Off We Go!

On June 20, 2013, my husband and I are off on a 50 day, cross-Canada motorcycle trip. This blog will share our route, travel tips, photos and highlights of the trip. Photos from this trip will also be the source material for my next painting series, "Canadian Roadtrip" which I hope to complete in 2014. Check out my artwork on Facebook at "Kathy Lauriente-Bonner Art" or visit my website: www.klbart.com
Thanks for visiting!

Saturday, 29 June 2013

North Dakota, Minnesota, North Ontariooooooo!


Whew! Time Flies (Without Wifi!!)
We're a couple days behind but tonight is Friday, June 28 and we're in Cochrane, Ontario. Here's the quick catch up... My caveat is that the follow missive is a first draft, unedited and just sort of stream of consciousness writing. Too tired for finesse but I'm wanting to get some ideas down. Photos to follow when we have better wifi...

June 25
We stayed the night in Culbertson, Montana - our last night here. We were really impressed with Montana as a whole. The people were very kind and generous and very friendly. The countryside was spectacular, from the mind-blowing mountains of Glacier National Park to the rolling foothills and then the wide open prairie. Montana also has miles of pink tarmacked roads - some kind of rock that they crush and use that ranges from coral to pink in colour. Very pretty... and the quality of the roads are GREAT. Mind you, we only stayed on Route #2 but it's amazing how good roads can be when they don't get frost heave!!
That night, we stayed at the city park where they let you camp for free. We were joined by a few other folks, a couple from Utah, some people in a broken down motorhome from Saskatchewan that was towed in so they could wait for parts and repairs. Lastly, we were joined by two other motorcyclists from Florida who were en route to Alaska, hauling a dirt bike... they were both ex-Navy and one of them, let's call him Dave, arrived wearing a fake-haired hat and started to tell stories before he even got off his bike. A great couple of guys with many outlandish stories to tell - we're fairly convinced maybe even 50% might be true. A fun evening...

June 26
We couldn't resist, we'd heard all the horror stories from the wheat farmers across Montana about the royal mess that is Williston, North Dakota. About 3 years ago, they found a huge oil patch and since then, it's been a total boom town with people flocking from all over for work. We heard stories of 1000 man "Man Camps" springing up daily (ATCO type trailer accommodations that are put up in quick "trailer park" arrangements with a central mess hall), so many big trucks it wasn't safe to drive the roads and traffic so heavy, you could hardly get through town. We also heard that the cost of everything was through the roof to the extent that many long term residents were leaving because they couldn't stand the chaos and the expense. Sad... At first, we looked at ways to dodge it all but then the curiosity got the better of us and we decided what the heck. The time it would take us to detour would probably be more than just pushing through and we wanted to see what all the hullabaloo was about.
To be honest, it was about like driving through Fort St. John on a busy Friday afternoon. It was busy to be sure and yes, there were man-camps after man-camps all up and down the highways offering room and board for around $800/week. Crazy. The delay in getting through town was because of all the road upgrading they're doing. Everywhere for miles are hundreds of oil derricks bobbing up and down. In industrial lots all over the place are miles of pipe and other heavy equipment waiting to be used and TRUCKS like you've never seen. BIG trucks by the hundreds, almost in caravans, hauling everything under the sun. And it was BUSY. We stopped to buy gas and spoke to a welder and his son who had come from Louisiana to make some money to send home and, for the dad, to eventually retire in Colorado where "there's a mountain behind me and a lake out in front". Everyone is from somewhere else, trying to make a living. A gal at the gas station said that some of the people working there had been over 3 years and still living in ATCO trailers in muddy lots. Pretty tough... It was interesting to see and we're glad we went through. The rest of North Dakota was a whole lot of prairie and small, prairie roadside towns with a gas station, some grain elevators and a corner store if you're lucky. We arrived in Grand Forks, North Dakota that night and found a campsite.
Around 11pm, we were disturbed by the sound of a pick up truck going peddle to the metal down a side road beside the campsite. At the end of the road, we heard a big WHUMP and then silence and then a KAFLUMPPP!!!! We decided we better go see what happened and see if anyone was hurt. When we arrived, we saw that the truck had gotten to the end of the road and didn't realize there was a T-junction. He went straight through and up over the bank, through the fence, blowing out the road signs and getting probably 30 feet of air before landing in the rhubarb and arriving at a stop mere feet from the first freeway lane. Good grief. A total miracle no one was hurt. He was OK but DRUNK as a lord and staggering around with a goose-egg on his forehead. We managed to get him to where we were (off the highway) and a passer-by  called 911. We waited with him until the police came and he kept saying "I think I just got punched out!" No doubt, buddy. A little Thursday night excitement in Grand Forks, ND...

