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Deane, Norm, and Kay's Motorcycle / RV Trip to Northern Canada and Alaska | |
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September 24, Cache Creek, British Columbia to Kettle Falls, Washington, USA - 334 Miles |
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Back in the good old USA! We've enjoyed Canada but it is always good to back in familiar territory. We started off to go through the Fraser River Canyon in BC, which is very scenic. However, not far from the start of that canyon, two local men told us that the highway would be closed from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, for blasting rock in some construction area. It was almost 10:00 AM at that time, so they suggested an alternate route. We took it, and it turned out to be quite scenic anyway.
In the process of talking to these two men, who were on a hunting trip, we got a kick out of the fleet of vehicles they were taking. First there was a big pickup pulling a trailer, with a little metal sleeping house on the front of the trailer. Then also on the trailer was a small pickup, and in the bed of the smaller pickup was a 4-wheel ATV! Boy, these guys were ready for any amount of motorized pursuit of prey! When Deane pointed out that this assembly had 18 wheels, where Kay's RV/trailer had only 10, Kay called it a "West Virginia 18-Wheeler".
The route we took, first had good Fall color again within a more ranching type of setting. Some deep canyons made for good motorcycle roads, with lots of curves, and changing elevations. It was a great motorcycling day! Then paralleling the Canada / US border, the route was quite different from other areas of BC that we had ridden and driven through. It was much drier, with less vegetation on the mountains, and much rockier mountains. Still, it had its own beauty, and we enjoyed that. On the way, at a wildlife viewing point we learned that "Mountain Goats" in that rocky area were actually not goats, but rather of the antelope family.
Deane had noticed in motorcycle magazines that the town of Osoyoos (funny name?) had hosted some motorcycle rallies at various times. So with Osoyoos on our route for the day, we wondered what made it attractive to groups for rallies. We found it to be quite interesting in the setting, around a very large lake, ringed in the background with very high and dry mountains, and on the shores of the lake, planted with many, many orchards and vineyards. The town itself looked clean, had a good mixture of motels and restaurants, as well as various entertainment "things to do". Deane thought if they have an interesting rally sometime, he might just go to Osoyoos. "After all, its only a couple of thousand miles from home." For the Wildlife Report, just before we came into the U.S., Kay saw a Black Bear. He just walked across the road in front of Kay, and both directions of traffic stopped for him to get across safely. We also saw some wild turkeys, about a dozen, beside the road at dusk. Kettle Falls is right on the shores of the Columbia River, and we arrived just as the sun was going down so we didn't appreciate the size and extent of the river that night. |
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