After leaving a very wet camp at Telkwa we were tired and wet so we decided to get a decent hotel in Prince George which turned out very well. Much needed sleep and heat and a dry out was the order of the day. We met Rhidian formerly from the Isle of Arran but now a US citizen living in Washington doing a solo road trip to Alaska on his XTZ1200. We had a curry together and shared a few drams back at the hotel later, we also tried to talk him into heading south to Argentina, time will tell if we were convincing or not.
Wednesday we had a cold but mainly dry run into the pretty (damned expensive) town of Jasper, it is like Pitlochry really, nice setting and pandering to the tourist dollar. Jasper is in the national park so we had to pay $20 for the privilege of visiting, the following day i was pretty fed up when we found we had to pay another $40 to stay in Lake Louise and Banff as they are also still in the park. I think we are missing a trick in Scotland, we have great scenery and we let people see it for free, I propose tollbooth's on the A9 & A82 for the tourists, how do you think that would go down. Depending on your beliefs God created the world, I wonder if he gets his cut, how can you charge just to ride through "nice scenery"? rant over but for $60 I want to complain that I'd have preferred sunshine, can I get a discount for not seeing the tops of the mountains?
Our night in the campsite at Lake Louise was good apart from the rain that started around 4pm and was still on when we left this morning, nice campsite and complete with a electric fence to stop us becoming bear food, helps you sleep slightly better!
Today the massive 39 miles to Banff and into a hotel booked by our new pal Neville (Black Fly) from Calgary who we will see tomorrow for a few beers, we are moving tomorrow to stay with his brother Kevin, (Yellow Jacket) in Calgary
Its been a week of just getting the miles in and we have done just that, over 2000 Miles this week has put us back on track and takes the trip so far to just over 24000 Miles.
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| Posh Hotel in Prince George, easy gear moving using the trolley |
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| Suprprised to see Edinburgh Beer up here |
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| Sharing a story and a dram with Rhidian |
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| Another Gas stop, another sandwich for lunch and mediocre coffee |
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| Near Jasper, $20 to be allowed to look at the scenery |
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| I want my money back, canny see the top! |
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| Strange Rock formations |
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| More Glaciers (of course) |
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| Sun trying to break through |
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| Drying the tent out before getting it soaked again |
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| Campsite |
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| Electric fence makes you sleep soundly (almost) |
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| Banff welcome sign....not twinned with the real one? |
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| Pretty but no more spectacular than home really and the same weather |
24K miles.....damn, you all are killin it.
ReplyDeleteBisk
Cheers Bisk, ta for the comments
ReplyDeleteHi Baith,
ReplyDeleteThanks for phonin',funny conversation,me only hearin' every 4th word..(dae ye get calls cheaper that wiy?).Guid idea chargin' fur scenery..Could be tricky et Loch Lomond,nae queues et the Job Centre fur awfy shoart career,tryin' tae collect frae Gleswegian and Paisley Buddies..
Great yir oan the road again.Foties 'n stories great.
Geordie
Aye Geordie
DeleteBraw tae catch up, sorry aboot that but every 4 th words probably guid. Aye on Paisley buddies is hard tae get a a bawbee oot o then at the best o time, as fir the weegie firget it. In the heat again, blue sky's braw!!
Cheers the noo
Gino & Fiona
Hello you pair, Meanwhile, back in Scotland, summer continues, with everything dying from drought, and temperatures back in the twenties again. You should go away more often.... Had my first Harley breakdown in 10 years, when the (Japanese) diaphragm in the (Japanese) carburettor gave up the ghost. How crap is that? Only ten years, and it's broken down already. Better than a GS though... :) Saved myself 2 gallons of fuel coming down the A9 on a truck though. As an aside, the 2014 Harleys include models with water-cooled heads, which as you already know create a whole new raft of things to go wrong. Mine has been water-cooled much of its life anywway, but that was by weather and not by design.... Keep it coming and drink carefully. PS - Big Norrie turned up at Aviemore, and professed it to be "the best rally I've ever been to" (You'll have to do the Brechin accent yourselves) :D
ReplyDeleteHi Jake
DeleteYes, simple is best totally agree, the new GS is now part watercooled, has active (electronic) suspension and a raft of other stupid stuff. You could have used some chewing gum to fix it Jake :-)
Must ask Norrie about that, must have been women involved
Hope the weather holds till we get back in November
Regards
Gino & Fiona