Day 19. When I stepped outside this morning everything was covered in ash and it continues to fall this evening. I assume it’s from the big fire near Kamloops but Osoyoos is on fire as well. The government has declared a state of emergency for the area and as of this morning 1100 hectares (2700 acres) were burning out of control. Today I decided I would not ride but go to the gym in Sicamous and do some grocery shopping. I tried calling the gym yesterday afternoon but just got voicemail. I tried again this morning and got the same so I went on their website and it showed day passes were available so I gathered my gear and headed to town. When I got to the gym the door was locked with a key pad ... read more

Day 17. I actually slept until nine this morning. Not straight through but I kept falling back to sleep. It’s been about eight a.m. most days that I didn’t intentionally get up early to move on to the next destination. Yoghurt with raspberries and nuts and then a bacon sandwich chaser got the day going. I finally remembered to put the one gallon gas can in my saddlebag just in case. I also carry a five gallon can of diesel in the Jeep for the same reason. I had a route that included some of the back roads highlighted on the map I got from the owner at the museum yesterday programmed into the GPS from the night before so off I went. The route South of Sicamous along Mara Lake is nice and I stayed ... read more

Day 15. 4230Km. Moving day if you will. I’ve moved further into the mountains in Malakwa. The peaks at Rogers Pass are stunning. Photos just don’t do them justice, especially when they are covered in smoke from the wild fires. All the photos look hazy from the smoke. It’s too bad too, the scenery is amazing. I took the quickest route through Golden and Revelstoke but for a second considered a different path that would have involved not one but two ferry crossings. There are many free ferry’s in British Columbia that are free because they are considered part of the highway system. When I arrived at camp or actually before I arrived I noticed helicopters in the sky carrying whatever they call the large bags to water-bomb forest fires. One was filling from a river ... read more

Day 13 The guy on the phone yesterday told me the welding shop opened at eight. I got up at seven, had a banana and gathered some tools to remove the bracket with the broken tab from my motorcycle. It’s not a big job and I’ve done it enough times that it’s not at all intimidating. I did forget that the muffler needs to be removed though. No biggie, two more bolts. I grabbed a protein bar, some peanuts and my gym bag in the hopes that I could drop the bracket off and pick it up later in the day. The gym was quite close and I wasn’t riding anyway. The guy at the welding shop took my part and said hang on a minute. He returned and said the supervisor said if I could ... read more

Day 11. I never actually checked to see if there are in fact hot springs in the city of Radium Hot Springs. I’m bad with sight seeing and tourist destinations. I’m bad at stopping to look at anything which is ridiculous because I have nowhere to be. It was a late start today. I was up much too late last night and once I finally finished breakfast and got mobile I spotted a coupe in the park with a Yamaha FZ-09 which is the previous version of the Tracer 9 GT which currently has my interest so I had to stop and see what his impressions were. Turns out he was a chatty Patty telling me every modification he had done as well as his and his fathers previous bikes. Eleven o’clock and off I go. ... read more