July 30         861 miles
 Miles of asphalt today, Ottawa at rush hour and got lost in Montreal back in Maine late! Rain 50 miles before the Boarder and 50 miles after then clear moon lit skies. Glad to be home, the best thing is to have a full size pillow again. I wanted a photo of the welcome to Maine but it was raining to hard!! Now off to the coast to play it the ocean, from coast to coast.

July 29 th                545 miles
 Very cool morning to start, up early and on the road. From Buhlua Wisconsin to Espanloa Ontario. Modeled it tonight on the road till almost dark.A sweet lady was the owner. Tomorrow another long day! Back into the eastern time zone again. A rain shower spoiled my record of no rain too. The excitement of the day was a deer 10 ft away at 6:30 am on the side of the road.

July 28                  303 miles
 Met some great folks from St.Paul last night. They came into the camping ground on motorcycles  and set up tents. They were just out for a overnight. Mike ,his wife Deb,there daughter and boyfriend. We went to the local VFW for a few beers. Had a great time a typical American town. Another clear day to start cool  in the 60's. Went from Dawson Minn. to Buhlua WI. Back on to Rt 2 again. The coolest thing of the day was to see a large bird, I thought it was a Turkey vulture over road kill. When it turned to pick up the road kill it was a Bald Eagle, it was about 50 ft away when I went by. Wish I could get the camera out quicker.

July 27           419 miles.
  Cool and partly cloudy to start. Camped outside the Badlands, the area outside the park is as cool as the park itself. The road east is strait and rolling farm land. Still fields of sunflower,corn and wheat as far as you can see. I can see how we can feed the world! The American farmers are the best! This part of the country doesn't need to be watered like the west. The grasslands are green from mother nature. Lots of miles today, into Minn. hope to make Rt 2 again tomorrow. 4-5 days from home. Cool tonight 40's in the 60's today. The great lakes influence.

July 26th               252 miles
 A cool and partly cloudy day to start. Thunder showers at 3 am but by morning clear to partly cloudy. Stayed in Spearfish SD. last night.Stopped in Sturgis to say that I was there. It's definitely a Harley town. A week before the big week there are bikes every where. From there to Crazy horse. A great story behind it. All the money is private money no Government money. The work is being carried on by the family of the original sculpture. Five Indian chiefs  contracted him to do the work. The work started with just one person! A man with a vision. Now they use much more advanced equipment. Then off to Mt. Rushmore didn't go to the visitors center to many tourist! Lots of buffalo in the park and they stop traffic just like the ones in Yellowstone did. Took the Needles road very curvy but lots of sand and gravel so looked for another way out of the park and took the Iron mountain road! Another miles of smiles, 317 curves on the road only a few buffalo. Lots of fun still wearing the sides of the tires yahoo! Would recommend to any one on two wheels. From there to Wall SD. to have a buffalo burger and a 5ct coffee. Then into the Badlands National park. Very cool, looks like every time it rains the sand runs to the bottom. It changes all the time. The native people called it the bad land to cross because of the harsh conditions. Stayed outside the park and will start to head east tomorrow. So still lots of highway to go. 6496 miles so far.

July 25      371 miles

Another day of sun and fun from Cody Montana to Spearfish SD. From Cody to Buffalo was just great another high pass 9600 ft. From hot to cold to hot again! Took a side trip to Devil's tower  another natural site that are amazing to see. The native lore is the children were saved from the bear,the marks on the side of the plateau are from the bears claws trying to get the children. As I get closer to Sturgis there are a lot of bikes on trailers at all the camp grounds. They are missing the adventure of the trip. I met a couple in Beartooth pass from Minnesota. the put the bike in the back of the pickup then rode when the got to a central place of interest they rode two up. They could carry a lot more equipment, I carry 120+lbs. It would be nice to have someone to take photos, so I could keep both hands on the handle bars!

