by Carol Feldman
We'd always wanted to do a long trip. More of the good things we love about short trips, we thought. More riding, more camping, more scenery. We dismissed things like more rain, more cold, and more aching hands and shoulders... we can handle it, we said.
Well, we did handle it. 4,800 miles in 20 days, in the cold and rain. John never minded it much, and I got by, but such was our fate for a full 50% of those 4,800 miles.
We started out from the Gypsy Tour, in Hayfork. (It was a great Gypsy Tour this year. Thanx Don.) We traveled up to Oregon and the Olympic Peninsula through Washington to Victoria, Canada. Then we headed east, through the Fraser River Canyon to Banff and Lake Louise. Then down through Montana to Idaho, Nevada and back to good old California. It was a wonderful route...scenic, remote, relaxing...for a full 50% of it, anyway!
The first day we got into Oregon. It was warm in Ashland, but that was the last time we rode without rain gear or our vests and grips on high, until returning to California. The cold was refreshing after the heat of the Gypsy Tour, and we were up in the mountains on beautiful roads, enjoying the fresh air. After two long days on the Gypsy Tour, however, my hands started their usual ache, and I expected it would be a few days until my muscles got into shape. Well I must be getting older, because they never stopped aching. They still hurt!
The next day we stopped for lunch at Crater Lake and headed to Bend for camping. Another wonderful idea that gave rise to re-examination, taking camping gear for three weeks. We planned to camp for two nights and do a motel every third. Into the second week we were doing mostly motels, due to the rain, and got tired of lugging all that gear into the motel rooms. Especially the rooms on the third floor in motels with no elevator. So no more camping gear on long trips, motels are the way to go.
We then headed to Tillamook, Oregon the next day and to Humptulip, Washington, near Aberdeen the day after. The rain started in Salem and was steady but not hard, but the clouds covered what we were sure was beautiful scenery. The ride got boring because the roads were not twisty, and we had to keep the speed down because it was so wet. What we did see of the Washington rainforest was partially clear-cut by the lumber companies. We had lunch at the Crescent Lake Lodge. It was a lovely waterfront dining room with vacationers milling about, seemingly not bothered by the rain. I noticed I was making a puddle on their nice wood floor as I massaged my aching hands, trying to get warm. I thought about staying at the lodge until next summer, but the hot chocolate brought me back to reality. It was a low point to be sure and only our fifth day. Depression had started to set in for me, but John kept his usual bright mood and we remembered our goal still lay ahead, Canada. That became the anthem, it'll be OK when we get to Canada. So each night we wrung out our gloves and put anti-fog on our face shields and each morning headed out into the rain.
After lunch we reached Port Angeles to catch the ferry to Vancouver Island. It felt like we'd reached the Promised Land. It would all be worthwhile and just in time for my 40th birthday.
Off to Victoria we went. And it was worthwhile. Cold, but no rain for two days. Victoria is sweet and charming. It's like England, but not quite as English. We did the usual things. We stayed at a country manor bed and breakfast, shopped downtown and had high tea at a water-front restaurant. Forget the tea, the sandwiches and desserts were outstanding! I couldn't breath by the time we left. (I'd be damned if I dieted on my 40th birthday weekend!)
There was still much more to see, but we wanted to get to Banff, and possibly Jasper if time allowed it. But then we heard the weather report and it included more rain. We considered aborting the plan after Victoria, thinking we'd be better off cutting our losses. But we'd come this far, and still had some little spark of adventure left in us. So with dry clothes and gloves, we were off to Banff, leaving Jasper off the agenda.
The ferry going to Vancouver was run by British Columbia, and was lovely. It was an hour and a half of drifting through beautiful scenery in comfortable chairs with a good lunch. It was challenging but fun to ride the bikes on and off the ferry boats.
We went to Hope in the Fraser River Canyon and then Sicamous the day after. We were warned about speeding in Vancouver. The speed limit is 62mph, and they mean it. We saw speeders get tickets, so we stayed pretty much at the limit. That, combined with safe, straight roads, made for a pretty boring ride, although the scenery was nice. But the roads did not go through the mountains. The roads go through the canyons, so the mountains and rivers are far away. We decided we must be spoiled not only by U.S. routes through Montana and Idaho, but by good old California too. We missed home! And two nights at KOA's didn't help... the trains run along the same canyon, all night.
By then I knew I had signed up for too much riding. Everything hurt. But here we were, halfway through. Almost as far from home as Banff would be, so I was committed. Nice scenery and interesting little towns kept my spirits up, and now the anthem was it'll be OK when we get to Banff.
But alas, I'm sorry to report, Banff itself was crowded, over-priced and uninteresting. We arrived to find almost every hotel room booked, and we waited in line at the visitor center, in leather in a hot room, to get one of the last over-priced rooms available. But OK, this was a resort, and resorts can be that way. So we were glad for a room, a very nice one at that, and dry weather. We walked around town, got a so-so Italian dinner, with wonderful Molsen Canadian beer, and relaxed.
Having made our goal, and having no hotel room for the next night, we decided to head home the next day. We spent the day going up the Icefields Parkway, where there is a series of glaciers, and that was spectacular. We went as far as the Saskatchewan River and turned back. And then the rain started again. We went through Radiam Hot Springs to Invermere in cold rain under dark clouds. A new anthem was needed. We're close to the border... home is near!
Into Polsen, Montana and a motel at Flathead Lake the next day and McCall, Idaho the day after. No speed limit in Montana and beautiful twisty roads in Idaho. We felt great. Our spirits lifted way up, even in the rain. We had gotten used to it, and the riding was great in spite of it. We didn't let the rain slow us down or miss any nice roads. I decided that Montana was my most favorite state, until we reached McCall. A tie. McCall has a micro brewery and wonderful brews. We did over 300 miles that day, on the best roads of the trip. Highways 12, 13 and 95.
It stopped raining late that afternoon, and our spirits were so good that we decided to camp, as one last herald to lugging all that gear. Right, well that break in the weather was short and we woke up to a cold, torrential downpour. But we handled it. And after an hour on the road we stopped at Gramma's Diner for breakfast. We must have looked like aliens, because people looked at us like we were aliens. One woman actually pulled her child close to her as we walked by. We stopped riding early that day. Our gloves were like sponges and we seemed to be leaking everywhere. And we couldn't get warm, even with the vests and grips on high.
On to Mountain Home, outside Boise, Idaho. It was 28 degrees and there was frost on the bikes the next morning. After entering Nevada the cold and rain mixed to make hail, but the rain never got heavy, and the cold was invigorating. We made it to Battle Mountain, and to Hawthorn the day after. Then we made the final push for home, 395 to Lee Vining and 120 through Yosemite. We finally took off the rain gear, turned off the grips and vests, and actually unzipped the vents. We were home. Warm, dry and moving at 75 mph.
Its been said that a good vacation is one where you're glad to be away and glad to come home. John and I had weathered the storms and operated as a team, and enjoyed the adventure together. It was a good vacation.
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