Welcome back we say to ourselves to BC. We did not even have to see a sign that said BC because we hit pouring rain....let me back up for a sec.
Left Hinton, Alberta around 0845 with a temperature of 13 Celsius and overcast skies. We properly inserted our rain liners this time just in case as the forecast was for possible thunderstorms. Went back to rip off Jasper because we were about an hour east after we could not find accommodations last night. Had a great breakfast at Lou Lou's Pizza. Yep a pizza joint that cooks a mean breakfast. After yet again getting some grub and coffee in us we headed to BC. Only took an hour to get to the border of the 2 Provinces. Once we got into BC seriously it started to rain. We had drizzle most of the hour but BC rain. Got to Mt. Robson for a bit of a break with the weather and our butts....we could not see one Rocky Mtn while coming into BC unfortunately. All the mountains were in the clouds. The temperature range for today was a low of 10 and a high of 13. That is Celsius for those American folks reading the BLOG.
Thought this might be an interesting tidbit of information...since July 16th our departure date we have ridden in such a huge difference in temperatures. Not all in one day but we have hit a low of 8 and a high of 41.5 Celsius. Our boots and gear have been able to handle whatever we were dealt with except the Milwaukee record breaking rain storm. To recapture they got 7 inches of rain in 3-4 hours and we were in that for over 2 hours. In the end after these entire KM travelled I am happy with our gear but we both just might have to upgrade our jackets to a Gortex motorcycle quality. Have to save our pennies.
Cheryl had the GPS set for Clearwater, BC and although from Mt. Robson it was only 176 KM away it seemed further. We got pissed on and the temperature was dropping a bit. Neither of us had our Gerbing Liners plugged in for heat. In hindsight we should have but we made the trip to our little cabin in Clearwater. On the way down to Clearwater you can obviously see how devastating the pine beetle has been to this region. So many trees have been damaged or killed by this bugger and even though there were low clouds we could still see the impact. Very sad. Also, when riding the bikes you can really get a good sense of smells and today it smelt like Christmas trees. Very cool!
After we arrived safely in Clearwater we showered up, laid out our gear to dry and got warm. Took a nap and then went for dinner.
We are now on Pacific Time and we gained another hour. I like gaining the hour versus losing it. Still not ready to go home we might spend one more day out exploring places in BC and head home Wednesday. Just sort of not wanting this to end.
Something I forgot to mention about North Dakota and Saskatchewan. They appear to have a lot of OIL. Spoke to a woman in Saskatchewan and she said the oil companies knock on farmer's doors, inquire about setting up oil drills and pay them dearly for it. She said the initial payment could be in the millions and then the companies pay rent for as long as the drill provides oil. Once the drill or whatever they call it, an oil well? Is dry, the equipment stays there for 5 years and then can be safely removed. All the while the farmers still get rent for a drill out of service. Cheryl and I want to own just one drill....and rent it out!
Today is day 24, our tires still have tread and our butts could so another 12000km. Out for now!
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