Here is an excerpt from Bill's final entry.

So today I was on my own and it's not near as much fun as riding with Lou but I made the 700+KM home in 8 hours as I was focused on the goal as opposed to the journey.

I tried to have that delicious smelling steak last night that I caught a whiff of on the highway into Valleyview, the tantalising scent literally pulled me off the highway and into the mo'tel parking lot. Sadly the physical manifestation of that meal fell far short of the promise and anticipation of it. That leads me to believe it was a manufactured odour, drolly comes in a 55 gallon drum with an automatic spray nozzle pointed at the highway from upwind. Funded by town council to boot!

I had been texting The Loverly Lady Eryn and was planning on getting home at 1300, and as such wanted to be on the road for 0900 for 3.5 hrs of driving, and 30 mins of stops. I slept until 0840, and was walking out the door at 0859! Gave me a minute to shoot a last day video too!



Very uneventful ride, although naturally the first 29 km were accomplished at 40 kph due to road construction, how fitting! How ironical for my last day! OK, OK, I capitulate!

Once we were back on fairly nice macadam I pinned the throttle at 140 kph and started doing the countdown math. The last 50 km coming into White Court suffered the same wavy road undulations that I remember from the day we were coming into Anchorage. The difference though was that the Alaskan highway versions had a short period (spacing) but a shallow frequency (depth) and that caused great instability of my bike when I would hit a series of them. Each dip would amplify the next until you'd start coming off the bike.

The Alberta version has a longer period and a much deeper frequency and became more like a carnival ride with my stomach doing flips and flops as I passed through them. Surely I didn't need to tap into my Dramamine supplies, do I? Just before White Court the road smoothed out and I didn't experience that again.

I stopped in WC for gas, and perhaps a tea, as I was a bit chilly. Without Bill and his scooter with me, all attention was focussed, unwelcomingly, on The Rocket. Usually people would gravitate towards Bill's scooter and pepper him with questions, I would stay, gratefully, in the shadows. Last night at the mo'tel there was a bus load of workers of some type all sporting British accents milling about in the parking lot. The arrival of a Triumph was a special occasion for them. I kept an ear out for the inevitable 'Propers!' & 'Brilliants!" and 'Horrids!" and I wasn't disappointed.

Anyway I digress. I am filling up my bike at the pumps and chose to leave my helmet on, and therefore my noise cancelling ear buds on, currently playing Linkin Park..............loud. On the other side of the pump a classic White Court pickup truck (that is huge!) pulls up and a Good Ole Boy tumbles out wearing a ballcap, jeans and a shirt with sleeves torn off. I kinda smirked to myself a bit but didn't make eye contact.

I slow the pump as I am filling the top of my tank when I sense someone is in my space. I turn around and Billy Bud has poked his head between the pumps and is talking to me. Although I can see he is asking me how many cc's The Rocket is (cus I can read his lips) I have no desire to pursue a conversation with him. I point at my helmet and say, "Sorry, I am wearing headphones, I can't hear you". He steps closer to me and yells the same question right into my face, I can smell his breath he is so close, it is a pure Good Ole Boy; cigarettes, coffee and tooth decay. I yell back that they are noise cancelling headphones so yelling won't help!

Now I know what it is like to own a Chinese restaurant but speak no English and have people yelling at you all day as if an increase in volume will somehow magically engages the Universal Translator.

This encounter kinda threw me off my game and I didn't go in search of tea. I texted BuBu so she knew what my ETA would be, and set off again at a buck forty! With only about 175 kms remaining in no time hwy 43 had intersected with the Yellowhead. Soon the Welcome to Edmonton sign which elicits the same emotional response of seeing the Alberta border sign.

I pass by the turn off to my office and know I am 14 minutes from home, at which I arrive at without further incident. I drop off my camera with BuBu, give her a quick kiss and then circle the block for a filmed arrival. Such the sacrifice for the Art!



I arrive at home for real 2 minutes later to warm reception from BuBu & Kacy. Finnygan largely ignores me at first, punishing me I think for being away, but he eventually comes around when he remembers me as the 'rub'ber of tummies'! Harvey shows up 5 minutes later complaining my pipes interrupted his nap!

As I start unpacking the bike it amazes me that it was only 142 hours ago that I was standing in the Arctic Ocean over 3700 kilometers away. That is pretty Kewl, but it is better to be home!

I received an email later in the day from Bill, he had also arrived safely. Here is his final blog entry:

I can't believe I slept in today (7:00AM) cuz I'm excited about seeing my best friend of 50+ years, in Penticton, and finding out if my power washing the radiator fixed the overheating problem. Yup, it surely did! My old scoot ran like it just came off the factory floor.

The day started out at 15C and warmed up to 35.5C here in sunny Penticton. So today I was on my own and it's not near as much fun as riding with Lou but I. Made the 700+KM in 8 hours as I was focused on the goal as opposed to the journey.

When he says best friend in Penticton, he means my sister and his wife Agnes. Awwwwww!

For the 2017 installment of Bill & Lou's Most Excellent Adventure we are toying the idea of driving to Belize, which is about 6500 km from Edmonton (comparable to driving to the Florida Keys) then flying the wives down for 2 weeks of beaches and Cervesa's then driving back. We're in a bit of a different income bracket than Bill & Agnes, but we'll see what we can do!

Once all stats are compiled I will publish my post amble report, plus I still owe you days 13&14 which are the Arctic Ocean round trip. I will also do one final update populating each day with pictures and videos, now that I am back in the land of 150 MB/s internet!

Until then, thanks for coming along for the ride!

Valleyview, AB to Edmonton, AB
349 km today, 10074 in total
4 hours in the saddle