Farther into the Great White North

 

June 15^th, 2026

Prince George, British Columbia

Woke up at 8am.  Got ready to go as usual and loaded up the bike.

Did some last-minute checks online before I left and lost my internet connection.

We checked out and hit the highway, but only for a few blocks to pull over and get fuel.

Once the tank was topped off, we headed north on highway 97.

The ride was a bit cooler than most days, it was mostly clouding and overcast and temperatures were hovering around 25 C.  That was a bit too cool for me, so a few miles up the road I pulled over and put on my 2^nd layer under the riding jacket.

Once back on the road things were mostly uneventful.

Stopped at a few rest areas either to use the facility or take photos if they were in nice areas.

There were a few light sprinkles of rain coming down now and then, but nothing to worry about, and we had gained about 2000 feet of elevation, so if it was light up there, we were probably going to be good, but will check weather when I stop for lunch.

A few spots of road construction slowed us down as they had only 1 lane open, so had to wait and take turns.  The first one I came up too had us there for 15 minutes.  It was an interesting stop though as while I was waiting, two bicyclists pulled up beside me on the shoulder (I was near front of the line).

Two girls from the US (Oregon and Montana) pedaling to Alaska!  We talked for a bit, but then the highway guy told them they could proceed now and to stay off the main road except where needed to pass the workers.  They took off (and must have turned off as I did not see them later when we got to head down the same road).

Few miles later we had to stop again, but this time only about 5 minutes passed before we were able to go.

I pulled off in a town called 100 Mile House and topped off the tank again, just to be safe, the hills and light winds are still slowing me at times, and fuel economy has become a science project.

I have noticed if I keep the bike in 6^th gear around 55-58MPH (which is the speed limit on many roads anyway) I do really well on fuel, maybe not as good as riding 30-35, but still get nice range.   I can push it up to 62 MPH without too much loss, but still not as good.  If I move up over 65, the fuel disappears faster, and if I try going much over 70, it nearly halves my fuel economy.  So thankfully most of the highways are 56-62 MPH speed limits and I can stay in a good range.  The big key is keeping the RPM low, but not too low (I suspect the riding in hills at 2500-3000 RPM the other day was what caused the bike to overheat.)

If I stay above 3500, but below 4500 things are good, up to 5500 I can do well, but need to be careful and constant use over 5500 things just get worse the higher it goes.

So back to 100 Miles House.  Once I had topped off the tank, I went over a few blocks to the A&W place, been lots of years since I have eaten at one.

Food was okay.  Had some good conversation with some older guys having coffee in the same seating area, well, one of the guys talked, the other one just sat and smiled and nodded. (A 3^rd guy was at another table, think they might have known each other, but he kept to himself).

After I finished eating and was ready to go, I went out to the bike and a lady was outside the pickup parked next to me smoking, but she commented on the bike and we talked about it.  Turns out she and her husband are doing a trip up to the Arctic Ocean later this year, though not sure if by bike or car.

Shortly after they left, another motorbike pulled up next too me, a really fast looking Aprilia, though forgot the model.  We talked briefly and then he went inside.  As I was finished my load check, a car pulled up and guy got out and came around and asked me how I liked the Rigg Gear bags I have.  Seems he might have been looking at them, so told him what I thought.  He then went and sat in his car on the phone.

I pulled out and hit the highway, and was confident in a nice ride as I used the WiFi at the restaurant and radar showed most of the rain had already passed by this area and not much predicted to move in for the rest of my route.

Moved up the highway, again stopping as needed, but not anything amazing to see other than the one lake we passed and rest area was right on the shore.

About 2/3 of the way it started to sprinkle again.

Figured it was nothing to worry about, but then it started to come harder and eventually turned into rain.  I rode for a bit hoping it would quit soon, and no safe spot to pull over as we were going downhill.

But after a few minutes, I had no choice, found a wider shoulder near a bridge and pulled off to put on my upper rain gear at least.

As expected, by time I stopped, dismounted, pulled out the rain gear, took off backpack, put rain jacket on, fasten it all up, put pack back on and got ready to leave, the rain had all but stopped.  A mile down the road things were dry.

I went ahead and left the rain jacket on though, since it was still cloudy, but also temps had dropped to 21C, which to me is cold, so the rain jacket helps block the cold wind better.

Eventually came into the outside edge of Prince George, traffic was busy, few stop lights to wait at, but we made it to the motel and checked in.

While I was checking in, I decided to check on something that had occurred to me while riding a few hours earlier.  I went into my phone settings and found that international data roaming was disabled.  Turned that on and BAM….my internet works on the phone now.

I had forgotten that was turned off by default, but something from memory when I was in Europe last year and has similar issue was dredged up during my ride.

So at least I can get better map updates instead of using the offline stuff and can now check on stuff along the way, at least till I get farther north, then things may get bad again, there are parts of some of the routes that will not even have cell service at all.

My room is on the far back side of the hotel, on another street, maybe be quieter since not on the main road.

I unloaded the bike and got changed, then checked online to see where I wanted to go eat.

The motel has a restaurant attached that had good reviews, so thought I would check it.

Left the room and a few doors down the building changes into Apartments that people rent, and a lady and her kids (older) were outside with the most amazing looking Maine Coon cat!

