Lost and Found

North Dakota. What can I say about North Dakota? Well, the coffee and the meals were big and hot and cheap. The roads were long and strait and hot. I wrote a poem.

Come walk with me, through the stinging nettle fields

down to the swamp with the shopping bag trees

and the rusted cans and the styrofoam pieces.

We'll throw stones and laugh and tell each other

that the needles can't sting us

that the garbage belongs

that we can find beauty in the ugliest places.

The campground had had a flood the year before and many
of the picnic tables never found their way home.

Have you ever seen a place where the tallest point of land is the landfill? We have. And although it's poetic, it still stinks.

We did find a really great park in North Dakota called Turtle River. We went for a long hike through forests and plains and got completely lost. Eventually we made our way out and realized we'd walked most of the park's snowshoeing and mountain-biking trails. For a navigation officer and a self-proclaimed outdoorsman, my sense of direction is questionable.

The REAL outdoorsman

We also tried some new cooking techniques from Paul Tawrell's Camping and Wilderness Survival (which Sonia got for me after I oogled it at a friend's apartment). Breakfast was the theme and bacon and eggs were on the menu. The bacon and eggs were cooked in a paper bag over the hot coals, and the rest of the eggs were cooked in half-onion layer cups. Seems a little bizarre in writing but it was tons of fun and really delicious.


After chatting with some locals in a McDonald's (we were there for the Wi-fi...ok...and the cheeseburgers. Don't judge us) we decided to travel along the northern shore of Lake Superior rather than south. Canada here we come!

Saskatchewan Fields Forever

Here's a brief summary of the next couple of days:

 

The only problem with all these lovely fields and crops was that it didn't exactly do wonders for Mike's allergies. Anyone who's ever tried sneezing while trying to keep your eyes open knows that it's impossible, so we decided against continuing East through Saskatchewan (and more fields) and instead began heading South towards North Dakota.

We stayed in Moose Jaw along the way, and since the campgrounds were full we got a room at Capone's Hideaway.

Oddly enough, there were many Al Capone-themed places in Moose Jaw...

Notice the fancy leopard print couch (there were two of them).

Next stop, the Canada/US border at which we had two of our three cases inspected. But once she saw that we really did only have camping gear with us we carried on to the all-inclusive (they had wifi! and a free shower token per night!) Roughrider campground in Minot.

First group shot of the trip!

More motorcycle wisdom:

#3. Smells are a lot stronger on a motorcycle than in a car, even with a full face helmet. Smells like rain, or cows... No where is this more apparent than in Saskatchewan.

#4. The most motorcycle-friendly hairstyle for long hair is a braid. As glamorous as it may seem to have your hair flying out behind you, I quickly learned that your hair turning into a giant pile of knots is not so glamorous.

Easter Eggs and M&M's

On the road again, heading for Saskatoon and to cross paths for a night with Matt and Morgan! In Vegreville, we passed our first "World's Largest" monument, which Mike was nice enough to pull over long enough for me to take a few pictures:


Then an overnight stop in Vermillion, home of one of the best campgrounds so far. We were welcomed by a very earthy and spiritually aware woman who told us a little of her motorcycle adventures in India. She gave us a list of the best sites which were not yet reserved, so we took our pick. The fire pits had a swiveling stove top which had a grill, flat top, and a food warmer. We were excited to cook for ourselves again and went to the grocer to get something extra special. Steak with fresh herbs (hand-delivered all the way from Nanaimo thanks to Dominique) and grilled mushrooms and onions, coupled with Sidekicks is about as gourmet as it gets on the road. We washed it down with goon (red wine in a box - or a bag in our case) and talked around the fire until late in the night.

Huge campsite! Lots of room for friends.

Oh my, what a nice grill you have.

The next morning we had steak and eggs and coffee and set off east to meet up with Matt and Morgan in Saskatoon. Once we'd arrived at the campground, we rode around looking for something yellow...

We found them!

There was lots of hugging and laughing and storytelling and eating and drinking well into the night. We traded bikes (me on Morgan's road bike, Mike on Matt's fixed-gear, and M&M on the motorcycle) to do a short loop around the campground. We even got to meet Jazzy, Matt and Morgan's newly adopted cat, but sadly she ran away the next morning. I hope she's enjoying Saskatoon, maybe we'll hear from her yet!

My Best Friend's Wedding

Saturday, August 4th was the day of Sarah's wedding. And the reason for our 5 day layover in Edmonton. It was very beautiful and everything went smoothly. But, it being Alberta in August, we had to be sprayed down with Deet between photo shoots just to keep the bugs away long enough to stop swatting the air for a picture. Mike went as my mom's date, which I'm sure she enjoyed very much.

