Everett, Aeroplanes & some Bike Issues

Just outside Seattle we find accommodation at Everett so we are Close to the Boeing factory at Paine Field for a visit, John has to wear his 767 hat, a retirement present from his former BA colleagues.

Hi to everybody at Heathrow!!

The factory tour takes you around the huge hanger which at 13,385,378 cu m is the largest building by volume in the world to view the 747, 777 & 787 production lines. The process from 747 to 787 is entirely different & it's fascinating to see these huge monsters under construction, it's a shame they won't allow cameras inside.

John contacts Sergio a former Boeing contact & we spend a great evening over a few beers & a burger, it's a good job I'm interested in aviation as well!!
My bike is now making some horrid transmission noise so I book it in with an independent mechanic, Sergio also kindly offers us the use of his car which will be a great help over the next couple of days.

The next day it's more planes with a visit to 'The History of Flight' Museum at King County Airfield, this attraction is highly recommended with the original Boeing 'Red Barn' factory, exhibits on general aviation as well as First & Second World War displays.

I think Julie is pleased that she is not with John on this part of our trip, there ain't much here for the ladies!
One thing I didn't know is that the worlds first fighter plane was an Italian Caproni Ca 20, this one spent 85 years in the loft of a convent.

We completely run out of time as there is so much to see, read & watch so we have no opportunity to look around the original 'Air force One' the first 747 or my personal favourite a 'Super Constellation'. 

Back In The USA

Due to our delay at the Motorcycle Museum & impending rain a quick adjustment was made to our destination & we overnighted in Vernon BC, today our destination is Omak in Washington along the west side of Okanagen Lake with a border crossing south of Osoyoos.

This valley is wine & fruit growing country on both sides of the border but we resist the urge to stop for a tasting session.

Omak is a small town close to the North Cascades National Park so we hope our route tomorrow along Highway 20 will be a good one.

We are not disappointed as the road seems to be a bit of a bike mecca as the early sunshine has brought the Harley's out, we start off early but have to retrace our steps to O'Riley's as John has developed an oil leak, an hour of so later with some liquid gasket it's fixed & we are on our way.

Along the route we visit Winthrop a tourist spot recreating the 'Wild West' even the gas station is appropriately themed.

Mount Baker is close & the route rises to around 1600m, plenty of snow is still around with the road following the Skagit River with three dams forming Ross Lake.

We also pass the site of the Oso mudslide that claimed 42 lives back in March, the huge scar on the landscape is a reminder to the power of nature! The road pass the site has only just reopened with no stopping allowed.

Wells Gray Provincial Park, Logging Road & Motorcycles!

Before we head South towards the US border we decide to visit the Wells Gray Provincial Park to take a look at 'Helmcken Falls', the road also heads out to Clearwater Lake but with the amount of lakes around here we give it a miss.

This park is where the white-water rafting took place & is an area of fantastic natural beauty, the weather is not perfect with some light showers.

The information provided in these parks is fantastic, this particular sign informs us that this area is home to 30 different types of mosquito, after a quick 'bathroom' visit to the woods I think they all found me & not in the most appropriate place!!

The road to the falls also passes 'Dawson Falls' & the 'Mush Bowl', the volume of water is incredible, no hose pipe ban here.

The road passes a number of green meadows bursting with wild flowers & a remote golf course, the Canadians are certainly geared up for outdoor recreation.

We turn off highway 5 at Louis Creek, again the train passes close to a lake but this time it did appear on cue.

We plot a route to the US avoiding a couple of major towns including Kamloops, it takes us past past Adams Lake which looks great in the sun.

The route includes a gravel section used as a logging road but the surface is good, at a sawmill we can see how the truckers load the rear section of their trucks having offloaded the delivery of logs.

Timber is also delivered via the lake with pontoons dragged behind tugs, the timber in Canada is however running out & the trade is shrinking.

Not far from Sorrento we see some signs for a motorcycle museum, it means we will have to change our final destination but we can't pass it by.

The display includes bikes from around the world with many of the usual British makes & of course some BMW's, a great audio tour also provides details of most of the exhibits.

We met the owner Mark Lane who casts an envious eye over my bike (Yah right!!), for more details of the museum visit www.dreamcycle.ca.
The museum is close to Chris in Sicamous, if you pay him a visit make sure you take a trip here.

Valemount, Clearwater & a Splash of Whitewater

Valemount was our overnight stop and is in a lovely location surrounded by mountains on all sides, this is the snowmobile capital of BC so I guess we will need to come back in the winter.

The local museum in a relocated railway station makes a great visit in the morning with a stop at the Swiss bakery next door providing exceptional pastries for lunch.

We have booked a day's white water rafting in Clearwater for Thursday 26th so a leisurely 100 mile ride to our Motel on the shore of Dutch Lake makes it an easy day on the bike.

