Cold, Wind, and Boredom

August 3^rd, 2026

Balgonie, Saskatchewan

Woke at 8am and sat in chair for a bit.

Then took a long hot shower to try and wake up.

Packed up the bags and changed into most of the riding gear.

I was going to have breakfast today as there would not be many lunch options on the way from what I had seen, and I got half price breakfast as a hotel guest.

Walked over to restaurant and had eggs benedict and a Coke.

Back to the room I put away the last things and started to load the bike.

Took first bags out and holy smokes is it cold outside today.

Next load I wore my jacket, finished securing the bags and went to go in for next batch.

Door will not open, card is not working for me to get into the building.

I had to walk around the front of the hotel and get a new card.  She tested it and it was dead, would not even reprogram.  This was card I had been given last night to replace the one I lost.

Went back to room, and this time took both room keys with me in case one stopped working.

Loaded the bike, and yeah, one of the keys stopped working on the room door bit later.

Last load was the backpack and riding gear as always.  Quick check of the room and we left.

Finished loading the bike, geared up and rode up to the front of the hotel to drop off the keys.

Then we verified I still had good amount of fuel, so would just stop about 120 miles down the road at a nice stop I had found to fuel up and would then grab something to eat or drink as that would be around lunch anyway.

Got onto the road and headed east.

Flat, dull, boring, empty.   Not many other words to describe it.

Occasionally, there would be something cool looking with the slight hills and the color of the particular crop in the fields, that would make me record some video, or a river valley breaks up the flatness, but mostly just rode past nothing.

I had to stop after an hour to put on the rain jacket, was just too cold out, was starting to shiver.

Finaly reached the Circle K I wanted to get fuel at.

I pulled up to the pumps same time another guy did on a CanAm 3-wheel bike, and we exchanged a few words while filling up.

I moved bike up to front door, same as the other rider had and went inside.  Waited my turn for the restroom and then bought a few small taquito things for lunch and a tea to drink.  When I checked out the guy gave me a Mtn Dew in a can, guess it came with the two taquitos as part of a special deal?

Back outside I talked some more with the guy on the CanAm, he was heading to Alaska, so had some questions about the roads and fuel stops and such.

Told him what I could, then he left and I ate my food and got back on the road.

Few hours later I stopped again to use restroom and bought a candy bar as I was feeling big hungry, or stomach was getting upset, hard to tell sometimes.

Another hour down the road and I was ready to stop for fuel again, getting close ¼ tank, and that is usually when I try to fill up.  Also, stomach was starting to feel very unhappy.

Pulled off at a small truck stop, and headed for the restroom first.  Intestines were very unhappy.

After that ordeal, we fueled up the bike and got back on the road.

Not too much farther to go, but getting close to 5pm, and skies were still very overcast, and was raining off in distance in at least 2 directions.

Made it to the north side of Regina, and skirted around the city, going through a few work zones, but at least missing the congestion in the city.

Took a small highway out of the area heading east that ran a few miles north of the main freeway.

The hotel sits on that freeway, but right where this other highway intersects, so was able to get to hotel with out going on the freeway today.

Pulled up to hotel in the small town of Balgonie.

Office was closed!

I was working on calling the number on the sign when car pulls up and it’s the hotel manager (actually owner I found out later).

He got me checked in, and then we got into long conversation about my trip and his own travels in Canada years back.

He was very helpful and making sure I had everything I needed.

Motel is an older property, but it’s had some work done on it, and he seems to put in every effort to make sure people are happy.

When we finished talking, I got the bike moved over and unloaded.

Then before I even got out of the gear I wanted to walk over 2 buildings to a pizza place for dinner.  Riding pants were warmer than my other pants, so would change later.

Got outside and it started to sprinkle lightly.  Glad I covered the bike tonight.

Got to the place and the hotel owner was actually there getting his own pizza.

Talked with him while we waited for our food.  His arrived and he left and mine arrived then as well.

I stayed and ate, though I think the restaurant had actually closed, but a lounge is part of the building as well, and that was still open.

Once done eating I left and walked back to the room.  Owner was sitting in his car outside eating his pizza still.  Not sure if he lives on site or in a house in town.  There is a space that is likely living space for the hotel owner/manager, but perhaps he is not using it?

Back in room I got out of riding gear and will now work on blogs and maybe get the video I did yesterday uploaded.

Will also copy footage off the cameras as well.

Will try for an earlier night tonight, long ride today, and similar for tomorrow.

Catch ya down the road.

Todays Route

Dinosaur Deep Dive

August 2^nd, 2026

Hanna, Alberta

Woke normal time and got ready.

Got on the bike in the brisk morning air and hit the road.

Back tracked toward the main highway to Drumheller, but then passed it and went over to the back road I had planned to take the day before.

Was a nice little ride, though a bit chilly still.

Dropped down and crossed over the Red Deer River, which was a nice little fast downhill and then back up.

Just past there I turned south on a minor highway, but one that had just been re-surfaced, best roads I have been on so far this trip!

That ran for several miles and then the road was closed at the turn off to go back toward the river.

This route dropped down again, but this time you take a ferry across the river.  Supposedly the last cable drive ferry in Alberta still operating.

Its only about 200 feet across the river, but ferry moves pretty slow, so takes about 4 minutes to cross.

I arrived at the bottom of the hill just as the ferry was departing the other side empty.  One car in front of me, and a truck and camper came up behind me, but then turned around.  Another car came up right before ferry docked.

