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Memories I Have Gathered

Regarding the photo to the right: It was Washington State Highway (WSH) #2 West of Winthrop, WA at Diablo Dam on Diablo Lake. WSH #2 is a great biking road. The date was Sunday June 27th, 1999.

Tours or interesting places I have been since I started riding in 1991:

• 1991: This was my first year riding and my first bike - sport bike year - 1982 Suzuki GS 1100. I put 13,000 km (8100 miles) on it.

• 1992: My first year on the Venture. Since then I have put on over 120,000 km (75,000 miles): My 1992 trip included travels to Peace River, Fort St John, Prince George, Barkerville (mining ghost town restored) Williams Lake, Jasper, Columbia Ice Fields, Rocky Mountain House and home to Edmonton via Red Deer.

• 1993: Drayton Valley, Pincher Creek, Logan Pass, Kallispell, Butte, Billings East across Wyoming, South Dakota, Bismarck ND, Peace Gardens between Manitoba and ND, Brandon, Riding Mtn, Yorkton, Regina, Saskatoon and home.

• 1994: Little Fort, 100 Mile House, Cache Creek, Spences Bridge, Merritt, Princeton, Osoyoos, East and north to Nakusp (hot springs) and back to Edmonton on the Yellowhead.

• 1995: I was in Vancouver, WA, to be added

• 1996: I was in Vancouver, WA, to be added

• 1997: 28,500 km year (17,800 miles). Included Osoyoos (Can - Am), Billings for the Wingding, Yellowstone, west to central Oregon, north to Vancouver Canada and on to Edmonton. I did the 100% of the 19 check points of the RCMC Grand Tour (need about 8000 to 9000 km - 5000 to 6000 miles - to do all the locations (15 in Oregon and four out of state and which should be not more than 500 miles from the closest straight line to the nearest point of Oregon).

• 1998: This was a 17,500 km year (11,000 miles). I did the 100% Grand Tour 19 check points again.
  Rose City Motorcycle Club (RCMC) Grand Tour 1998

• 1999: This was a 37,424 km (23,390 miles) year: Vancouver - Portland early May: Vancouver, Portland RCMC Western States 1000 and 7 states for the Grand Tour in early June; Osoyoos and Washington State early July. I did all of the 19 check points. In 12 days I rode 10,583 km's or 6,615 miles which included Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Crater Lake (18 feet of show yet at the summit but the lake was clear).

  Late June found us at the Can-AM in Osoyoos, BC and we then rode for a week in northern and central Washington State. We camped about half the time and the other half was spent motelling to dry out. We spent a great night and day on Lopez Island, a wonderful part of the world.

  In late July I made my third trip all the way to Vancouver, BC and in early September I made my fourth such trip. During the week of September 19, 1999 four of us (brother, cousin and good friend) spent 9 days riding in the interior of BC and western Alberta, with some of the very best weather of the summer which has been cool and wet. We had 7 days of mid to high 20 degree Celsius weather (high 70s and 80s F.) and not a hint of a cloud anywhere. We saw a silver backed grizzly in Kananaskis Country west of Calgary feeding not more than 50 feet off the road. To our marvel (and our safety) she let us watch. Needless to say we did not get off our bikes nor did we shut off our motors.

States and Provinces visited by Bike to date:

• Canada; 4 provinces: BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba

• US; 11 states: Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Utah, Idaho, Montana, and Nevada.

Y2K C2C will add:

• Canadian provinces to complete all 10: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland

• US states of: Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.