Charlotte and I go West

[shanekingsley]

Scorpion before I left for this trip I did some research on the motels and categorize them in three sections
Expensive medium and cheaper
Your expensive places would be Jasper Banff Canmore Kelowna
Your medium places would be Golden Sicamous Salmon Arm Kamloops
Cheaper places would be Radium Hot Springs Cranbrook Castlegar lillooet and Cache Creek
I obviously tried to stay at the cheaper and have done pretty well with this but every once in awhile you get a surprise
In Golden the prices were a little higher but I found a place at the Selkirk Inn it was very reasonable

This is helpful. Any other cheaper (but nice) towns/motels you have noticed are appreciated!

I was planning on staying in Jasper, but would be fine to stay in Canmore.
The previous night I plan to stay somewhere near Saskatoon and I only need to be in Prince George the following day. Thanks!

 

[kiley]

Day 11 Sunday
Hey all I'm in Golden BC at the Selkirk Inn
Here is today's route

2904 32 St to Trans-Canada Hwy

goo.gl

I started out in Vernon BC this morning and made my way East
I took the longer more scenic way to Golden and it did not disappoint.
6 and 23 is an amazing ride you have to take a couple of ferries to get across the lake but the scenery is breathtaking
6 was one of most technical roads I’ve been on.
Very twisty…maybe not the elevation changes of 99 but very challenging.
Temperatures today were very pleasant
In 1 km it went from 11.5c to 17.5c

I stopped at some of the small towns along the way.
One town in particular we filled with road side fruit stands
Nakusp and another one...I'll have to look it up

I’m starting to like the light breakfast.
Just toast peanut butter and coffee.
Lunch today was at a roadside park consisted of leftover Boston Pizza caesar salad
Dinner was at a barbecue place beside the motel
You can see the Carnage

Tomorrow I'm going to make my way to the Icefields Pkwy and Jasper
Enjoy the pics cuz there's plenty of them

 

[kiley]

More

 

[shanekingsley]

Very nice pictures Kiley!

Did you have a long wait on those smaller, free inland ferries?

 

[kiley]

Hotels...
Here's a list of the hotels that I've stayed at
Sault Ste Marie I stayed at Holiday Motel
It was cheap the bed was hard
I would shop around

Dryden I stayed at the Best Western
It was expensive but what are you going to do its Dryden

Moose Jaw Saskatchewan I stayed at the Comfort Inn
It was a little pricey I would look at staying at Swift Current

Cranbrook I stayed at the Hospitality Courtyard
It was cheap and it was okay but I would look at Travelers Motel
I think it would be much better suited

Radium Hot Springs I stayed at the Big Horn Motel
It's a hidden gem
It's cheap well-kept mom-and-pop within walking distance to Coffee pizza and beer I highly recommend this place

Sicamous I stayed at the Pines Motel
It was expensive and I wouldn't recommend it
There's nothing wrong with it it's just an expensive area

Cache Creek I stayed at the Sunset Motel and I highly recommend it
It had a lot to offer and lots of things close by within walking distance Laundry Store coffee etc

Vernon I stayed at the Silver Star
Price was okay but there is some pretty shady characters in the area Golden I stayed at the Selkirk Inn nice place a good rate

Later today I'll be in Hinton
I’ll let you know how I make out there.

 

[kiley]

Very nice pictures Kiley!

Did you have a long wait on those smaller, free inland ferries?

First ferry is only 10mins to cross so short wait.
Second ferry is like 30mins to cross...I wait maybe 20mins.
Both are free with some amazing views

 

[Gary]

Later today I'll be in Hinton
I’ll let you know how I make out there.

Curious to know how it smells in Hinton.
I had to go there bi-weekly for work in the 80's, and will never forget the "aroma".

 

[sburns]

Curious to know how it smells in Hinton.
I had to go there bi-weekly for work in the 80's, and will never forget the "aroma".

Paper mills, or something other? I know when visiting friends in Prince George we went to this area which just reeked.

 

[Gary]

Paper mills, or something other? I know when visiting friends in Prince George we went to this area which just reeked.

Ya, pulp & paper mill(s). I dreaded going there.

