured that we'd send some photos to him so he could show her, if he wished to.

 

The Falkland Inn

It was less than an hour's run from Falkland, past Monte Lake, then onto the Trans-Canada Highway, across the South Thompson River and on to Jim's place.  We were gone for nine days and did almost 4000 kilometres through some of the most varied country imaginable. 
 

 

But back to the title of this posting.  Except for our run from Kennewick, WA, to Mountain Home, ID, and a short thirty mile stretch west of Bozeman, all of our riding was done on secondary roads.  That is, two lane roads that are not engineered like the interstate highways.  These highways obey the dictates of geography and follow contours, rivers, and sometimes, they just run straight for miles.  Often they were built alongside existing railway lines because those old railway surveyors seem to have had a knack for finding the best way from Point A to Point B and it seems to have made sense to put highways there too.
 

 

As a consequence of taking these roads we rode through and stopped in small towns on our journey,  Places like Moses Lake, WA, Arco, ID, Alpine, WY, Kalispell, MT, Sandpoint ID, and Oroville, WA, are small towns where we got to see the America of yesteryear and of today.  Almost without exception they are deeply conservative and seem to be at odds with the changes that are happening in the more diverse regions of the country.  It was a regular occurrence to begin a conversation about something random and within two minutes be told that America's problems were because of 'that community organizer in the White House.' Or, 'We're losing our democracy,' or, 'The communists are taking over,' because of, you guessed it, 'that community organizer in the White House.'  People in rural Idaho, Wyoming and Montana, were quite open about their dislike of the President.
 

 

It wasn't surprising given that many of the restaurants were went into had Fox News blaring on a TV in the corner, and when we turned on the TV in our motel room, it had been left on Fox News by the previous occupant/s.  And the phrases they were using were almost exactly the same ones heard on that channel.
 

 

In any case, riding those back roads gave us time to enjoy the country.  It was more relaxed because there was little traffic, and people seemed genuinely friendly even when they found out that we were Canadians.  Or despite us being universal health care loving socialists.  This is the way to see America because the country is its people as much as its magnificent scenery and geography.  I love travelling this way with a friend.  It's a great way to see a country that in many ways is similar to ours, but in far more ways, quite foreign.  This trip was so good that already we're thinking of doing another, although shorter trip mostly in Washington State next summer.  There's more roads to explore and people to meet.