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:

Rain and fog over the mountains

July 26^th, 2026

Fort Nelson, British Columbia

Woke at 8:00am and sat around a bit till the body woke up with the mind.

Showered and got geared up.

Went outside and it was very misty, bike cover had a good layer of water on it, so another day that it gets put away wet.

Once I had it put away, I started to load the bike.  And the rain started as well.

Had to wear the rain gear to keep myself at least somewhat dry.

Once I had most of the stuff on the bike, I decided I was going to eat a big breakfast at the restaurant as there were not any places to eat along today route that I was aware of.

I checked out of the room and carried the rest of the gear into the restaurant and took a table.

Ordered food and waited quite a while, but finally arrived and I enjoyed a good meal.

Once done and paid, I went outside where the rain had stopped, but it was still spitting a bit here and there.

Put the final pieces on the bike and zipped up all the jackets and got on the bike.

I rode it down to the access road and around the other hotel next door to the fuel stop that was in front of another hotel.

Filled up and then setup all the navigation and got on the road.  I decided with the rain, I would not put the 360 camera on the bike today.

It started to rain lightly as I was leaving town, and lasted about 30 minutes.  Then it went back to the random sprinkle every so often.  Temperatures were around 50 when I started, but slowly went up to the upper 50s for a while.

I had to run about 150km before I could stop for fuel as I needed to make sure the remaining distance would work on a single tank from that stop.

I stopped for a few restroom breaks and a few photos.

During this stretch I saw another bear grazing for something in the grass on a hill along the road, and shortly after came across about 2 dozen bison doing the same right along the road sides.  Now I wish I had put the camera on.

I stopped later to piss, and put the camera on then.

Shortly after we saw more bison, and another bear, though not sure I got camera on in time.

I reached my fuel up point and shortly after found a station.

Odd little place, in the middle of nowhere.

You are not supposed to pump your own fuel, they have someone come out and do it, though in my case, the guy handed me the hose as he did not want to risk spilling on my bike.

Once full, I went inside to pay, the guy just radios how much fuel to the cashier inside.

They had a café here, but was still too early to have another meal, so will just get back on the road.

Not long after this the temperatures started to drop and clouds moved back in.  Then it started to sprinkle non-stop before it turned into a light rain.

We saw more bison on the road side, and twice came upon a young moose standing on the side of the road, but both times my approach, even slowing down, spooked them into the trees, but should have gotten them on camera.

Around this time, we started gaining elevation as we moved into the mountains more and had several small passes to go over. (3000-4000 feet).

I pulled off for a few videos at one point to show the hazy skies.  I was not sure if it was just low clouds or smoke.  There was a fire burning somewhere in the region, and I could smell something in the air, but was still never sure.

Stopped at an overlook of Muncho Lake as stopped for a photo.  I then realized we were heading down the hill toward the lake, so would get closer.

We reached the shores of the lake and the road ran along beside it for quite some time, which was an amazing sight, but marred by the haze.  I decided not to stop for photos, and will just be happy with whatever I got with the 360 camera.

Shortly after the lake I passed two deer looking things on the road side, and they did not spook quite as badly.  I had thought they were moose till I got close, but not sure what they were.  Signs had warned of bighorn sheep, but these did not look like that.  Will have to review the video footage later and see what I can figure out.

We then started to go up to the highest point on this day’s ride and the clouds were so low we were now riding in them.  And they started to get a bit thick and reduce visibility some.

Came down and rain let up a bit, but still sprinkles now and then and occasional sections of mist or fog.

On the last big pass which also was close to 4000 feet, the fog became so thick you could barely see 15 feet in front of the bike.

I had to slow down quite a bit and the car that was behind me must have slowed more or pulled off as the headlights vanished.

Going up was freaky, but once we crested the pass and started down it was even more crazy and you could not really see what was around you, or where the road was going. 

Had to slow quite a bit and just ease it down, watching the painted lines on the side to know when the road was curving or not.

Finally came out of it enough to ride normally, but still had some fog sections.  This is also where lots of cars that were behind started zooming past me at way over the speed limit.

The last half hour into town was very miserable.  While the rain had stopped, I was still quite wet, and body was aching from the cold, though it was back in the mid-50s from the mid-40s I had seen a few hours earlier.

Finally reached Fort Nelson where I would stay tonight.

