Gerald Smith Copyright 2007

After completing the ride from Portland Oregon, USA to Fin del Mundo, Argentina (as far south in the world one can ride) I returned to Portland and produced the motorcycle adventure movie Burro Has Three Wheels.  Now, one year later I have finally began the last leg of the top to bottom ride of the world.  I am headed to Prudhoe Bay / Deadhorse, Alaska (as far north as one can ride) and once again weighing a minimum of 1250 pounds with all of my gear.  If Mar joins me or any passenger rides in the sidecar, Burro a Russian motorcycle called a Ural, will weigh 1400 pounds.

My old friend Tom and his friend Linda (both in their 50s like me) have asked to accompany me on this portion of the trip.  They will be riding two up on a Kawasaki KLR 650.  Believe it or not!

Tom is no slacker when it comes to adventure riding.  He has already completed a ride from Prudhoe Bay, AK to Mexico City, Mexico.  Linda is a virgin...when it comes to motorcycle riding but is an adventurer in her own right.  She has just returned from three years wandering about Central America while teaching English.  On the other hand she has never ridden a motorcycle more than two times.  The second time was only one week prior to departure and then only for about a 100 mile roundtrip.

This is only the second time Tom and I have ever ridden anywhere together.  The first was just out for coffee.  Many of you are probably thinking how could two guys who have never ridden together before, set out on such a challenging trip together.  If an adventure rider knows anything it is that the stress of the road can carve some of the deepest chasms between the souls of two individuals known to mankind (besides getting to really know your companion). 

Don't let our lack of riding together fool you.  Tom  and I have been through some of the most stressful regimes a person can face.  We were training partners in a commercial jetliner the company we worked for operated.   Let me tell you, you really get to know a person under those conditions.

It will be good to have some company and extra camera operators along.   I am hoping that those of you who have followed my adventures through Latin America via the DVDs (Burro Has 3 Wheels) and those of you new to this site will be entertained when the new episode is completed around November 1, 2007.  I have acquired new high quality video equipment (Canon GL2, lenses, filters & audio hardware) and am hoping for good results in the production stage.

Burro is new as well, sort of, she's a 2005 model.  An older gentleman who had purchased one of my DVD sets called to ask if I knew anyone who might want to buy his Ural.  At the age of 84 he just couldn't get his legs over the saddle.  The clincher was, this new Burro only had 40 miles on her.  I didn't feel that I was in a position to purchase her but the thought was tempting.

With a five week break before my next motorcycle travel lecture the thought occurred that I might just be able to work in a ride to finish the top portion of my ride in the Americas.  When  the older gentleman and I talked again, a few weeks later, I decided I ought to go over and have a look at her legs and watch her trot.  Sure enough her teeth were those of a two year old.

With plans for the completion of an around the world trip, I certainly needed to knock off the top portion of the up and down ride  and make it to Prudhoe Bay/Dead Horse.  Also with plans for Africa next year I needed to start building (training) the perfect Burro for the trip.  The new Burro is still a street model bike (Troyka) but I've added an engage-able sidecar drive and upgraded to a Ducati ignition.  Also there is a new style air filter that is suppose to reduce water and dirt ingestion plus a power supply to support the video gear.

So that's it.  My daily log follows.  Updates will be posted as facilities allow.  I hope you enjoy reading them.

Gary Smith

Trip Log

June 18th, 2007

I rolled out of the driveway around 7 AM.  Tom and Linda would be meeting me in Clatskanie,  OR, a small town 40 miles from the mouth of the Columbia River.

I believe we got some great shots of Burro driving across the bridge at Astoria connecting Oregon to Washington but time will tell.

We drove into Ilwaco WA, and headed for the Cape Disappointment Light House.  There is a great view of the Columbia River's mouth.  Normally large rolling waves can be seen from here but today the seas were calm and the sky was clear.

We stopped for lunch (pan fried oyster sandwich on a hoagie) in South Bend, WA then headed to Humpatulip, WA.  I had trouble with the name of the town and kept calling it Humpalot after the Mike Meyers movie "The Spy who Shagged Me".  In the movie there is an evil woman spy named that.  Here first name was Ivana.  Enough Said!  Anyway in Humpalot (Humatulip) we found a campground provided by the timber company Raynoir.  There was no charge to camp. 

Tom and Linda built a campfire and produced a bottle of wine to celebrate the first day on the road.  So in Humpalot, we drankalot.  The wine however was so cheap the only buzz we felt was from the road.  Additionally the wine tasted like nothing more that watered down cool-aid.

June 19th, 2007

It was a good nights sleep.  We puttered along taking pictures and stopping for breakfast.  Our plan was to catch a ferry from Port Angeles, WA to Victoria, BC on Vancouver Island.  There we'd ride to Cowichian Bay, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada and spend the night with friends Marilyn and I had made 3 years prior while on vacation in Zihautanejo, Mexico (Bryce & Dana).

It was a beautiful ride through the Olympic Mountains.  We saw one doe standing in the highway as she waited for her two fawns cross.  Before we knew it departure time loomed for the ferry.  Hustling into town we rolled in behind some other adventure riders with only 5 minutes to spare.  It cost Burro and I $38.00 to ride to Victoria BC.

Bryce had given good instructions to there home in the country and we arrived about 5 PM.  Dana made a terrific dinner of steak and pork with wild rice.  I didn't know she could cook....

Liquid spirits made up for the previous nights libation and and I've concluded; We've been to Humpalot, then we drankalot and tonight we will sleepalot.

June 20th, 2007

Bryce headed to work about 5:45 AM and Dana got up to make us all a breakfast of eggs and toast. Really...I didn't know she cooked!

We are heading to Port Hardy on Vancouver Island and hope to catch a ferry to Prince Rupert on the mainland tomorrow.  From there we will head to the Cassiar Highway which will connect us up with the Trans Alaskan Highway.

The day started out sunny but by the afternoon rain set in.  This is the first test for the Ducati ignition and is is working great and no water is getting into the engine via the airfilter.

The East side of Vancouver Island is well populated but as we rode farther West forests became our scenery.  We stopped in Quilcoom for coffee and pastry then rode on.

When we got to Port Hardy our first stop was at the Ferry Terminal.  They told us we would be on the standby list as the ship was booked full.  If we get on it will cost Burro and me about $380.00 for the ride.  We have to be back at 5AM in the morning to stand in line.

We set up our tents in the pouring rain.  I found out that my waterproof bag that protects my clothes and sleeping bag leaks.  The sleeping bag is soaked.  I guess I'll just be sleeping in my riding gear.

Wednesday night is fish and chips night here in Port Hardy so we ate our fill for about $8.00.

It was an early evening and we all adjourned to our tents setting the alarms for 4AM.  About 1AM I awoke and realized that the campground had a clothes drier so I headed over and dried everything out.  I was back in bed at 2AM.  At 3AM an alarm went off.  "Time to get up I hollered over toward Tom and Linda's tent.  They were up in a flash.  I don't think I could have moved as quick as they did.  But when I tried to shut off my alarm I realized that it was only 3AM and not the alarm on my cell phone that was making all of the racket. 

"False alarm, go back to bed I hollered."

