Today we woke up in Jasper to the sound of heavy rain beating down on la jefa’s roof and from the look of the horizon, it was here to stay. I have had enough of riding in the rain but hey, I’m not going to complain too much because we are still making forward progress!
We each had our normal breakfast, did the proper clean-up, took Benz for his morning ritual, got dressed, and like Bob Seger would say “we took off down the road”. I wasn’t expecting a whole lot different with the weather as we made our way West to Prince George but I’ll be damned if the clouds didn’t part and the sun gods smiled down on us about an hour or so after we left. In fact, it turned into a very nice bluebird day.
As we made our way slowly down in elevation I noticed the thick vegetation and lodgepole pines filled the space where there was once rock and snowcapped mountain. Cruising along at about 60 mph or so I saw a silhouette in the road up ahead and in no time I was right on top of another Black Bear smack dab in my lane! This guy was probably 200 lbs or so? I had to get on the binders to keep from hitting him, how cool was that I thought. I had to stop and get my camera out of la jefa because I just knew there would be more.
Black Bear #4
Here is a shot of the fourth bear we saw along that 15 mile stretch of highway between Jasper and Prince George. We saw a total of six bears in about an hour and each was easily spooked like a dear. You can pass by at a slow speed and they won’t move too much but if you stop they will take off and run.
Bear Picture #2
Once into Prince George we needed to find highway 97 North to Dawson Creek which I got lucky and just ran into. My father was right behind me as we headed up the hill out of Prince George. It looked like we were already headed out of town and we both needed fuel and I thought oh shit, now I have to find a place on the highway to turn around but when I looked in my mirror my father was already starting to pull over. I kept going to see what was around the corner and sure enough, there were a couple of fuel stations ahead. I didn’t see O.B. so I pulled over and waited for him to show up. Here is where the Chesney bull-headedness comes into play. In my dad’s eyes, I should have pulled over and found a way to turn around and go back where we knew we could buy fuel. In my mind, he should follow the leader off a cliff if he had to. When you are following the trail leader you never leave the pack, NEVER! Plus, there was nowhere to turn around on that highway so he had to come up where I was regardless. So what does he do? He sits there and so do I!! We both know what one another is doing even though we can’t see each other. I’ll be damned if I’m going back so we’ll see how long it takes for him to get up here. Now my phone is ringing, I don’t answer, it’s buried under several layers of cloths. Five, ten, fifteen minutes go by, and still no O.B. Jesus! I start Killer and I’m prepared to give in when here he comes up the side of the highway with the emergency flashers on. Who won this round of father-son bullshit? You guessed it, nobody!
We have pulled up about 150 miles short of Dawson Creek to camp for the night at a small RV park to make some final repairs to the damaged water tank that the drive shaft hit when it blew up. I mixed up some JB weld and spread it on the crack to seal it but it will have to dry overnight before we can fill up the freshwater tank in the morning. Meanwhile, I decided to get the mountain bike off the back of la jefa and go for a little ride. It is now 12;18 mountain time and still lights out. As I write this my mother spots a bear coming into camp. I hurry to grab the camera and snap the shot, wow he’s looking right at us! Nice headshot, now one of his profile as he lumbers away to finish his dinner.
Sleep tight and don’t let the _______ bite!
Camp Bear
Camp Bear
Motorbike Mike 
Oh my gosh!!! You guys are so lucky. I’m on a plane make room!
Was your mom freakin out? Lol!
No, she was the one that spotted him and she was cool as a cucumber!
Wish you were here sis!
Give Ma and Pa Chez a hug for me….Love your posts
Sure will and thanks!
How does Benz like all of the bears?
He just barks at them like their another dog, but 30 minutes prior to those pictures he was taking a shit right there!
You might want to consider some radio communications before you and your father strangle one another. Great to ride along with ya Mike, and just so you know, first Silly Market was disjointed and random without ya. Linda and I did have fun running into Sharon, Paul, Carmen, Metzger, and TY at various times though and Casey sold out of 30 some bottles of Vodka by 2PM so someone was having some fun!! Keep the rubber down and the pictures flying buddy.
Michael, great to get some news from the home front! The funny thing about my father and I is that we can bitch at one another one minute and tell a joke in the next breath!
Mike, I am really enjoying your posts. Thanks for sharing all this. As always, you are an inspiration. Tim
Thanks Kliffy!!
i feel your pain waiting for O.B…….mmmm you stubbern son of B!!!! and all the time you know your right!!!! I watched my dad put a boat contol together and I told him ” mm ….dad thats not right” 3 freakn times in a row!!! …2 hours!!! oh well.
It is what it is my brother…
LOL..,the father son stories are a riot! I am sure you will keep’em coming. You mother must be a saint…
Great photos!!! Truly glad your taking us all along I can bearly contain myself waiting for the next post. Its addictive I tell ya!
From the sounds of it you sure have your hands full keeping an eye on both sidea of the road looking for Fozzie, smokie, Yogi, booboo, Baloo, Winnie and Ben….
Hope I can post this…….
A camper wakes up one morning in Alaska to find a bear on the roof of his motor home. So he asks SIRI to do a search on his I-phone and sure enough, there’s an ad for ‘Bear Removers.’ He calls the number, and the bear remover says he’ll be over in 30 minutes.
The bear remover arrives, and gets out of his van. He’s got a ladder, a baseball bat, a shotgun and a mean old pit bull.
‘What are you going to do,’ the camper asks?
‘I’m going to put this ladder up against the roof, and then I’m going to go up there and knock the bear off the roof with this baseball bat. When the bear falls off, the pit bull is trained to grab his testicles and not let go. The bear will then be subdued enough for me to put him in the cage in the back of the van.’
The Bear Remover hands the shotgun to the camper.
‘What’s the shotgun for?’ asks the camper.
* ‘If the bear knocks me off the roof, shoot the dog.
Keep smiling, best wishes for safe travels and we will keep tuning in.
Now that’s funny!
Heading for Copper Mountain Colorado on the Beemer. Will be out of touch till Sunday. I’ll catch up on your posts when I get back…………………..Assuming you don’t get eaten by as bear :o)