I had routed myself to a hotel at random as it had the name of the town in it. (I was using the Garmin today as the early rain had me keep phone away, and while I used it later, it somehow lost the routing, and then would not let me setup again as there was not internet, so guessing I moved outside the region of the offline maps.

I was not interested in this hotel when I arrived, but big wide street allowed me to get off the highway and check for other places.

Several spots farther down the road, most were chains, but for tonight I did not care.

I stopped at the local Motel 6 as I figured they would be cheaper than the other places.  Passed two nice looking hotels, 4 stories tall and huge, but probably more money, and were busy, so less chance of an open room.

Motel 6 was not too busy, though did see lots of motorcycles in the parking lot.

They did have a room, so checked in, moved the bike over and unloaded everything.

While I was unloading, I spoke with some people that were on their way up to ride the Dempster highway, so gave them a few thoughts and comments on it.  They were all running the same tires, so let them know my concerns I had on the gravel with them.

Once done unloading, I changed and then walked across the small side road to eat at Boston Pizza.  Was nice to have a good meal and lots of options, many places lately have had quite limited menus.

When I finished eating, I walked across the highway to the gas station convenience store to buy a few drinks for tonight, then back to the motel.

Now in the room for the night, going to work on the blog and maybe convert some video, but getting tired, so might try an early night to bed. 

Looks like morning might be dry, but rain likely later in the day.  So, another 5-6 hour ride in cold and wet.

Catch ya down the road.

 Todays Route:

Back down the Alaska Highway

July 25^th, 2026

Watson Lake, Yukon Territory

Woke at 8:00 am and sat at the desk for a bit.

Dressed and went upstairs for breakfast, not much options, but had a bagel with cream cheese, a banana, and some orange juice.

Back in the room I then took a nice hot shower and got into the riding gear.

Went outside to remove the cover and there was a misty rain getting everything wet.

I pulled off the cover and laid it out on the bench on the porch, hoping it would dry some as the mist was light and there was a small wind blowing.

Slowly started to bring out the bags and load the bike, and when I was ready for it, put the still wet cover in its bag.  It was drier, but still damp.

About this time, it actually started to rain lightly, so looks like another wet day.  So much for weather reports saying no rain today.

Did a final check of the room, grabbed rest of my stuff and dropped off the key at the desk.

Then out to the bike to put the final objects in their place and zip al the jackets up and get on the bike.

I rode 2 blocks over to the fuel station and filled the tank.  Then messed with the gloves as they were messed up.

The rain gloves I wear are large winter sport gloves that have an outer shell with a light inner lining.  That lining is NOT attached except at the wrist.  This means if any moisture gets in the glove, it makes the lining stick to the hand when pulled out and now its hanging inside out of the glove. 

This can take 5-10 minutes to get back inside the gloves and all the fingers in the correct fingers of the outer shell.  Not sure who at Touratech came up with these, but probably need to rethink the construction.

Once fixed, and all the GPS setup, I got on the road.

It started to rain harder as I left town, and kept up most of the way north, with only a few breaks.  Was also quite cold, temperature hovering in the high 40s (F).

Once I reached the end of the Atlin road, it was a short 1-mile drive on the Tagish highway to reach the Alaska Highway.  Then we turned east to start leaving the area.  This is actually about the only road into or out of this region of the country.

It rained off an on the entire way.  I stopped for a few restroom breaks and then stopped in Teslin to top of the fuel tank as I would not have enough to make my destination on a single tank, especially since I am running a bit faster today due to the cold.  Using fuel at a faster rate.

Stopped again later to connect my helmet intercom to power as I needed to have some music going to keep me alert, but battery was almost out on the intercom.

Once that was sorted, we made good time toward our stop for the night.

About this time the rain stopped and clouds even thinned out and sun was peeking through occasionally.  This let the temps go up around 10 degrees as well, so helped a little with the cold.

I arrived on the edge of Watson Lake at about 3:30pm, so right on time.

My first stop was the famous sign post forest on the edge of town.

The first sign post was supposedly erected by a soldier helping with the construction of the Alaska Highway.  While I have heard it was removed and then put back later, at some point other people started to add to the site. 

The signs are typically license plates or street signs, but all kinds of stuff have been left, from business signs, custom signs and even simple homemade placards.

It is estimated that 90,000 pieces now decorate the trees and poles setup along this corner spot where the Alaska and Campbell highways intersect.

I noticed a few signs from Arizona, including one from the town near where I am staying with my relative.