I went over to see the kitty and talked with them for a while.  The were interested in my travels and recommended some places to see, but when I looked at map later, they were thinking about a different highway I will not be travelling, so will not be close to that stuff.

They also recommended the motels restaurant.

So that was where I went, had a good burger, some fries and since they asked, I tried the gravy with the fries.  These Canadians are on to something, was really good.

As usual I used dinner time to offload all the footage from cameras.

I then came back to the room and started dealing with the manager of the hotel I stayed at the previous two nights.  They were not happy with the review I left them (was all positive, praising the great service, but I guess a few things they did for me they normally do not do, and did not want that mentioned.)

Whatever, I figured I would just delete it, but what a damned joke.  Hotels.com (I booked room through them) does not allow you to edit or delete your own comments!! What a stupid practice.

I had to get ahold of their support (and that was a nightmare of its own) and request the deletion, which ends up being a form they send, I fill out the data and submit it, then they will do something in 48 hours!

Probably not going to review things on that site anymore, and unless I have negative things to say, probably going to skip the reviewing on any site.  Figure if things really suck, I will let the world know, but not going to call out the good stuff anymore as it seems that might not make people happy either.

I then worked on converted 360 footage and wrote up this blog, but now I am really tired, and have a 6-hour ride tomorrow, thinking it is time for bed.

Catch ya down the road!

Chris

Border crossing day. Welcome to Canada.

June 13^th, 2026

Cache Creek, BC, Canada

Woke at the usual time today, 7:00am.

Sat in the dark for a while, then finally made myself get up and shower and start packing things up.

After getting packed, I geared up myself and took everything out to load the bike. 

Once loaded and checked out of the motel, I rode down a block to fuel up the bike.

Back on the road the Canadian Border arrived in about 10 minutes.  Slowly rode through trying to make sure I did not miss something and then pulled up to the checkpoint.

Border officer came out and did a quick visual of the bike, then asked for my passport and had me open up my helmet, all expected things.  Then asked a bunch of questions, some which were not really relevant, but whatever.

Then after a few speeches on penalties if I did not declare things like a firearm, and a bit of a lecture on having health insurance (as the medical costs for a tourist are not covered by Government, so could be costly) I was in the country.

Did a quick stop for the welcome to BC sign and then went to plot my course on Google Maps, only to find I no longer had data services.

Before I left, I updated my cellular plan (I was still on a plan from ages ago) which gave me far more stuff while in the US, but also added Canada and Mexico to my Call/Text/Data abilities (and all for same price I was already paying).

I notices on phone that I had cell signal, and I did get some text messages a bit later, but no data.

 So, I had to mess around with my Garmin to get a route plotted.  While it is nice being a real GPS and not needing internet to work, it is a pain to plot as it always wants an actual address, or you have to scroll around and point to where you want to go, but scrolling is far less usable on it versus the phone.

But it got me going in right direction.

About 20 minutes in and I decided to stop at a bank and see if the ATM would give me local currency, and thankfully it worked (not sure what kind of fee my bank will charge me).

Ride was pretty easy at this point, highway was busy, but not crazy, views were nice and winds were low.

We arrived in a larger town and I rode into the city center to find food as I had not had breakfast, so was hungry.  Found a Burger King and decided to just eat there since I was going to be quick, and many of them have free Wi-Fi, so I could check on some things.

I ate and then using the Wi-Fi I was able to download the offline maps for the region my trip was going to use, so at least navigation will work.  I will need to think about downloading the next few provinces’ data as well before I get there.

I then verified that, yes, I should have data, so either network in this region is weak, or does not partner with the roaming data services.  Sadly, I do not see this improving as I head farther north and into more remote areas.  May need to see if I can find a local SIM card somewhere.

Need to replace my phone so I can use eSim services.  This phone does not support them.

I then got back on the road with both GPS working, and was interesting to see them recommend different routes, and also how the Garmin is a lot more annoying about trying to re-route you back to its preferred route instead of immediately seeing the new route you are taking.

Google Maps seems to pick up on it immediately if you take a different highway than it recommended (this might be because it had recommended both routes, but was giving preference to the one I did not take, but quickly saw I was using the other one?

The ride along this huge lake near the town was nice, and views were amazing, but traffic was much heavier.

Finally reached another highway, this one a 4-lane running into the mountains.  I thought it would be busy, but was about the only thing on the road.  Think maybe 10 cars when past me over the 1.5 hours I was on this route.

This route was nice quality road, and faster speeds, but lots of hills, and started to climb up in altitude.

We eventually reached a top of around 5900 feet, which meant it was much cooler up there.  I had already expected it to get colder and put on my 2^nd layer under the riding jacket, but was still chilled.

After we came down a bit, I stopped at a rest area and warmed up some, it is much colder when moving!

At the next town the GPS and Google Maps both routed me onto the wrong road.  Well, wrong for Google Maps as just a few hours earlier it had routed me on a different road and that was the one I said start too, but again, it changes its mind part way through a route.  Thankfully I noticed right away and took the next exit, which had more options for fuel than the original route would have, but still annoying.

Fueled the bike (might have made it all the way on the tank I had, but would have been close, not worth the chance) and then headed back toward the highway I wanted to be on.

This little highway was also practically empty, for the first 30 minutes I saw maybe 2 cars, but was busier on the later part of the route.