Sarah, Sophie and I have been going to school together since we were 4 years old, so it was very special to get to be a part of the wedding and to be reunited after so much time apart. It was also a reunion for Sophie and Mike, who hadn't seen each other in nearly ten years. And judging by their well-coordinated moves on the dance floor, they got along great!

Tomorrow, I'll be recovering from the festivities, trying not to fall asleep on the bike, while Mike drives us in the direction of Saskatoon. There, we plan on meeting up with Matt and Morgan for another long awaited reunion!

Wild Rose Country

In the a.m., I trekked over to the Germans' RV to borrow a toaster and some peanut butter to add to our bread for breakfast. Then we loaded up the bike for our ride through the Rockies!

Along the way, we encountered a few road signs that although very applicable to vehicles of the four-door variety, were a little tricky for us to follow...

   
A quick lunch of roasted chicken, blue cheese and cucumber from the Super A in Jasper and we were Edmonton-bound in search of a campsite just outside the city. Apparently in Alberta that's a lot harder than it sounds. We found multiple signs indicating campgrounds, but upon further investigation we inevitably ended up riding down deserted dirt roads through swampy fields that were not very tent friendly. After a bit of backtracking we finally landed upon an...interesting campground right next to the highway in Edson. Tomorrow we'll be in St-Albert at Sarah's house in time for me to go to the bachelorette party and her wedding on Saturday!

Get a mooooo-ve on

After packing up camp and saying goodbye to our generous neighbors we stopped at Little Horse Lodge for breakfast and a blog-post. The sign out front gave us a chuckle as we rode out.

As planned, we took about 60 km of back roads instead of the highway. The first 40 or so km's were wonderfully smooth unpaved road winding through fields and birch grooves with ranches speckling the landscape. Small herds of cattle would block the road at times, so we stopped and waited for them to move along. We were very pleased with ourselves and our adventurousness. 

The road then joined up with a logging road that was slightly less wonderful. It was full of ruts and bumps so we journeyed on at a slightly slower pace. One particular bump was ill-placed and threw the back tire out from underneath us in the middle of a turn. The bike went down and so did we. We fell low side and the bike spun around with the front forks on top of my legs at the end of the slide. Sonia was up on her feet quickly, though I could see her knees shaking. She said that she was ok and proceeded to lift the front tire off my legs as if it were a paperweight. Thanks to our protective gear and slow speed, we both appeared to be fine. A few cuts and bruises, some scuffed apparel, and a sore ego seemed to be the only damage. Nevertheless, I drove at a snail's pace for the last 10 km's of unpaved roads. We stopped for lunch and Wi-fi at Blue River and a torrential downpour rolled through.

Neither of us felt much like sleeping on the ground, so we reserved a cabin at Tete Jaune (about 100km north) and made a run for it as soon as the sky had cleared. A hot shower and a warm meal at a local truckstop did wonders for our aches and pains. I built a fire by the river and we stayed up late talking and drinking beer and coffee with some friendly German people staying across from us in an RV. A warm, dry bed with a roof over it was just what our bones needed and we fell asleep listening to to the rain fall on the little tin roof.

Odometer: 478 miles

Cabin Fever

This morning we went for a quick barefoot beach run (a run!) followed by a swim and some coffee with grilled cheese sandwiches, thanks to some help from our other neighbours who gladly let us use their grill after our first attempt at toasted bread resulted in a charred sandwich stuck to the pan. Then we pulled our sleeping pads out from the tent and onto the lake for some lazy floating around and sunbathing. Although an entire shelf in the nearby 70 mile store was dedicated to mosquito repellent, along with a cartoon of bugs searching for their next "victim" (they actually used the word victim) by the till, this lake was almost entirely bug free! We never had any problems during our stay.

In the afternoon we stopped by the store to pick up more supplies and drove up the road to the Debeck & Russell's "Cabin Fever". The night before I'd received a text from my dad telling me that our family friends Howie and Ruth were staying nearby and that we should goo see if we could "score a free meal". And score we did! But before we got to the dinner portion of the day, there was the water skiing portion...

Following a brief lesson from Howie (keep your knees together, let the boat do the work), Mike donned some water skis for the first time and off we went! Highlights below:

Skis—attempt #1

Wakeboard—attempt #2

Success!

After fun on the water, the youngest member of Cabin Fever, Lily, showed Mike how to really throw a frisbee. Apparently Mike wasn't very good since he hit her in the ankle once instead of aiming for the ground directly in front of her. Just like me when I was her age, Lily doesn't actually "catch" frisbees.