It sounded like the chiming was coming from within in my tent thought and I worked to silence it looking for a travel clock I also carry.  Linda hollered over that it wasn't coming from their tent so I kept looking for the noise.

"Are we going to have to listen to it all night?" asked Linda.

"I'm looking for it." I replied.

I opened all of my bags but every time I listened to the contents of the bag the alarm was not within it.  I still seemed right next to me though.

Finally in desperation I exclaimed that it could not be coming from my tent and Tom set off to look in he and Linda's tent.  Poor Tom...his cell phone was turned off but his alarm was going off.  There was a red glow of embarrassment in Tom's voice as he apologized to all of us.  All I could do was laugh...you had to be there.  Really it was pretty funny.

When my alarm went off at an hour later at 4 AM it seemed like we had just gotten to sleep.  We packed up our wet gear and headed to the Ferry Terminal.

The customer service agents told us that they always get motorcycles on and sure enough they did.  When Tom got on his bike to move it, over it tumbled.  Linda and I weren't around to watch the episode much to Toms appreciation.

I made coffee for all of us in the parking-lot while we waited.  There we met three couples on adventure bikes ( 1 KTM and 2 BMWs) from New Zealand.  They also hoped to get to Prudhoe Bay.  After we boarded the ferry we spent a lot of time talking with them throughout the day.

The Ferry stopped in Bella Bella for a short time and then headed on again.  We will arrive in Prince Rupert about 10:30 PM.  Tom and Linda found a campground near the Ferry Terminal while they were aboard ship.  The Purser had all of the information we needed to find a place to stay.

June 21, 2007

We started late this morning and didn't leave Prince Rupert until nearly noon.  I tried calling Mar but was unsuccessful.  Apparently the cell phone won't work here and the phone card I purchased doesn't' allow international calls.  augh!

We had to stop in the pouring rain and wait for some landslide work to be cleared.  We didn't see it but were told a car had been buried beneath the slide.

Today's ride became wet almost as soon as we left Prince Rupert.  It lasted until we go to the highway 37 junction.  Thankfully a fellow rider heading South told us there would be no fuel until Bell II, a small lodge and heliport community named after the Bell II river, not to be confused with the Bell I river.  That was a distance of about 250 miles.  Burro drinks fuel like it's going out of style (25 MPG).  So I filled the extra 5 gallon can I had brought along.

The Cassiar Highway is spectacular.  Two lanes, it runs on the East side of a beautiful glacier covered mountain range.  And...at this time of year all of the flowers are blooming in the meadows and the new leaves have just burst forth upon the trees.

I saw one black bear by the road and Tom and Linda saw two others.  Tom said one was just sitting there with his head above the grass as if he were waiting for a motorcyclist to drop in for a picnic lunch.  I'm not sure what was for lunch but I wasn't stopping.

There were also some grouse along the way.

Over dinner at the cafe (only pre-made sandwiches) we met a fellow named Jim on a BMW R1200 who is also riding to Prudhoe.  He is a contract pilot for JAL.  Tom and I pegged him right away as a pilot.  It was pretty funny.  Jim has only been on the road for two days since leaving Reno.  He is really making some time.  I hope he gets a chance to enjoy the scenery.

June 22, 2007

We left early this morning and rode for an hour before we stopped to eat breakfast.  The new owner of the lodge told us that it was originally a trappers lodge.  Well...one winter he went out to check his traps with a snowmobile and while running across the lake he and the snowmobile fell in the ice covered lake.  When they went looking for him he was still sitting in the seat at the bottom of the lake.

After the community of Dease the road was gravel and mud and it was raining.  We were covered in mud and so were the motos.  It finally quit raining just about the time we got off of the dirt  road, we stopped and I cleaned the cooling fins of the mud which had accumulated.  It was baked in.  I must have spent 15 minutes getting the engines cooling fins into somewhat of a reasonable condition.

I saw one moose (cow) today trotting across the road.

We are spending the night at the cross roads of Jct 37 and The Alaska Highway.  It is just at the border of the Yukon Territory in Canada.  In order to take some video footage of the Burro in front of the Yukon sign I got to try out my sidecar drive wheel.  It was a blast charging up a 15 foot bank and leaping onto the top.  Wa Hoo!

Tom and I did mtx on the motos.  He lubed his chain and I changed my oil, adjusted the valves and cleaned the air filter.  It is also laundry night this eve.  By the way, we have not been able to get cell coverage with Cingular/ATT since leaving Port Hardy, BC.

There are lots of mosquitoes here but our helmets and riding gear really do a good job of protecting us when we are out of our tents.

June 23, 2007

Rode the Alaska Highway to White Horse today.  There were scattered rain showers but mostly a sunny day.  We could scoot write along as the rode was good with only limited construction.

There was a metal grated bridge just entering Telis, warning signs stated that it was bumpy and hard to drive on but we made it across and I filmed the entire length.

Tonight were are staying in the Robert Service Campground at Whitehorse.  Robert Service, for those who don't know was a poet.  One of his famous poems was The Cremation of Sam Mcghee and The Shooting of Dan McGrew.  Anyway I think those were the names of them.

Linda is getting a little saddle sore but otherwise ok.  The reality of being on the road is starting to get to all of us.  "It's work!"

I split up with Tom & Linda for the evening.  They headed to get a bottle of wine to enjoy and I hung out at the campgrounds office to process film and this internet log.  While there a fiftyish fellow named Roger came over and played guitar.  He was great and his wife sang a few songs as well.  Eventually the rest of us took our turns just in case we weren't humbled enough already by Roger's performance.  Another guy showed up from town just to hangout.  He seemed to know all of the doings in town and told me what a great art community Whitehorse is.  He also said that he comes to the campground because they have the best coffee in town and there are always interesting people.  As it turned out he was a big Ry Cooder fan (so am I).   I stayed about 4 hours with the group and had a great evening singing and drinking cappuccinos.

June 24, 2007

We left Whitehorse Yukon Territory about 7 AM with good weather.  Generally the roads were good for the first half of the day.  Later there was a lot of construction and rain which got us muddy again.  The last hundred miles of the Yukon and the first hundred miles of Hwy 2 in Alaska were full of frost heaves.  One guy pulling a trailer nearly lost the whole load right in front of me when he hit the rough road..  I was surprised he stayed on the road.  I quickly passed him hoping to put some distance between us.

Around noon I stopped to take a picture of a beautiful jade colored lake and proceeded to sink the Burro up to her frame.  I spent about 40 minutes digging and jacking her up eventually nearly making it back out when I got stuck again.  A surveyor named Jim came by and helped me push her the rest of the way out.

We arrived in Tok, Alaska about 8 PM.  We are staying at the Sour Dough Campground.  It is 2 miles west of town on the road to Anchorage and has free internet and they also sell a breakfast.  It’s a great place.  Sunset tonight is at 1245 tomorrow morning and sunrise will be at 4:20.  augh!  The skeeters are getting to me so that's it for today.

June 25, 2007

It was a pleasant ride today with some panoramic scenery.  We left Tok at 11 AM and arrived in Fairbanks, AK at 4:30 PM.  Tom and Linda saw 3 moose or mices (plural….  I doubt!)