The car drove up and then I got up the ramp.  Car came in behind me and that was that.

Crossed and drove off without issue.

Then the big hill out of the river canyon.

This area of the river canyon is where many dinosaur fossils have been found in the region.  Some great looking rocks in the area, would be fun to go hiking up the side canyons, see what you might find, erosion is always changing things, so even though canyon has been searched often, new stuff always coming to light.

Back on top of the hill we went a few miles, then turned south and later went back down the hill, closer to the river where the road runs along the shore all the way into Drumheller.

A few miles up the road I reached my destination.

The Royal Tyrrell Museum, one of the best dinosaur specific museums in the world.

Rode up the road to the building and holy hell, what a mess.

People all over the place, parking lot is jammed and cars driving around in circles.

Did the same, and was thinking I might have to give up on this place when I found road going toward exit, but also saw sign for over flow parking.

Down a small hill and found a huge gravel space, not organization, just open space, but RVs and cars were parking.

Got small space between the last RV in row and the trash cans, big enough for the bike, right next to the steps back up the hill to the building.

Got parked, secured the bike and covered it as the lot was very dusty, and figured it would hide the bags better, though not much in them.

Helmet does not fit in them, so had to carry it and the tank bag up the steps along with the jacket, not going to risk leaving it with the bike.

Up top you first walk through a playground over run with small kids, almost got run into a few times from them running around without any awareness of what is around them.

Then got up on main walk and near some of the dinosaur statues, but no point in taking photos as they all had someone climbing on them or a dozen people standing in front of them.

Found the main entrance and got in line.  I should have bought the ticket online the night before, I had planned on it, but forgot.

Line as probably 50-60 people deep at this point, and that was just the outside part.

We stood there for about 10 minutes perhaps, then they started to let us inside.  I almost did not make it, they stopped line with me at the front, but there was enough space in side still that they let another dozen people inside.

Inside they split into 3 lines for the admission stations, and that took about 10 minutes a well as they were doing a shift change already (place had only been open for 90 minutes) and line stops while they do that.

Paid my fee and grabbed a map and then went over to the lockers which I had seen a sign for.

Was able to put the helmet, tank bag and my riding jacket in that, so should be a much nicer walk now.

Then started to sort my pockets…..and my room key is missing!

I can only assume that when I put my phone in the pocket earlier near the bike, and when I pulled it out later while in line, the damned case on the phone catches the room keys and pulls them out.  Had it happen before, and usually catch it, but a few times I do not, like this time.

I secured the locker, and then verified I could come back inside with my ticket, then went outside, but searching around the area (which now had about 100 people standing) revealed nothing.  So, either was kicked off into dirt or picked up.

I asked inside, they had a room key, but wanted me to describe it, and for life of me I could not recall what it looked like.  I thought it might be brown in color (it was not), and she said they did not have one that color.

I figured I would ask again later and went ahead and entered the museum.

Some amazing displays, and lots of information.  Most of it completely blocked off from a dozen people standing in front of it, or just standing there, or 8 strollers all jammed up trying to get by each other, and 6 dozen kids running around between everyone.

After the first room, I gave up trying to read anything, could never get close enough, and trying to wait was going to take 6 hours with all the people and how slow many were moving. 

The entire museum moves in a pattern; you basically are routed along hall ways and cannot skip around except by just going past a section and not seeing it.

So of course everyone moves in same direction, kind of like a landslide of people flowing through a canyon.

I bounced from side to side, looking for gaps in displays or trying to see if it was something I really wanted to see or could skip.  I had resigned myself to only seeing half of the displays.

Was able to get a few photos in those gaps, or just by being taller than many, so could photo above the heads.  Thankfully many displays are quite large, so easier to photograph from a distance as well.

Moved through all the sections, seeing what I could, and some great stuff.  Saw several interesting fossils, both original and casts.  This included a few famous pieces I had only see in books up till now.

We soon reached the room with all the big dinosaur displays. Some great stuff in here, and larger room allows some gaps, and since I had moved faster than many by skipping many things, I was ahead of the large mass I started in, though still plenty of people around, and still stumbling over kids all over.

Eventually reached the end of the section, and I got through and out of the gift shop as soon as I could.  Nothing I needed, and crawling with kids.

Asked again at lost and found, but new person there (they must rotate jobs here, no one seems to be in same spot for more than an hour) said they did not have any cards.  So, either was clueless, or the card they had was already claimed and not mine.

Ill just have to get a new one at hotel, not going to look anymore.

I grabbed my stuff from the locker and left the building.  Decided I was not going to do the hikes, as they can take another hour, and it was already getting warm.  While not as hot as yesterday, still too hot to be hiking in full bike gear carrying helmet and bag.

Went ack to the bike, uncovered it and geared back up.

Left the lot and down the road to the main road.

Drove into Drumheller and headed for the other highway leaving town as I recalled seeing a restaurant on google maps that looked interesting.

I drove past the large T-Rex again, place was mobbed, so think I will forget about stopping.  Not worth the hassle to climb up a giant dinosaur to look out.

I turned down the highway and in about a mile the town just ended, so I turned off on a side road so I could use the phone to figure out where this place was, and just so happened that the road I turned on was next to the little strip mall of food places, just not visible from the road and not signed that good.

Stopped at Between the Buns to have a burger.  I was thinking I might have an Elk or Bison burger, but went with regular beef burger instead, and a plate of poutine.

Was a very good, but messy burger.

