My blog

A little bit about me and a lot about the things we do.

Wednesday 29 June 2016

Bike Trip 2016 - Rain and Rainbows!

June 14th - Tuesday
We left our home around 9:30 a.m. all packed for our bike trip.  It was 15 degrees and sunny but by the time we got to Banff it was raining and only 3 degrees.  We decided that this was a good time to stop for lunch and hope for brighter skies.  We drove through mixed weather all afternoon and stopped in Revelstoke, B.C., wet and cold.  We were able to park the bike under cover and close to our room for the night.  We drove 538 km.
June 15th - Wednesday
In the morning we went for a little walk around town to stretch our legs and let it get a little warmer.

We left at 8:30 a.m. with it only being 8 degrees but it did warm up to 20 degrees and we only drove through a little rain.  We drove on very windy roads to Whistler.

The views were spectacular.

We continued on our way to the coast and took the ferry to the Sunshine Coast.
We stayed at a beautiful little lodge right on the ocean with an amazing view.  We drove 646 km.
June 16th - Thursday
The next morning we toured around Gibsons and had scones as suggested by a local and found Molly's Reach from the old show "Beachcombers."


We had to take another ferry to continue along the Sunshine Coast and while we were waiting for it we saw whales swim by.
It's nice having a motorcycle for the ferry rides because you are always first on and first off.  We drove up to Mile 0 of the Sunshine Coast Highway and had lunch.

After enjoying a leisurely drive we boarded the ferry to Vancouver Island where we spent the night with my sister and her hubby.  We only drove 204 km.
June 17 - Friday
After a short visit we headed down the island to check out sights along the way.
It's great that we get to see each other a little more.

Carol's beautiful garden and ocean view.

It's nice that my sister owns a beach house!
On our way to Tofino we saw goats on a roof, walked the Cathedral Trail and had lunch at a lighthouse.





When we arrived in Tofino, we checked out the beach and Ron had to dip his feet in the ocean and then try to not have sand in his shoes after....tricky!
 
 
Along the way we saw some deer and a bear and a few eagles.
As we continued down the island the clouds got heavier and it began to rain.  It was starting to be a theme for this bike trip.  We made it to Victoria and I was so tired that I fell asleep with my coat on, expecting to at least go out for a walk.  We drive 546 km.
June 18th - Saturday
Ron and I took a walk around downtown Victoria and enjoyed the beautiful flowers and buildings along the way.  The weather wasn't sounding too promising but we decided to get on the ferry to go to Port Angeles, WA and hope for the best.
Well the best was....a torrential rain on our way to Olympia.  When it stopped for a bit we made a stop too at an Oyster Bar that was serving Salmon Chowder beside a campfire.  The soup was so good and it was a great way to warm up.


Notice the heavy clouds...and there was a lot of thunder rumbling.
We arrived in Olympia and found a warm, dry room and had a restful evening.  Another short day...only 204 km.
June 19th - Sunday - We went to a church in Olympia and drove around to see the capitol building.
 We drove to Leavenworth, a little German town where no Germans live!
 Apparently a business man visited Germany and liked the way that the German towns looked and contacted a city planner who designed the town as it looks now.


We couldn't resist taking a horse drawn carriage ride around the town and hear all about the history of the non-German German town???
We drove to Wenatchee, WA and stayed the night.  This was our only day of the trip that we didn't have any rain!  We drove 356 km.
June 20th - Monday - only a few sprinkles on the bike just when we were getting ready to leave and then it got hot.  We drove through prairie landscape again but nice windy roads.  We crossed the border and stayed in Rossland, B.C.  We drove 500 km.
June 21st - Tuesday - We drove north towards Revelstoke over great roads and saw more beautiful scenery.







It started to rain right at lunch time and so we stopped at Halycon Hot Springs and enjoyed a great lunch with a view.


The rain retreated and we continued on to the ferry to Revelstoke.  We had to wait on a steep hill for the ferry and Ron stayed close to the bike as he had been warned of bikes falling here.


Once we got on the ferry we were told about construction on the other side but we were already committed and so we took in beautiful sights before we would have to deal with the dust that was coming.

 We waited for awhile for the other vehicles to get ahead of us so that we wouldn't have to eat so much dust.
And then it came...

Fortunately it wasn't too long and wasn't as bad as we had been told.
We continued along the mountains, driving in and out of rain.


And then as we were getting close to stopping we were treated to some rainbows.  It was a perfect end to a bit of a rainy bike trip.


We drove 695 km to arrive in Cochrane, Alberta for the night.  The next day we made the final 142 km to home.  Our total trip was 3,831 km in 9 days.  Boy, did our bed ever feel good that night!