Nakusp Part ll

Okay to finish my post from last night because it just would not let me put any more pictures in. Let's see. Where did I leave off? Oh yes at Halcyon Hot Springs. I had finagled a 2 for 1 so took Kurt up in the side car for a swim in the pool. This is their beautiful facility.

And this is Kurt.

 

 

On the way back I stopped at a viewpoint on the highway and took these pictures It was so quiet. Saturday afternoon and there was no traffic. You could hear the bees buzzing and the water running across the road down a little waterfall. Extremely peaceful and beautiful.

 

Then when we continued on up to Nakusp Hot Springs I saw a car parked on the side of the road I glanced over to see why it had stopped there and saw a waterfall so decided to stop there on the way back down. Again a breathtakingly beautiful and peaceful place. And it was cool by the water in the shade of the canyon.

Back to the rally and some more of the beautiful people there.

 

Well maybe not so beautiful.  Bob and Bob from Orcas Island. This is Bob Bivalet's bike.

This is Phil Funnell and his new prototype...I think there is a new one every year. Phil is certainly a memorable character and very much a part of this rally. David Hough was also there and gave several good talks about motorcycling and the neandertal brain. I remember buying most of my BMW motorcycles from Phil when he was THE dealer importer for BMW in Vancouver.

And of course no rally would be complete without Reinhardt our 50/50 seller extraordinaire. It was funny also when the bullhorn batteries died and he acted as echo as our rally chair was rather softspoken and could not be heard that well. The echo was not always verbatim but you got the jist. Really funny. This is Bunny with him from Wabamum.

It is always fun to see someone doing repairs as there is always helpful advice from many sides.

These are my friends Burt and Lisa from Ontario California. I met them at Aqua Caliente and have a picture of Burt throwing out my air mattress. So good to see them again.

This is the group that stayed Sunday night and left Monday. Evan from Squamish had tripped over the chain at the cenotaph in the park and broken 2 ribs so was under orders not to ride for 2 days but stubborn man that he was was going to ride home Monday but his son and girlfriend (Spencer and Michelle ) showed up with his truck and we loaded it up Monday morning. Dean and Beth from Lethbridge, BOB and Keith and I. Because I decided not to leave Sunday I went to the Nakusp United Church and met a lot of delightful people and they invited me to their church BBQ that evening at the minister's house. As I drove up there I came to a fork in the road and was uncertain which way to turn but there was a little black bear the one way so I instantly turned the other way. and it was correct so I guess he was just there to show me the way.
These are a couple of pictures |I took at the gathering before we got busy eating.

 

Of course there were 312 people at the rally and many were old dear friends and of course I did not take 1/2 enough pictures but at least you get the gist. Ron got long distance from PEI and was camped with Turk and Dean and Anita from Minnesota.So many near and dear friends. I told everyone if I was told I could only go to 1 rally in a year it would be Nakusp. Hands down. I was going to do some traveling on the way home but decided with my 3 week trip coming up in Sept to go home and get things in order but thought I would stop to see a dear friend in a nursing home in Kimberley so this time I went to Kaslo and took the ferry and of course met this wonderful couple on the ferry Mike and Gina. They live in Creston and they wanted me to stay but I moved on to Cranbrook only to find that Al is back home in Creston. Well, can't say I didn't try.

While in Nakusp I also took our wonderful rally caterer Deb Guest for a ride in the sidecar.

I stayed overnight with John and Dorothy in Cranbrook and so I had some time going home so I stopped at Lundbreck falls and took these lovely pictures. I was reluctant to end my journey but end it I must to get ready for the next adventure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

BMW rally Nakusp, BC

It was a picture perfect day Thursday,Aug 16 as I headed for Nakusp. As I traveled I only stopped to take a few pictures even though there were many beautiful things to see. I stopped first in the Crowsnest Pass to photograph the Crow's Nest as I know it as.

Summit Lake near Naskup

I decided not to take the ferry this trip so I headed north on Highway 6 at Nelson and with an eye peeled for deer almost ran into 2 small bears. 1 little black bear ran out and I managed to avoid him and get myself back together when a young grizzley came from the left but when I honked my horn he turned and went back into the bush. I arrived at the rally site in Nakusp and was delighted to see so many good friends and get reaquainted. As usual and not on purpose this time: I ended up next to BOB.

