Saturday 31 May 2014

2014 New Bike

I have been having issues with my blog which is why I have gotten behind. When I use my home desktop it will no longer load the pictures. However we perservere and I am now on my laptop and hope this works. I went to the dealer on March the 1st -32C and snowing. Where is my new bike? you said March delivery. However late March it arrived and it was still snowing but I picked it up and struggled to get the 1000km break in oil change done. I rode around in the cold and managed to get to 969km before my appointment. I really do love it and look forward to summer.
Pick up day
A few days later. Thank God for the new cover.
This was on a ride to put my miles on. Here I am at The Big Rock near Okotoks. I was on a looking for crocuses ride.
I reluctantly parked my new bike in the garage and took out the bike and sidecar. I needed the sidecar to bring home plants from Aspen Crossing. What a wonderful Mother's day I had. Went to UMCI motorcycle breakfast and then to church. Then I rode to Aspen Crossing and enjoyed brunch on their patio. I got a couple of shrubs for a friend and when I got to town called and he was home. So we planted the shrubs and he made me dinner. A fresh pork roast, peas and little potatoes. Just delicious and then we played a couple games of cribbage and I went home. It just made for a perfect day. So because the sidecar was already out and there was indication they might clean our street I did not want to have to many vehicle out so decided to take bike and sidecar to Cache Creek on the long weekend to Cache Creek.
I was thinking if there was snow or rain through the Rogers Pass ( and there certainly could be at this time of year) that the bike and sidecar would offer a little more protection that the new bike and my luggage was not here yet either. So on Friday morning I headed out. It was a nice day and a great ride.
I stopped at the A & W in Revelstoke and this tree was in blossom and it was a beautiful day.
Still some snow on the heights but gorgeous none the less. I arrived at the campground and was delighted to see a lot of my friends from BC and us Alberta folk who made it. 30 in all for dinner.
It was a great meal Rick and Irene did it a little different in that we had a 50/50 and with the clubs half we had wieners, sausages, buns,chips and dessert. It was great. Unfortunately it did rain when we started to eat. When I arrived I set up my tent and because everyone already had gone for dinner I hwalked up to the store and had a nutritious supper of chips and ice cream. Sounds well balanced to me. The next morning it was overcast. We went to Chums for breakfast. Back at the campground I tried to get some of the group to go for a ride but amid words of it is going to rain and possibly snow I headed out to Logan Lake with absolutely no idea where it was. I went back to Savona and saw a sign leading off to Tumkwa Lake so I took it. I was on this little country road with no shoulders and it wound through the woods. I saw a beautiful red headed woodpecker and a couple of deer in a glade. At one farm 3 cute little burros had their heads over the fence. However I did not get a photo as there was no place to pull over. I headed up till I found a small Lake and asked some fellas on quads if I kept on this road where would it go and they replied Logan Lake. Great that is where I was headed anyway.
First Lake I stopped at. I believe it was called Leighton.
 
As you can see by the clouds rain was definitely threatening but not a drop so far. And it certainly was not dampening the spirits of all the people camped in this spot. On to Logan Lake.
 
 
Then I said Where is this mine they keep talking about? Oh well I'll just head for Ashcroft I saw a sign pointed there and I knew that it was only 10 km to Cache Creek. Oh what is this at the side of the road? A huge pit and tailings pond. It is one of the biggest copper mines in the world. I went up to the viewpoint and took these shots.
 
 
I headed back to Cache Creek and never got a drop of rain until I stopped to talk to Michael from Peachland on a BMW. Go figure> He wanted to know if I wanted to hear a joke. ME! NEVER!
Unfortunately it was an old favorite about what you get when you cross an onion with a donkey.
Either an onion with really long ears or every so often with a little bit of luck you will get a piece of ass that brings tears to your eyes. On that note I will finish for tonight. Tomorrow is another day at Cache Creek and then the trip home where I flew to Palm Springs. Stay tuned.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Tuesday 27 May 2014

Western Montana BMW meeting 2nd attempt

Okay. Down to some serious work. I have a lot of catching up to do and some marvellous new adventures. In March I again took Phyl and myself to Montana. This time we went to Fairmont Hot Springs. We travelled to Missoula and stayed over night. Visiting again with Art and Betty. Then we went to Anaconda. On the way we encountered these fascinating sculptures by a man by the name of Oates. These are outside in the yard and he is so talented he has pictures and bronzes and other art forms in the building behind the owls and the giant mammoth is standing on the tail of a mouse. What an incredible talent.
 
I loved this little donkey. He has a daisy in his mouth.
This is a very majestic eagle
We continued on our journey and got a room in Anaconda. That evening we started up the road to Wisdom but encountered snow and blowing snow so decided to turn around and had dinner in Anaconda. One neat thing we saw while we turned around was a kite snowboarder. He zipped effortlessly up and down this empty field.
 
 
The next day we got up and had breakfast and headed back to Philipsburg to the candy story. I introduced Phyl to the joys of this great place. The Sweet Palace with fudge and chocolate and every kind of candy imaginable. Then off to the meeting. Many rode their motorcycles because the day was tolerable and they did not have far to come. About 18 in all. I enjoyed a lovely swim in the pool before it started so we could head home right after the meeting. My intent was to stay in Great Falls but managed to miss both exits so we stayed in Conrad overnight. They were renovating the Super 8 but it was a good place to stay despite the snow overnight. Great trip. When I got home I worked and picked up my new bike and worked and worked but now that spring has finally arrived I am off on a new adventure and can hardly wait to tell you about my Cache Creek trip and the 49er rally in California and Awesome Yosemite Park.
 
 

Saturday 24 May 2014

Trip to Western Montana BMW meeting

Thought I would catch up on some of my blog but it is beautiful out there and I am currently in Mariposa California so I think I will go for a ride instead . Having trouble loading pictures so will try again.