It looks like 2 more days to Prudhoe.  I heard that 30 Harleys from Florida headed up last week and most made it.  Seven had to be towed home and one rider was airlifted to Anchorage.  I am tired and can’t think anymore today so that’s it for now.

June 26, 2007

Well...I don't think the sun ever set today.  When I got up at 3 AM to go to the biffy it was still light.  Later when I got up at 6 AM and headed again to the wash room to clean up I created quite a scene.

Those of you that know me or have seen the videos know that my morning look is less than presentable.  I tend to look like a homeless person.  And that's exactly what everyone thought I was.  We had stayed in a campground that was for motor homes and pretty swank at that.  The previous evening we had shared a large bottle of beer to toast the day but most was still left in it when I picked up the campsite on my way to the washroom in the morning.  As I walked to the washrooms at the campground's entrance there most have been about 30 senior citizen and some grandkids with them who witnessed this disheveled individual walking with a half bottle of beer there way.  Apparently they were all getting on the campsite's tour bus for a trip around Fairbanks.  With them staring at me all I could do was mumble good mornings.  When I got a look at myself in the mirror I understood their amazement.  All I needed was a cardboard sign and I could have made a little extra money to support the trip.

Its about 425 miles to Prudhoe Bay/Dead Horse.  The ride continues to have amazing scenery at every turn.  There was a lot of gravel road today interspersed with pavement.  Don't let the pavement fool you.  It can be pretty tempting to open your machine up.  When you do...all of a sudden there will be chuck holes and frost heaves.  Also there are slippery areas where calcium chlorate is spread to hold the gravel road together and keep the dust down.  On dry roads it isn't a problem, but if the road crew has recently spread water on it to keep the dust down it is like a skating rink.  Watch out for the wet areas, it will have a dark appearance to it.

No rain today only sprinkles.

While waiting for a pilot car where road construction was taking place, the flagger told us to be careful of Beaver Slid, its a 9% gravel grade.  I'm glad she did.  It was covered in loose gravel.

We stopped and took pictures as we passed the Artic Circle.  We are almost to the end of the road.  Tom said he new we were at the Artic Circle because those little dashed lines that you see on the maps were visible in the tundra.  I'll have to take his word for it.

I was pretty dusty today so when we made camp in Coldfoot, I was glad to find a shower.  Tom and Linda are doing great and Linda is even getting more comfortable.  She is trying to talk Tom into running Africa with me as long as she gets to go with him.

In the morning it is suppose to be all gravel for the remaining 240 miles to Deadhorse where the road for private people ends.  After that it is oil land and carefully restricted.  The only way to go the remaining 10 miles, to the Artic Ocean, is via a tour bus which takes you through the oil reserve.

June 28, 2007

The sun is shining (even all through the night).  We left Coldfoot about 8 AM.  The run started off as gravel but later there were spots of pavement and then it was back to gravel and so on between the two but mostly gravel.  The paved couldn't really be called paved because it was full of chuck holes and gravel as well.  There was really only one stretch of paved good road which lasted for only about 10 miles.  In fact there was a lot of wet calcium chlorate on the dirt/gravel parts making it very slippery.  We really had to be careful on it.  Especially Tom and Linda on 2 wheels.  By the end of the day we were covered in the mud. 

We crossed the Atigun Pass which is the continental divide here in Alaska.  It is a very steep gravel pass.  We took our time going down. 

We met the JAL pilot Jim heading back south and this time he had his girlfriend aboard as well.  He had picked her up in Anchorage.

After the Atigun Pass the Tundra begins.  It was spectacular.  The riding is far more technical than the drive down the Pan-American to Tierra del Fuego and surpasses anything that Tierra del Fuego had to offer (regarding the technical aspect).

There was gravel at least 6 inches deep and times and Tom had trouble keeping it up especially as we got near Prudhoe Bay.

We have arrived at Prudhoe Bay, AK (7PM) and there is a very cold wind off of the Artic Ocean with sea fog.  All of us were so tired and with the cold weather setting in, it had us running for the hotel with little celebration at the waters edge.  In fact I was the only one to stop and take a picture.  And...that was a process because just as we got there my camera battery died.  I had to fumble around in the cold and hot wire it to the Burro.  This left me with only a long cord attached to the camera in which to record this momentous occasion.  I'll take more footage in the morning.  We are signed up for a tour of the oil fields with an eventual stop at the Artic Ocean.  I haven't decided if I'll take a dip or not.  IT'S COLD here.

This evening I have a shared room with two twin beds.  There isn't another roommate so I can keep this room to myself.  The hotel is made out of pre-fabricated mobile home type rooms stacked next and upon each other.  There are showers and toilets down the hall.  Three square meals are provided for the $110.00 price, plus there is food available at all times of the day and laundry is free.

I as very pleased with the entire ride including Tom but especially Linda for hanging in.  All said, I wish I could have shared this portion of the top to bottom ride of the Western Hemisphere with my girl Mar.

Our route home is going to take us to a couple of hot springs along the way where we plan to hangout for a day or two at each.

June 29, 2007

This morning I headed out early to try and film around Dead Horse.  I ended up at a security check point at the Northern most point allowable to civilians, West Oil Area (WOA).  I went inside the security shack to find out the status of getting farther north.  The guards were friendly and gave me phone numbers of officials I could call.  Turned out the officials were in a meeting.  On my way back to town I was stopped by a fellow named Bill who wanted to know about Burro.  Turns out he is a superintendent of a oil field drilling company (Doyon Drilling).  I followed him back to his office and spent about 2 hours talking and drinking coffee.  Offering to guide me through if I was allowed, I made more phone calls and things were starting to look good as I continued to talk to higher ups.  Finally I was given the BP Corporate Affairs Director.  He kindly explained that an agreement had been reached a few years earlier prohibiting entrance of individuals like me due to safety concerns.  I accepted his position and dropped the attempt to get farther than the security check point on my own.

The tour bus is the only way to the Artic Ocean and we have signed up for the tour.  This tour takes you through the East Oil Area (EOA).  The security check point here is not as far north but after passing it we finally got to the Artic Ocean.  Needless to say I have become a Polar Bear though I am not sure if it is official with the Polar Bear Society though I am in possession of a certificate provided by the tour.  The water was 34 degrees.

Afterwards Tom and I returned to the Doyon offices and drove the bikes inside to the warmth of a heated mtx bay where we changed fluids and checked nuts and bolts.  We even got our bikes pressure washed.  Linda stayed at the hotel to keep warm.

We headed out about 3 PM.  On the road I was taking drive by videos and during one episode a trucks passing blew the camera over.  Later I spent about an hour trying to get the video tape out as it because it was now stuck.

On the road l met up with a bicycle rider (Beren from the Netherlands) I had met him the day before.  He was camping by a river and had punctured the fuel container for his cooking leaving him no way to heat his dried pasta or make hot drinks.  I left him a roast beef sandwich and a tin of sardines.  Before leaving him we wrapped duct tape around his gas container and hoped it would hold some pressure for heating until he could get it welded or buy a new one.

Eventually we camped about 30 miles from the beginning of the Atigun Pass with a terrific view of the valley leading up to it.