July 24        334 miles
 Into Yellowstone the first large animal was a elk off in the distance. Next thing was a buffalo in the middle of the road. Like a moose they go where they want to, or just stand in the middle of the road to stop traffic! He thought the road was his just like moose do. Cars didn't bother them. Of course every one had to take photos. So at every buffalo there was a traffic jamb.Traffic was backed for more than a mile or better for the first heard of buffalo! Glad I was on a motorcycle to go around most of the traffic. The park is truly beautiful every where you look.Went to see Old Faithful but didn't want to wait for the eruption with all the people, I could see a huge traffic jamb after with all the people leaving at once. Lots of traffic every where,not much room to enjoy the twisty roads. The best riding was from the Northeast entrance to Red Lodge. Known as the Beartooth pass. The pass is the highest pass in the area at 10,958 ft. Not much time to take photos because of all the turns! A great place to ware the sides of the tires,would recommend the ride to everyone on two wheels. The best yet, miles and miles of twists.Had dinner in Red Lodge then off to Cody Mt. to camp. I know that the tent can stand lots of wind! At 3am I woke to a 50 mph wind, had to look to see if my bike was still standing! Heading to Spearfish SD. tomorrow.

July 23     372 miles
   From Boise to West Yellowstone, the town of west Yellowstone is at 7700 ft. A very touristy town. No rain yet still blue skies. Could use some rain to wash the smoke out of the air. Couldn't see the mountains because of the smoke. Once in the mountains from the plains the sky was blue again. Will go through Yellowstone tomorrow out the northeast entrance to Red Lodge over Beartooth pass. The town is a typical tourist town. I did get to do laundry,hope its the last time before home. Saw the first antelope today a long way across the fields.

July 22               269 miles
 Still blue sky and no clouds!    Woke during the night to the smell of smoke, had to get up to see if the campground was on fire. I was safe but the smoke form the parries fires. I couldn't get back to sleep so it was up early and on the road. From Ochoco national forest in Oregon  to Boise Id. From the cool of the mountains to the high dessert heat! The ride down from the mountains to the plains was great. Great views and curvy roads. You could see the smoke in the valleys. Having trouble with photo uploads. Be back soon.

July 21 st           330 miles
 Went to the west coast today,and to the Pacific Ocean. Didn't swim too cold!!! There were people at the beach but not in the water. Lots of kite flying and beach combing going on. The trip back east starts here, was planning on going back on Route 20 across Oregon but was advised to go Rt. 26 because of parries fires and lots of smoke. You could see the smoke in the air in the valleys. From the coast to the high dessert today. From cold to hot in the same day. Near the Continental divide and headed east!

July 20th           6 miles
  Cloudy to start but clear by noon. Lots of folk at the rally, 5178!!!
Didn't win a new bike but better luck next year in St.Paul Minn.  Changed the oil in the bike getting ready for the trip home. The band was Tommy Castro and the painkillers, and the Paul Thorn Band. Both great shows!!

July 19th      0 miles

 A few clouds to start but by 11:00 the sun was out with a nice breeze. Checked the vendor building again and volunteered again.  The evening entertainment was Jonny Lang. Great show and a great group of people.

July 18th    0 miles
  4573 miles so far, washed the bugs off the bike today. Worked the beer garden again, viewed the vendor area lots of nice stuff if you have the money!  Canned Heat was the entertainment for the night it sounded great.

July 17th       31 miles
  Spent the morning doing laundry and finding Walmart! Traveled 31 miles to find both. If I knew the way it was about 4 miles away!  Spent the afternoon volunteering at the beer tent, putting my food service experience to good use. Another beautiful day 80's during the day 50's at night.

July 16th           235 miles
  From the state park to mount Hood. It is the largest landmark in the area. Orchards after orchard,apples,cherries and pears. Lavender is big here too, garden after garden of it.At Mount Hood they ski year round over 12k ft high. Lots of skiers, quite a site to see skies and ski boots every where. Row after row a cars with ski racks on them in July!!!! From there we traveled some of the most fun roads yet! One car road with all the twist and turns you can imagine! Made it to Salem early. Lots of people there already, as always great folks from all over, every where you go.

