Day 39 - July 18th

Travelled from Clare, Michigan to Stroud, Ontario!!
Our journey is over and we are all home! Back to reality, back to life!
Today we booted it home making a stop at a Crackle Barrel for brunch and 2 gas stops. We said our goodbyes to Al and Pat at our last gas stop on the 400 as we cut off at Bradford to see Kelli and Farmer. It felt very strange and sad to watch them pass us as they headed home. I have missed Kelli and Farmer soooo much!!! Of course I missed Gizzy and Ivy also, but they really didn’t seem to even notice I was back!!! Not like a dog that would be all over their owner when they had been left for 5 weeks!! We visited with Kelli and Farmer for an hour or so and got home around 6:30pm. I have also missed Sarah very very much and will get to be with her in 4 days when she comes home for 5 days for our nieces wedding!! Everything at the house was good, however a neighbour thought she saw someone trying to climb over our pool fence around 3am one morning and called the police. To make a long story short, everything was fine. Nothing broken into or missing etc. Our other neighbour had the key to the house and was collecting our mail etc. We have great neighbours!!!
So, our journey that we planned for 3 years has come to an end. We have awesome memories that we will talk about for years to come. Other than wishing the weather was a bit warmer and drying at times in Alaska, there is not one thing I would have changed about this trip. We have photos that are out of this world and I can hardly wait to get some printed!!! We will soon be having a “post trip dinner” which I have offered to host. These are great to reminisce and Andrea makes a DVD with our pictures to music after our trips. We always look forward to this!!! A perfect way to remember our journey!! In total we travelled approx 17,000kms (10563 miles)! We need some work done on the bike post trip, but it was all so worth it!!
I have had a fun time doing the blog and hope everyone has enjoyed a trip to Alaska through our eyes. It was a trip of a life time and hope everyone will remember to always “Do What You Dream” !!

Day 38 - July 17th

Travelled from Omro, Wisconsin to Clare, Michigan
We only had to ride for about 1.5 hrs this morning to catch the S.S. Badger Ferry in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. We missed one turn and headed out of town but soon realized we were going the wrong way and turned around, finding the ferry with no problem. The ride was 4 hrs, however we lost an hour during the trip and are now back in eastern time zone. We crossed Lake Michigan and arrived in Ludington, Michigan around 7pm and decided to ride for a few hours to shorten our ride tomorrow as they are calling for some rain. We arrived in Clare, Michigan around 9pm and although it was still light out decided to call it a night. We really don’t like riding in the evening and especially when it is dark out due to the wildlife that like to venture onto the road during these hours. We checked into a Days Inn then headed over to the Ponderosa for supper which had a huge buffet with every goodie you could imagine!! We toasted our last night together. We really missed not having Will and Andrea here to toast with us!! Tomorrow we will ride home. A bitter sweet day as we hate to see the trip end, yet we are anxious to see our families, friends and kitties!!!

Day 37 - July 16th

Travelled from Albert Lea, Minnesota to Omro, Wisconsin
Another great day on the bike. We went approx 500km today enjoying the sun and the high temperature of 31’C again.This morning Grant noticed some rattling noise from the front tire and at on of the rest stops called our mechanic in Markham. He was not sure what it was however had 2 possibilities, but felt that neither of the issues would cause any problem with riding since we have full brake functions. Grant and Al checked the tire and didn't see anything obvious. I never feel comfy with unusual noises from the bike, but Grant assured me there is no safety issue with this. So, I trust him and off we went.
We passed the Mississippi river and pulled over at a rest stop beside it. Pat and I went for a walk along the shore and look what we saw!!! Now we are not sure if it is an alligator or crocodile! Anyone know?? Grant and Al weren’t sure what it was. We travelled the interstate at first then changed to a smaller hwy to head east to Oshkosh.We passed a large wind turbine farm, large dairy farms and corn crops. The flat land has now changed to rolling hills. Looks like they have had lots of rain as the rivers are overflowing their banks. We are in a mom and pops motel tonight in Omro, just outside of Oshkosh and it is probably the dumpiest place of our trip. It is like a junction experience uggggg! Our room smells of something. Not sure what but so far even with the air conditioner on it still sticks!

Day 36 - July 15th

Travelled from Murdo, South Dakota to Albert Lea, Minnesota
Travelled approx 400 miles/644 KM today with very light traffic, sun shining and a glorious high of 31’C. Just can’t get better than this!! Interesting to see a Harley biker today wearing his leather jacket, zipped to the neck, however no helmet!! Just does not make sense does is? We stopped at the worlds only Corn Palace in Mitchell,SD, watched a short video on how this came about back in 1892, then walked around looking at murals and how they were created with corn, grasses and grains. Every year the theme on the front of the building is changed. It was a fun stop!In South Dakota and Minnesota there were miles and miles of corn fields.They have had a lot of rain and lots of water in some of the fields, quite similar to what we saw crossing the Prairies. We stopped at the Americ Inn for the night and to Applebee’s for supper. Will and Andrea left Calgary this morning which I’m sure was hard for them to leave everyone, esp. their grandson Jacob. As of today we have travelled over 15000KM !! Check out this video that I took of Al and Pat cruising behind us on I90 in Minnesota!!

