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On The Road with Lou!
- Blog
- North America
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Location Date Alberta 1534892400 Montana 1534719600 Idaho 1534633200 Nevada 1534546800 Colorado 1534460400 New Mexico 1534374000 Arizona 1534287600 Kansas 1533942000 Missouri 1533769200 Nebraska 1533596400 North Dakota 1533510000 British Columbia 
1471561200 Alaska 1471129200 Texas 1439506800 Louisiana 1438988400 Wyoming 1438470000 Mississippi 1409353200 Florida 1409266800 Pennsylvania 1408575600 Georgia (Usa) 1407970800 Tennessee 1407711600 Ohio 1312844400 Washington D.c. 1312498800 Maryland 1312412400 Indiana 1312326000 Iowa 1312153200 Minnesota 1312066800 Saskatchewan 1311894000 -
Location Date Fort Nelson 1471561200 Dease Lake 1470351600 Smithers 1470265200 Williams Lake
1470178800 Revelstoke 1470092400 Summerland 1470092400 Dawson Creek 1091660400
So with trip planned out, at least in principal, I was up at 0830ish and raring to go! My sister Agnes had a great breakfast prepared including fresh peaches and a glass of Mango juice, very tropical for a boy from the prairies!
We departed shortly after 0900, maybe a little bit late, and it took about 47 seconds for Bill and I to fall back into our riding routine. With some people it comes naturally, its just like riding a bike! Same thing with my BFF Rob Pakai, we could go a year without riding together and then when we did, it just came naturally.
We left the Summerland area via 97C and thankfully turned left at the junction to Clowna and started heading north and west. Traffic was fairly heavy, but once again, and it may be my imagination but it seemed to be heavier in the oncoming lane.
At Merritt, where we stopped for gas, we saw a 'shortcut' we thought we'd try, taking hwy 8 westbound, rather than 5 north toward Kamloops. This was a spectacular road with many twisties and elevation changes. The road was thoughtfully laid out in a way that you could connect the apexes and drive with a great rhythm. It didn't hurt that the scenery and the weather were both outstanding!
Highway 8 came to a T-intersection with Hwy 5 at Spences Bridge, I arrived first and while I recognized 5 as being our turn I didn't fully comprehend which way to turn! Natch I chose wrong and left we went, towards Hope/Vancouver. I saw the sign, and it gave me an unsettling feeling, but forward we charged, southbound!
About 35 km later in the small town of Lytton we finally pulled over to consult a map and discovered our error (notice the plurality of the tone of this!). We could get back on track by getting on hwy 12 northbound, or we could turn back, it was only 35 kms. As is our practice, we never turn back, forward we charged!
We get to said hwy 12 turn off, only to find the road closed due to construction. Grrrrhh! We end up doing what we should have done in the first place, we backtrack the 35 clicks and at the T-intersection go northbound.
Hey BC road construction, maybe a sign sometime before the road closure, especially when there is only one option? When you close that one option, what are we supposed to do?
We pass through Cache Creek and we are finally on Hwy 97 proper, a 2 lane divided hwy with frequent, lengthy passing lanes. Rarely do you need to pass traffic using the oncoming lane, it is a very safe system. The speed limit is 90 kph, which I find a little slow, we do 120, but I have seen very little law enforcement. Gotta be careful though, 40 kph over any posted limit in BC is an automatic vehicle impound if caught! That is the result of a guy on a ****** rocket that was caught do 300 kph on the Coquihalla. He wasn't caught in real life, but by tracking him down through Social Media from a video he posted of himself doing it. ******!
The towns in this section of hwy 97 are all named XXX Mile House; 70 Mile House, 93 Mile House, 100 Mile House, etc. We are trying to figure out how many miles from what? We are not successful on our own but due to the sum of human knowledge being at our fingertips; here is what Wikipedia has to say: It acquired its current name during the Cariboo Gold Rush where a roadhouse was constructed in 1862 at the 100 miles mark on the old Cariboo Road from Lillooet. Mystery solved! The other towns along the way apparently jumped on the naming convention bandwagon. I call it lazy!
We eventually stopped in Williams Lake for the day, a picturesque little town flanking a nice lake. We drove the entire length of it and reached the point where the speed was back up to 90 kph, we turned around and headed back to a mo'tel that had a mini golf course attached. You can never go wrong with a mo'tel with mini golf. Regular readers will know of my penchant for selecting, shall we say, less than desireable accommodations. The usual standard is paved lot and baskets of pansies. We got the pansies (in spades!), but the paved lot was replaced with mini golf.
Bill went for tasty adult algific beverages and upon his return we enjoyed a couple of dust busters on the patio in front of our rooms, we then freshened up, and scheduled a lobby call for 1830hrs. I called us a cab to take us for dinner (no drinking and driving, not even one!) and we went to a Bar & Grill we had seen on the way into town. We enjoyed a nice dinner, and spirited conversations and were home by 2030hrs. Party animals or what, eh? Turning in early gives me the opportunity to work on my blog, currently only 1 day behind.
Summerland to Williams Lake
707 kms (including 70 km do over)
7.5 hours in the saddle
We departed shortly after 0900, maybe a little bit late, and it took about 47 seconds for Bill and I to fall back into our riding routine. With some people it comes naturally, its just like riding a bike! Same thing with my BFF Rob Pakai, we could go a year without riding together and then when we did, it just came naturally.
We left the Summerland area via 97C and thankfully turned left at the junction to Clowna and started heading north and west. Traffic was fairly heavy, but once again, and it may be my imagination but it seemed to be heavier in the oncoming lane.
At Merritt, where we stopped for gas, we saw a 'shortcut' we thought we'd try, taking hwy 8 westbound, rather than 5 north toward Kamloops. This was a spectacular road with many twisties and elevation changes. The road was thoughtfully laid out in a way that you could connect the apexes and drive with a great rhythm. It didn't hurt that the scenery and the weather were both outstanding!
Highway 8 came to a T-intersection with Hwy 5 at Spences Bridge, I arrived first and while I recognized 5 as being our turn I didn't fully comprehend which way to turn! Natch I chose wrong and left we went, towards Hope/Vancouver. I saw the sign, and it gave me an unsettling feeling, but forward we charged, southbound!
About 35 km later in the small town of Lytton we finally pulled over to consult a map and discovered our error (notice the plurality of the tone of this!). We could get back on track by getting on hwy 12 northbound, or we could turn back, it was only 35 kms. As is our practice, we never turn back, forward we charged!
We get to said hwy 12 turn off, only to find the road closed due to construction. Grrrrhh! We end up doing what we should have done in the first place, we backtrack the 35 clicks and at the T-intersection go northbound.
Hey BC road construction, maybe a sign sometime before the road closure, especially when there is only one option? When you close that one option, what are we supposed to do?
We pass through Cache Creek and we are finally on Hwy 97 proper, a 2 lane divided hwy with frequent, lengthy passing lanes. Rarely do you need to pass traffic using the oncoming lane, it is a very safe system. The speed limit is 90 kph, which I find a little slow, we do 120, but I have seen very little law enforcement. Gotta be careful though, 40 kph over any posted limit in BC is an automatic vehicle impound if caught! That is the result of a guy on a ****** rocket that was caught do 300 kph on the Coquihalla. He wasn't caught in real life, but by tracking him down through Social Media from a video he posted of himself doing it. ******!
The towns in this section of hwy 97 are all named XXX Mile House; 70 Mile House, 93 Mile House, 100 Mile House, etc. We are trying to figure out how many miles from what? We are not successful on our own but due to the sum of human knowledge being at our fingertips; here is what Wikipedia has to say: It acquired its current name during the Cariboo Gold Rush where a roadhouse was constructed in 1862 at the 100 miles mark on the old Cariboo Road from Lillooet. Mystery solved! The other towns along the way apparently jumped on the naming convention bandwagon. I call it lazy!
We eventually stopped in Williams Lake for the day, a picturesque little town flanking a nice lake. We drove the entire length of it and reached the point where the speed was back up to 90 kph, we turned around and headed back to a mo'tel that had a mini golf course attached. You can never go wrong with a mo'tel with mini golf. Regular readers will know of my penchant for selecting, shall we say, less than desireable accommodations. The usual standard is paved lot and baskets of pansies. We got the pansies (in spades!), but the paved lot was replaced with mini golf.
Bill went for tasty adult algific beverages and upon his return we enjoyed a couple of dust busters on the patio in front of our rooms, we then freshened up, and scheduled a lobby call for 1830hrs. I called us a cab to take us for dinner (no drinking and driving, not even one!) and we went to a Bar & Grill we had seen on the way into town. We enjoyed a nice dinner, and spirited conversations and were home by 2030hrs. Party animals or what, eh? Turning in early gives me the opportunity to work on my blog, currently only 1 day behind.
Summerland to Williams Lake
707 kms (including 70 km do over)
7.5 hours in the saddle
- comments
Rob Pakai Looks Like some riding roads. Nice motel. I see you left the furnishings of your room inside rather than relocating them to the parking lot.