June 27, 2013
Woke up to a beautiful cloudless sky and off we went. We crossed into Minnesota and almost instantly it was apparent we were in a different part of the world. The land became very beautifully cultivated and immaculate and there were stunning big and little farms all over the place. The houses were all very quaint and well looked after, nothing looked old or dilapidated. The prairie gave way to more treed land and it became a bit more hilly. Just beautiful! We were very impressed with Northern Minnesota! One of the nicest parts of our US drive. We finally arrived in International Falls, Minnesota where you cross into Canada. If you've never been to this crossing, you should go at least once just to see it. You drive down to what was once a pulp and paper plant and you cross some rail tracks and there's a little toll booth. No signage. Nothing that says "Canada This Way" - nothing. I only knew we were on the right track because of our GPS! You pay a toll to cross a REALLY OLD bridge that takes you to the rest of the old pulp and paper mill on the other side of the river in Fort Francis, Ontario. You drive through the mill yard, crossing the rail tracks several times and weaving around mill buildings until you see the border patrol booths. It's so bizarre! But there you are! And without further ado, we were back in Canada.
Off we went and we decided to make a run for Thunder Bay but first, we pulled over and phoned the Relais-Nordik in Rimouski Que. to confirm our reservations on their cargo ship down the St. Lawrence. We were very happy to find that they were putting the bigger boat on that route (for July 3) which meant they had room for us. It also meant we had 5 days to cover 2500kms to get to Havre St. Pierre in time to catch the boat at 4am on Wed, July 3!! That certainly lit a fire under us... We made it into Thunder Bay by 9:00PM that night and found a very nice campsite. We pulled into our site and it was next to Dave from Toronto who was riding his bike to BC. Of course, we traded stories and very quickly found out he grew up just outside 70 Mile House, practically neighbours to us back home. Figures.

June 28
This morning, we woke up to very heavy and low cloud cover and it was cold... about 55 degrees F. We suited up and took off by 9:00am, having lost another hour yesterday in time change. We're now 3 hours ahead of home. We set out on Route 11, the northern route through Ontario. We made our way to Long Lac and had lunch and looked at our maps. We realized just how far we still have to go. We decided if we're going to make this boat on Wednesday, we're really going to have to put some miles behind us. We did over 600kms yesterday and we ended up doing another 600kms today. We drove through miles and miles of scrubby spruce trees and sub-alpine tundra looking land... and the BUGS - oh MY!!! You've got your horse flies, your deer flies, your black flies.... you've got your no see-ums and your mosquitos and these flying ants. You also have your HUGE (and very juicy when they hit your windshield!) dragonflies and yellow butterflies as well as beetles of all descriptions. I also got stung by a stinging kind of hornet type of bug (it got up into my chaps!! OUCH!!!) - yes, the one thing we can say about northern Ontario - they're got BUGS!! At one point, we stopped to tie down our cooler better and within minutes, the bugs were swarming so thick around us that it was like a cloud and we literally dove back on our bikes and started to ride away FAST to get away from them!!!  Fortunately, having arrived here in Cochrane for the night, the bugs aren't nearly so bad. No camp sites here but a nice lady in line at the gas station drove us down to the train station where, apparently, we can park in the weedy lot across the street. Sounds good to us and that's where we are as we speak...