Lots of nice views in this narrow valley, and no really high altitudes this time, actually started to come down in elevation and it started to warm up again.

Part way in the views became less pretty, but still unique.  The entire forest had burned, probably just a few years earlier, and every tree going up the entire mountain side was dead, eventually on both sides of the valley.

Roughly half way through this route, I saw as spot to try doing a photo shoot with the bike.  I tried to turn around in the narrow road and almost lost it as the road was newly poured asphalt, and lots of loose stuff on it still (had been going much slower on this route than others).  I also lost my balance in the process of correcting that and about hit the concrete barrier wall.   I then stopped and thought it odd that I smelled something hot, only to see the temperature gauge near the top.

This bike has never shown any extra engine temperature, even in Arizona summers, so this freaked me out.  I could smell the heat as well.

Shut off the engine and coasted the bike down a short hill to a better parking spot (better in that the bike would not tip over, but still not far off the road and uneven surface)

I got off the bike and took off my gear as it was getting warmer in the air as well.

I then turned the bike back on and now the temperature was fine??

I turned if off, spent a few minutes taking some photos, and finding a bush to relieve my bladder in and then checked it again.  Still normal.

So not sure why it heated up so much so quickly and went away just as quickly.  I can only suspect that since I was in a high gear and running the engine at low revs in the hills, perhaps that overheated something.  I have been trying to keep engine revs low as that impacts fuel economy on this bike (If I ride at 6000 RPM versus 4000 RPM, I will use fuel twice as fast.)

As I was in the middle of nowhere and on an Indian Reserve as well, I needed to get to the end of this highway segment 12 miles down the road where there was at least a small town.

I got on the bike and kept the revs a bit higher since I had plenty of fuel for this last short ride, and temperature never blinked again the entire hour I was riding.

We made it to the small town and turned up another highway with some great views, but did not do any stopping this time.

Finally arrived in the small town of Cache Creek, where I have booked a small motel room for 2 nights.

Been riding all day for 5 days, so time to take a day off the bike, and I desperately need to edit video.

I really thought I could edit a video each night, but the laptop slows me down over using the desktop back home, and the new 360 camera is going all kinds of stupid things to my videos, and costing me lots of time trying to get the framing done so I can edit the footage into the final cut.

After checking into the motel, I unloaded the bike and sat and rested for a bit, then got back on the bike and rode up and down the main highway to see what food options there were.  Decided to eat at a little drive-in restaurant and then came back to motel.

Walked across to the market to buy some drinks for the next 2 nights and then settled in to write this blog entry.

Then I will keep working on converting 360 camera footage so that I hopefully can edit up all the videos for the last 5 days tomorrow.

Its only 7:45 pm now, so hoping I can get this done, thankfully I have been recording shorter segments on the camera instead of letting it run non-stop for 3 hours.  While that allows you to catch some interesting things, it mostly just gives you 1.5 hours of the same scenery on the same highway and I only use maybe 30 seconds of that.

Probably will not write an entry for tomorrow except to announce the video posting, but will see what happens.

Catch ya down the road.

Chris

Todays Route:

Washington winds lead to Canada border

June 12^th, 2026

Oroville, Washington

Woke at 7am again, showered and then worked on various things.  My laundry was not dry, but close, so left them hanging (I had rigged up a clothes line in bathroom and left window open all night) and put a few out in front of the AC unit and some in the front window which was getting good sunlight.

Sorted rest of the gear and then figured out the route again, as it seems I get different routes at different times.

I liked the new route this morning, so decided to take it.

Once I had 1 pair of everything dry enough, I dressed and then packed up what I could other than damp clothes.  Started to load the bike, and eventually had to put the clothes in, though they were just lightly damp, so hoping they will be okay in the bags all day.

Finished loading the bike and checked out of the room, then rode across the road to get fuel, but the stations network was down, so was cash only, too much hassle and I still had at least half a tank, so will just get it later.

Rode out onto the road and pulled over to side to start the GPS plot and make sure rest of gear was turned on (I usually do this after the gas pump, but did not get gas).

Turned a few blocks down onto a secondary highway which quickly left town and meandered through the Oregon countryside, mostly fields and a few vineyards.

I stopped along the way to get some photos of the rolling grasslands and play with the DJI mic again which I had tested the night before and got working, only now I had the issue that the only place inside the helmet to mount it makes it impossible to reach in with gloves on and turn it on.  A bit annoyed at this, will need to research later.  I could just leave it on, but then would record hours of wind noise…and I would need to sort through all that to find my dialogues.

Finally reached the Washington border, actually riding along a road called Stateline Road, but then turned north and started moving across Washington.  Mostly was a northbound route with a few zigs and zags along the way both east and west.

Reached the town of Pasco which I had routed too to stop at the Loves Truck stop.  I know they are good places to stop, usually with restaurants, nice restrooms and anything I could want to buy.  I actually signed up with the company’s app as I get 10 cents a gallon off gas with that.  Too bad that was the last Love’s I will see till I return to the US later this summer (do not believe they are in Alaska).

While I was fueling the bike, the gentlemen in the car at the next pump commented on the bike and asked a few questions, and then we discussed my plans and route.  After a few minutes he asked if he could give me a little thing to take on the trip, a small plastic figure of Jesus, which I agreed he could.  I gave him my social media card and he left.

