We made it to Canada

Made it into Canada today and are spending the night in Lake Louise, Alberta. Today's weather was only matched by the grandeur of the Canadian Rockies.

Although the roads were not overly technical, they allowed for some amazing sights as the ride went along. The magnitude and scale of the country here is hard to explain. It's even harder to capture in pictures.

The following pics are of Lake Louise and Moraine Lake.

Lake Louise

Moraine Lake

The view from our balcony at Lake Louise Inn

Lets try catching up again

We have better WiFi tonight, so maybe I can load some photos to show the country we have been riding through.

First some shots along the Chief Joseph and Beartooth Highways.

A waterfall along the Chief Joseph Highway

There's still ice on some lakes along the Beartooth Highway

Lonely Pines on the Beartooth.

Long days, so catching up.

The last few days have been long days (both miles and hours). So I have some catching up to do.

First is that we didn't go to Mt. Rushmore. Both Lew and I have been there before and didn't want to spend $11.00 to park after waiting in line for more that a mile. This was after we did get to the Crazy Horse monument. It really is very impressive.

The scale is hard to comprehend. All of the heads from Mt. Rushmore would fit in the space for Crazy Horse's head.

The rest of the pictures are going to have to wait. Pretty slow internet here in Eureka, MT. The picture of Crazy Horse took almost 10 minutes to upload.

Anyway, we did the Chief Joseph Highway and the Bear Tooth Highway yesterday. All I can say is wow.

We were going to do the "Going to the Sun Road" today but is closed until sometime next week. Will catch it on the way home.

Who needs a camera?

Well it rained all day today, so we didn't take any photo ops.

If you would like a picture of the motel we are staying in tonight (Custer, SD) see the photo from Dubuque.

Correction: posted those pictures on my Facebook page. Here they are from Dubuque

How many Harley dealers are there?

One of the things Lew likes to do while on a trip is to visit any nearby Harley dealers as we travel along. He picks up a small souvenir from each one.

Today we stopped at 4(?) dealers. Anyway it was several.

Oh yeah, it was also getting pretty hot and then it got very, very, very wet. The temperature reached 98 degrees in the afternoon and then in the evening, as we were about 5 miles from our motel in Broken Bow, Nebraska, the rain started.

This was the worst, scariest 5 miles I have ever ridden. High winds, torrential rain and almost zero visibility. Hope tomorrow is better.

First Sightseeing of the trip

Tuesday was a day for Lew and I to collect some sights for our bucket lists. Lew made his pilgrimage to Riverside Iowa to visit Murphy's Bar & Grill where the future Captain James T. Kirk will be conceived under the pool table in the year 2227.

We  also visited the National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa, Iowa.

The best part of the day for me was spending time at the sight of the movie "Field of Dreams". I have wanted to go there ever since the movie was released. For the diehard baseball fan it is a must see. This is so much like my childhood memories.

Here are a couple of shots of Field of Dreams

Day one is done

Well day one is complete and the bike is still as intended; in one piece.  Day one was just riding. We made Dubuque, Iowa for the night (about 450 miles).

Left Ann Arbor about 8:30 am in a light rain. The rain stopped around Michigan International Raceway in Brooklyn, Mi. From there on we were dry.

Did a lot of slab riding. The highlight was a wonderful section of the "Great River Road" on the west side of the Mississippi south of Dubuque. It is route 52 along this section and well worth the ride; about 20 miles of flowing, sweeping curves. Great fun.

So It Will Be Four Years Later, Not One

Yes, I know it's been four years, not one. But I am on the verge of leaving once again for Alaska. Lew and I will leave on the morning of June 10  8, 2015.

I recently purchased a 2015 BMW R1200 GSA. Knock on wood, but there shouldn't be bike problems this time.

Here is a picture of our first nights lodging four years ago. Let's see where we end up the first night  this time.

Final going north entry

This is map of the United States with the states that I have ridden my motorcycle in highlighted with different colors.

States that are white are states that I have not had the chance to visit yet. Next summer I will be attempting my Alaska trip again and should make excursions into Montana, Idaho, South Dakota, Colorado, Iowa, and maybe some others too.

It's a wrap

Natches Trace Parkway
444 miles of good road
and sight seeing

 The last part of our trip included riding the 444 mile "Natches Trace". This is a National Park road similar to the Blue Ridge Parkway. It has limited access and limited facilities along the parkway. There are numerous side trips available that document the rich history of the area. The roadway itself is very well maintained and a very enjoyable ride (especially if the temps had been below 100 degrees).

 The final touristy stop was in Bowling Green Ky., to visit the National Corvette Museum. A pretty impressive place for the Corvette-istys in the crowd. There are lots and lots of cars on display including probably at least one of every year since 1953 (don't know this for a fact but it sure seemed that way)

Too bad they did't make this one.

Besides the regular production cars, there were race cars and many fantasy cars. This one really caught my eye.

The rest of the trip was just riding and enduring the heat until home. Even so, it was a great time despite not getting to Alaska. Alaska will be there next summer and all of our trip planning is already finished !!