When done, I went out and got on bike.  I had decided to head south out of town to the next small village a few miles out to visit another museum I had seen when I rode past yesterday on way to the HooDoos.

I rode through the residential area to get to the other highway instead of going back up to the intersection.

Then headed south to the small town and stopped at Waynes Fossil World.

Small building, but every fossil inside was collected by this old guy Wayne over the last 50 years.

He had been all over the Alberta badlands region collecting surface fossils in that time and had amassed a huge collection.  Most of it had spent decades in his house in various boxes and tubs.

He had also worked with various organizations over the years preparing fossils for display and working on identification and reconstruction.

Just this year he finally opened his own museum to display his collection.

There were a lot of small pieces here, but some very interesting pieces as well.  The displays were done up nicely, even if it was 200 of the same kind of bone, they were arranged for neatly.

Some decent signs on where things were found and what they belonged too.

Wayne himself was onsite talking to various people, his daughter was running the front desk and another woman was going around talking to people and letting you hold small samples. (not sure how she was related to the display, but knew a lot about them).

I spent some time looking over all the objects, including some amazing petrified wood displays.  The wood in this particular region was trapped in soils that created a crystalline coating on the fossilized wood, something I had never seen before, and when I was talking with Wayne, he thinks it has only occurred in this region of Alberta, he had not seen it elsewhere either.

When done, I got to talking with the daughter at the front about some of the objects and what I had seen at other place and my own interest in the fossils and then the bike trip came up.

Once done there, I went outside and got on the bike and left.

I made my final decision to skip the big dinosaur, and stopped for fuel as I would need it to get back to the hotel.

I tried to use the restroom, but for some bizarre reason, a huge fuel station and store in a busy location thought they only needed a single public restroom.

And as usual, a line was formed and someone was camped out inside reading a book or something.

Decided I would find another place, so left, and went across road to station over there and used their restroom.

Then back on the bike and headed out of town.   Took the most direct way today, was getting tired and just wanted to get back to the room.

Ride back was a bit colder, and uneventful.

Back at the hotel I went inside the front to let them know my card had been lost.

They got me a new one and then I rode around to the door near my room.

Went inside, changed out of the riding gear and then decided that I would see what I could find for food.

Only 3 places close by, the onsite restaurant, another small restaurant across the road (which was closed) and the A&W, which was in a gas station.

Decided to just stay onsite, even though things were really slow the other night.

Same girl working again, though this time it appeared she has some help with to go orders at least.

Busy place, so did take some time to get a menu even, and longer to get order in, but she was definitely able to focus more on the dining room today.

Had a pasta and bowl of soup tonight.

Once done eating I went up to pay and spent a few minutes talking with her as it was close to the end of the night and nearly all the people were gone, so she has a few moments.

Talked about the trip as it usually comes up when people start asking where I am from and what I was doing there.

When done I returned to the room.  I worked on another video and was able to complete it, but will upload it later as the internet here is very slow, and it is already midnight, so do not want to wait.

Tomorrow we will leave and head east to another city for the night while we make our way toward the eastern side where I can re-enter the USA to get to my next trip starting point.

Catch ya down the road.

Todays Route

Finding the Land of the Lost

August 1^st, 2026

Hanna, Alberta

Woke at 8am and sat there for a bit.  Still tired.

Took a shower and got geared up and packed all the bags up.

Went down to grab a luggage cart, thankfully they were all there.  Back up in the room we loaded everything onto the cart in a somewhat strategic way to assist in unloading onto the bike.

Took the cart into hallway, and then did a final check of the room.

Down to the lobby, then to the elevator for the parking garage.

I have been able to always find parking on the top level right next to the elevators, so was a quick push to the bike and then started loading it up.

Spent a few minutes talking with a guy who was cleaning and emptying the trash in the garage, he liked the bike and through very broken English we had a basic conversation.  Few things he said I never did figure out, and not sure he understood everything I said, even as I tried to simplify my speech to hopefully be clearer.

Once loaded, took the cart up and checked out of the room.

Then back down, onto the bike, got everything sorted gadget wise and then we pulled out of the garage.

The GPS route today was different from other days, the roads around here with the hills and river and some road construction works are confusing as hell.

Finally reached the river, crossed then took a new route up the other side and down a street heading south.  Oddly the other road I took the other day would have taken me same direction and I actually passed that road going west later, so must have been a traffic thing that made google choose the other road.

Few south and east routes to reach the highway heading southward.

I had hoped to fuel up on the edge of town, avoiding the more crowded stations in town.  But there was nothing out here.  Still odd how many fuel deserts there are in Canada compared to most places stateside.  Most cities usually have fuel stations all around the city edges.

I finally stopped about 30 minutes later at a local place for a community region.  See a lot of these types of setups.  Dozens of farms/ranches in the area, and they all converge on a local fuel station which is usually a mini-mart and sometimes has other services as well.

In this case there was the fuel, mini-mart, restaurant, lounge, meat and produce store and even all the mailboxes for the area.  Even an event hall you could rent.  Other communities will have a community center, but it’s the only building around, just central to a few dozen farms, I guess.

Once fueled, I bought a few slices of pizza from the small deli counter to have for early lunch.  Then we hit the road again.

This highway as pretty much just heading straight south, few small hills and couple of wiggles to curve around, but always back to south.

I had plotted the GPS to take me to a town along this highway as it wanted to take me down the bigger freeway to the west.