One of the things that stands out for me in the past few days is just how BIG this country is but, more apparently, just how SMALL it is. Almost everyone we've met has had a connection to us or our immediate area at home in some way. It's been very synchronistic. When we were closer to home, it didn't seem like a big deal but the farther East we get, the more we're amazed. Last night, Dave at our campsite was heading to BC but he grew up on a ranch very near were we live now. The lady who owned the campsite was just speaking to a friend of hers who is getting married who lives in Williams Lake, BC. We don't know the friend but we helped her figure out which store to buy her wedding present in. Another lady at the gas station in Thunder Bay is going to BC and her brother lives out our way... The woman from Utah we met in in Colbertson grew up in Penticton and her father worked for the Kettle Valley Railway which I lived near for a number of years. Crazy hairy-hat guy from Florida is riding right on up through Williams Lake to get to Alaska so we told him to stop in for coffee at our son-in-laws workplace... we'll see if he does! Anyway, it's been a fantastic experience so far.

Things of Note in Ontario Thus Far:
Near Thunder Bay we started seeing a lot of Terry Fox signs - a look out point and then the sign where his run ended because of his cancer returning. Made me sad to see that even all these years later. It also made me think, for the next 100 kms or so, about how incredibly lucky we are to have our health and be able to be on this incredible trip. It was quite moving and thought provoking.

Visual images for northern Ontario - scrubby spruce trees that are REALLY tall and spindly and they've got tufts of new growth on the top, making them look to me like a bunch of skinny chickens, stretching their necks to try to look around each other. Lots of varying shades of pink and purple lupine growing on the side of the road. Huge piles of stacked firewood in people's yards. The winters must be really long and cold up here. Lots of old, falling down barns and churches. We saw a moose and a red fox beside the road yesterday. LOTS of water - little lakes everywhere... and lots of cabins tucked into wiggly shorelines. Very beautiful.

I really notice the smells here - the clean smell of sub-alpine trees and the smell of the soil where they are digging it up for road work. The lilacs are just out here so every now and then you get a big whiff of lilac as you go by. Sometimes there is the rank smell of roadkill - saw a dead moose in the ditch. Everywhere there are signs warning of moose at night.

We're only a short way from the Quebec border. For the past 200 kms, we've noticed an increasing French presence in both the people, the signage and the names of lakes and towns. It's nice to hear the French language spoken or English spoken with a French accent again. It reminds me so much of my Grandma Alice. It's making me think about  her and miss her quite a bit again...

In thinking about the Canadian Identity, the word that really comes to mind in the past 2 days is endurance. I can't imagine how challenging it must be to live up here. The summers are short and filled with bugs and it seems as soon as the snow is gone, they must start splitting wood in preparation for the long hard winter that's not far off again. We've travelled parallel to miles of train track and I think about the people who laboured to put that track and all these miles of roads in, in very hostile conditions. Living wouldn't be easy here, especially years ago when people were homesteading. Endurance is the Canadian Identity word of the day.

The other word of the day would be friendly. Everywhere we've gone, people stop to look at our bikes, ask us questions about where we're from and where we're going. They've been so quick to offer helpful advice: where to camp, where to eat, things to see, what routes to take. At the end of almost every conversation, they've all told us to have a safe trip and to be careful... sending us on our way with good wishes for a great journey. We've been really touched by the kindness and friendliness of the people we've met...