It's Canada day on the 1st July & the local horse display team are out practising to an AC/DC track, flags are also on display everywhere as the country gears up for a holiday weekend.

Clearwater gets it's name from the exceptionally clear water in the river & lake due to the volcanic & granite rock with no silt deposit, we have booked the 'Guaranteed Addiction' all day raft trip with IWE http://interiorwhitewater.com/.

Prior to tackling the rapids we take a short hike to Moul Falls with the opportunity to walk behind the cascading water, very refreshing!

The rapids are class 3 & 4 out of 6 with the water very high at the moment and a flow of around 800 cubic metres a second, I think we are addicted.

We negotiate 'The Sabre Tooth' & 'The S Bends' twice as well as 'Shane's Demise' & they don't disappoint, what a great day! If you are out this way you must not pass a raft trip bye.

Service Due & a Re-visit to Old Friends

Due to the early ferry docking we see nothing of the area close to Prince Rupert which is supposed to be pretty scenic (to be fair virtually everywhere around here is).
We hope to get to Prince George today some 440 miles distant but the lack of sleep on the noisy ferry makes the going tough at times.

This is the Lakes district of BC although the whole country has plenty, this is Frazer Lake & you can see that the rain has stopped with the weather improving as we travel.

This area is 'Logging' country with huge wood-yards & sawmills along the way, plenty of work here for Dave or Nick.
At this lumber yard, don't they mean 'induction' or is 'indoctrination' the Canadian way?

Prince George is a transit town with no great interest & the next day we are back to Jasper, as you can see John is still suffering from the poor sleep over the last few days.

When we reach McBride we come across some more 'Air-Heads' at a fuel stop!!

These signs are frustrating as we stretch our necks looking for the 'abundant' wildlife, we think the critters put up the notices just for a laugh & then go hide!!

Here we stop to take a view of Mount Robson at 3954m the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies, first climbed in 1913 by Kain, MacCarthy & Foster, the flowers are pretty too.

Moose Lake looks glorious in the afternoon sun & has the railway running right beside it, I ask John to organise a train to enhance the picture but he fails.

As we approach Jasper there is another time change as we enter Alberta, we have a dinner appointment with Wayne & Janice at 6pm, we arrive on time (that makes a change!).
We are made very welcome & have a great evening, John now has lots of dirt on Graham his daughter Alex's friend.

It's now back to Edson a short ride away to utilise Don's workshop for our overdue service as we have already done over 6,000 miles since we arrived. 
it's a glorious still day again & the reflections in the shallow lakes are at their best.

Thanks again Don & Pauline as not only did we get the service sorted at a much better location than a hotel car park, we also came across this magnificent Elk on the way!!!
Those antlers must weigh a ton.

We leave Edson on the 24th and make our way to Valemount, the weather deteriorates & we enter rain, this area is classed as a temperate rain forest so I guess we should expect it.
We did however not expect to find hummingbirds this far north, we wonder what they do in the winter but they evidently travel south to Mexico!!!

Skagway & The Inside Passage

What a difference a day makes, after our glorious day for the glacier flight we leave Haines in the rain for the short ferry trip to Skagway.

Skagway was one of the trail start points for the Klondike gold-rush with prospectors arriving from Seattle & San Francisco before a 400 mile journey to Dawson City.
Any successful Gold prospector from those times thoroughly deserved their riches although in reality it was mostly the shops & bar owners that made the big money.

Nowadays the Gold for this area comes from visiting cruise ships & you can see that they dock right at the bottom of the main street.

Four of these monsters arrive every day & they dwarf the restored buildings which mostly now house jewellery & gift shops (some actually owned by the cruise lines!). The town itself has several interesting gold-rush related museums & is very much kept in the character from those times.

The 'White Pass & Yukon Railway' is one of the main attractions & is the reason the town survived, initially serving the gold mining it was later used to supply the construction of the Alaska Highway in 1942, now it's just for tourists.

We take a ride up the White Pass & come across this guy by the side of the road.

More mountains again but similar to the rest of the area, can you get mountained out?

Dyea use to be another town at the start of the Chilkoot trail but after Skagway got the train it died, this is all that's left!

Our ferry leaves on the 21st June taking us down the Inner Passage to Prince Rupert, the departure is at 7.15am & initially the weather is not looking too bad.

This was the route taken by the gold-rush ships & several lighthouses were constructed at the time, this hexagonal one at Eldred Rock is the only surviving original one from 1905.

The ship docks at several points along the way including Petersburg, we also catch sight of a few killer whales but they are too brief for us to grab any pictures.

At Ketchikan there is the largest dry-dock in Alaska & busy float-plane activity, the route is very scenic but persistent rainfall & low cloud means we don't see it at its best.

The ferry docks at 2.15am so for the first & hopefully the last we ride a few hours in the dark, & rain, the headlights look a little dim at first but we get used to it.