75th Birthday Present

 I celebrated my 75th birthday last week. It was a great time with my whole family and and I greatly appreciate having such a terrific wife, children and grandchildren. So, to celebrate this milestone, I planned a three week road trip with my friend Garry with the plan being to ride some of the great roads in the BC Interior, then head south to Montana where we plan to ride the Highway to the Sun, one of the items on my bucket list. Following that we will ride to Missoula, MT, then ride the Lolo Pass to Lewiston-Clarkston, ID. From there we expect to be able to ride south ending up in Reno, NV, before heading west to the Pacific Coast and Highway 1 north of Sacramento, CA. We will ride Highway 101 to Port Angeles, WA, then cross to Victoria, BC and home to Campbell River. For two old guys, that will be a real accomplishment, at least in my mind.

Ready to roll.

I pulled out of my driveway at 7:25, rode to Garry's and we were on the road shortly afterwards. Theride to Nanaimo was quite easy with traffic moving very smoothly all the way to the Duke Point ferryterminal. WE arrived about 45 minutes before the next sailing. A real advantage to travelling by motorcycle is that thee are seldom any missed sailings unless you arrive after loading is close to being completed. We met another rider in the waiting area and had a good conversation with him. He later sat with us during the crossing so we took the two hours to solve the problems of the world. 'If I was King of the World...'

Waiting at the ferry terminal

View from Duke Point ferry terminal

Orca sculpture at Duke Point

The ride from the ferry to Highway 1 was quite quick but shortly after we merge into that highway traffic began to slow. At times we would be riding at 100 kph and for no discernable reason traffic would slow to 20-30 kph. Quite frustrating to be doing close to stop and go traffic for extended period of time. Since motorcycles have hand clutches the constant shifting of gears tires your left hand, especially when traffic slows to a crawl. Garry's bike developed a stutter before we made it to Chilliwack so we stopped at Mountain View H-D where Garry had a pair of spark plugs installed. That seems to have solved the problem so after a stop at Starbucks, a trip to London Drugs to buy some Aleve for my shoulder pain, and a refueling stop we were back on the highway.

Since there was no reason to stop at Hope, BC, we passed the town and merged onto Highway 3, which took us to Manning Park. I enjoy this ride because the road twists and turns through the mountains and it is difficult to concentrate on the road when you are riding through such spectacular scenery.  

Manning Park Resort, where we are staying tonight has a really beautiful lobby with carvings done by a gentleman who has since passed away. Here is some of his work. 

Manning Park Resort

Our room is quite standard for a small hotel but has no A/C. This is not surprising because while it can get quite warm during the day, at 135 metres (4500 feet) the temperature drops precipitously when the sun drops below the mountains. The forecast for tomorrow morning is 5C at 6:00 a.m. rising to 15C at 10:00 a.m. It will be chilly overnight here but we will be in Princeton by around 10:30, so it will be manageable.

The rooms are quiet, except for a yappy little dog that had been left along in the room next to us. However, that was dealt with so the evening should be calm. 

Because of the isolation here there is a restaurant that serves regular pub meals. I had a Bear Paw burger with Lettuce wrap and a salad. The burger was one of the best burgers I have had in years. As we were sitting at our table we were visited several times by a ground squirrel that was trying unsuccessfully to pick a fry from between the boards on the deck. He had no fear of people and was scuttling around between our feet. The Stellar's Jays here are as usual not afraid of people either. 

Stellar's Jay, BC's provincial bird

Ground squirrel

View from Manning Park Resort parking lot

Tomorrow we plan on riding to Aspen Grove, taking the Okanagan Connector to Kelowna, stopping at the Harley dealer there and then taking Highway 33 to Rock Creek, finishing up in Grand Forks. It should be a great day's ride. Until tomorrow...