Once done, I stood at the bike and checked out the hotels in town as I had not booked anything since I was not sure if I would stop or push onward.

I am way too tired to push onward, so will stay here tonight.

There are 4 motel/hotels right along the highway and all right next door to each other a mile down the road.

I decided to just ride down and pick one based on the looks as I would guess they are all about same in costs.

First place which I had looked at a few days ago and thought about looked empty, not a single car.  Now it is early, but still a bit odd, so decided to skip it.

Next place looked abandoned, no cars and even the building did not look right.

Next two places were both larger and had several cars and bikes around.

I chose the last one as it also has a restaurant and small grocery store attached and the parking lot was a bit nicer.

Parked and inquired if they had rooms and then did.  Price was a bit steep, even after converting back to US dollars, but still paying that remote town premium that all rooms have up here.

Unloaded the bike and brought everything in.  Luckily, I am on the first floor and actually have the first room in the hallway (though facing the lot behind, not the one in front where my bike is).

Once done, I walked over to the store to buy a few drinks and snacks and then came back to the room.  I called back home for a bit and snacked while I talked, then I finally changed out of the riding gear. 

Went next door to the restaurant and had dinner.  Good food, and not too horribly priced.

Now we are back in the room to type up the blog, move footage off the cameras and hopefully get some 360-footage converted so I can start editing again soon.

Will figure out what my plans are for tomorrow as I continue south and eastward on the Alaska highway.  It’s a very long ride to reach the end of the highway, so doing it in 1 day would make it a long day on the bike.  But also, not much else between here and there either, so will need to see what my options are.

Might end up going to bed early tonight as well, just feeling drained today.

Catch ya down the road.

Todays Route:

Visiting a remote village

July 24^th, 2026

Atlin, British Columbia

I woke early to piss as usual, but went back to bed.

Woke again later as a few people were getting bikes ready to leave.  Also, the rain was coming down enough to hear it on the roof.

I moved into my chair and sat there with the blanket for warmth, but hoping it would help wake me up, did not get a good sleep last night.

Finally got up and changed into all the riding gear other than the jacket. 

I walked over to have breakfast and once done I went back to the tent and slowly packed things up and prepared them for loading on the bike.

The rain was showing little sign of stopping.  Weather app predicted a lull in the rain starting around 11:00am, so my plan to wait till last minute to check out might work.

I started to load the bike and finished up about 15 minutes till 11:00.

Grabbed the final gear and checked over the room.

Put on the jacket and all the rain gear and started the bike to let it warm up a bit.  It is only in the high 40s right now and still raining.

Rode up to the restaurant and dropped off my key, then out onto the road.

Pulled over soon after my turn as the damn AI assistant on the phone came up and again and breaks my maps.  It keeps interpreting wind noise as speech and asks me to more clearly state that I want to toss a monkey into the ocean (okay, it does not say that, but the recommendations are just as stupid and totally unrelated to anything I would ever say).  I thought I had turned this fucking shit off, but it keeps coming back up at random and besides taking over the screen, it requires me to stop and take off gloves to get rid or it.  Half the time it stops by Maps routing as well so I have to restart that.

Once I fixed that crap I got back on the road and headed toward Carcross where I will pick up a new highway I have not ridden yet.  This road is a repeat from a month ago as it eventually reaches Skagway.

Had to stop again as maps freaked out, so just put the phone away and will rely on the Garmin today.

Having lots of fogging issues today due to the rain, but it’s my glasses, not the visor that fog up.  Will try riding without them next time I stop, my vision is not that bad at distance, just up close that I cannot see good.

Pulled over to take some photos of a lake I missed on my last trip down this road.

Reached Carcross and turned onto the Tagish Highway.    I had to stop right away though and put glassed back on.  Vision is just off enough that it is giving me headache trying to ride without them.  I will just have to ride with visor open and let my face freeze.

This new highway (Yukon Highway 8) is a short 40 mile stretch that goes back up to Highway 1 (Alaska Highway) across the Tagish First Nation territory.  It also has the turn for the highway out to Atlin on it, which is where I am going today.

Rain actually let up a bit while on the road, but then started up again right before I reached the turn onto Highway 7, or Atlin Road.

Turned off and started heading south and almost immediately the road turns to gravel.  This was supposed to be paved all they way, but in Yukon fashion, they tear out the asphalt and then put down gravel and never finish fixing the roads.

