“Bullwinkle”

Hey, it’s been a while since we last spoke and we have made good progress navigating our path back to the states. In my last post, I mentioned, we were trying to get to Watson Lake in the Yukon to settle in for our first night back in Canada.

We did make it to Watson Lake but not without some more drama provided by our female boss “La Jefa” the rolling money pit! She decided she was going to piss out all of her radiator fluid again. Turns out we had a pinhead size hole in the radiator and the coolant was leaking out about as fast as we could replace it. Thank god we were staying in a town versus the wilderness, we were able to find an auto parts store close. We bought some stop leak to put in the coolant system and it did the trick. La Jefa just wants to go back to Michigan and sit idle in her nice comfortable stall where she belongs and I am going to make sure she does, then, I NEVER WANT TO SEE HER AGAIN!

On our route through the Yukon (on highway 97) we encountered Bullwinkle eating the fresh grass off the bottom of a small pond (above). This was not a full-grown bull but he was still a mature male. I had to zoom in quite a bit to get this shot. We were up high on a bank looking down a hundred yards or so.

Canada Day “eh”

Canada day fell on Sunday but the locals celebrated the holiday on Monday. Most businesses’ were closed with the exception of most convenience stores.

Benz shows his support by chewing up this flag we got when we checked into our campground on Monday evening. He also got to chase a Jack Russell Terrier around the yard for about an hour or so before that dog wore him out. He’s gotten soft on this trip like the rest of us. This brings me to our daily routine.

Each morning Mert wakes up between 5-6 am to make herself a cup of joe with the KEURIG coffee maker she loves. OB rolls out of bed next around 7 am and Mom immediately springs to her feet to make his standard breakfast of bacon and eggs over easy with toast and coffee. I wake up when Mom does but refuse to get out of bed until both of them have eaten and are out-of-the-way. Once that happens, I get up, fold up my blanket, push in the pull-out couch, (this doesn’t faze Benz, who is still sleeping where my feet were) eat my Cheerios and yogurt.

By the time I’m done eating, Benz is up doing his morning Yoga, downward dog stretch, upward dog stretch, and repeat. Now he is ready to go find a spot to whiz and the other thing. He stands up on the passenger chair and barks at me until I finally find clothes warm enough to take him outside. By now my father has been outside and unplugged all of the utilities and is back inside running the slide-a-bay in (even though Mert is still standing in the kitchen doing dishes!) I have learned to linger in bed longer so my Mom has a little more time to get dressed, if I didn’t, I swear he would be driving down the road while she was still trying to clean the kitchen or putting her make-up on…

After we finally get rolling in the morning, we usually try to put a couple hundred miles on the odometer before stopping for lunch. We try to stop somewhere with a view, maybe a roadside pull-off overlooking a lake or river. Lunch usually consists of a sandwich with chips and a pickle spear. Mert and OB find a way to sneak a doughnut in there somewhere. This is also a pit stop for Benz, you can set your watch to his habits, or maybe we’re setting them for him? Nonetheless, he is the most consistent one of us all.

We have been averaging about 350 to 400 miles a day and not one of them has been without rain! I think the Canadian mantra should be “Lake of the Sky”. Usually, when we have traveled at least 350 miles, I will start to look for a place to stay. Road signs for RV parks have been quite prevalent during our travels, even in the remote areas of the Yukon.

Once we get settled in the RV park for the evening, OB levels La Jefa with the automatic leveling system, hooks up water, sewer, and electric (cable TV where available). Then he extends the slide-a bay (a portion of the inside of the motorhome that slides out allowing increased space in the living room and kitchen). You can see it in the picture below.

Slide-A-Bay

I’m usually cold and wet when I’m done riding for the day so I come inside, strip off all of my gear, put on warm clothes, and sit down until Benz reminds me of his SCHEDULE. Like I said, he’s consistent!

Then, it’s Bloody Mary time and everyone partakes. They are “poor man’s bloody’s” made with beer. We split a beer three ways and I pour it in first. Next is a tablespoon of Demitri’s Bloody Mary mix, then I top it off with plain old tomato juice of any kind, mix and serve. Cheers!

After that, it’s dinner. Mert and I take turns cooking and doing dishes. Benz eats when he feels like it, I keep his dish full. He will usually eat once in the morning and again late at night, before bed. After dinner I try to blog, OB watches TV from bed or simply goes to bed. Mert will watch TV and knit at the same time, all while doing the head bob while falling in and out of consciousness. She will do this for hours unless I holler at her enough to go to bed. (Holler) isn’t that something pig farmers do?

So that’s a typical day in the life on the road, with the exception of another dialog that I’ve written about here on the blog. Tomorrow we will cross back over into the states on highway 97 just Northwest of Spokane Washington. From there we will be driving down highway 17 to Kennewick Washington where my new Steve McQueen Triumph awaits.

I am going to have a tough time trading in Killer (KLR-650). That bike will have taken me over 8000 miles, across Alberta, British Columbia, the Yukon, and Alaska, all without missing a beat. When I say I like this bike, I mean it feels like a part of me. Lord knows it’s been like an additional appendage over the last 30 days, as much as we have been joined at the hip! It does everything well and for a fraction of the cost of any other adventure bike capable of going over 200 miles before needing fuel. I dare you to find that somewhere else!

Goodbye Canada, expensive everything, not giving us enough for our money, rainy, cold, miserable Country!

Can’t wait to get home to our issues!

MM