Day 20: Prince Rupert to Port Hardy

Saying goodbye to Prince Rupert.

Tucking Sparkle and Bitchin' Linda in for the long ride

August 19/2010: We got up at obscenely early hour of 4:30 this morning to catch the BC ferry from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy.

The ferry crossing took 15 hours. We amused ourselves by watching the scenery.

Hailey, Robert, Justin and Marc (our hilarious waiter)

Exit stage left.

Dining with new friends and touring the ship's engine room.

Surprisingly, these doors aren't always locked.

Eric took us on a tour of the engine room.

A cylinder liner!

Yikes! That looks like it would hurt. Eric said that if we got in the way of the stabilizers we'd "become lubricant." 

This area is known as "void 14." Doesn't that sound like something out of a Douglas Adam's novel?

I regret that I did not have the nerve to lift the lid. Now I'll never know what Pierre was up to.

Day 19: Terrace to Prince Rupert

August 18/2010: Terrace is a strange town. When we first arrived, two cops stopped us as we walked down the street with a warning that it wasn't safe to park our bikes downtown. Encouraging. Then there was the little matter of not being able to order a beer. Seems the downtown bars are only open Thursday to Sunday, because with the economic downturn Terrace residents aren't hitting the bars during the weekdays. Which was bad news for us as it was a hot Wednesday and we'd ridden a long way. In the end we had to settle for coffee at Starbucks.

Prince Rupert

Prince Rupert

Prince Rupert

We left Terrace in the morning to battle crosswinds on Highway 16 en route to Prince Rupert. Later that afternoon officials closed the highway because of the wind and...wait for it...another forest fire. Fellow bikers who drove the route right after us recounted tails of trees and power lines falling across the road!

Hailey, making the most of our new luxury digs. Can you see? She is telling everyone there are four pillows!

I guess BC Ferries' reduced room rate at the Crest Hotel doesn't include a sea view.

With BC Ferries' new vacation package (thanks to Frenchy for telling us about it because BC Ferries didn't) we were able to afford a room in the swanky Crest Hotel (http://www.cresthotel.bc.ca/accomodations) in Prince Rupert.

Hailey's beet and blue cheese salad at the Crest Hotel. Sadly I forgot to take photos of the lemon martinis.

After a lovely dinner at the Crest Hotel, where I discovered the most delicious drink in the world--lemon martinis--we headed to the casino. Right after Hailey took this photo of me at the slot machine (where I lost $9.77 by the way) an official rushed over and insisted we delete the photo. We complied but the photo didn't actually get erased as I thought Hailey had deleted it and she thought I was being sneaky. Anyway, here it is.

Day 18: Hyder, AK / Stewart, BC to Terrace

August 17/2010: Sigh, another day another flat tire. Poor Hailey! Seems that puncture just won't hold the plug, or rather the plugs aren't keeping the air in. The answer? A bigger plug!

But no, the big plug doesn't do the job either. So Hailey resorts to using slime--fluorescent green goo/sealant-- considered the final solution when it comes to a job like this.

Unfortunately, all this fixing and inflating the rear tire with our little compression pump has worn out Sparkle's battery. Here you can see her getting lots of helpful advice. In the end we had to bump-start her bike by pushing her along Main Street.

We rode another 200 kms with Wayne and then said our goodbyes. He's such an awesome guy. We hope to run into him again soon.

Sigh. Another day, another grated bridge. (The Johnson Street bridge at home is going to be a snap compared to all of these northern bridges.) This is the Skeena Bridge in Terrace and not only is it grated. It has curves!

Anyway, long story short we're in Terrace tonight updating our blog in an Internet cafe. To date we've ridden 7,300 kms. Tomorrow we're heading to Prince Rupert where we'll catch the ferry home to Port Hardy.

Stay tuned...

Day 17: Iskut to Hyder, AK & Stewart, BC

August 16/ 2010: So the three of us are off to Hyder, Alaska--which is located right across the border from   Stewart, BC.

Bear Glacier on the way to Stewart.

The scenery is fantastic and there are some very nice curvy roads.

Main Street, Hyder

 But with 100 people and two bars, one of the things that Hyder is best known for is the tradition of getting "hyderized."

At the Glacier Inn in Hyder, innkeeper Judy sells the highest proof alcohol that anyone can legally buy (150 proof), serves it to you in a shot glass and explains the rules. "No sipping, no smelling, just slamming."

Of course, we had to do it.

Once we became sober again, we took a little trip down a dusty gravel road to the park where you could watch grizzly bears fishing. It was all lots of fun until Hailey got another flat tire...

Day 16: The fire barrier to Iskut

Morning on the Highway.

August 15/2010: After a fun night on the pavement, we were joined by nine other motorcyclists.

Including Wayne, who we met in Tok a few days back.

Of course, the barricade didn't open at 9 o'clock. So we had breakfast at Sally's Cafe with  Linda and Clint from Texas, and Wayne from Vancouver.

This sign in Sally's washroom gave us a giggle.

A few hours later we rode through the fire--77 kms of smoke. We don't have any photos of that ride because, hey, we were concentrating on getting through it. But I snapped this photo of Wayne and Hailey 40 kms south of the fire. As you can see, the smoke was still pretty thick.

Sparkle's first flat tire

Wayne decided to hang out with us for awhile so we rode to Dease Lake together, where Hailey got her first flat tire. (Note the foreshadowing.)

Turns out Hailey has hidden mechanical talents.

Day 15: Destruction Bay to the fire barrier (junction of Highway 37N and the Alaska Highway)

Maria catching some zzzzzzzzs.

August 14/2010:  We've discovered that the forest fire that we rode through earlier in our trip has actually spread, and Highway 37 is closed again. This is a problem for us as it is the ONLY route that we can take to get home in time. Vehicles are being escorted through the fire on an irregular basis. We've got to get a move on and grab opportunity we can get--it's 680 kms away!

Junction to Highway 37.

When we got to the fire barrier, we were greeted with this confidence-inspiring signage. However, the guys guarding the barricade said that there might be a crossing at 9 the next morning.

Getting ready for bed.

So we decided to make the most of it and camp on the pavement. We had cup-o-noodle soup, cheezies, chocolate and red wine for dinner. Party on!

Day 14: Tok to Destruction Bay

August 13/2010: Today's theme is road construction. Lots of it.

While waiting for the pilot car to lead us through the freshly graded deep loose gravel, this flagperson entertained us with tales of bikers having accidents and hitting bears. His delivery was deadpan so I'm still not sure if he was teasing us or just being a bastard.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention that we saw a moose. We were just rounding a corner when he came across him. He had one foot on the road and only turned back once he saw us. He was huge! I hear it's a good idea not to hit moose, they hurt. Actually,we have a whole lot of gruesome moose stories to impart but we'll wait until we get home and can trade them for beers.

Our tents at Destruction Bay.

Upon arrival in Destruction Bay, we bogarted the Internet work station at the Talbot Arms. We're travelling sans computer and it's been pretty hard to find one to use. Hence the delay in posting our blogs. We had a yummy meal at the Talbot Arms, tried to wash last night's fuel out of my clothes (unsuccessfully), and slept in the parking lot.