Gravel lasted for about 4 miles, and they went back to asphalt road.

Narrow road with lots of small hills and curves, and the views were okay when not being hidden by the trees.

Got stuck behind a large truck in some larger hills for a bit, but finally got around him.

I noticed that I was going to arrive much earlier than I had planned.  My original estimate assumed I would stop and do more photos, but since I have skipped most of that due to the rain and cold, I will arrive just before 2:00pm.  Check in is not till 3:00pm.  Hopefully they will let me in early, otherwise might have to find a café or something to sit at.

I finally arrived in Atlin and found the hotel.  It sits right on the lakes edge with some amazing views and two older boats that used to work the lake now on display along the shore.

The hotel front desk was not open, but sign said to talk to the person in the Post Office (which shares this building, along with a Saloon, though that is part of the hotel and serves as the restaurant most days.

He looked up my info, but the room had not been cleaned yet.

So, I would need to come back around 3.

I went outside and sat on the stone bench on the porch of the building to check for things.

The lunch service at the upstairs restaurant had already closed, but I was told I could sit up there and have coffee if I wanted.

The café around the corner was going to close in just a few minutes, so was not an option.

Restaurant a few blocks away was still open for a few hours, but as it was raining harder now, and I had been out of it long enough to start feeling dryer, I did not want to go get wet again.

So, I just sat on the porch and did some online research while I waited.  The wind was not so bad here and I was just warm enough to not be uncomfortable.

Went out to the waters edge to take a few photos of the mountains across the lake as well with all the clouds hanging around.

With the Post Office inside, the place was quite busy with people coming to get mail and drop off mail.

One guy had pulled up and noticed the plate on the bike and we talked for a few minutes before he went inside.  Then when he came out, we talked again for quite some time.  Older gentleman who has come up to Atlin in the early 1980s.  He had come into Alaska to work the oil fields, but when the place he was at dried up, he came over to Atlin to mine gold for a few years, then got a job with the highway department.

He told me about some stuff farther south that would be good to see, but its all gravel that way, though supposedly not too bad.  I might see what things look like in the morning and perhaps do a short ride south, probably not all the way down though, would make my day longer than I would prefer.

I finally went inside and this time there was a guy at the front desk.  He checked on the room and it was ready, so was able to get checked in a few minutes early.

Unloaded the bike and stowed the gear and then secured and covered the bike.

Once in the room I got out of the wet gear and took a nice warm shower.

Once dressed, I went outside to walk around some as the rain had mostly stopped, though was still sprinkling here and there, and was still a bit overcast.

Walked to the waters edge to do some photos of the mountains around the lake and then the old boats on the shore.

Back inside I did some online stuff until I drifted off to sleep, was suddenly very tired again.

Woke when my arms started to tingle from laying on them at the desk in the room.

Sat for a bit and then forced myself to get up.

I then went upstairs to see the view from the windows up there, but not clear enough glass to take photos.  Looks like they do not have dinner service up here except on a few days a week.  Though breakfast will be here in the morning and I get it complimentary as a hotel guest.

I went down to the Saloon as it serves as the restaurant tonight.

Sat at the bar and ordered dinner and just played on the phone while I waited and ate.

Paid and went back to the room and finished editing the video from last night.

I then started the export which would take some time, so went back outside as the clouds had cleared up and sun was shining in at least half the sky. 

Took some more photos and watched a sea gull along the shore for a while.

Then went inside the Saloon again to buy a few drinks for tonight (or will take them along tomorrow if I do not drink them tonight).

Once back in room the video was ready, and I am now uploading it, which takes forever.

While I do have cell and data service, its not as fast as it could be.  Hotel has Wi-Fi, but warned it is limited and not to stream or do massive things, so my upload might not be much faster, or could break things for others if I tried using it.

Figured I would get the blog entries typed and then once done with the video will get them online.

Then I will probably turn in, already 10:00pm, and had to many late nights, so will get a good night’s sleep hopefully in a bigger bed and warmer room.

Tomorrow is supposed to be less wet, though still cold.  Will see about any side trips and then will head back north to the Alaska Highway and then turn east and south. 

Not sure yet where I will stop, but likely be a close town, making a 4-hour ride is all, but they have several motel/hotels there and then things get sparse till another town much farther away, so probably not going to want to ride that long.

Catch ya down the road.

Todays Route: