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Day One For Ken Is Kelowna To Quesnel. |
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Day Two For Ken Is Quesnel To Smithers. |
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Date: Wednesday 14th It is a gorgeous morning and the sky looks like it will remain that way for the day. I pull my girlfriend out of the garage and mount her for the day's ride. She has brand new tires, air filter, oil and oil filter plus is full of fuel. She was packed the day before. She is cleaner than the day she first came home... one could eat off her. I checked Drive BC a couple days back... worried about all the fires, I'll go as far as I can. I'm off to Smithers where I'll team up with buddy Jay for the Scoot BC 21 tour. I have two days to hit Smithers, hoping this should be lots of time. Kelowna morning rush hour traffic is starting to show... I don't recall seeing this many vehicles around when Jay and I were kids ( 50+ years ago ) walking to school. Anyway... I finally reach the Coquihalla 5 Hwy turn off, Zoom... I'm on my way. Wonderful Hwy and I seem to be the only person using it this morning. The air is nice and cool up top, everything seems to be just perfect. Merritt here I come. From the top of the mountains... I can see a lot of smoke in the distance... still with a very positive attitude I pursue the trip. Once through Merritt I find 97c and I'm off to Cache Creek. I wanted to take some pictures of the Highland Valley Copper Mine along the way, the smoke is getting thicker as I go. Still not awake to the fact that I'm not seeing too much traffic. I reach Cache Creek. I pull up to a gent standing beside a sign that says road closed. I told him I'm on my way to Smithers if that is possible, he then informs me the Hwy is only closed between Cache Creek and 100 Mile House. If I head into Kamloops, I could use the Yellowhead to Little Fort, then get on Hwy 24 that comes out at 100 Mile House and everything is still open using that route. I said “thanx” to the gent and took off for Kamloops... still in pursuit of the Scoot BC 21 tour. A few hours later I arrive in 100 Mile House... after a couple hundred extra Kms (bonus scoot) I was not expecting. No worries... thinking Quesnel is going to be a wrap on this day... off I go. Travel Tip: Check Drive BC the day of your travels for the latest information. Date: Thursday 15th Next morning I'm up early and on the Hwy for Smithers. Weather again showing no rain, this is fantastic for me as I DON'T DO RAIN when I'm at home. I only ride in the opposite direction of clouds or I don't ride.... Hmmm... what a baby!... I'm over 60 and afraid of rain.... LOL. Xlent temperature and traffic conditions. I'm alone again for most of the trip to Prince George. I arrive in Smithers before check in time, they confirm Jay has made reservations but the rooms are not ready, Great... I can hit the bar for a tad and they will call me. I have an Xlent steak and ceasar salad. The phone rings, most Xlent the room is ready... I'm out to the bike... grab all my gear and off to my room. I was feeling a little tired, with a full belly thought I'd just rest on the bed for a tad... Knock Knock... up I get and where am I? This must be an age thingy... open the door, buddy Jay is standing in the hall. We get the girls tucked in for the night... grab all his gear... it's time for the bar. That night we look over the maps and the weather forecasts for BC. A small route change because of all the rain that is coming ( did I mention... I'm a Baby! ) for the next few days especially the Jasper area. We changed the route from going back through Jasper, then down to Banff... to lets just get to Williams Lake where everything looks like clear skies for Southern BC. We'll figure out our route once we're at Williams Lake. Travel Tip: When on a bike... the weather is more important than the route. :) With good friends you can have fun anywhere. |
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