Day 35 - July 14th

Travelled from Custer, South Dakota to Murdo, South Dakota
Guess what we woke up to today at 7am? Sun!!! Yes, can you believe it, our 3rd day in a row the sun has been shining when we get up!! We feel so blessed!! What a difference it makes travelling in nice weather! After breakfast we headed for the Needles Hwy and along the way passed The Crazy Horse Memorial. This is a work in progress that was started in 1948 at the request of Chief Standing Bear of the Oglala Sioux who wanted “the white man to know the red man has great heroes too”. Due to limited time today we did not go into the park but could see the carving from the road. We then drove the Needles Highway that stretches 14 miles through granite structures and pine covered mountains The Needles Eye is one oh the most memorable granite needles along the drive with its signature “eye” formed by countless years of rain, ice and winds. We got there around 8am and it was great because there was very little traffic. Al had been there before with a group on bikes, but it was so busy they could not stop at the top. Today we stopped, and enjoyed the beauty of the rock formations. The drive up and down from the Needles Eye was spectacular and I took some videos going through tunnels. This was my first time trying the video setting on my camera! It will be very hard to select photos for my blog from here as I had so many nice ones! After the Needles Hwy we headed to Mount Rushmore. We took one of the back roads into the center and it was actually better than the Needles Hwy! What a sweet surprise to ride on a road that was made just for motorcycles!! There was some kind of cycling group though all along these roads and we had to be very careful when going around corners etc. There were some cyclists that felt they could take up the entire road at times! When we got our first glimpse of Mt Rushmore it really took your breath away. Mt. Rushmore National Monument is one of the most popular Black Hills’ destinations, featuring the faces of four US Presidents carved in granite, symbolizing freedom and democracy in America. The Monument features the faces of four United States Presidents – George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln – carved in granite by the late sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, with each chiselled face as tall as a 6-story building. Mt Rushmore was completed in 1941 which took 14 years from start to finish with not one single fatality recorded! We stayed about an hour at the memorial and as we headed back to the hwy we saw the cutest little deer on the side of the road. Further down the road we passed 2 herds of buffalo! Today it was windy again!! Very very windy !!! It was a ride to hold your helmet on with both hands!! We had to make a decision whether to drive through the badlands or visit the famous “Wall Drug Store”. Since the guys told us the badlands was very boring and would take an extra hour to ride, we all agreed to go to the Wall Drug Store. We spent about an hour there and it certainly is a place you could get lost in!! When we left, we headed for somewhere to stay the night and went past the badlands. We drove 6 miles off the hwy to see the entrance to the badlands and from what I saw, I really wish we had taken that road!! I know it is just rocks etc, but I think it would have been fascinating to see all the different formations and colours!! The hwy we were on was boring, not much at all, but I did notice that in this area there is much more farming of crops. Tonight we are in a Best Western and just relaxing. It was a long day, but another great day! We lost an hour today with the time change much to Pat's sorrow. She would like to keep the 4 hours we gained at the begining of our trip!! Here is a video I took while riding on the back of the bike on the Needles Hwy

Day 34 - July 13th

Travelled from Plains, Montana to Custer, South Dakota
Once again we started our day in the most beautiful weather! Temperature was 24’C and the sun was shining! We got up around 8am and drove for about 1.5 hrs then stopped for breakfast at Perkins. A quick trip to Wal-mart and then we were on our way again. Wyoming seems to have more hills and greenery than Montana. Origin of name the name Wyoming comes from the Delaware Indian word, meaning “mountains and valleys alternating." The winds were really whipping around today and at times I had to hang on to my helmet for fear my head would pop off my shoulders!! We passed numerous large cargo trains carrying coal. Apparently Wyoming is known for it's use of coal in heaters etc.
After a few hours of riding we came to our destination, Devil’s Tower in the Black Hills of Wyoming. This was claimed as America’s first National Monument in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt. This tower rises 1267 feet , and the top is about the size of a football field. It's slightly dome shaped and rocky, with native grasses, cacti, and sagebrush. American Indians consider the area sacred, a place for prayer and renewal. We could have paid $10/person and rode through the park, however we were short on time and decided to continue on our journey. We saw quite a few antelope in the fields but we were never close enough to get a picture. We were stopped for about 15mins for construction and the temp at that time was about 34'C. Talk about hot when not moving and wearing your riding gear!Needless to say, I decided to take some candid photos while sitting there bored! Our stop for tonight is in a cute place called Custer and we are in a nice “Stan Motel“. I had the best salad ever tonight for supper, then Pat and I went for a nice walk. Grant is outside right now with a beer and cigar chatting with someone who is also visiting the area. He loves doing this after a day of riding. I usually come into the room, check e-mails and blog. It has cooled down quite nicely now, the highest today was 35’C!! We have been wishing for warm weather and we sure have gotten it the last 3 days!