Once fueled, I moved bike and went inside the Arby’s to have lunch (later start today on purpose), and work on my tech issues.

After eating, I sat and messed with that mic more, but never did find a solution, however, I did figure out how to use the Cardo com system on the helmet to record voice to my phone.  It requires me to start the action using the app on the phone though, and my riding gloves just do not work well with the phone, even with the touchscreen patch on the fingertip.

I decided to cut away that patch and expose a small section of the finger to use the phone screen while riding, way too many times when something happens and the GPS closes or I bump something with the glove and it actually works, but then cannot fix it without stopping.

That trick seems to work, the hole is small enough to not expose the finger fully, but I can get just enough contact to use the screen nearly all the time to change back and forth between apps and use the voice mode.  Not great, but workaround till I can solve the other method.

Finally got back on the bike and routed to the hotel I booked last night, this destination was close enough and was not going to cross border today, so figured I could safely book ahead.

The highway ran north for a bit, very heavy traffic, but then I turned off onto smaller highway that was only 2 lanes, and much lighter traffic. 

This route winds across the open plains, mostly grazing or crop land, and the winds were intense.  Blowing me all over the road and times, and worse when a big truck would pass in the opposite direction.

Eventually the road did dip down into a river canyon and that was a nice ride.  I stopped for a few photos at a pull out, but then got in behind some slow-moving camper and cars, and as seems to be the issue in this area, no one has the skills to pass someone!

I was able to get around two cars as they were slower than camper, then in turn got around another car and finally the camper.

But after several miles, we climbed back onto the higher plains and the winds were even worse here.

This went on for quite a while, but then we started to get into more hilly terrain, and while winds did not stop, they seemed to calm down some.

I was starting to get concerned on fuel though, I had passed a fuel station, figuring I had enough to get on, but the winds really used up the range.  I finally stopped at some small, run down station in some little town and fueled up.  Prices are just getting worse as I head north.  Things were low $4 range in Arizona; now regular fuel is low $5 range.

A bit later I went to stop at another fuel station to use the restroom, only to see 2 full busses of what appeared to be farm workers getting off and going inside.  Figured that would tie up restrooms and the cashier for a while, so turned around.

I had just passed a view point overlooking the nearby dam, and it had a restroom there, so back tracked the ½ mile to reach it.  Nice views, out of the way and no one else around.

Used the restroom then spent 15 minutes taking photos and just walking around to stretch legs and give me and the bike a rest.

But had to get moving, was already 30 minutes behind my original schedule, so back on the road and heading north again.

Lots of wind, lots of fields and vineyards (and a strange cluster of satellite dishes on a hill) and we finally rolled into Oroville, WA.

I will stay the night here and the Camaray Motel.  Bit higher cost, but about the only place to stay this close to the Canada border.  It’s an old place, but looked good online and when I arrived, I was pleased with it.  Views are not too bad either.

Sadly, they only had rooms on the 2^nd level, but as luck would have it, I was able to park right next to the stairs going up, so made the bike unload task bit less strenuous.  It takes about 4 trips to get all the bags off the bike and then a last trip to secure and cover the bike.

Once done, I took a shower, though not a very long one.  Was just about done rinsing when the water went from mildly warm to ice cold in a heartbeat.  Never seen a hot water system vanish so quickly (though have done many cold showers in countries where hot water is not normally available.)

I then sorted a few things, checked some stuff on the phone, plugged my helmet com into the charger and then walked over to the pizza place across the road.

Had a pizza and drink while I moved all the footage off the phone and camera.  I was going to type this up there, but food came quickly while I was doing some research on the phone, and I just ate while doing that, so decided to return to the room to type this up.

Once done, I walked a block down the road to the convenience store to buy something to drink tonight and get more water for the hydration pack.

Once back in the room I put a few more things on chargers and filled up the pack.  It was not as low as I thought, so like my Nevada stop, I bought a 1-gallon jug of water, but only used half of it to fill the bag.  I have a 1-liter bottle I am also filling with water to bring along as a backup, though seems I am not drinking as much as I thought I was.

I will leave the rest of it around to drink if need, otherwise will pour down the drain when I leave tomorrow.

I am now done typing this day’s events and it is only 8:00pm.  I will be leaving a bit later again tomorrow as I only have a 4-hour ride to my next stop, though not sure how long the border crossing will take, though not expecting any massive delays.

I am going to try to complete a video tonight, so hopefully you will see it online later tonight as well.

I will also be taking a day off after tomorrow, so can work on videos then as well.

Catch ya down the road.

Chris

Todays Route:

Short day across Idaho and Oregon

 

June 11^th, 2026

Milton-Freewater, Oregon

Woke up and 7:00 am and got ready.

Was a bit groggy, but think I slept okay at least.

Started to take all the gear and stuff out and load up the bike in the brisk morning air.

Once it was loaded, grabbed my riding gear and checked out of the room.

Pulled across the street to Love’s truck stop to fuel up the bike and then hit the road about 7:50.

Only made it 500 feet before I pulled over again to record the morning video I had failed to do that morning!  Processes are still in development.

We hit US93 north and crossed into Idaho just outside of town.

Road wound through some rolling hills of nothing, just grass and rocks.  Winds were not too bad, but it was still a bit cold, even though I had put on the extra layer under the jacket.  Was 51 degrees when I left the fuel station.