Wednesday, 26 June 2013

Culbertson, Montana

After leaving Glacier National Park, we drove with the intent to get as close to Malta, Montana as possible. It was raining a bit but then cleared up and pretty soon, we had an incredible corridor of sun. On our left, covering southern Alberta was a huge black storm and on our right was another huge black storm over southern Montana. We had a beautiful little swath of sun! How lucky!! As we got to Chester, we noticed the southern storm was moving our way and then we started to see fork lightening touching down. A little disconcerting when you're out there in the middle of the prairie with not even a bush to hide beside. We decided to dodge the storm and we pulled into the little town of Joplin (pop. 200 when everyone is home) and we found Nancy's Joplin Bar and Grill - the only place in town. Nancy cooked us up some awesome fried chicken and potatoes and we visited with some locals. John brought us up to speed on a lot of the agricultural information on this area. A million square miles of wheat and cattle. We also got the low down on Williston, North Dakota. They found a major oil reservoir and thousands of people are pouring into the town, inflating the cost of everything to outrageous proportions. It's so busy, you have to wait in line to drive through the town. Sometimes, it can take up to 2 hours to get through... we were warned by everyone to avoid it at all costs...
Hmmm....
Of course, our curiosity is killing us.
We'll probably go. :)
Nancy got in touch with someone she knows in a town down the way who texted back that it was good we holed up for the night. Her friend reported they had just gotten over 1/2" of rain in less than 10 minutes and then some hail the size of golf balls!!
We were invited to camp out in their little town park which was gorgeous! A beautiful clean bathroom to boot and it was free!
Today, we drove and drove and drove through more prairie. It sure is beautiful here... we eventually called it quits in this little town of Culbertson. Again, more free camping in a beautiful town park, complete with a bathroom and even power in the washroom! DEEEELUX!
(June 24/25, 2013)
This photo is of the grain elevators in Joplin, Montana...

Monday, 24 June 2013

"Going To The Sun"

All we can say is WOW!!!! If you've never been on this road, you are missing out!! Montana - you are amazing!! It was raining like crazy when we left - we had ALL our gear on and there was some talk of snow at the summit but we didn't want to miss out so we decided to give it a go - if we ran into snow we would turn around. Are we EVER glad we tried. It was a little chilly (about 45 degrees F) at the summit but the ride was spectacular. The rain came and went but all the swirling clouds made for some dramatic footage. I had the GoPro on my bike for most of it. Can't wait to see what the footage looks like! FANTASTIC day!!!

Whitefish, Montana

Yesterday had to be one of the best riding days we've done. We woke up in Nelson, BC to sunshine!! Off we went and took the ferry from Balfour to Crawford Bay and drove down the South Arm of Kootenay Lake. We found out from another biker that it's rated the #1 motorbike road in BC... it was pretty awesome! We at a great picnic lunch (thanks mom!) by the river in Creston and then crossed into Idaho. From there, we headed south to connect with the #2 and went East into Montana. We made it all the way to Whitefish, Montana (thanks to the recommendation of my sister Victoria) and true to her word, it's an AWESOME little town. A lot like Nelson, actually. Very quaint. We had a GREAT dinner in the Sky Bar at Coopers on the main drag - a roof top, open air restaurant with a spectacular view. We had a nice campsite at the Whitefish Lake State Park and woke up this morning to RAIN!!  We're heading up to do the "Going To The Sun" highway so we're hoping the clouds lift. They only opened the road last week so we're expecting some snow etc. at the summit (not on the road) so we'll pull out our electric gear. Apparently, it's about 9000 ft.
Montana Tidbits:
#1 - They drive FAST down here! Secondary, single-lane highways are 120kms! Crazy! We drove under the limit most of the way... :) They must be so frustrated when they come to BC! ha ha ha...
#2 - They have little white crosses on the road where there were fatalities. A little sad to see them - sometimes there are several so obviously some bad accidents. Hmmm... maybe because of the driving speed?
#3 - No motorcycle helmets required! It's so weird to see people riding in ball caps... I just couldn't do it. It would freak me out.
#4 - No state tax! Boy that sure makes a difference on bills!
#5 - Absolutely GORGEOUS countryside - we're very impressed and definitely will come back to Montana!
We hope to make Malta tonight and then on to Saskatchewan tomorrow...

