Saturday, July 12, 2008 - Day 2

Today was Irene and Michael's wedding.

Irene was beautiful and the cerimony was awesome. We all had a really great time at the reception as well. These are just a few pictures I took. I did take several more but decided it would take up too much room to post them all here.


So Ryan and Kim are headed home tomorrow and Dan and I are headed north.

Friday, July 11, 2008 - Day 1

Today has been a VERY interesting day. We were supposed to get up at 7:00 am to be out the door by 7:30 am. I however woke up at 4:00 am and couldn't get back to sleep. We were out the door by 7:30 but after getting organized and gas, we weren't out of town until 8:00 am. I had all my luggage packed in the car and Kimmy was riding on the back with me. The weather was nice and sunny if not a bit cold in the morning.


Trouble started at summit lake (less than an hour out of town). We had half an hour of construction which included at least 10 km of gravel. Gravel is bad enough by yourself, but with a passenger going 30 km/h (or slower) it is even worse.


First gas stop was windy point. (It was supposed to be McLeod Lack but they didn't have gas & windy point was only another 15 km down the road.) So I get off my bike and take off my helmet and it falls apart. One of the plastic bolts holding the jaw piece of my helmet had come loose.

So I sent Ryan searching for a screwdriver in the trunk of the car. Once I had the tools I needed, I realized it was worse than just a loose bolt. It was stripped and would only barely grab. I attached it the best I could and got ready to go. In the meantime Ryan cleaned up the trunk and closed the keys inside with the doors locked. We were lucky and I was able to fish them out through the seam of the trunk. So on we went again.

The road from Windy Point to Chetwynd was really really great. Tight and twisty makes for a bad car road but a really great motorcycle road. In

In Chetwynd I realized the bolt of my helmet was completely gone and I would have to buy a new helmet all together. Unfortunately there aren't any motorcycle shops in Chetwynd or Dawson Creek. There was one in Fairview however. There was an issue about timing, but I managed to get there on time. Ryan and Kim and Dan went to the rehearsal while I brought all our stuff up to the hotel room.

When I got up to the room, I realized that it was not what we had reserved. I went downstairs to see what I could do. It ended up a VERY bad situation and nothing was resolved. So we are in a more expensive, less ideal room, but such is life. I decided not to let it ruin my night.

Ryan picked me up after the rehearsal and we went out to the Bosma farm for the rehearsal dinner. We had a really great time there. So we came home and now I'm sitting writing this journal entry. I thought that this is where I was going to end it, but one more event just occurred that I think is worth mentioning.

I'm not exactly sure what happened, because I was writing, but somehow Naomi locked us out of the bedroom. She dealt with it though and things are all good again. Kind of a fitting end to a crazy day.

Start: 35,590 km - End: 36,158 km - Total Distance: 568 km

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Today was a "Take Kimmy for a ride" day. Mom met us at our house and we went for a little ride. We had a couple of errands to do, so we finished those and then we were off like a herd to turtles. ;) We didn't really go very far because it kept threatening to rain on us. We did do the airport loop though. So Kimmy got a bit of a ride in, and she had a good time. That's really the important thing.

Start: 35,550 km - End: 35,590 km - Total Distance: 40 km

Saturday, July 4 - Monday, July 7, 2008

So I have both an electric vest and electric gloves that I used with my old Virago. I love them because my hands always get so darn cold. I didn't have them on my last trip though because I didn't have my new bike set up for them yet. I decided that I wasn't going north without being able to use them. (I'm a wimp and hate being cold) So I asked Reg to set my bike up so that I could use them. I dropped my bike off on Saturday afternoon and picked it up on Monday. (It was done Sunday afternoon, but I didn't get around to picking it up that day)

It sounded like it was a pain in the butt job. He had to build a bracket for the thermostat, but its all done and I am VERY appreciative. Thanks so much again Reg.

Start: 35,547 km - End: 35,550 km - Total Distance: 3 km

Sewing with leather is an interesting task

So I've been trying to get ready for my next bike trip. I had a bag that attached to my windshield that I had taken off when I first bought my bike, but it was a little hookie so I took it off. However, after my last trip, I realized that a bag there would be really handy. (ie: for my camera, sunglasses, etc.) So I decided to put it back on. After closer inspection I realized that someone had made it, and didn't really do a very great job. Being somewhat handy with a sewing machine I decided I could better. After collecting all the materials I needed, I started to work. It was a bigger job than I had anticipated and at 2:30 in the morning I resigned myself to the fact that I would have to finish the next day. I was really close though, and within 24 hours from start to finish, I have my new windshield bag.

There are one or two things that I'm not too crazy about with the final product, but I think for a first attempt at sewing with leather, I did not bad.

Canada Day Fireworks

So I didn't get out on my bike at all today, and this post has nothing to do with motorbikes, but its Canada Day and therefore I decided it was worth a note. We didn't really do anything to celebrate today, but we did decide to go to the fireworks. Prince George fireworks are never very spectacular, but it was cooler outside than in the house and it was something to do.

Little did we know when we set out, what we were to see. Fireworks in general are usually a good time, even in PG. This year was actually impressive. We're pretty sure that the city must have gotten a new sponsor.

Watching a lighting storm is always great. Human ingenuity can never out match the beauty of nature. However, put the two together and it is a site to see. We sat on the bank, next to the CN centre parking lot and watched human creativity set against God's creativity. It was absolutely breath taking.

Monday, June 30, 2008

O.k. so I'll start with the basics of the day and then I'll go into the stories (I've got a couple). So I met up with Phil at a little after 11:00 am and went for lunch. On our way to lunch we found construction on central. We didn't really get into the construction zone, but there was tar all over the road. We decided to avoid central for the rest of the day. And that's how our whole day went. It seemed like a day for avoiding construction. After lunch we decided to go for a little boot before we went to work in the parking lot. We headed out highway 16 east to do the airport loop. That was all good until we started coming into town on highway 97 south, where we found more construction. So we took a quick right on airport road and ended up coming back into town the same way we had come. We spent about 2 hours at CN centre so Phil could get some practice in.

When Phil got tired of that, we took a VERY long route home. We went out on Foothills to Chief Lake Road. We then headed farther out of town and came back into town on Old Summit Lake road. Once we were back into town, we had to head over to Ospika because we were still avoiding central. From Ospika we headed home.

O.k. now for the stories. While we were going down Old Caribou Highway, Phil randomly pulls over. He was worried about a high pitched squeal he kept hearing. I asked him a few questions about it and didn't really have any suggestions on what it might be. My only suggestion is to try and consistently duplicate the sound, so that we could narrow down the problem. So the next time we stop, Phil is kind of sheepish, and tells me he figured out what the sound was. It was the wind whistling through his helmet.

My other story is more of a piece of advice. Always make sure to cover ALL exposed body parts with sunscreen. It was again VERY hot (about 30^C) and the only protective gear I was wearing were my boots, helmet, and gloves (fingerless gloves at that). This equates to a lot of exposed skin. I thought I had done a pretty good job with the sunscreen this time, but alas, I still got burnt. My shoulders, arms and neck are all fine, however, I did not use sunscreen on my chest (I don't know why I always forget there). I do have another funny tan line though. You can see exactly where my necklace was sitting all day. Also, as I discovered this evening, my shirt was riding up a little. The small of my back is burnt as well. I guess I'll have to make sure fix that next time.

Start: 35,402 km - End: 35,547 km - Total Distance: 145 km