After about 30 minutes we came to the south end of Twin Falls.  Here I took a back highway that would wind around the city and avoid the traffic in town during the morning rush hour. (Every town has one).

At one point I pulled over to an overlook that had a great view of the Snake River in a small canyon among all the properties built down around it.

Shortly after I reached I-84, and pulled over to another Love’s hoping to get breakfast at the McDonalds.  However, once I got inside and went to order, the menu was for lunch.  I had forgotten that ID is still using Mountain time, versus Pacific time I was on in Nevada.  So instead of being 9:30 am, it was 10:30 am.

As I will only eat breakfast at McDonalds, I decided to just grab a few Tornadoes rolls again from the truck stop grill.

Ate them out by the bike, then got on the road and soon was on the interstate heading in a westerly direction.

The winds were mild, and temps were up enough to not be cold anymore, but still had to keep speed down to preserve fuel.  Bike tends to suck fuel if you run it much over 5000rpm, and that puts you right around 65 mph. 

I rode till I got to Boise, then went through the city and pulled off in Nampa to have lunch.  Just hit Jack in the Box again, was right on the ramp and next to a fuel stop so I could top up the tank again.

Pulled back onto the freeway and was mostly uneventful ride, few construction zones that slowed things a bit, but made decent time to the Oregon border.

Stopped just across the border at rest area to get off bike for a bit and use facilities.  Back on the road things were just the same, quick easy flow of traffic.

Later I pulled off for another rest area stop and spent some time reading stuff on phone to rest my legs, getting cramped up after an hour or so today.  Usually takes me a week to get used to riding long rides each day.

Shortly after that we started down a huge hill, coming from 3400 feet down to around 1500 feet in a few miles.  There was a pull out that went to a nice overlook, so stopped for a few photos and also needed to change the battery in the GoPro anyway, had forgotten at the rest area.

Once down off the hill, we soon came to the exit I needed to use to head north.  I stopped again for fuel, even though I was probably okay, but easier to get it when you can.

Road north across an Indian reservation for a short distance to reach the highway that would take me north.

Winds were picking up a bit, and temps had climbed into the 80s now that we were down in altitude for once.

Was looking forward to getting to hotel I had booked, was tired, but 5 miles out from there we came upon some farm machinery driving down the highway at 20 mph.  For some reason people would not pass it even when they had time to do so.  1 car and a truck with trailer finally passed, but next two cars just wasted two chance to pass.

The next gap in oncoming traffic was huge, and they again refused to pass, so I quickly zoomed past both cars and the tractor!  Advantages of a bike.

Pulled into town, which was bigger than I thought it would be.  Drove through most of the town, and had one idiot pull out right in front of me, thankfully was going slow.

Found the hotel, small little place on side of highway, only has 10 rooms.

Went to the office door and it was closed, sign said to call some numbers for help as they had stepped away.  First number just went to static.  Second number answered, guy said he would be right there.

About 5 minutes later he arrived, guess he had been taking daughter to some kind of practice?

He got me checked in and then left again. 

I got bike unloaded and then took a shower as I was hot.

The hotel owner had recommended a restaurant called Kelly’s a mile down the road, so once I had sorted things and dressed, I took the bike down to have dinner.

Service was a bit slow, but food was very good and I spent the time moving footage from the phone and camera and writing the main part of this blog entry.

While waiting I also booked my room for tomorrow night and should only have a 5 hour ride tomorrow, so another early day, but will be near the Canada border and would prefer to start with that early in the morning as should be less busy.  It is a smaller crossing, so hopefully will not take too long.

I will then work on getting some other documents ready.  Need to get a financial tracker built to track my expenses so I can try to keep things in the daily budget (averaged out across all days).  This trip will likely break that budget, but at least can get the process worked out.

I also need to do laundry.

Travelling on a bike leaves you with at most 4 pairs of anything, so doing sink laundry at least once a week and eventually will need to find laundry place or stay and nicer hotel that has laundry service.  I will be taking days off at least once a week, so those will be the days for doing those types of tasks.

Going to publish this now and assume that I do the things I said I was going to do above :)

Catch ya down the road!

Today's Route:

Best Laid Plans = Getting Lost in the desert?

June 10^th, 2026

Jackpot, Nevada

Woke up at 8am this morning, was dragging though as I stayed up way too later last night working on various things and still did not get much done. 

I think my idea of editing up a video each night is not going to be reality, will have to see, but may end up just taking a day off every few days and hammering out the previous day’s videos?

I will however try to get the blog updated each night.

Back to the morning.  I took a nice shower and then sat around trying to figure out where I wanted to try making it today, looking at various hotels and such to get ideas on where I could stop along the route and the maximum distance I would think about.

I am trying to keep hotel costs down, and found that all the places in northern Utah are just way too high (many over $200 a night), so decided to try a new route instead of going up to Salt Lake City.

I found that places in Nevada were much cheaper, so plotted a route that would at best get me to Twin Falls, Idaho via eastern Nevada.

I found what I wanted and several spots along the way to stop if I could not make the full distance.

Then I finished up my packing, having re-organized the bags last night, and loaded the bike up.

Geared up and as I was leaving, I had a short conversation with the owner again, and she asked to take a photo in front of the hotel sign, something she likes to do with the motorcycle riding guests.

