Well, we finally got away at the crack of 11:00... ah... the best laid plans of mice and men (and motorcyclists) - there's always one more thing to do! There's nothing quite like the feeling of pulling out of the driveway, knowing you have 6 weeks of riding adventure ahead of you. Suddenly, all the stress and worry of planning and organizing is gone and you're on your way!
The weather cooperated despite dodgy forcasts and was perfect - blue skies with a few clouds here and there. We headed through Quesnel and on up to Prince George. We swung into the Harley dealership there to pick up some synth motor oil and talked to one of their staff who greatly recommended the route through Hudson's Hope from Chetwynd into Ft. St. John. "It'll all be gone pretty quick - all that beautiful farm land and that great motorcycle road - when they flood that valley for the hydro damn project. You better enjoy it now while you can - it's my favorite route up north." The Site C dam (damn?) project has been the subject of much debate and controversy for years and has recently been given the green light by the government.
From Prince George, the highway is pretty rough - ravaged by the huge amount of big truck traffic which is steady. There are some stunning lakes along the way. We stopped for gas and a much needed coffee at the Windy Point gas station - an old log building that has stood watch on that stretch of dusty road for a long time. We fueled up and enjoyed some GREAT coffee on the picnic table out front and watched the truck traffic go by. Most of them turned off on the road to Mackenzie. We continiued north to Chetwynd.
The drive from Windy Point to Chetwynd was GORGEOUS! Almost right away, it starts to get hilly and then mountains start to arrive around the corners. The pavement is in great shape - relatively new and very smooth which makes the twisties fun to ride! As you approach Power King, the mountains on the right (will look up the name later) arch into the sky. They must be a geologist's dream - you can see all the striations of the various layers of rock and you can really see how they boiled up out of the earth millions of years ago. They look like giant curling chunks of ribbon candy my grandma Alice used to have. I saw my first bit of wildlife - a wee black bear cub running up out of the ditch on the side of the road.
We arrived in Chetwynd around 8:00pm - exactly 620 kms from home. Chetwynd is famous for it's wood carvings and they host chainsaw carving competitions here. All along the main drag of the town, carvings line the road and there is a nice walking path you can wander on to look at them. There are some really impressive works of art here. Will post a picture or two a little later. We thought about hitting an RV park or campsite but found out we would have to back track so we opted to pop the tent trailer in an pretty abandoned lot beside the creek in the middle of town. Perfect! My husband Lynn was happy to have a creek to wash in! Tomorrow - Fort Nelson.
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