As I approached that town, I pulled into a fuel station on the corner mainly to fix an issue I had with the phone and use the restroom.  I also bought a snack to have the rest of the day in case I got hungry as I would have a late lunch.

When I left, I was still ½ mile from where the GPS said I should be (center of town probably) and it would not give up.  For the next few miles, it kept trying to turn me around to go back and ride that last half mile to the center of town instead of seeing I had stopped edge of town and continued on my expected route.

Google Maps really has some odd issues with routing at times, things I would have programed differently if I was calling the shots.  Hard to figure out why this is not default already.

I finally pulled off the road and found a way to delete the stop in that town and it then routed me back onto the highway I was already on.

Bit later we headed a bit east, and then south again, but then went east again.  I was starting to think it had freaked out again with the routing.

Sure enough, I finally hit the main highway into Drumheller (my destination) that I was trying to avoid, instead taking a back route through a small canyon.

Not sure if the deletion of the one town did it, though I had the other route marked, but for some reason it though going into town, all the way out to the other stop then back to another stop and then back to town made any sense at all.

I looked things over, and basically, I could have rerouted, but then I would backtrack a significant number of miles, and I needed to use a restroom again, so decided to just take the main highway into town and tomorrow I would ride the other route as a scenic route instead.

Reached town and enjoyed the long canyon descent.  Stopped at the Welcome to Drumheller sign (they have a few on various roads, though all the same sign).

After doing my photos, I plotted a course to the famous HooDoos a few miles south of town.

Rode through the town which was quite busy.  It was about this time that I realized my huge mistake in coming here on a weekend.  Not only had all the hotel rooms been booked, forcing me to get a hotel an hour away, but the place was just packed with people.  Every stop of any interest was mobbed.

Just a brain-dead moment I guess that I failed to realize a popular tourist area would be crazy busy on a summer weekend.  Likely still busy during the week, but less so.

I finally reached the HooDoos and pulled off.

You had to pay to park, but that technically was your access to the site as well.

An hour cost $5 Canadian, so reasonable price.

I paid via the QR code and then walked around the HooDoos for a short while.

If I had not had all the gear on the bike, I might have climbed back up on the cliff more.

After about 15 minutes I was back at the bike and ready to leave.  Partly as it was 98 degrees (38 C) and I was wearing my bike gear.

Got back on the bike and rode back into town.

Stopped for fuel as I would need it to get to the hotel as it was probably just on the edge of my range, rather not risk it.

I then stopped at the world’s largest dinosaur, or so they claim.  It’s a very tall T-Rex structure that you can go up inside and there is a viewing platform in the mouth.  It seems to be setup on same concept; you pay $5 for parking and get an hour to explore the area.

I just parked on the street and did a few photos today as I could not go explore with all the gear on the bike with 100s of people wandering around.  Too risky.

I will stop again tomorrow when I come back into town for a few museums.  Bike will be unloaded then.

I then looked for a place to eat, and chose a local bar/grill just around the corner.

Stopped and had a nice lunch, then plotted route to the hotel using a back highway instead of the main highways.

Left and turned onto that road right away, it went up the canyon a bit quicker, steeper hill I think, and then it was just rolling hills of farm land for miles and miles.

Road took me east a bit, then north, and when it reached a small town south of the highway I needed, it routed around the town.  But the road looked like it went through town, so though I would be fun to take it, was actually shorter route and only a mile to the main highway.

The GPS updated as I went into town, but then took me immediately out on a gravel road and bypassed town anyway.  Oh well.

On the highway it was just a 30-minute ride going straight east to reach the small town of Hanna.

I booked a room here for the next 2 nights.

Found the hotel, nice place.  Checked in and then rode around to the back side where my room was.  It’s a hotel, so had to go inside and find room.  Not too far from the back door.  Parking lot was hard packed dirt, but thankfully dry and mostly level.

Unloaded the bike (did I mention it was still HOT outside).

Once done, I got out of the riding boots and pants and took a cool shower.

Once done I got dressed and played a bit online, updating Facebook and such and catching up on some emails.

Then walked over to the hotel restaurant to have a light dinner.

Small place, but I stopped at the front desk to wait while girl was cashing out someone.  She seemed a bit annoyed, and kind of rudely asked me what I needed or if I was looking for the lounge.  I asked if this was the restaurant and could I sit anywhere, she just nodded so I sat.

She later brought over a menu and then left.

I figured out what I wanted, and by now I noticed she was the only person working.  So she had to seat people, cash out people, take orders, do the drinks, bring out the food, and answer the phone as the place seems to be popular with phone orders for pizza mainly, but lots of people grabbing food to go.

She finally came by to get my drink order, but said she could not take my food order yet?

Finally came by to take my food order, but still had not brought the drink yet, and she was looked a bit frazzled.

Finally got my drink and the food came out.  All the while the phone kept ringing, and she would answer and say please hold.  Then few seconds later it rings again, and again.  If I heard the conversation right, seems like people just hang up and redial when asked to hold, so she just makes them all hold out of spite.  I like that idea.

She stopped by and took my dirty plate and told me to just come up to the desk when I was ready to pay and she would take care of it.

I finally went up as she was finishing with another guy.  She seems agitated, and I just commented it was a crazy day.  She agreed, but was like she needed to use restroom for last hour, but has not been able to get away.  I told her I could wait, but she was like, no, too many things going on, but yes, you will have to wait as I need to get some food out to the table.

Finally got rung up and paid and walked out.