The next day dawned as beautiful as the last and at some point I headed down to breakfast. I went to a little cafe on the corner we sometimes frequent and noticed they had a sandwich called a Margaret. Well really if they are going to name a sandwich after me that is what I need to have. It turned out to be a grilled cheese with spinach and pesto. So delicious I had it the next day as well. The next picture was taken at the top of the Creston Salmo Highway 3. And then at the cafe I have a picture of John and Helga. Friends in the BMW club that are friends of Bob.

The next 2 pictures were taken in downtown Nakusp. This fellow with the Moto Guzzi and sidecar had 2 jack russell terriers who seemed to like their view of the world from the back end of the motorcycle.

I also saw this unit several times throughout the rally. A bit of overkill wouldn't you say?

One of my goals during this rally was to meet new people and to try and put names and faces together. So aside from a lot of people I already knew I thought I took a lot of pictures but not so but here are some that I did take. Number one are Chris and Dave.

The highlight on Friday was to go to the Halcyon Home and take the seniors for a ride. For 3 years now I have taken Alts a younger Japanese lad with MS. He seems to really like it and His sister says it is the highlight of his year. I also took Simon who is a great young man who works at the home. He said they all look so forward to seeing the motorcycles and going for rides.

My blog would not be complete without John and Dorothy. 85 and 86 years old respectively. I stayed at their lovely home in Cranbrook on my way home Monday and I said they are a true inspiration for all of us who aspire to ride at their age. That is Bob from Orcas Island with them in the first photo and he (joker that he is is the one who pushed Dorothy's hat brim up like that. They had Dorothy draw all of the door prizes out of the toilet they use. Very fitting as she used to be a nurse and changed a lot of bedpans and urinals. Bless you Dorothy even fs you did not draw my name.

On Saturday morning I ran into my friend Jeff Weishert whom I had met in Menlo. However he did not stay so after I took this picture he packed up and left so we did not get much of a visit. The next photo is of Allen and Alice (Bunny) from Wabamum, Alberta. Great friends from other rallies and yes they are groping one another. I may have to censor the picture.

On Friday I took a fellow from Bellingham Washington for a ride in the sidecar and Kurt really liked it and said If you go anywhere tomorrow Can I come with you? So after going to the market I took him to Halcyon Hot Springs and then Nakusp and then sat in the cooling shade at a waterfall. It was a truly awesome day and so fun to share with someone.
Well that seems to be all the pictures it wants to upload at this point so I will end here and do another posting to the end of the rally.

Alberta UMCI Rally 2012

Another successful rally is over. We held our 2012 annual UMCI rally at the Standard campground again this year. It is a beautiful campground but the challenge is for meals without driving too far. Those of us who went on Thursday had a lovely ride to Strathmore for chinese food which was very good. There are new owners at the hotel in Standard so I managed to talk them into doing breakfast for 11 of us on Saturday morning. It was rather difficult for them as they had no previous experience and we got what we got. It was pretty good though. Carol Lawson and I made the dinner for Saturday night..Burgers, green salad, potato salad and corn on the cob. It turned out great but was a lot of work especially for Carol and I wish to thank her from the bottom of my heart. We had 25 for dinner. Ken Forbes went to the Heritage Days at Irricana and some rode to Rockyford to the rodeo on Sat. and some just spent time at the campground and a good time was had by all.The big surprise was Dick Summer's new Can Am.

Dick gave Dodi a ride around the campground. I had my Bumblebee and Karen and Howard helped getting the campground in place.

I captured this lovely sunset on Thursday night coming back from Strathmore

Saturday Carol took time to groom her dogs.

Karl Nordin had a nap.

A new person came from Edmonton and enjoyed the festivities. Freddie fit into our perverted bunch immediately. We definitely need more like him.

And here are some of our other rallie goers.

The thrill for me was after packing up in the rain Sunday I rode up to Banff. I had booked a room at the Driftwood Inn but they upgraded me to the Ptarmigan where the Eagle Rider Rocky Mountain Tour was staying. I was delighted to see my friends from Iceland ride in and took them for dinner at Wild Bill's in Banff. We had a lovely visit and the next day I was able to ride with them to Longview.

It was like a dream as 18 motorcycles turned off Highway 1 to Highway 40. Absolutely stunning scenery, beautiful weather and wonderful people from all over the world.

There was even a BOB from Kenya. Not sure I want to fall in love and move that far away but I told him I would put him on my Bob list. This was his reaction. Well I am just finishing up packing and heading to Nakusp BC for the rally there.