Day 33 - July 12th

Travelled from Plains, Montana to Hardin, Montana
We had lots of miles to make up today due to our unexpected detour yesterday so we were on the road at 7AM. It was perfect, the sun was shining, it was toasty warm, and we were on the right road!! I got some really nice photos of the sun rising. For breakfast we had to struggle through eating at the Crackle Barrel. It was a difficult task, but we did it!! I have to admit it was probably the best healthy breakfast I have had the entire trip and I've had some great breakfasts!! We travelled all day along I90 and found the landscape varied from hills, mountains, flat lands to the sides of the mountains full of trees. There was not much traffic either which was nice. It was really warm all day, the highest reaching 34’C. The clouds were white and fluffy most of the days, but as it got later they turned to dark rain clouds! We checked into a motel in Hardin, Montana then headed out to supper at the Purple Cow. Now that was some nasty food!! Pat and Al's supper looked good, but ours was really not great. Perhaps this is our first "bad meal" of the trip. The rain came during supper but was finished by the time we had to drive home.There is still some lightening happening out there and the rain comes and goes. When we got back to the room Grant and Al checked the map for our route tomorrow. They seem to be paying more attention to the map lately.....hmmm I wonder why? LOL. I am keeping up with Andrea and Will's blog. It sounds like they are having a great time with Jacob, Dave and Jess in Calgary. We do miss them though!

Day 32 - July 11th

Travelled from Carnston, Alberta to Plains, Montana
This morning it was cloudy and 16’C. As we started out we were sure it was going to rain and we geared up once again in our frog toggs. We crossed the border into Montana USA and by the time we reached the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park the sun was out and it had warmed up nicely.It turned out to be a perfect day for biking! It cost us $24 to enter the park and we had to wonder if it would be worth it. As we headed into the park it did not take us long to realize It was well worth the cost and our cameras started clicking!!! This road was constructed between 1921 and 1932... a fifty mile road that connects the east and west sides of Glacier National Park, climbing spectacularly over the Continental Divide at Logan Pass with an elevation 6,680 feet. The result is a thrilling and hair-raising ride with unbelievable views of both mountains and valleys. The outer edge of the road drops off thousands of feet into the valley below. We went up 2 different mountains on switch back roads. There was some construction on the way up where we travelled on some gravel roads. By the time we reached this the temperature gauge on our bike had maxed out which has never happened before to that degree. At the summit we walked around for about ½ hr.There were people actually walking up on a large snow covered mountain then coming down on skies or snowboards!! There were quite a few sections on the road that still had snow present. Hard to believe in the middle of July! Another highlight of our day was e a sighting I will never forget!! A big horned sheep wandered into the parking lot and walked around between the cars and people for a good 20 mins!! I have never been so close to a wild animal other than at the zoo. It was really a beautiful creature with very eerie eyes and huge thick horns! The game warden was there to advise the spectators what not to do (feed him) and to make sure he did not get aggressive I would assume. Pat and I ran around the parking lot following him, snapping pictures. That was the only wildlife we saw in the park.
The road from the summit down was paved nicely, no construction and a 6% grade for 7 miles, gradually going to rolling hills till we got out of the park.We followed a flowing river along the way down with glacier water that is a beautiful aqua blue!!
Once out of the park we stopped for lunch in a place that reminded Pat and I of the Crackle Barrel!! Heading off we enjoyed the lovely scenery and about 2 hrs later stopped for some ice cream. By then it was 91’C!! When talking to the store owner, we were informed we were on the wrong road, going west instead of east! We were headed into Idaho instead of going towards Billings which is where we were actually headed to. We turned around, went south east and now reroute to Billings hopefully being there tomorrow afternoon! We were all a little amazed when we realized what had happened. I had to think “oh Willie where are you when we need you”!! We could have gotten all glum and gloomy about this but I said to everyone something I’ve heard Andrea say many times over the years “shit happens, get over it and move on”. So we did!!Our accidental detour took us down some great motorcycle roads!!! We had to stop for 3 long horned sheep in the middle of road, saw 2 deer and one moose. If the worse thing that happens to us on this trip is getting lost for a few hours, then we are very very lucky!! We are in a cute little motel tonight but it does not have Internet access. Bummer but I will survive!!