She recommended a gas station down the street that had good hot food options as well.

I rode the 2 blocks down the road, fueled up the bike and then went inside to look around.

They had a little deli style counter selling mostly fried foods, and I settled on the little Tornados (soft shell with various fillings).  Bought two, as I thought they were packed individually, but turned out each pouch had two inside, so at 4 of them for breakfast and had some water.  I bought 2 more liters of water to refill my hydration pack.

Once done, we got on the bike and headed over to US50 to head west.

The ride was nice, bit cool, but would warm up as the day went on.

Went up over a few small passes, nothing too high and then had to wait a short time for a 1-way road construction area, but eventually made it to I-15. 

I had told Google Maps to avoid highways, which typically routes you around the US Interstates.

The route tried to get me to turn onto a local road, but that road did not exist…and I figured for the 15 miles, I would just use the I-15 anyway, save time.

I did notice later an access road I could have gotten onto and that was where it was planning to take me, but I also noticed that road was probably closed as they were doing a controlled burn of the hillside along that road.  So good thing I did not find the other road and ended up getting blocked.

Pulled off the interstate onto a small feeder road that would get me to US50 again.

Once on that road it was a long flat and mostly boring ride until we reached Delta, Utah.

I stopped here for fuel as I was down half a tank and things were getting more desolate and less towns as I head west, so needed to get a full tank.

Just past town, maps instructed me to turn onto a local county road instead of staying on US50 to Ely which was the next main town I was expecting to hit.

I figured it was just taking a shortcut around a longer loop in the highway; it has done this many times on local county roads for previous trips I have taken.

The roads were really nice, and mostly farm areas, but eventually found myself out near what appeared to be some kind of power generating plant.

The next road was a long flat and straight section going to the horizon, so figured that was where I would catch up with US50 again?

About 30 miles in, the map said to turn again, and this time the road was gravel.  As I was so far along already, I though it would be easier to just use the gravel section instead of backtracking, and that was part of the plan anyway to explore, just wasn’t planning a long gravel stretch today.

But soon I saw sign saying next road was 44 miles away and was not sure I wanted to be on dirt that long, but the road was not too bad and was making good time and speed, so stayed the course.

Eerily I did not see another car the entire time I was heading out this way once I passed the power plant, should have seen that as a sign.

The road eventually became much rougher, and much looser gravel, and had to slow way down at times to keep upright.

Eventually came down toward the end of the route and only then did a car pass me going the other way, and a bit later a car came up behind me and passed me.

Once I reached the end of the route, there was another 8-mile stretch, also gravel, and very bad shape.

That road ended with a 5-mile stretch to a town, so was hopeful there would be another county road or highway, but nope, just more gravel, this time for 23 miles, and very rough at the start, was barely able to go 20 mph in many places.

Eventually that road dropped me into another town, where I again was disappointed to find more gravel leaving.

At this town I stopped, deleted the route and had Google Maps route it again, this time allowing highways, just to find the quickest route back to a real road.

While it was some amazing scenery, and a good challenge, I was getting tired, the winds were pretty high, and the loose roads with the heavy load on the bike had put me on the edge of going down at least a dozen times, was ready for it to end.

But was still another 20 miles till I reached the next road, this one actually tarmac, though a big rough still.

Finally reached ALT US93 and took that north to East Wendover, Nevada.

But while it was nice to be back on pavement, the winds were blowing like a hurricane, had to be at least 35-40mph steady with some stronger gusts.  Took lots of effort to stay on the road at times.

Once I reached East Wendover, I was almost out of fuel, so stopped to top up the tank and then since I was very hungry by now (it being about 3:00pm and I ate breakfast at 10:30).

I went next door to Burger King and had a quick meal, again using my gift card to save money.

Now I had to get onto I-80 and head west for about an hour.  Figured I would keep the speed back a bit to preserve fuel range, but make good time.

Nope.  Winds were blowing so hard I had a hard time keeping it at 65 mph, and was a real joy when the large trucks passed me, only for me to pass them soon after on a large hill as we kept climbing, which also made the temperatures fall.

I stopped on top of the big pass at the rest area there to put on another layer as it was down to 77 degrees, but the wind chill from moving in these high winds made it much cooler.

Headed down the pass, which was a wind tunnel blowing right into my face and once down the winds just picked up and blew me all over the road.

After an hour we reached US93 north.  Only 60 miles to go and we would be at the Idaho border.  As I lost so much time with the desert detour, compounded by the slower going due to high winds, I decided to stop at the border town for the night as there were several hotel/casinos there with cheaper rooms, so knew I could find something without needing a reservation.

The ride up was the longest hour of my life.  The winds were relentless, the traffic coming southbound was heavy, so kept getting blown off the road by the wind pressure of the passing trucks and then battered the other direction again by the normal winds.

The temps were also falling, going from about 75 when I left the interstate down to 63 before I reached the town of Jackpot, Nevada.

I was tired, cold, and mentally exhausted as well.

Pulled into the first place, The Four Jacks Hotel and Casino.  9.5 hours on the road, 365 miles covered!

They had rooms thankfully for $60 a night.  Got a room, which of course was about that farthest walk from where my bike was parked that you could do.  Had to make 4 trips to get all the gear off the bike and into the room.