Friday, 21 June 2013

Flooding!!!

On Wednesday, June 19, it rained like it was The End of Days... something like 35 ml of rain in 24 hours. It was pretty hard to pack up and get excited about the trip the next day with weather like that. Honestly, it made me want to light the woodstove, crawl into the easy chair with a good book and call it a day. The next morning, though, we were so lucky that the weather had eased off a bit.
Leaving home, it was a balmy 16 degrees and just a light rain. We figured, after the torrential rains of the day before, we were doing well. It got even better than that by the time we hit Williams Lake and it progressively got warmer and drier as we headed south. In the end, we only had a spit of rain in Vernon and then it was dry again until Kelowna where we stayed last night. There was a narrow window of dry and we had the luck of the Gods with us and we found it!

Just got off the phone with my sister Victoria who lives in Calgary. She gave us some updates on the unbelievable flooding happening there and Southern Alberta. Her words - Avoid Alberta altogether!! So - we're having to rethink our plans. We head to Nelson tomorrow and had planned on taking the #3 through Alberta but now it looks like we'll head south through Washington and into Montana and we'll do the Highway to the Sun through Glacier National Park. From there, we'll stay in Northern Montana until we get into drier ground in Saskatchewan. Sorry Alberta! We'll have to catch you on the way home!!!

Tuesday, 18 June 2013

Be Part Of The Project and Win a Painting!


Calling All You Canadians Out There!

Be Part of the Canadian Roadtrip Art Project and Win a Painting!
Here's How:

Email me your name, the part of Canada you're from and, in 500 words or less, provide a response to the question:
 
"What is your definition of what it is to be "Canadian"?"


I'm looking to understand how we define the Canadian identity. 
The best entries will be part of the final show and will be on display with the paintings.
Everyone who makes a submission will be entered into the draw for a painting!
Invite your friends and family to participate too!


Email your submissions to: 

kathy@klbart.com
THANKS FOR YOU HELP!

Monday, 17 June 2013

CBC Radio Interview!

I have been invited to do a radio interview with Shelley Joyce on CBC (CBC Kamloops Daybreak program) TOMORROW (Tuesday, June 18) between 7:10 and 7:20am! Come have a listen!! Should be fun... YAY!

Friday, 14 June 2013

Route Part 1 - BC to Newfoundland!

This is the first part of our basic itinerary - we don't have any time frames attached except for catching the Relais Nordik cargo ship down the St. Lawrence on July 3 as it only leaves once per week. Other than that, this will be our general guide but really, we'll be winging it as we go.

We'll leave Riske Creek, BC on June 20 and head south to Kelowna and then Nelson, BC for quick family visits. From there, we'll head along the Route 3 over the Rockies and into Alberta to connect up with the Route 1 (Trans Canada Highway) at Medicine Hat. Our intent is to haul through Western Canada fairly quickly because it'll be easy to visit the Western provinces from BC in future trips. We'll stay on Route 1 until Swift Current, Saskatchewan and visit family there and in Gravelbourg.

From Gravelbourg, we will head back onto Route 1 to Winnipeg and dogleg down to Steinbach, Manitoba, because we want to visit the Mennonite Heritage Village Museum. From Steinbach, we'll head south on Route 12 into Minnesota for a brief stint in the United States. We'll skirt along Lake of the Woods and take Route 11 back into Canada near Fort Francis and head to Thunder Bay.