June 30, 2007

No bears came to our tent site last night so we feel pretty good.  This morning, riding south, everything looked different and just as beautiful as the ride north.

We stopped again in Coldfoot for a late breakfast/lunch and rested.  Later we stopped at a restaurant just off of the road near the Yukon River called The Hot Spot for dinner.  The fuel service station at the base of the Yukon River was out of gas so I was glad I had kept my spare 5 gallon container full otherwise I would have been out of luck.

The bridge across the Yukon has wooden planking that is pretty beat up.  Some fellows on KLRs told us that 2 of their party each got nails in one of their tires going across it.  We took it easy.  Of course I filmed the event keeping my eye in the cameras lens guiding Burro behind Toms path.  It was tricky filming.

A guy we had met in Dead Horse, riding a BMW GS1200, passed us today.  We are perplexed.  In Dead Horse his bike and gear looked factory fresh.  His bike we could understand clean even if he had actually rode it up, because he could have had it pressure washed, but his riding gear?  Well when he passed us late today he and the bike were still clean as a whistle.  Either he has some special energy field that keeps him clean or else he washes it and his riding gear at every river.  We are a dirty mess.

I jumped in a river we are camped next to this evening in order to clean the dust off of me.  The water seemed colder than the Artic Ocean, but then again I didn't spend much time in the Artic Ocean either.  Mosquitoes are after us again tonight so we all headed for the tents ASAP and called it a day.

July 1, 2007

After spending the night on a river we headed into Fairbanks where we decided to get a campground with laundry facilities and internet.  We spent the day visiting.   We met a man who had escaped a communist country via a coal train.  In order to protect his anonymity I won't reveal his name.  We met an Actress who again I won't reveal her name, three ladies from Taiwan and a 62 year old woman who had adopted a 7 year old boy with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.  This was her first child.  I was very impressed with her strength.

Tomorrow we will head toward Denali.  Our plan after that is to turn east at Wassilla and head for the Top of the World Highway.

July 2, 2007

Driving out of Fairbanks this morning an adolescent moose stood next to the roadway.

We have arrived at Denali under a cool overcast sky.  From the entrance nothing is visible.  I have decided to stay at the campground and catch up on the log book and Tom and Linda have taken an 8 hour tour via bus ($28.00 ea.) of the park.  Just like my decision in Peru to not go to Cuscus because I wanted to share it with my girl Mar, I will wait again to see Denali with her on another trip. Friends from Prince of Wales Island have asked me to stop by and stay with them but our trip will take us far away to the east this time and I am hoping to still return to Alaska in September for some fishing with them.  Time will tell.

Tom and Linda saw a couple of grizzly bears on their tour.

Happy 27th Birthday to my wonderful daughter Molly.  I am so proud to have you as a daughter.

July 3, 2007

When I woke up this morning it was time for clean socks (first time since we left Portland according to Linda).  Ouch!  Actually...I got stung by a yellow jacket that had mysteriously crawled into it.  It stung me on the Achilles and hurt all day. 

Tom and I both had our first mechanical issues today.  I have a fuel seep on the left rear mounting bracket and Tom's luggage rack has a broken support bracket.  I'll let the fuel seep as it isn't to much but we had to strap Tom's luggage rack together with a tie down strap.

We saw a big black bear along the road but I wasn't quick enough to capture it on film.

Today we lost track of each other on the road.  Apparently I passed them without seeing them.  It was raining and I didn't have my glasses on.  I drove back and forth between Wasilla and Palmer.  We played phone tag and finally met up in Chickaloon for the night.  It was pouring down rain when I finally got the tent set up.  Tom had picked a great place next to a river and behind a biker bar called the King Mountain Lodge.  Pizza and beer were on the menu.

July 4, 2007

We packed up our wet tents and headed to Tok Junction again.  It rained for 4 hours straight and we got soaked.  The Burro was acting up a little and I was afraid I might have a water caused ignition problem.  Finally she just quit as I pulled into a gas station.  Before taking the ignition apart I decided to pull the main fuel line off and see if she had just eaten some bad feed (water in the fuel) and sure enough she had.  I don't think the rain had anything to do with it though, it was just some bad gas.  Afterwards she roared on without a problem.  Due to the rain we were unable to see a glacier nearby but enjoyed the ride non the less.

I got a good video of two large bull moose.

Tonight in the campground they are supply live music in celebration of the 4th of July.  It mainly bluegrass with some old time gospel.

In the morning Tom will have his luggage rack welded before we leave.  He also needs to ship his hand gun home because we can't take back through Canada.  Tomorrow we will head for Dawson City.

July 5, 2007

We left Tok about noon as Tom had welding to be done on his luggage rack.  Our ride took us on the Taylor Highway to the community of Chicken.  The ride was spectacular with a large part of it being gravel.  Burro excels on the gravel.  I was not expecting to be amazed at any scenery since we had driven up through such magnificence but I was thoroughly pleased today. 

After Chicken we continued toward the Canadian Border.  There were lots of large motor homes traveling this narrow dirt road.  I couldn't believe that so many people would being willing to shake these land yachts, which seemed to me, to peices.  Trucks and buses travel this road as well and the buses have a pilot car running ahead of them.

There is a lot of old gold mining history in this area.  Besides seeing an old dredge I found a couple with a portable dredge panning for gold.  While the husband, wearing a wet suit dug out large rock then directing a suction hose on the stream bed, his wife searched what was gathered in the trough.  They told me they had some success.  She was even wearing gold nugget earrings from some of the gold they had found.

Later while rounding a corner a Ural motorcycle/sidecar came from the other direction and the driver shouted, "Are you Gary Smith."  I stopped in amazement considering my location on the planet earth and circled back around.  It turned out to be a great older guy named Jack Heidt I had met in Salem Oregon (Raceway Motors) before leaving on the trip.  His sidekick was his dog named Chico.  We talked for about 20 minutes and then I headed on down the gravel road to catch Tom and Linda.

Further along what is now called "The Top of the World Highway"  in Canada (and it seems like it really is the top of the world) I met Tom Ryskra and Jerry Boltsky from the Blaine, WA area.  Tom Ryskra is a well know Pacific Northwest sidecarist.  Today he was riding a BMW GS1200 with a terrific Native Alaskan Bird symbol painted upon it.  Tom also has a 1960 somthing R50 upgraded to an 800cc engine which supports his sidecar.  We all ended up riding the ferry across the Yukon River into Dawson City.  He offered us a free place to spend the evening with a friend he had in Dawson City but we had already agreed to a site once we got there so we thanked him just the same.

Tomorrow we head toward Whitehorse.

July 6, 2007

This morning we went back into Dawson City for some video shoots and purchased some snacks before heading on.

Burro was running a little rough at slow idle, indicating that she just wasn't feeling up to par.  I noticed that she seemed to run a little better with the choke pulled out.  In an effort to run down the problem I drained the carburetor bowls using the screw on the bottom of each bowl and checked the spark plugs but I found no problem.  I motored on.  when we stopped for breakfast at the Moose Lodge I decided to check the air filter.  Whoa...I should have guessed.  The air filter was full of dirt from all of the dirt roads we had been on.  Overall the new air filter designed seems to be better than the old design.  Considering the weeks of dirt and mud we have driven through especially on the Haul Road to Dead Horse I am very pleased that Burro didn't complain until now.