 

[kiley]

Day 12 Monday
Here is today’s route

Trans-Canada Hwy to Trans-Canada Hwy

Hey all
I'm in Hinton Alberta for the night
Today I got to do the Icefields parkway
I left Golden this morning I made my way East to the Icefields parkway
I continued North
It's simply a breathtaking ride…pictures cannot justify
Clouds turn dark and we had brief rain for about 10 minutes
I hid out in a restaurant in the middle of nowhere
Once the rain subsided the clouds broke and it became a bright sunny day
I then made my way up to Jasper
Jasper is a very expensive city
I took in some of the sights and took some pics
I then made my way over to Hinton Alberta

Healthy diner of tuna sandwich and salad…my stomach said eat healthy.
My plan for tomorrow was to go south around the Cranbrook area however they do have severe heat warnings down there for the next 2 or 3 days
Charlotte is due for an oil change
From here the easiest place would be Edmonton
I think I'm going to wake up tomorrow morning and make my way to Edmonton to get the oil change done
If this is the case I will most likely start making my way home from there

enjoy today's pics
No bad smell in Hinton

 

[kiley]

More

 

[MacDoc]

Hehe - those shots of the Athabaska Falls sure are familiar. That's a really nice facility with the walkways.

You should get this one framed as poster of your trip - excellent photos.



I ended up staying in Hinton cuz the was nothing in Jasper I could afford ...looked at the Rockies in the mirrors and thought ...had enough mountains and kept heading east. Fortunate as had I stuck to original plan to head south to Banff I'd have ended up in a snow storm a few days later. The northern TC - 16 - is a relaxed ride and pavement generally not bad. Riding east with the prevailing wind makes for relaxed days.

 

[kiley]

Tue-Wed-Thur
Day 13-14-15
Good evening all

I didn't quite make it to Kenora today
It got pretty hot this afternoon so I stayed just outside
Sorry I haven't posted much but it's been mostly travel days the last couple days
Tomorrow I'm going to make my way down to Fort Frances and spend the night there
I stopped in Edmonton and Charlotte got an oil change and everything has been running fine
No pics the last couple days
I'll try to take some tomorrow.
Thanks Shane for the tip...I'll explore Fort Frances tomorrow.

 

[shanekingsley]

Hey Kiley,
Nice to hear you are still doing good.
I read about two nice places to stay - one that Private Pilot suggested in Jack Fish and the other is in Kenora which gets great reviews.
Connecting them together with the Fort Frances backroads looks something like this if you are up for the long day: The Coach House Motel to Lake-Vu Motel Restaurant & Cnv

 

[MacDoc]

Great run in the time of Covid.

I dropped down around Fort Francis in June last year on the way home and that was one chilly ride. Looks like you are heading into some rain.....hope the last bit goes okay....bloody Ontario is so big.

 

[kiley]

Mac I was thinking Fri night in FF...if Saturday is a rain day no biggie just spend another night in FF
Then Sunday blaze to SSM.
Your thoughts?

 

[MacDoc]

Looks like a nice day today and the road south is photogenic. Eye on the Tstorms in the afternoon but they can be cool to photograph as well. Be safe.

 

[shanekingsley]

Kiley: we are going to cross paths I think. I'm staying just east of Terrace Bay on Saturday night and then on Sunday I'm following that route I posted above to arrive in Kenora. I'll keep an eye out for your nice looking bike.

 

[MacDoc]

that red glow coming over the horizon will be Kiley

 

[kiley]

***Special post***

So after doing some research on these Inukshuk I decided to make my own
On my way home I grabbed two rocks (one for me one for Charlotte) from all the provinces that I visited on this trip
BC Alberta Saskatchewan Manitoba and Ontario
When I crossed the Ontario border, I made my own Inukshuk
This one is called CharStev (pronounced Char Stev)
it's from the Latin meaning “Greek Sex God Warrior Princess”
it's to protect all travelers
It's designed to ward off all evil spirits, potholes, rains, and nasty crosswinds.
There's a chip wagon just before Granite Lake (like where else would I put it) and I put it across the road
if you see it feel free to give it the motorcycle 2 finger wave

We are all on a journey
I hope you all find peace in yours.