July 15th                       428 miles
  Another great riding day. Keith and I talked to the caretaker of the campground in Republic Washington,he gave use a great route to take. It took us to the Grand Coulee dam. It was a beautiful ride from forest to the high plains. The plains are very dry, everyone has to water everything to get things to grow the soil is sandy fr om the rocks it comes from. All the farms have irrigation systems to grow things, corn,sunflowers ect.. In Washington the corn is ready to pick in places. The Columbia River gets bigger and bigger, traveled for a great distance along the shore. Sail boats and cabin cruisers every where. Even tug boats!!! The river is the boarder of Washington and Oregon. We crossed into Oregon at the Dalles. There is lots of commerce on the river. Stayed in Ainsworth state park on historic route 30. We traveled along it and saw 5-6 huge waterfalls. Hoursetail falls is 529ft tall. The Multnomah falls are the largest. The area is very nice,cool temps and curvy roads. The land was donated by Simon Benson, a lumber baron. Using the river to move the wood to market. Still 80 to 100 miles to the ocean. The river is more than a mile wide in places. Went to Crown Point and got to see how large the river is!!

July 14                                         450 miles
          Off to Salem, 800+miles to go. First bike out at 6:15 am.  Another beautiful day Banff is just awesome! Still much damage to the roads from the rains that flooded Calgary. It's been almost a month and they are still repairing the sides of the roads. Creek beds turned into rageing rivers. Still the glacial rivers are a beautiful green!! Lots of wildlife, deer are every where. The transition from mountains to lower lands are a site to see. From 10k ft mountains to 5k ft mountains. Now the mountains are tree covered. The mountain passes are still over 5k or more. Dropped back into the US again. Everything in Canada is more expensive food and fuel, you wounder how they can afford things. Roads it the area are some of the best to ride on a motorcycle!! Corners with 15mph signs!!! lots of 20 and 30mph corners. Crossed the start of the Columbia River in Canada and in Washington it looks like a lake its so large and will get bigger too! In a different time zone again 3 hrs now. Keith from La. was my riding partner and will ride to Salem Oregon.

July 13                                0 miles
 Rally day! Good food and good friends. Good stories from all the different events from all over. The slide show of the trip to South America from top to bottom. It was written about in the last 5 MOA articles. Lots of effort in the 40 thousand mile trip. lots of logistics to make it happen.

July 12                               2 miles
  Bow Creek Lunatic Fringe Rally. Cold last night 40* this morning. The folks that run the rally are Magna and Ika from Holland. Ika and I talked cooking, he has worked in institutional settings. Hospital and Corrections. Lots of great folks from all over the US and Canada. Truly amazing how many folks go from rally to rally. They know each other from past rally's year to year. First dinner beans and dogs. After dinner a presentation and slide show of Baja Mexico with Dave Anderson. He has been making the trip for 11 years now. Tomorrow's show will be of a trip to south America by the guy who wrote the pieces in the MOA magazines.

July 11 th                                        250 miles
Partly cloudy and windy today. The trip to Calgary was uneventful until going through town at noon time. Lots of traffic and lots of folks going to The Stampede events. Every one was in full cowboy and cowgirl gear on! Lost for awhile in all the traffic but finely got to Cochrane Alberta, where the first rally is. Went to a local campground and met 5 others going to the rally. They are from all over the States. Most have been on the road for more than a month. Tim from Arizona has been going to rallys since May! He has more than 290 thousand miles on his R1200LT All great guys! Keith from Louisiana was the first one there.

July 10th                               303 miles
 A true cloudless day!!!  Left Havre Montana and headed west again. Went from the high plains to the mountains today. The mountains are breath taking snow still on the east slopes.Farming is still the biggest industry in the US and Canada.Miles and miles of fields of wheat.Made the trip to East Glacier today, the views are great. Went into the hotel at East Glacier, built with real logs. Some 3-4 ft thick. Great views from there too. Found the Mex restaurant that Dr Koons had told me about but it didn't open til 5pm and I was there at 1 pm. I did miss that margareta though, darn! From there it was north on some nice motorcycle roads, smooth and curvy. Once in Alberta smooth sailing to Fort Macleod and Daisey Mays campground for the night. Off to Calgary tomorrow.

Good day folks, finely a place with good internet service.
  July 9th                 20 miles
  Took the day to dry out after yesterday's rain and wind,thunder and lightning. Went to see the local points of interest. One is the Buffalo Jump where the native americans would heard the buffalo over the cliff and harvest them at the bottom of the cliff. The dig site found bones and tools used. There they would cook and dry the meat. The site was found in the early 60's and worked until the 80's The dig goes back 2000 years to 600 years ago.The amazing thing is that they walked every where. And carried every thing they owned! There were no horses  until the white man came to the area. Also want to mention Heather and Roger at the Evergreen camp ground, more great folks.