I exchanged the dirty filter for the clean one I had packed prior to departure and sure enough the ole girl jumped to life.  I'll need to change the rear tire tomorrow or the next day.  I've gotten about 4500 miles out of it.

The road has been mainly paved except for a few miles of gravel reconstruction. 

In the afternoon I stopped to take video along the way.  While doing so Tom and Linda drove by without seeing me as Burro and I were parked up a logging road.  I met up with them an hour later.  This is about the time Tom figured that he must have passed me because I would have run out of fuel by then.  I pretended to drive by without seeing them and watched Linda waving excitedly at me just for fun and then turned around. 

Though today has not been a terrific scenery day, as days go here, there was one highlight as we passed The Five Fingers Rapid area of the Yukon River that provided a grand view.

We made camp around 5 PM  The campground is called the Coal Mine Campground and is next to the highway and borders the Yukon River.  It is located about 2 hours North of White Horse.

This evening I washed the dirty air filter in the lavatory of the campground.  After dinner I fell asleep for 2 hours.  As I write this evening, Tom (I think is the one...) is snoring in his tent.  If I didn't know better I'd think it was a bear prowling around the camp site.  I think I'll knock this log book stuff off and go make some growling sounds myself.  Goodnight!

July 7, 2007

It started raining about 3 AM and continued until about 10AM.  After  that it was perfect weather and great vistas.  We stopped in Braeborn for breakfast.  The restaurant/motel is famous with bikers and they offer a 12" round 4" think cinnamon roll.  We are spending the night at the Baby Nugget RV park.  It is the same place we stayed when we reached the intersection of Hwy 37 on the trip up and is about 14 miles to Watson Lake.

This time the RV park is charging us twice the price before.  We are each paying $18.00 to pitch a tent.  This is way out of line but we are tired.  the excuse for the increased price has something to do with the restaurant owners (Linda) mother who seems to think this is a good practice.   If I were to tell anyone, I'd say just move on.  In fact the only good things are the showers ($1.00 for a few minutes) washers and dryers ($2.50 ea) and internet ($5.00 I've found typical in Canada).  Most commercial campsites in Alaska are giving WI FI hookup free.  Tonight I ordered a pie-a-la-mode and a latte.  It cost me roughly $5.00 for the slice of pie, $5.00 for the a-la mode and $5.00 for the small cup of latte.  Wow....This is highway robbery at it's finest.  I have to say one good thing about this place though, the cook Dave is excellent and besides the prices Linda and her husband are very personable.  Personality aside next time I come up I'll have to bypass this place even though it it the only place in Nugget City/Jct.  Highway 37 (Cassiar Highway).

I feel that I need to address the road conditions and experience required for motorcyclists headed to Prudhoe/Dead  Horse.  I may have done so already but here it  goes.  It is my impression that the bottom line is... The Haul Road north of The Artic Circle and the Taylor Highway to Chicken (Canadian border to Chicken) should be done using equipment suitable for light off road and gravel highway use.  A lighter motorcycle is best because if you are alone and drop the bike you can pick it up if it falls plus it's easier to maneuver.

I've seen quite a few BMW GS1200.  They were made for this type of touring and handle it extremely well under an experienced rider.  Ninety percent of the time there are 2 of these bikes traveling together, so at least someone is around to help if the other decides to sample some Alaskan D1 gravel. No matter what bike a person may want to take on these roads the rider needs to have spent time riding on gravel with the load they plan to carry before they begin the trip.

Fancy road bikes will suffer damage and may not have the ground clearance required, so that has to be taken into consideration.  In fact, a fancy road bike is going to run into a fair amount of gravel anytime they drive through Canada.  That's because in Canada when the road is rebuilt in the outback the entire road is dug up and then resurfaced with gravel.  Or, the road is just sprayed with calcium chlorate and gravel spread on top.  Vehicles then provide the packing of the gravel.  Anyway this is just for your consideration.

The truckers on The Haul Road were very courteous with the exception of only one who blew by us fast.  The others always slowed down when they saw a motorcycle.  This is not what I expected to see.  We were all impressed with the truck drivers professionalism.

Dust from the big rigs is a problem and reduces visibility to zero.  A motorcyclist should come to a stop in these conditions especially if they are not sure if another truck is right behind the first one.  Otherwise it is a long 120 feet through the dust without seeing a thing.

Enough said.

Tom and Linda got a picture of a Black Bear today and I nearly ran over a red (colored) fox.  My drive tire is still on and now has 4800 miles on it.  There is no core showing yet and I may wait until I see that before I change it.  Also I found that my rear drive fluid drain bolt was loose so of course I tightened it.  I wish I would have brought a spare drain bolt for the fluid drains, just incase.

While eating lunch in Teslin I heard, "That's Gary Smith!"  Ha...Two guys from Portland were on their way to Dead Horse.  Both had bought the movie.  So lets see...one guy yesterday knew me and now two guys today.  If it's 3 tomorrow that would be to weird.

Since we are back in Canada none of us have a cell phone connection.  We all have ATT/Cingular.  I was told by them I would have roaming here but none of us have been able to connect.  The only bars we have are the ones on the road.  We have to walk to them.

Tomorrow we are headed to The Laird River and Laird Hot Springs.  I can't wait.  But the most important thing about tomorrow is that it is Mar and my 20 year anniversary.  I love you Marilyn.  Thank you for a wonderful 20 years.  I so adore you.  You're my girl.  I wish we were together to celebrate.

July 8, 2007

Well we are at Liard Hot Springs.  On the road we saw quite a few bison.  It didn't take us long to pitch camp and head for the hot springs.  Tom and Linda spent quite a while there and I enjoyed it for about half an hour before heading back to camp.  It's a hot springs...

This evening there were a lot of mosquitoes and some small flying bugs we have no idea as to their name.  I called Mar for our anniversary.

July 9, 2007

Tom and I spent the morning doing preventative mtx.  He changed a tire and his chain.  I changed the rear tire, changed the oil and adjusted the valves.

I got 4800 miles out of a Heidenua 6 ply tire.

Linda has admitted that she wishes she could just fly home.  After considering the cost of an airplane and a bus she has decided to stick with it but we will put her in the sidecar tomorrow and see how that goes.  She has said that she is really sore riding on the back of the KLR after 4500 miles.  Apparently her thighs, left knee and lower back had had enough.  Tom and I are understandably sympathetic.

July 10, 2007

Today is Mar's birthday.  I am so happy she was born.  I'll be looking for a phone to contact her.

We spent the better part of and hour and a half this morning figuring out how to load both of the motorcycles now that Linda will be trying the sidecar out.  We are hoping that she will be comfortable in it.  After initial loading we set out.  It didn't take long to find out that the KLR just had to much gear on it.  At our second stop the KLR tumbled over and tweeked the front forks.  We removed some of the load and put it on Burro.  She now weighs 610 kilos according to the truck scales.  That's about 1342 lbs.  The KLR weighed 350 kilos or about 770 lbs about one hundred pounds shy of the weight of Toms gold Wing.  Burro is only getting 20 MPG and I think this is due to to rich of jets in the carb.   Even the cylinder head temps are low so I am going to have to put some smaller jets in the carb.