Feel sorry for her, but also not going to go back tomorrow if it’s that crazy!

I walked outside to take some photos of the large goose sculpture outside.  (Hotel is the Canada Grey Inn.)

I then went to the liquor store at the end of the building (there is a lounge in the middle section as well, but no reason to go there).

I was hoping they would have some soda or something, but did not.  Guy said he was still waiting for a delivery so was pretty much out of sodas other then a few bottles of Pepsi and Diet Coke, neither I would want.

He did tell me the grocery store down the road should be open and have what I needed.

I went out side and looked and there are 2 grocery stores right next to each other.  The one was going to close in 5 minutes, so I walked to the other one.

It was actually a small mall like building with the grocer, a bank, a dollar store, and drug store all in one.  All but the grocer was closed already.

I did stop at the bank and tried the ATM to get more local cash as I was almost out, and while I could probably go without, I prefer it for smaller purchases.  Thankfully the ATM worked and I was able to pull out a bit more money.

Wandered the grocers and finally found a cooler with cold drinks and they had my tea, so bought a few cans to get me by tonight and tomorrow, and also a candy bar for a snack tomorrow. (I still have chips and jerky to finish off tonight).

Walked back to the hotel and put things in the refrigerator, then sat down to work on this blog.

Will then work on converted more of the 360-camera footage so I can work on the next video in a day or two.

Tomorrow we will go back to Drumheller to visit one of the best dinosaur museums in the area.  Will also see if I can get to another small fossil museum and then stop and check out the big T-Rex again.  Major dinosaur mecca there.

Catch ya down the road!

Todays Route":

Aviation and Railroad explorations

July 31^st, 2026

Edmonton, Alberta

Woke at 8:00am, but was still feeling dead tired.

Went back to sleep for another hour and then sat in chair for 30 minutes after that, and still felt dead.  Took a shower and that helped, but think this might be a physically exhausting day with all I have planned.

Dressed and went down to the bike and got it ready.

Rode out of the garage and then across downtown, and reached my first stop in about 12 minutes.

The Alberta Aviation Museum.

This site is located on what I believe was an old airfield.  The building was part of a military site from what I could read, and lots of open land still around it, though appears it might be in the process of being developed.

Paid my way in and explored the museum.

They have several planes from the 1920s through the 1970s on display.  Most of them have been nicely restored, but from what I can gather from many of the signs, few if any of these planes are flight worthy, and most will never fly again.

Noorduyn Norseman Mk IV (1942)

The really cool feature of the place is that all the planes are on display in a diorama fashion that places them in a context of how the plane was used.  Many of the planes also have local relevance, or are replicas of planes that were locally used and lost in crashes.

Barkley-Grow T8P-1 (1938)

An equal mix of civilian and military craft, and quite a few planes that served both functions.

Canadair CL-13 Sabre Mk I (1950)

Many of the planes had some access to the inside for the tours, but as I did not take a tour, I did not get to peak inside any.  Most of the tours seemed to be focused on young kids, probably about 20 of them in various groups around the place, guessing some kind of summer program as they even had one area roped off for the kids to be sitting at a table doing something.

The restoration side of the hanger was off limits also without a tour guide, so could not see that stuff.

I did go outside for a few planes they have outside.  A few military planes, similar to ones inside, just not restored.  Another plane that must have belonged to a local company and a private jet that was abandoned at the airport years back and eventually moved here to get it out of the way at the actual airport.

Hawker Siddeley HS.125-600A (1973)

Once done, I got on the bike and head to the next place.

This one was about 25 minutes away, on the far north side of town, actually out of town.

I was hungry, but really did not see anything I wanted to eat along the way, so did not stop anywhere.

Spent bit of time on the highway and then turned off on to a country lane.

Few miles north of town I pulled into the ground of the Alberta Railroad Museum.

Parked in the dirt lot and went into the main building which is an original railway station used in another town on the other side of Edmonton.

Bought my ticket, and decided not to take the ride on the speeder (small rail transport cars used by rail workers to move back and forth on the tracks).

I just went into the main area which is all outdoors.

They have several locomotives and cars of various types parked along tracks.  A few original buildings as well that had been moved from other places to here as well.  Most were closed to the public, used for staff only, but a few were setup like how they would have been at original locations.

General Electric Locomotive C40-8M (1990)

Many of the train cars were accessible to walk through.  Some were still setup as they were originally, or restored to how they were at some point in the car’s history.  Others were empty and used for displays on other railroad history and topics.

There were several dozen cars farther out that were not accessible to even walk around, either extra stuff they just left there or future restoration projects.

They had one locomotive you could get into, the oldest one, a steam engine.  That was pretty cool.

#73, built sometime before 1930, operated till 1960

Lots of extra equipment laying around as well, and even an old water tower you could walk around inside.

The main building also had more items displayed in there.

I enjoyed the walk, but found I was somewhat hindered by having to carry my riding jacket and helmet around.  At the air museum they had offered to hold my helmet at the desk, so only had the jacket, but here they did not have any place.

I really need to research new luggage I can lock, then I could leave the jacket in the pannier, and also need to see if I can find a way to lock helmet to the bike.

While I doubt I would have an issue so far out of town as the only people here were visiting the museum, just never know when sticky fingers will come by.

I had trouble walking in some of the cars because of the gear, and was just dripping sweat as it was well into the 80s and no breeze inside the cars.  And carrying all the heavy gear was a bit of a work out (which might have been a good thing).