Lily's excellent follow-through.

Then we all sat down for a dinner of pork loin, baked potatoes, vegetables and corn on the cob. Not that our campfire cooking isn't great, but this meal will definitely be one of the top ones of the trip.

The "kids" table.

With full bellies, a case full of firewood and a group send-off from the Cabin Fever crew, we headed back to our camp for some much-needed rest before tomorrow's ride.

Twists and Turns

We're off! The movers came by yesterday and piled the contents of my apartment into a truck, so last night we camped indoors with our sleeping pads and sleeping bags.

Our alarm went off at 6:30am and after a quick detour by Erin's place for my keys (I'd forgotten them there last night, off to a great start!) slipped them under the door for the landlord to pick up and away we went towards Whistler.

Stretch break.

Although it's still quite early in the trip, I have learned a couple of things that I think are worth sharing.

#1. Temperature changes on a motorcycle are felt instantly. This I learned on our last trip but I still find it surprising how a patch of shade can really cool the air around you, or a change in elevation.

#2. Before this trip I always thought getting carsick was limited to cars. That I would somehow be immune since I was on a bike. Not the case. It was either the combination of mostly looking through my camera lens while winding along Duffy Lake Road, or maybe it was just the McDonald's breakfast I had that morning, but I definitely had a moment of panic while trying to figure out how to remove my helmet fast enough or whether or not I could somehow just project it out. Luckily, once I opened my visor and felt the wind on my face the feeling passed and the rest of the ride passed without a hitch.

One of our many hairpin turns!

The winding Duffy Lake Road.

I guess that's only two so far but I'll try adding to those as the days go by.

We stopped for lunch in Lillooet and then again for supplies at the single cornerstore/liquor store/deli at 70 mile house before setting up camp at Arrowhead park on Green Lake. The sites here are very open, with not a lot of privacy between you and your neighbour, but the one on our left was generous enough to give us some firewood for the night so it ended up being a positive. Plus we're only ten steps away from the lake!

First bear sighting of the trip!

Odometer: 280 miles

Moving Mountains

Time to put my game face on

It's done! Well, almost done. There's a moving mountain in the middle of the bed/living/diningroom waiting patiently for a truck. Sonia and I are drinking coffee and waiting a little less patiently. We are itching to get a move on.

After moving the mountain the cleaning will begin, followed shortly thereafter by unbridled joy and the scent of the open road. Our plan is to sleep on the floor tonight and get an early start tomorrow. We hope to get underway by 6am. The plan is to take the Sea-to-Sky past Whistler and Pemberton. At Lillooet we will turn north and just after 70 Mile House we will leave the highway in search of Green Lake where we have reserved a tent site for two nights.

Sonia is already up to her elbows in soapy water so it's time for me to join in. Wish us luck.

Get a move on

Only nine days to go and then we're off! I've started collecting boxes for the move, although the actual packing part hasn't exactly begun yet. The moving company has been booked, and will be driving the contents of my apartment across the county for us. After careful consideration, we decided against hooking up a giant trailer to the back of the motorcycle...

Our departure date has been set for July 27th/28th, with an arrival in Edmonton planned for August 1st. There we will stay for the next four days for my friend Sarah's wedding. I get to be a bridesmaid for the very first time, and will be sure to post pictures of my tangerine coloured dress!

Chicks

Partway through Bamberton day 2 we ran out of supplies. So it was on the bike to ride into Mill Bay for more food and drink. Considering how much time we'd just spent huddled by a campfire in the last 24 hours, it was mandatory to find somewhere to eat outdoors. We found a restaurant with a patio that they opened just for us, or so we thought...

 

This little guy kept sliding down the slope of the chair.
Each time he'd get too close to the edge he'd shuffle
back up towards the middle. Silly Chickadee.

Then it was back to the camp again for our final night of camp food, box wine and fires. 

 

Unidentifed Fungi Objects

Finally, a whole day in one spot! Time to go exploring.

Bamberton Wildlife

A slug

A butterfly

A Michael

In addition to the local wildlife we found a ton of mushrooms! Most (all but one) we were unable to identify using our very basic mushroom brochure (once we got back I looked them up in my dad's more comprehensive mushroom books). But they made for some exciting hunting, and kept us entertained trying to guess how poisonous they might be...until finally we landed upon a single choice edible: the Yellow Morel.

Amanita Variety Described as "even more poisonous" with one of the symptoms produced being a state of berserk frenzy.
Rib-stalked Cup	Yellow Morel