From Thunder Bay, we'll continue on Route 11 and then Route 17 into Ottawa (doing Georgian Bay and Lake Superior on the way home) and then back over to Hull so we can stay on the north side of the Ottawa River on the smaller highways. We'll take Route 148 into Montreal and stay on the highways that stay close to the River through Trois-Rivieres and into Quebec City.  We'll continue on the north shore of the St. Lawrence on Route 138 to Havre St. Pierre where we will catch the Relais-Nordik - a cargo/passenger ship that services the boat/air access only fishing villages along the north shore of the St. Lawrence up to Blanc-Sablon, near Labrador. This will be a 2.5 day trip on the cargo ship and in each port, we will have a few hours to disembark and explore the villages of Natashquan, Kegaska, La Romaine, Harrington Harbour, Tete-a-la-Baleine, La Tabatiere and St. Augustin. We're pretty excited about this leg of the trip because we'll see a part of Canada that isn't hugely accessible. We'll disembark in Blanc-Sablon and head into Labrador and visit Red Bay National Historic Site for a night before returning to Blanc-Sablon to catch a ferry over to St. Barbe, Newfoundland.

From St. Barbe, we'll head north on Routes 430 and 436 to the Unesco World Heritage Site "L'Ainse Aux Meadows", a well preserved Viking settlement. We'll had back south on Routes 432 and 430 to Gros Morne National Park and spend some time in Cornerbrook. From there, we will stick to Route 1 to Gander and then connect with Route 330/320 to do the pennisula coastal route through Musgrave Harbour and then connect back to Route 1 at Gambo. We'll continue on Route 1 and then take Route 230/235 which will take us up the next penninsula to Bonavista and Trinity where we will loop back down and into Clarenville, reconnecting with Route 1 again. Another detour up Route 80 will take us up through South Dildo to Grates Cove and around the penninsula through Carbonear and Bay Roberts. We'll stay on the coastal roads around Conception Bay through Brigus, Holyrood and into St. John's.

We'll spend a couple days in St. John's and then head down Blackhead and Maddox Cove until it connects with Route 10. We'll head south through Ferryland and down through the southern penninsula. Route 10 changes to Route 90 as it heads back North again and then we'll head West on Route 91 through Colinet. From here, we'll head south on Route 92/100 to see that penninsula and visit Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve before heading into Argentia to catch the ferry to Cape Breton.

We anticipate this first part of the trip will take approximately 3.5 weeks, spending a bit of extra time in Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Cornerbrook and St. John's.

Wednesday, 5 June 2013

Some Recommended Gadgets...

I'm not a huge gadget fan (just more stuff to have to learn how to use and fiddle with) but I have to admit - a little technology can go a long way in adding to the ease and enjoyment of a long ride. Three gadgets in particular we think are worth the investment:

Scala Rider G9 Helmet Intercoms
These are FABULOUS for being able to chit-chat as  your ride which makes sharing the experience so much nicer. Also, VERY handy for when you need to pull over for a sore arse or pee break or to make sure you're on the same page for which highway exit you're about to take... They can be paired with any Bluetooth GPS system as well for the audio commands and you can also pair them with a cel phone (if you REALLY want to take calls on the road... NOT) or your iPod for tunes. We tested other intercoms and the Scala seem to still be the the best bet that we've found.

Garmin Zumo 350LM GPS
This particular unit is specifically designed for motorcycles - super easy to use, operable with gloves on, weather proof and a good sized (4.3") glare-free screen for good viewing even in bright sunlight. It will sync with your Bluetooth intercoms. A great little unit... This one comes with life time map updates which is a nice bonus. Not only will this GPS help you with travel directions, it will help you locate ammenities around you like gas stations, ATMs, restaurants and local Points of Interest.

GoPro Hero 3 - High Definition Video Camera
What a GREAT little toy!!! We have the Silver Edition (the mid-range, mid-price model) which comes with basic mounts and a waterproof shell for all weather riding. Can be mounted on your bike or your helmet easily but there are HUGE assortments of mounts/harnesses you can buy to mount it on just about anything! The only other add-on we purchased was the viewing screen so you can see what you're videoing on the go. It also can be used as a still shot camera. SUPER way to document your travels and it's brilliantly high def and rugged. Check out user posted videos on their website - some of them are incredible! We hope to have something to post after the trip too!