I also skipped reading a lot of signs due to this.

When I finished, I got on the bike and headed back to the hotel.

When I arrived, I came up to the room and took a cold shower to cool off and wash the layers of sweat away.

I then sat down to eat a few chips as I was very hungry, and then I fell asleep in the chair for about an hour, I think.  Time is a bit fuzzy here.

Woke enough to realize it was close to 5pm, so decided to walk over and get an early dinner.

I looked around for another place to eat, but those within walking distance were either not open yet (dinner only), already closed (lunch only), not anything I wanted to eat, or too costly.

Thought about a Russian place, but reading the reviews made it seem like the place is mainly a psychic reading place, that just happens to serve food as well, and sounds like it could be a bit annoying.

I decided to just return to the Donair place from the other night as the food was good, reasonable in price and was also the closest place

Walked over, had same sandwich, but this time had a loaded poutine as a side.

Worked on videos while eating.

Returned to the hotel and sorted some of the still damp clothes, moving them where they might dry faster.  Underwear and socks are about 95% dry, so should be good by morning.  Half the shirts are going to be good, but others may still be damp, those are the ones I Moved around to either get better airflow, or sitting on the vent to get either AC or heat on them. (I have thermostat set to 24 C, it keeps running AC, then runs heater, then AC, and so on, weird, but lots of air movement, so maybe will help dry stuff.

Took the time to write the blogs I was behind on as well as todays, and then will get back to the video, hoping to get another one completed before I go to bed tonight.

Might go down later to the lounge and have a drink, try and be social? 

Really need to work on that.  While I have had a few really good local encounters, I generally seem to stay isolated, or spend more time in the room working on media.  Might have to rethink how I manage that on future trips.

Well, that sums up the day, so will get back to the rest of it and leave you till tomorrow.

Todays Route:

 

Bike maintenance day

July 30^th, 2026

Edmonton, Alberta

Woke at 8:00am and showered and got dressed.

As the ride it far enough I will wear the full riding suit today, but will just stay with my walking shoes, give the boots more time to dry out since they were wet when I arrived.

Once ready, I went down and got the bike uncovered.

Found my way out of the underground garage and then followed the GPS route down the hill to the river and crossed on one of the newer bridges.  Then on other side hit the main road south.

Lots of stop lights, but nice ride through the city.

Eventually found my way over to the industrial area the shop is in.  Ironically, I passed right by the other shop that was unable to get me in.

On the last street I needed, the road was closed for construction work (seems about 50-60% of the roads up here are being worked on, just crazy trying to get anywhere).

Went a bit farther to another turn and the GPS re-routed me to where I needed to go.

Got bike checked in with the shop and then they asked me where I would be, as they did not have any facility for me to hang out there.  I could have just sat on the sidewalk outside or against the fence, but would have been quite miserable in the heat and even here the mosquitos are still quite active, just not as large of swarms.

He said there was a Tim Hortons down the road, so walked over there, again having to route around that same road construction.

I went in and decided to just eat breakfast as they serve food, though it was just a coffee shop, but bit more than that.

Had an egg muffin sandwich and a Coke.

Then I just sat around playing on the phone as there was no place else to be and I expected at least 1.5 hours to get the bike done, maybe more depending on when they started on it.

After about an hour, I decided to just order lunch as well, and had a hot beef sandwich and fries and another Coke.

Right around the 2-hour mark they phone rang, it was the shop, but for some reason I could not hear them.  Phone has been acting odd all week.

I tried to call back, but it would not connect.

So just left and walked back over to the shop and they were ready with the bike.

Cost me about $250 US to have the oil and filter changed, chain adjusted and lubed, and the headlight bulb replaced (that took the longest).  They also checked over the bike and verified my fork seals were okay, I just need to keep them clean (and will get them serviced when I return as I have still lost a good amount of fork oil).  They even cleaned and lubed the side stand as it was getting difficult to put up and down due to the road grime build up.

Settled the bill and then rode out of the lot and stopped to find a Walmart to go to so I could buy more snacks.

Found one not too far off my route back to the hotel and headed in that direction.

About ½ mile from there, I saw a Safeway and though that might be a better choice and stopped there instead.

Bought some chips and several things of tea, and loaded up the pannier on the bike.

Then rode back to the hotel, which had even more road works to get around.

Parked, secured, and covered the bike, then went up to the room.

Spent the afternoon working on videos and sorting gear a bit.

I then went down to the lounge for an early dinner and had a thing of nachos again.

I worked a bit during dinner on video conversions and then returned to the room.

I decided with the plans I had for the next day that I would not really have time to go find and sit around a laundromat, and the cost to have hotel do the laundry was ridiculous, so decided to just sink wash the socks/underwear/shirts and let them dry in the room over the next 1.5 days.

Once done with that and everything was laid out to hopefully dry, I continued working on videos and figured out my hotel for the next destination.  That was a bit of a pain, most of the places near the location were just crazy costs, or everything was booked up.

I ended up having to stay at a hotel 50 minutes away in a smaller town, but should work out anyway, will just take a few extra miles and an extra tank of fuel to pull it off, but still far cheaper than the hotels in town (by several hundred dollars).

Now I think I am going to go to bed.

Catch ya later.

Todays Route:

Lazy day to explore local museum

July 29^th, 2026

Edmonton, Alberta

Slept in today.  While the alarm woke me at 8:00am, I went back to sleep for at least another 1.5 hours.