Today we started off seeing two black bears, some caribou and later mountain goats.  This evening we saw two grizzlies eating a moose calf carcass and I shot some video of them before I got scared.  There were also two large dead moose on the roadway nearby.  A fellow camper said he saw a black bear eating the brains from one of the moose.  In fact both moose had their heads missing and one was half eaten from the rump already.

The ride between Muncho Lake and Summit Lake is the highlight of the trip on the Al/Can and I consider a must see.

We are spending the night at Bucking Horse River Campground about one hour south of Fort Nelson.  Tomorrow we will go to Dawson City and have Toms bike looked at.  We will spend the night there.

We also saw the remnants of yesterdays Twin-Otter crash at Muncho Lake.    Of the five people on board all escaped except an older man.  Word is, the the aircraft was over weight and taking off of an unimproved strip that is normally only used for a helipad.

Augh...I just taped something over the grizzly bear feast.  I could kick myself.  Mar...that isn't an invitation!

That's it for today.

July 11, 2007

Due to the bear encounters yesterday I awoke to a funny tail from Tom's tent.  Apparently Tom had a dream about a train of bears coming through our camp last night.

I think I know how to improve my mileage on the Ural.  Step one, don't ride with the parking break on.  Augh!  I found that I had engaged it while putting the car in reverse.  I knew I could smell something weird but It didn't occur to me that I had the brake set.  Also...I have kept my top speed at 55MPH and I am not running 3rd gear above 45 MPH unless shifting into 4th at which time I will run up to 50 just for the shift (this is important because I do not want to lug the engine and get detonation).  I will shift from 4th down to 3rd at 50 and run no higher than 45 until ready for the 4th gear.  This has brought my MPG to 26 but I will still need to reduce the carb jet size when I get home because the engine is running to cool (R cylinder 280 f and L cylinder 320 f).  The book calls for 380-420 f.

Well today started off pretty good then we had a close call with a deer.  As a doe stood 20 feet from the roadway it's fawn darted from the opposite side of the road between 5 on coming vehicles.  Then it ran directly in front of the sidecar only missing being hit by us by an inch.  I can still hear it's little feet clip/clopping franticly in front of me.

There was more good scenery but we hustled down to Charlie Lake and stopped for breakfast.  We had hoped to stop in Wonowon for breakfast (our friend Dana's home town) but there was no where to eat and the one place that used to be there was bulldozed down.

In Charlie Lake we met two young Brits (James and William) who had just finished there Tierra del Fuego to Prudhoe Bay/Dead Horse ride.  They both rode BMW 650s and looked great aboard their sticker clad machines.  We all headed out on the rode to Hudsons Hope which is a twisty of terrific proportions.  13 KM down the twisties James lost control of his moto and ended up in the ditch.  It was about an hour before he realized where he was.  While we provided some care Jack Heidt rode up on his Ural with his dog Chico and helped as well.

James kept saying "Is this on TV?"  Linda and William kept him talking even though he wanted to fall a sleep.  Eventually he started regaining his memory (he didn't even remember riding the Pam American).  I shaded him until the paramedics arrived then I directed traffic. All of that airline marshalling I've seen from the cockpit must have paid off because a Mounty told Tom and Linda I really looked like I knew what I was doing.  At the accident scene Tom picked up moto parts and offered more support. 

After we all helped and the ambulance took James to the Fort St. John Hospital we waited for the tow truck and Tom made sure that the driver didn't cause anymore damage to James's moto.  Then we all headed to the hospital to see if all was well and remarkably there were no broken bones except a broken clavicle that James has repeatedly broken over the years.  William and James apparently will ship the bike to Calgary and then fly home to London as they had planned in a week or two.

Linda liked riding in the sidecar and I am getting used to seeing her helmet there.

We are spending the night in Chetwyn.  We told Linda it was Canadian for passing gas.  It's a cute village all the same.  Anyway the campground is just fine because we needed a shower and that makes everything great.

Well that's it for today.

July 12, 2007

We took a late start today.  The scenery continued to get better as we left Chetwyn for about 100 KM.  We were amazed because we sort of expected that we had already seen the highlights.

Ya know coming home is always difficult.  I personally just want the trip to continue.  And...I'd love to continue it even more if Mar were riding with me.  I think she ought to retire and let me take care of her.  That aside, Mar and I have agreed that I should just continue the trip and head East bound in order to be in Wiekert, Pennsylvania for the ISOK Ron Dee Voo IV sidecar rally on August 3rd.  This means that Tom and Linda are spending their last night with me.  In the morning they'll head home via Bellingham and I-5.  I'll head to Caches Creek and head east toward Calgary then likely drop down into the U.S..  I am sad to be splitting up with them.  This will be a whole new trip for me know.

The temperature today has been about 95 degrees f.  We are camping at Roberts Roost in South Quesnel.  It is a nice place with showers on a lake.

Well so much for today.

July 13, 2007

I watched Tom and Linda ride out this morning and then I headed out myself about 10 minutes later.  My early plan for the day was to just drive Burro to empty and see what I got as far as mileage.   Wouldn't ya know it, she ran out of fuel 3 KM from a gas station and I put the reserve jerry can fuel in her tank.  I was amazed to find that she is now burning 28 MPG as long as I don't drive over 55 MPH.

Then I took the sidecar's windscreen off just to see if it would make a difference. But there was no significant amount of change caused by it's drag.  I'll put it back on later.

The ride from Quesnel to Caches Creek was farmland early on but as I got closer to Caches Creek the scenery began that of the high desert with sage all around.

After Kamloops there began to be more trees and eventually I was climbing back into the mountains of forest again as I head for Calgary.  There is a lot of traffic on Hwy 1 and it is mostly single lane.

Canada is expensive.  Today I stopped at an auto parts store and bought 2 qt of engine oil, 1 qt of gear lube, a small container of wheel bearing grease and some paper shop towels.  It cost me $26.00 basically $5.00 each!  By the way...if you calculate U.S. gallons to liters, it costs $1.00 more per gallon in Canada than in the U.S..

To night I am staying in Revelstoke B.C. near Canada's Glacier Park.  Apparently the fellow who is responsible for importing Ural motorcycles into North America lives here. Tomorrow I will get to Calgary and try to find some smaller fuel jets.  I hope this will get me to the temperature and fuel burn stated in the manual.

There were many kinds of weather today.  It was very hot today...36 degrees C and the road temperature was 132 degrees F.  Late this afternoon the skies opened up with a thunderstorm and I got soaked (didn't put on my rain gear) but I didn't mind a bit.  Also prior to the thunderstorm the wind was so bad I had to stop for 10 minutes to let the downdrafts pass.  The wind made it impossible to operate Burro safely.  By the way I learned from a gentleman that motorcycles are safer to ride than horses because you only have to deal with one mind.  I'm not sure where Burro fits into the equation or for someone with multiple personalities.

I met a couple of men today one was from Argentina (ex Argentine Airline  B707 Captain and we swapped stories.  The other told me a great story about his recent first airplane trip to meet his 27 year old daughter for the first time.  He had tried to fine her when she was 12 but could not get in touch with her.  Eventually she called him.

July 14, 2007

I left Revelstoke about 6 AM after stopping at a Tim Hortons donut shop for yogurt, a donut and coffee.  This again continues to be terrific scenery.  I headed for Radium Hot Springs at one of the entrances to Banff Park also the head waters of the Columbia River.  Since I have crossed the Columbia River bar in my trawler a few times I wanted to see what it looked like at the beginning of it's flow.

Then headed to Calgary I drove through Banff.  Wow...that's about all I have to say about that!

In Calgary I headed for the Ural dealership (ScootGo) to pick up a new mirror (my drivers side wouldn't stay in place) a spare tire for the steering wheel (in case I needed it, I didn't want to break one off of the spare rim) new carburetor to cylinder intake hose looking doo dads and to see about reducing my carb jet size to increase my mileage.

When I got there RJ the owner was out delivering a moto, so his wife suggested I head over to the casino a block away and enjoy a free cup of coffee in the air conditioned atmosphere.  It was over 100 f in Calgary.  While at the casino I put $5.00 in a machine and walked out 10 minutes later $37.00 richer.

RJ showed up and what a personable guy.  We hit it off right away.  When all was said and done we decided that my fuel mixture was about as lean as I would want it.  Then he refused to let me pay for the parts and even took parts off of his showroom stock.  This of course makes ScootGo of Calgary, Canada, my first sponsor (sort of) since they are the only one to have supplied gratis, any of the parts I need to continue riding Burro around the world.  I am still carrying the majority of the financial load and would like to point out that I have never asked for sponsorship but am pleased that RJ has the vision to see the value in the journeys I have undertaken.

Since the Calgary Stampede was going on and his shop is only a block away, we just stood out front and watched the revelers.  With the 100 f temperature all of the cowgirls walking by his dealership were dressed...well, in a manner to stay cool.  Many of them wanted to pose on the Urals as I videoed RJ.  Some of the footage will have to be cut from the new episode because we all know that I only produce G (for Gary) rated videos.  I had remembrances of Daytona Bike week this year.  It was like having beach front property.

After closing up shop RJ, me and a friend Matt, who showed up on his Ural, went out to eat dinner and they also wanted to show me around Calgary.  We ended up at the "Rock" (The Shamrock Grill) a biker bar and enjoyed some great rock n' roll and a good meal.  I gave both RJ and Matt a "Burro Support Patch".

I am sporting a ScootGo.com sticker on the sidecar now.  If you're in Calgary stop by and visit RJ at 129B- 17th Ave. SE, Calgary, AB T2G1H3 Phone: (403) 228-6080 it is on the corner of McLeod Trail and 17th SE. 

By the way, for some reason today...even before I got to Calgary, the Burro's fuel consumption had become about 30MPG.  Maybe running over 10,000 km has something to do with it.

July 15, 2007

I spent last night in RJ's van "Vana White".  He left me the keys to the shop so I could clean up and I left the keys for him when I left in the morning.  He wanted me to stay around but ya' know I've got itchy feet and have to keep movin'.

It was another scorcher today.  I crossed back into the U.S. and stopped in Shelby MT for a break.  Later while heading to Havre MT the afternoon storm buildups began and I had the strange sensation of enjoying the cool rain while it pelted me accompanied with a 30 knot crosswind.  This nearly blew me off of the road.  The entire experience was a classic example of how pleasure and pain are so closely aligned.

At one point today I just had to stop and rest in the shade of Burro's sidecar.  the heat was tough.  Laying in the broad leaf grass on the roadside I quickly fell asleep until the the sound of a locomotive woke me up.  It was nice to lay in the grass and not have any bugs after my body.

My Dad has told me that he was going to be in Oshkosh WI for the annual EAA Fly-In a week from today.  I am looking over my itinerary and trying to decide whether to stop there or push on in-order to get to New Foundland and back to Wierkt PA by August 3rd.  I can't make that decision today because I haven't got a map of the entire route yet.  After Mar and I attend the sidecar rally in Weirkt, we will be visiting friends in NY, so I could head to Newfoundland after that  I'll try to figure it out tomorrow.

I found a campsite in Havre MT at the fairgrounds for $10.00.  Carnies are packing up there tents and only one other moto camper is here but there are about 10 land yachts.  Maybe I'll runaway with the carnival.  I could probably learn to guess peoples weight like Steve Martin did in the movie The Jerk.

While sitting in my tent writing this evening's log a thunderstorm is over head and the wind and heavy rain are trying to collapse the tent around me.

OK, that's it for today.

July 16, 2007

I changed all of the lubricants in Burro this morning before I left. 

Wouldn't you know it, it began raining as soon as I started but it felt good just the same as it was apparent, it would be hot today.

I touched base with Tom when I stopped in Glasgow.  He and Linda made it home on Saturday night.

Down the road my oil filter began leaking and I had to stop and replace the O-ring.  This happened to me on the South American trip as well and at about the same mileage/kilometers (11,000 KM).  So now I know, replace the O-ring every 10,000 Km or every 4 oil filter changes.

It was another scorcher again, 100 f, so I stopped for the day at around 3 PM in Wolf Point, MT.  At this rate it should put me in Oshkosh about Sunday. 

At this point I am planning on picking up Mar in Buffalo NY on the 1st of August and then we'll drive down to PA.  I'll forgo Newfoundland until late August.  Then Burro and I will head to Florida.

As I write this little nats are driving me crazy.  Earlier red colored flying ants were dropping out of the tree I have camped under landing all over the campsite including Burro and my head.

I have met a terrific couple from Germany who are bicycling from Toronto to Seattle.  They've invited me to stay at their place in Frankfurt and I the same to them in Portland.

The bugs are driving me crazy so that's it for today.

July 17, 2007

There was actually a chill in the air last night and early this morning when I had a good-bye coffee with Erwin and Vesna.  After that my start was delayed because after fueling I met Les Shockley.  Les is famous for his jet powered dragsters and trucks.  He does a lot of demonstrations at air shows and was on his way to  Grand Bend , Ontario Canada for a show on Saturday and Sunday.  We yaked for about 1 1/2 hours.  Speaking of Yaks...he has one.  A Yak is a Russian aerobatic aircraft.  If you've been to an air show in the last 30 years, you've probably seen his demonstrations.  Les even sat on Burro for a picture.  I'm sure he was wondering how he could attach a jet engine to her.

Finally I said good-bye and made my way to Williston, ND.  When I got there I was getting very bored with the Northern Montana planes.  Big Sky is correct.  This area is nothing like the west or southern portions of Montana.  I was ready for something new.  It occurred to me that wide open is fine for a while but I feel more comfortable with the closeness of the mountains.  I guess it is sort of like wrapping a baby up tight in a blanket for comfort.  On the other hand it is nice not to see everything at once.  In the mountains, you don't know what is around the next corner.  In northeastern Montana...you do!

Thankfully North Dakota has a little more to look at.  And one more thought...I did not realize there were so many oil wells in these two regions.

When I tanked up in Williston I decided to take a secondary road (1804) to New Town and this paid off.  There were a lot of good views.  In New Town I met a local who suggested I should head south on Hwy 22 to Killdeer ND.  I'm glad I did because this took me through what I believe is called the Missouri Breaks or at least some of the Bad Lands.

For the most part the Bad Lands were pretty good.  At this time of year there is a lot of green.  On the little Missouri River the landscape actually got bad like I am used to thinking the Bad Lands are.  It was beautiful as well. This road is a great motorcycle road.  I was glad I came this way.

I almost had a pheasant dinner for the evening when a hen nearly collided with Burro.

I finally stopped in Killdeer ND and found a city run campground that operates on donations.  It is located at the west end of town.  There are showers and electrical hookups.  But...I cannot get a cell connection here.

For dinner I went to steakhouse called 2 7/8.  It was a quarter mile west of the campground.  When I ordered a steak, to my surprise I was lead to the kitchen, showed the meat, and told to grill my own.  So I did.  Actually that's the way they do it at this restaurant.  I was relieved that I didn't have to do the dishes as well.

After dinner I walked over to a small rodeo stadium and watched elementary-hi school kids competing in barrel racing on their horses.  It was a nice way to spend a few minutes.

I am a little leery of the campsite this evening because there are 3 guys who are driving a new ford pickup and staying in one tent together.  I've over heard them talking about not having any money.  The whole thing seems a little weird but I'm staying put.  Oh...and there are a lot of flies in this town for some reason.

Tomorrow I'll head out on Hwy 200 eastbound.  I am going to try and stay on secondary roads.  I like the feel.

July 18, 2007

Well last night the guy with no money came back to the camp drunk and puked a lot.  I didn't hear the other two return.  But all is well.  I saw the two other guys at the Conoco station as I was having coffee and fueling up for the first leg today.  I have figured out that they are from Washington State and must be working on the farms in the area.

Today I had two deer run across the road in front of me.  I could barely see them.  Later I saw a dead doe on the side of the road so I looked for babies.  Sure enough there were two fawns 1/4 mile down the road.  Of course it made me sad.

Saw a beautiful Pheasant rooster today plus quite a few dead skunks in the road.

With all of the farm land it left me thanking the farmers who provide my daily food.  Where would we be with out them.

After driving 250 miles I called it quit for the day in Mayville, ND it is near the Minnesota border.  Again this town has a public campground and is very well kept.  there is an adjoining flower garden to walk through as well.

Hwy 200 will take me all of the way to Duluth, MN.  I haven't' figured out when that will be but at least in a day or two.

That's it.

July 19, 2007

It was a pleasure to get back into the forest lined byway along Hwy's 200 & 2 of Minnesota.  I found the forests to be similar to that of Alaska in that the evergreens were small in stature.  There were also smaller varieties of trees that almost looked like bushes.  It was even possible to see the lakes.  This meant for a pleasant day.

As with each day I had to stop and lay down near the roadway to overcome the sleepiness that has plagued me on this trip. I don't know what it is but I have to stop at least 2 times a day to rest.  I just lay on the ground next to Burro and place my head on the helmet and almost immediately fall asleep for 10 minutes.

I passed small rivers today with the names of Mississippi and St. Louis.  The map indicates that sure enough these are the headwaters of The Mississippi.  I don't know if this is the area for the headwaters of the St. Louis but I suspect so and will have to look it up.  The Mississippi River near Lake Itasca and was no wider than 10 feet.  The St. Louis River, a little farther east, was about 30 feet across.

I was told to watch out for deer near Lake Itasca but I never saw any.

I made it to Duluth, MN and could see Lake Superior from a highway rest area.  This is the first time I have seen any of the Great Lakes from the ground except Lake Erie.

I will be in Oshkosh within 2 days and will spend time there with my Dad at the Air Show.

Tonight I am staying in a campground in Superior, Wisconsin and it's laundry night.

After laundry while talking to the only 2 other campers, they pointed out a badger that was luring around.  this is the first time I've seen a wild badger.

The couple I was talking to were in their 50s and owned a HD.  I was saddened by their story.  It seems they both work for a company that produces computer disks.  The woman had worked for them for 20+ years and the man for 18 years.  A few weeks ago they found out that their jobs were all being shipped to Mexico.  The state (I think North Dakota) is so mad they want the grant money they gave the company back ($18 mil).  20 homes went up for sale the first day but no one can sell them.

That's it.

July 20, 2007

I slept in until 6 AM.  As I packed to leave this morning the badger was still there.  I didn't get to close, I didn't want my ankles bitten but I did get some video.

On the road it took about an hour to actually get to a pull over where I could actually touch the waters of Lake Superior.  I could see the lake for most of the time and kept thinking that any minute I'd be next to it.  As the day would turn out Hwy 13 which runs along a panhandle of Wisconsin, never lets you see the lake except for a few times once you are beside of it.  You actually have to take side roads to get to the lake.

From Red Cliff you can see some of the Apostle Islands.  they are an archipelago of 22 islands and archeologists have dated first Americans here to 4000 B.C..

There are a lot of cute villages along this road.  Eventually I got onto Highways 51 & 47.  More cute towns.  At Woodruff I continued a few miles out of town to a State run campground and called it quits for the day.  I like this part of Wisconsin.  The scenery is pretty and the state does a good job of promoting out of doors activities.  For instance; they make a special paving area across the road for snowmobiles to cross over.  There are lots of snowmobile trails.  I guess they are used for ATVs as well but am not really sure.

Though Wisconsins will probably not admit it they really do pronounce the word "oh" with an extended O.  Such as; Ohhh ya don't say!

Tomorrow I'll stock up on food for Oshkosh and by some walking shorts as I didn't take pack any for Alaska and hadn't planned on continuing to the East Coast.

July 21, 2007

I took a leisurely departure from my campground .  Spent the morning shopping for supplies and finally arrived in Oshkosh about 5 PM.

K C Armstrong, a friend of John Bakken who is bringing my Dad, met me at the gate and showed me to our campsite.  K C is a very likeable guy.  Wow, EAA really has this place set up nice.  Thanks to K C we have a great campsite under the trees.  Dad, John and two other really nice guys Craig and Nick are also along.

There was a lot of interest from other campers with regard to Burro.

The festivities don't actually start until Monday but the place is packed.  We'll see how long I can take this kind of a crowd.

That's it for today.

July 22, 2007

Though the air show is not really underway until tomorrow, we walked around this morning and checked out some of the rapidly increasing displays.  We spent about 5 hours looking at aircraft before heading back to camp for the day.

I spent the afternoon doing preventive mtx on Burro.  I packed the drive and steering wheel bearings and changed both of the same two tires.  Tomorrow I work on the sidecar bearings and hopefully lube the cables.

By the way, the Ypan Ural brand tire I had installed back at Liard Hot Springs, B.C. lasted 3200 miles before I dare not run it any longer (the Heidenua lasted 4800 miles).  No cord was showing but it was about to.  The same Ypan Ural brand on the steering forks still has plenty of tread at 13,000 KM but I felt like putting new rubber on for when I pick up Mar.  I'll use that tire now as my spare.  I'd like to find an Avon tire that has harder rubber for the drive wheel.  I was able to run an Avon from Nicaragua to Argentina last year.  I'll keep my eyes out for another one.

Not a very exciting day but at least a good day.

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