Before I begin to tell you all about the last two days all I have to say is hotels in tourist traps suck! Every single time we went to a hotel in Canmore yesterday and Jasper today we got the same response...."we have one room or cabin left and it is the deluxe one and will cost $200 + dollars". No matter where we went that is what we heard and the places did not look full. Anyway we are more than happy with our version of camping. Now about yesterday, August 7th, 2010.
Woke up in Swift Current, Saskatchewan after a great night in the Holiday Inn Express. Had another free hot breakfast and headed west in dry cool weather. The bad part was that we had to drive the dreaded Tans Canada Highway 1 all the way to Canmore, Alberta. We got creamed by bugs with all sorts of colourful guts all day long. When I say all day long I mean we rode over 670 km and by the end we were a bit beaten up by the wind, turbulence of the trucks, the bug attacks and just riding on that boring boring road. It never really got that hot yesterday which was nice and we only got drizzled on every once in awhile. So all in all we can't complain too much. Also, we are still on the road so life ain't that bad. August 7th was day 22 of this incredible tour and I know if we had another month we could just keep going.
Rode through Calgary but before we did stopped at a BMW service dealer called Anderwerks and thought we could sneak in a valve inspection for our bikes. We are over 20,000 km on each bike and that is a service we need done. We learned very quickly this was not going to happen. The owner told us he would need our bikes to cool for 4 hours and usually keeps the bikes over night. While we were just taking a break and knew we were not going to get the service a nice man came up to me and asked if I was soph9 from the F800 motorcycle forum I post on. I forgot his nickname from the forum but I thought that was cool that he read we were taking this trip and somehow put 2 & 2 together that we were the gals. Anyway, that was pretty cool. After chatting with him we got back on our bikes and carried on to Canmore our destination for the day.
Once in Canmore we could not find a place to stay. Like I said in my first paragraph we got the run around and a storm was moving in fast so we were desperate. Ended up staying at this place called Rundles Lodge and it was a smelly dive. Having no choice we unloaded our gear and went across the street for a meal and beer. Came back to the dark smelly room and finally fell asleep after a very long day.
August 8th 2010 was a much better day for riding. We took a little tour around Canmore than headed to Banff. Picked up some decals for our bikes, looked around and then headed to Lake Louise, Alberta. Not too far from Banff, like ½ hour ride. We did not see the lake this time around, we have been there before....we did not want to pay the Banff National park fee and were not allowed to park and see the lake. Oh well....it is a beautiful glacier fed lake very aqua in colour from what we remember. Not worth the $20. After getting turned away at the lake we had to make a decision.....go to BC or head north to Jasper. Since we are a bit ahead of schedule we decided to go north and so glad we did. The Glacier Highway is stunning. Rt 93 got us off Highway 1 and the scenery all along this road is breath taking. We have lots of pics to post. The weather varied from 13 degrees C to 22. It rained it was sunny. It was gorgeous and fun riding even though we had to share the road with cars, RV's and trucks. This made for a great day and making me realize that we are almost at the end of this adventure.
Once in Jasper we tried to find a hotel but heard we had to spend almost $300 for a night. After getting pissed off we headed about an hour east out of town and landed at a good ole KOA in Hinton, Alberta. Out of our way but we got ourselves a little cabin/house with a bathroom, TV and wifi. We are happy campers now and again we had a long day. Not KM wise but time. We were on the road from 0745 to about 1800.
Went into Hinton for gas, did chain maintenance, and checked our oil level and tires. My rear tire has a little crack in it and the plug is still holding. We have 2 more days on the road and then we should be home. We saw a sign saying Scenic highway to Alaska and we so wanted to turn left and go north. Maybe next year. That's it for now, signing off and will post pics as soon I can.