Once awake, got showered and dressed and went down to the motorcycle in the garage to put the cover on.  It was too wet last night when I arrived, so left it off.

I then called the motorcycle shop that I wanted to get the bike into, but they were unable to get me in anytime in the next 3 days.

I did more research and found another non-dealer shop and called them.  While they normally would schedule a week out, the guy said he could get me in first thing in the morning tomorrow.  So will need to get bike there by 9:30am, but only about 8 miles away.

My Hotel

I then decided to walk over to the Royal Alberta Museum which was only about ½ mile away and see what it had to offer.

The walk over was through downtown, which is much like other downtown areas of a large city.

Lots of tall buildings, that look nice from a distance, but up close are crumbling, graffiti covered and surrounded by run down infrastructure and trash.  About every block I had to hold my breath from some dude sucking down a marijuana cigarette which smells like the ass end of a rhino after a dinner of rotten food.

The roads in downtown Edmonton are also going through some major constructions. Not sure you can even get into town without having to go through some section of it, probably half the streets are partially or fully closed for construction.

This includes detours for sidewalks as well.

On the walk over saw a few older buildings with interesting architecture and in front of the city hall was a huge water works of a low shallow pool with dozen fountains in it.  Its setup to allow people to play in it, but was a bit cool this morning, so no one had yet come down to get wet.

Found the museum and bought my ticket.

Two levels with several sections across them.

I started in the corner in the Bug Gallery, which is a small, very humid and warm room, filled with several displays of various insects from around the globe. 

Some interesting species and was intriguing to watch the few that were active.  Many though just sat in a corner not moving, mainly the spiders.

Giant Guadaloupe Island katydid

Few tanks with fish in them as well talking about how bugs work in the ecosystem.

Once done with that, I skipped the kid’s gallery which was just stuff for small children and went into the special exhibit room.  The current exhibition is about Death. 

The displays inside talked about the concept of death, the biology and science of it, and the spiritual aspects of death from the view of several different cultures and faiths.

Overall was a fascinating exhibit and probably spent more time reading there than in the rest of the place.

Next, I went to the history of man gallery, which focused on the history of human occupation of the Alberta region.  It has sections on the early human migrations into the region during the Ice Ages and then First Nation peoples who still occupy the region today.

Also covered the European expansion into the region and the impact that had and moved onto the modern world and the way locals dealt with global and local events. (Wars, weather, and other socially important times).

I then went upstairs to the natural history section.

This gallery had a few parts.

First was a general background on the geology of the region and how it has formed over millions of years.  Next to that was a gallery full of rocks, minerals, and gems.  Showcasing the various types and categories of rocks and focusing on those found in the local region and within Canada, but there were samples of rocks from all over the globe.

Then it moves into the early animal life that was in the area, with diorama displays and artifacts including several complete animal skeletons.  They had a few dinosaurs and bit more ice age era animals on display.

Then it covered the local wildlife still in the region with various displays and information boards.

A small room off that had a special exhibit on memories, showing objects with personal stories behind them.  Most of them were vary locally focused, so did not mean much to me, but interesting concept.

Once done with all the galleries, I went out to the main hall to photograph a few items out there, and then went up to view the meteor on the 2^nd floor display area.

This rock from space has a very special link to the First Nation people and has a history going back many generations with them.  It was removed from its original impact site in the 1800s by a European businessman and spent time in a few museums out east before being returned to Alberta.

Its current home is temporary while discussions are held to figure out a final spot to place it that will serve the spiritual needs of the local First Nation peoples and still allow others to view and experience it.

Technically it is just a small iron meteorite remnant that is not unique in any fashion, so the rock holds more value to the local First Nation people as the spiritual object they hold it to be.

Once done, I then perused the gift shop and bought a few rocks, then left the museum.

I was starving at this point, not having eaten anything yet, so researched restaurants in the downtown area on a bench outside the museum, then once I found a place I walked over to there.

Chose a Donair sandwich shop called Top Donair

They were not very busy and was a nice place inside.

Guy at the counter took the order and cooked it up.

One of the best chicken shawarma sandwiches I have every had.  Also had a few samosas as well.  Overall, a very good lunch.

From here I walked back to the hotel and spent time in the room editing video.

I was thirsty, so walked a few blocks over to a local bodega selling basic foods and such.  Bought a bag of chips, some water to refill my hydration pack and a few drinks.

Later in the evening, I decide to eat dinner at the restaurant in the hotel.  It is on the top floor (24^th) and is a revolving restaurant, doing a full revolution every 1.5 hours.

Got seated with a good view and then watched the scenery for a bit while it moved.

Then I ordered an iced tea and decided to have the wild mushroom soup for appetizer and the lobster ravioli as the main course.

   

When done, I talked myself into a desert with a chocolate ganache gateau.  3 layers of chocolate in a cake with a raspberry sauce on the side.  Very delicious.

When done I returned to the room and did more video work.

See you tomorrow.

Southbound to nicer weather

July 27^th, 2026

Dawson Creek, British Columbia

Woke at 8:00am and did the usual routine of sit, shower, dress, and pack.

I then started to load the bike, again talking with the group staying in room next door about their upcoming ride northward.

Once I finished all the packing, I updated some maps on the phone to avoid issue from yesterday, and then plotted my route.

I decided I would fill my spare gas today as the distance is just on the edge of possible, and not too many fuel stations in the first half, so this will relieve any fuel anxiety and let me ride without having to constantly watch the range.

