After a day off we were ready to hit the road early this morning – too bad the battery was dead but we found a Good Samaritan who shared his battery with us to get us going. We went west on the Yellowhead Highway which is one of the major routes in western Canada – we quickly entered British Columbia where we switched to Pacific Time and immediately noticed better and more frequent road signs and roadside rest stops.
Our main goal was to get to Prince George ASAP to Cycle North which is a Goldwing dealer. This business just moved over the weekend and today was their first day at their new location so considering they’ve been closed for 6 days we felt very lucky that they could work us in. Turns out our fear that the rear end was going out were unfounded – we were missing a washer on the oil plug – or something like that. Whatever it was, it was minor but left Burl wondering how we’d been able to drive it this far without problems sooner.
We ended up having to wait for 3 hours to get it in the shop and get a verdict so our daily picnic took place in the dealer’s parking lot – then I took a long walk on the roads near the business and came back and sat on their steps in the sun and read.
Since we weren’t sure how far we’d get today, we hadn’t made reservations for tonight but after we got on the road again a little after 3 we decided to go another 225 miles and called ahead for a room in Smithers, BC where we are staying tonight. The skies were clear and the weather mild (after leaving in 45 degree weather this morning) and with rain in the forecast, it was great to get closer to our Alaska destination today.
Our route today didn’t really include any historic sites or great tourist traps so the photos were few and far between – more mountain lakes and snow-capped mountains in the morning but then we saw more farmland this afternoon. We did have great roads and light traffic and I read one book (a beach read) and started another. The boutique hotel where we stayed in Jasper had a lending library so I left a few behind that I’d finished and picked up a couple of new ones.
Tomorrow will be a light day of riding as we’re only about 220 miles from Hyder, Alaska which will be our northernmost spot. We’ll be there for 2 nights and then come back to Prince George and turn south.
Alaska tomorrow - our final frontier.