I then made a phone call and did some sorting, and cleaned all the bags as everything has a light coating of white dust.

I checked the maps and there is a Loves truck stop across the road, so walked over to buy a gallon of water to refill my hydration pack since I nearly drained it on the ride today (it is a 3-liter pack).

I also bought some tea to drink in the room tonight since I am trying to stop drinking soda again, though still buying teas with sugar in them at time (like tonight).

Once back in the room, I changed out of the bike gear into street clothes and then walked down into the casino (basically a bar with about a dozen slots in it) and went to the restaurant onsite.

I stood there for about 5 minutes while the staff were cleaning tables and generally ignoring me.  Two guys in front of me just went and sat down on their own.

Once the tables were done, the one girl sat me and brought over a menu and flatware.

I pulled out the laptop and started downloading footage from the phone and the GoPro card while waiting for them to come take my order.

I managed to get 50 GB of data transferred, and even organized the files on the drive better, all while I sat there with no drink, and a menu on the edge of the table.   They kept seating other people, and cleaning other tables, but neither person came to take my order.

The guys who sat themselves had their food arrive, and when the lady who sat down 5 minutes after me had her food arrive, I decided they could screw themselves and packed up and left.

I was not that hungry, and would have cost me about $25 to eat there, so just saved some money.

I decided to come back to the room, and plot out the options for tomorrow, though I am going to stick to the interstates now, I just need to get to the Canada border so I can start exploring for real, the stuff here in the US I can do another trip.

Then I put a few things onto the charger, but again, there are no power outlets in these older hotels, the few they have are in use by lights or TV and usually buried behind furniture as well.  Only the bather has open outlets.

I put my phone and the GoPro batteries on, and will put the laptop on once I am done with this blog entry.

Probably just watch some TV and go to bed early, see if I can get a quicker start tomorrow and make good enough time that I can get a video done tomorrow night?

Catch ya down the road!

Today's Route:

Arctic Trip Day 1 - Get out of Arizona

June 9^th, 2026

Salina, Utah

Woke up at 7am and got ready like any other morning.

Fed my cats and did a few little tasks I needed to complete before the trip started that I was unable to complete the day before.

Took all the bags out to the bike which I had loaded and trialed on the bike the day before.  I changed a few strap connection points and had to figure out a method to attach the Yeti lunchbox I am using to store food stuff in.  Small, durable, waterproof and will insulate enough that I can buy foods and take them to camp to cook without spoiling.  Found a spot and two bungee cords solved the anchoring issue.

Finished loading, had a few protein shakes for breakfast, took my medications and then got suited up in the gear and took the rest of the stuff out to the bike.

Attached the new camera (which I had buried in a spot I had to dig for) and did a final check of all attached hardware and luggage and verified straps were connected and tight.

Moved my relative’s car (was using the car port to setup bike) and then backed the bike out and prepared to leave.

A mile down the road I had to stop and adjust my mirrors as they were still not right.  I had installed new Doubletake mirrors a few days prior.

Reached I-17 and headed north.  I got up to speed, staying around 65-70 mph as going faster just eats up my fuel too fast.

I pulled off at the Camp Verde exit 30 minutes later to check over all the straps and make sure things were still where I expected them to be.  I did tighten a few, but overall things were good.

Got back onto I-17 and headed for Flagstaff.

Nice ride up, traffic was light and no major road obstacles.  Stopped at rest area later and then continued into Flagstaff.

Once in town I pulled over for lunch at Jack in the Box, just needed a decent meal since I did not eat much for breakfast.

After about 30 minutes eating and checking a few things online, I got back onto the bike and headed through flagstaff on the old Route 66 road.

On the far side of town I stopped to fuel up since there are not as many fuel stations along US89 heading north.

Back onto US89 and we headed out of Flagstaff and onto the Navajo Reservation.

The temperatures became very warm here, going over 100 F for most of the trip.  Winds were also blowing very hard (though they had been blowing since I left in the morning).  Was coming from my left side and slightly behind, so constantly trying to blow me off the road.

Upon reaching Page in Arizona, I decided I needed to stop and rest and try to cool off some.  Not too much there along the highway, but found a Burger King and since I have a gift card for them, it made for a cheap option.

Parked bike where I could see it again, took in the things I needed to sort yet, ordered a bit of food and large drink and then worked on checking things online for awhile as I cooled off.

I did the math and with my leaving later than planned, and the 1-hour loss going into Utah, I figured I would never make it near Salt Lake City like I had hoped to do.  I plotted a course that would bring me to a town by roughly 9:00pm and then found a place to stay in that town.

I booked the room online to make sure I could get one as the place was small and only had a few rooms, but I am trying to avoid using the larger corporate chains on the trip to have a more enjoyable experience, save money in most cases and support local businesses.

I then got back on the bike and headed across the Glen Canyon Dam bridge and made my way into Utah.

Winds were still going nuts there and my fuel range was starting to look worrisome.  I did not stop in Page, thinking I could easily make it to Kanab, but the hills and winds were chipping away rapidly.  I got down to where the range and distance left were only 15 miles apart.

I arrived in Kanab and stopped at the first good station I found with very little left in the tank.

Filled it up and then back on the road.

Few miles north of Kanab I stopped again at a rest area, nice little place, not busy and very scenic.

Once back on the highway I had to pull over a bit later as my hydration pack hose has gotten caught on something and I was unable to use it.  Once fixed we got going and tried to make good time while still keeping fuel range and consumption decent.

Very scenic ride north, glad I decided to stay on US89 all the way instead of hopping over to I-15.  Not only was it far more scenic, it had way less traffic.

Later I noticed that the clouds were getting much heavier on the other side of the mountain ridge where I-15 would be, so might have been raining there too.

I eventually reached a point on US89 that was totally new to me, having driven parts of the road in 1999 and 2003.  The new sections were incredible, though lots of small towns to slow down in.

Reached I-70 as the sunlight was starting to fade, was also overcast and have even had a few very light sprinkles hit the helmet.  I figured I had about 30 minutes left of light before it would be dark, so we hit I-70 and kept up around 75 mph.

I noticed that the old 89 route and a few other small highways were following same valley, wished I had more time as that would have been a more enjoyable ride versus the interstate.

But traffic as very light, not many cars at all, and winds were bit less annoying as they tended to be behind me more, but still a few gusts hitting you at odd times.

I pulled off I-70 onto US89 north in Salina and found the hotel I had booked.

The Ranch Motel.  Small little place, only has a few rooms in the main building and looks like a small row of rooms in another farther back.

The owner was waiting outside, having just prepared the room (though was a different room than I booked, she mentioned she moved me to this one, so maybe issue with other room?)

She gave me quick tour of room, and we talked a bit about local food options and my travels, then I unloaded the bike into the room, thankfully was able to park just 10 feet outside the door on the ground level.

Once everything was inside, I secured and covered the bike, and only then realized I would need the bike to go eat as all the stuff nearby was already closed.

Decided I was not really that hungry, and had some jerky in the room, so would just eat a few of those and drink the water in the room (not sure if I will get charged, but nothing close to go shop for something, all closed).

Sorted out the bags some, I had packed them without giving thought to what I might need while riding, and found myself having to dig things out from places that took much longer than needed.

Think I managed to get the stuff I might want quick access to arranged, and will see how things go when I load up the bike in the morning.

Took a shower, snacked a bit and worked on typing up this blog entry.

I am going to work on a few other things tonight as well, need to develop my nightly processes so I can be more efficient with the blog, video, and trip tracking I need to do, hopefully leaving more time to relax and even explore locally.

I will be doing longer rides only till I reach Canada, then will make my days shorter and have more time to explore.

Tomorrow I will do another late departure, so I can sleep in, or perhaps go get breakfast somewhere.  Then we will try to ride only about 5-6 hours tomorrow, so we can have a more relaxed night.  Probably try to finish up somewhere around Ogden Utah.

Today I spent 10 hours on the trip, and road roughly 460 miles!

Catch ya down the road!

Chris

Todays Route

Introduction to the Wandering Wyvern

Hello,

I have posted a video today that is a small introduction the myself and the channel and details the beginning trip of the long term adventure.

You can watch the video here

Videos should follow along shortly as long as I have time to edit and internet to upload with.

After many years, the adventure is finally starting!

Catch ya down the road.

Final Ride video for Vietnam is online

Hello all,

So the last video of the riding tour has been posted online.

Checkout Episode 16.

I still have some other Vietnam footage to create about 4-6 videos yet, but not sure when I will get time to do that.

I will be leaving in just a few days to start the next adventure and will post an update with more details the day prior to my departure.

Catch ya down the road!

New Vietnam Video and Summer Ride plans

Hello all,

I finally got time to finish the next video in the Vietnam series.  Getting close to the end of the riding tour, only 2 more videos for it, but still have another 5 at least to complete the trip.

Check out Episode 15

Also excited to announce the next chapter in the Wandering adventures is very close.

My house has completed the sale, funds are where they should be and I am finishing a last few personal things I need to complete.

I will be getting the last maintenance on the bike done tomorrow and then will need to purchase some additional gear and figure out how I want to pack the bike and decide what I really need to take and what is probably not needed.

Current plan is to depart on the summer trip around the 5th - 7th of May, should have everything ready by then I hope.

I will be heading north out of Arizona into Utah, then continue northward into Idaho, then across into Oregon before heading north again into Washington.

I currently plan to stop around Orem on the first night, and then again somewhere south of the border with Canada in Washington the 2nd night.  Going to just pull some long days and get into the more northern parts before I slow down.  I will worry about the lower states next year.

Once into Canada, will try to get up into the center of BC in 1 or 2 days, then will be heading north toward Alaska, but at this point my route will be more random and slower, decide along the way sometimes where I want to go next.

Once I reach Alaska I will spend some time exploring and will write that part of the trip up later!

Hope you will follow along with the YouTube, Blog and Facebook outlets for the content and updates as the trip progresses.

Catch ya down the road!

Chris

New Video today in Vietnam series.

Hello all,

So I have finally had some time to get another video up for the Vietnam series. 

Check out Episode 14.

Been crazy busy with moving and getting my house listed for sale, but things are moving along nicely in that area, and things are looking good right now for my summer travel schedule.

Hopefully will be getting more videos up in the coming weeks as I am trying to close out some of the older trips before I start getting new footage.

Keep watching the YouTube channel for the new stuff.

Catch ya down the road!

Chris