I got on the bike and rode down the street a few blocks to a station at the edge of town.  Finally, a nice modern station that you can pay at the pump with a nice canopy overhead to block the sun or rain and a full convenience store if you wanted it.

Once fueled and the spare bag filled and secured, we hit the road south.

The skies had been really dark with clouds this morning, so was expecting rain again.  But as I headed south, the overcast started to lighten up, not had dark as it has been north of town this morning.

No rain came and in time the clouds started to thin out as well.

I kept the speed low to conserve fuel, even with the spare I still cannot go too fast or might come up short.

Road was pretty empty first few hours, but then it got really busy, in both directions.

I stopped at rest area for a bit and thought about removing some of the gear, but while the skies had cleared, the temperature was still only in the low 60s, so gets cold at speed.

I kept going and we went over a few small passes, but things stayed nice, could even say the got better.  Skies cleared up and only white puffy clouds floating by (really fast, wind was blowing hard today), and the temps started to go up again.

I had not had anything to eat yet today, so I pulled off at a fuel stop with a store attached and bought a bag of chips and a drink.

I stood in the lot and ate and drank while I tried to decide if I should get fuel as well.  Decided to wait, want to see how close I can get this, right now its almost even with arriving on my last fumes. (So, I will fuel up before hand, but will get good idea of range).

I did remove the rain pants now though, they were starting to get a bit warm, and also trapping moisture inside like they do was going to get worse as the temperature rose.

Ended up hitting a big road works area, I was first car to come up on the flagman, and this was a pilot car setup, so sat and waited, and waited.  Finally, cars from other direction came, but there were probably 50-60 of them.  I was first in the line, so we finally got going and then the route took about 10 minutes to get through.

Once on the other side then everyone had to pass like crazy as driving the speed limit for a few miles was unacceptable.  I even pushed it a bit so I was not going as slow as before, and left plenty of space, but a few still took chances to get by.

I kept going till eventually reaching the town that I had targeted for a fuel stop if I could make it.  Stopped and filled the tank, but left the fuel in the spare for now.

I was now about 45 minutes away, and with enough fuel I could ignore the fuel conservation and ride a bit faster, I was getting passed way too often (Canadians seem to think the speed limit is 30kph over the posted limit at least, though a few US plated vehicles doing much the same).

I ran it up to the speed limit or a bit above, still getting passed, but not as much. 

Then soon as we were past the city and all the lights, we hit road works, and a huge hill.  And stuck behind a truck that could barely go 20mph.

Passed finally in a passing lane, and just made it past another slow truck, crested the hill and had to come to a stop for more road works and a 1-lane road.

Not a huge wait, and was only a ½ mile section, then we could hit the road again.

Eventually arrived on the edge of Dawson Creek, BC.  This would be my stop tonight, but before I looked for a place to stay, I had one stop to make.

At the highway junction in the middle of town is the Mile 0 marker for the Alaska Highway.

This was the point where the highway officially started and where construction began in the early 40s.

There is a big sign on the corner stating this, so I wanted to get a photo with the bike there.

Technically I ran the highway backwards.  I drove some of the road going to Alaska, but skipped a section as well.  Rode the rest of the Alaska part when I left Fairbanks.  Then from Whitehorse I rode the remaining sections I had not been on yet to get here.

So, the marker was more of finish line than a starting line for me.

I then checked around for some places to stay and found a few to check out on the road heading out of town that I would take tomorrow.

I went to one that looked okay online, but it was a hotel, and really prefer the motels as it is much easier to get gear in and out.  I had passed a motel on the way there, and it did not look bad, so rode back up to that place.

They had rooms, so decided to stay here.

It’s an older place, and while some updates have been done, some stuff is still a bit aged.

But the location is good, price was fair, and staff was nice.

I unloaded the bike and got it all inside the room.

Then I pulled out the tools from the pannier and was a bit annoyed to find everything wet and soggy.

The bike cover which I put away wet 2 days ago had leaked all over the inside.  I had thought the bag the cover goes in was somewhat water proof like the cover, but must not be.  Soaked out and everything was damp.  My repair manual now as warped pages, the roll of gorilla tape is no longer round, and the box for my spare chain is ready to fall apart.

Pulled everything out to let it all dry overnight, then found my tools to clan the fork seals.  Yeah, they are leaking pretty bad again.

Pulled up the dust covers, and using new shop towel cleaned up the oils, ran the seal cleaner through the seal 3 times on each side and cleaned the area and the dust cover well.   Will see how that goes on the ride tomorrow, otherwise might be having fork seals serviced (my next stop will be for 4 nights as I am hoping to get the bike in for a few things that need done).

I had so much oil on the towel now I just tossed it, no point in keeping it.  I will have to start putting the shock socks on when its raining, that seems to be where the worst of the dirt comes from.

I then secured the bike and put the cover on, mainly to allow it to dry out since it is warm and not raining here.

Next, I oiled the chain as it was dried out again from riding in the rain so much.

Once down, I changed out of the riding gear and then walked across the street to Busters Pizza and Donair for dinner.

Had a chicken donair and mozza sticks with a soda.  Good change of pace.

Then back to the room and called back home to get an update on one of my cats which had gone to the vet that morning for some small issues.  Nothing so far to worry about, but will know more in a few days when tests come back.

Then we got online to type up the blog and will probably update a few social things and maybe work on some video, but really tired today, so might call it a night.  I will have more time to work on videos at the next stop anyway.

Catch ya down the road.

Todays Route: