Alaska 2012
 
 

Day 16

July 20

 
  
 
 
 This is just going to be a long day of over six hundred miles with temps rising. This Super 8 actually has some hen fruit and pig meat in the included breakfast, so that works for me. It's okay but nothing to write home about at all. Knowing what we've got coming up, we get on the road as quickly as we can. There's nothing glamorous about knocking miles out but that's our deal as we are on a direct route to the Holler. Occasionally we pass things that catch our eye like this railroad bridge. 
  
 It is mainly intricate wood construction which you don't see much anymore. I wonder when it was originally built and how often they check the timbers. 
  
 We are also in major farm land, so the landscape is dotted with these enormous elevators. 
  
 On days like this, I just plug in some relaxing tunes, put my feet up on my Highway Wings and let the miles click off. 
  
 We see a lot of fields of the canola flower, sometimes referred to as rapeseed, spreading out over the rolling hills. 
  
 And every now and then we will see another rider, loaded down and probably headed for where we've just come from. 
  
 

I've promised another ST rider, Bruce who works in Edmonton, that we will stop by on our way through the area. I have his work address, so I decide I'll let Fred guide us to it. I stop and plug in the address as we near Edmonton, and we're off. Of course, unbeknownst to us, we are on the opposite side of town from the address, so we get a fun-filled, traffic laden tour right through the heart of Edmonton. It's been getting warmer and warmer and I am pretty well tuckered out mentally and physically. When we arrive, I go inside and tell the receptionist we are here. We talk for a while, but we still have over three hundred miles so we get ready to go. Bruce would like a picture of us together and I do something that I never do. I take my camera from around my neck and give to Alain to take the shot. He lays back on the bike and we talk a little bit more. But it's getting hotter and I am thinking about the distance we have to cover, so I suit up and we take off. About a quarter of mile down the road in heavy traffic I reach for my camera and realize what has happened. I immediately pull over and notice that Alain has pulled over a ways back. He has seen the camera slide off my bike and bravely wades out in heavy traffic trying to rescue it. A few seconds before he can reach it, a car runs over it and it is crushed. He retrieves it anyway and catches up to me.

"I was only a two or three seconds from getting it" he says.

"Well, I appreciate you risking your life for my camera. The camera doesn't matter near as much as the pictures" I tell him.

As usual, I have a spare camera with me so I pull the media out of the demolished one and put it in my new camera. When the camera wants to format it, I figure my pictures are toast. I cannot and will not describe the feelings that go through my mind at this moment. But life goes on and we've got a place to be. I put what's left of the camera in my trunk and we're back into the traffic and on our way.

When we get out of town, we see more elevators and ...

 
  
 more elevators. I figure this must be the breadbasket of Canada - or the elevator capitol one.  
  
 

When we pull into one fuel stop, I meet a young Canadian serviceman who has just purchased this Chinese bike. It's not a bad looking ride and the price was very good. We talk a bit about riding and where I've been. He is pretty amazed at the distances I've covered and the places I've seen. I mentioned a couple of good riding skills books - "Proficient Motorcycling" and "More Proficient Motorcycling." He's appreciative of the info. Before we go, I notice he does not have any ears plugs. I tell him -

"Hang on a minute. I've got something for you."

I always carry extra pairs of earplugs with me, so I fetch him a pair.

"Don't worry, these are fresh" I tell him with a grin. "They'll keep you from losing your low range hearing from the wind."

He thanks and then watches as we pull out of the lot and hit the road.

 
  
 As we get closer to Saskatoon, we see this neat bridge which crosses the North Saskatchewan River. 
  
 This is one motel I am really glad to reach, especially after the events of the day. Alain tries several different software programs to read my XD card, but with no joy. I figure I'll pick up an XD reader tomorrow and see if I have any better success.  
  
 About the only place to eat is a Tim Horton's across the street, so it wins by default. I get some soup and a turkey club and it's actually pretty good. I know they do a bit of breakfast, so at least I have that sorted for in the morning. 
  
  Completely wore out physically, mentally and emotionally, I wander back across the street. When I hit the pillows it does not take me long to fall off the cliff.