July 8th. 60 miles today. Will stay here in Harve for another night. Rain and thunder showers are here for the day,they also project hail possible too. Good day to take care of house keeping,laundry and shopping. Hard rain and wind, thunder and lighting around noon. Got back to camp just in time to keep the laundry dry!!!! More showers tomorrow will play it by ear and weather. Still have a day or two to work with. Next I head North again so cell and wireless service are iffy. Will be in touch soon.

July 7th 175 miles Another beautiful day, finely into the hills. Met the first person to know where Skowhegan was. His name is Wayne an he is from NH. He worked on the paper mill construction in the 90's. He stayed at The mid-town hotel! Made it to Havre MT. for the night. Every thing going well.

July 6th 475 miles Rained last night but by morning it was partly cloudy so off I went. Two hours into the ride it started to rain again. First riding in the rain. After a hour of rain it quit. ND is still flat and lots of oil biz going on. Many wells pumping and new wells being drilled. Many oil tanker trucks here too. Staying in Glasgow MT. tonight There are hills again,rolling hills. Farm fields as far as you can see. Huge farm equipment here tractors with 12 tires! Ear plugs kept the train noise at night to a minimum.

July 5th 243 miles

Anotheer cloudless day. Had bike issues today the rear breaks were grinding at low speeds. The BMW owner anonymous book was a life saver. Called in Grand Falls and spoke with Mike. He told me to come over and he would have a look.He couldn't help but told me the nearest BMW dealer was in Winnepeg 2.5 hours north. Mike and his wife were great provided water and a bathroom break. Great folks. So north I went,more flat land than you can imagine. Fields of corn,sunflowers and grain as far as you could see. The dealership had the break pads I needed. I asked if someone could listen to the breaks for a 2nd opinion. Before I knew it they had me in the shop and the work done in no time. What great customer service. Wildwood Motorsports is the dealership. If you ever need anything in the area do stop in. Paul the owner,Les the salesman and Dave who did the work are Great!!! Back on the road south and to ND. Stayed in the Icelandic State park for the night.Everyone warned me about travel on Rt 2 west. The oil biz has made travel a mess,one hour to get through a town with one stop light. Oil tanker trucks every where. I plan to travel Rt 5 along the Canada boarder. Same as Rt 2 but much less traffic.

July 4th 527 miles Not much to tell but that there is lots of farming going on here. You an see the horizon in all directions, the hills are the overpasses! Fields of sunflowers,soy beans and grain. Stayed at the state campground in town East Grand Falls Minn.Had a great view of the fireworks from my tent. Every thing is surrounded by burms, because of the flooding. The river flows north so it melts south before the north,causing all the flooding. The Red River flows between Grand Falls,ND and East Grand falls Minn.

Good day folks, Hope this update works. Limited cell and wireless service. Wed. July 3rd. An easy day only 133 miles a site seeing day. Traveled the North shore of Lake Superior today. Very beautiful sites every where. At Two Harbors I talked with a man who said to travel to Split Rock bay light house and Beaver bay. Also to check out the old AT&T transmitter site there they rock climb on the sheer cliffs. It is about 150ft to the water. There were lots of people climbing there. Very cool.

Photos of the trip

The adventure begins June 29th.

Good day folks the first update on my adventure. The trip started on Sunday June 29th. From Skowhegan to Wilderness tours in Forster Falls Ont. 442 miles from Skowhegan. Only got lost for about a half mile because of poor signs. I did not know it was Canada Day so Wilderness Tours was packed. Whitewater rafting is big there because of the Ottawa River that runs through the area.Because of the holiday fireworks were everywhere. Made for a short night. Rafters know how to have fun! The weather was cloudy but no rain. Good riding weather. Monday July 1st. Forester Falls to Brimley Michigan. 453 miles. Another beautiful day for riding,easy to get there because of only one road to follow, the Trans Canada highway. No map reading for this part of the trip. Went through Sudbury Ontario,home of the largest nickle smelter. The smoke stack is the tallest land mark in the area. Can be seen for miles in all directions. In Sault Ste Marie there are locks between the lakes,very cool way to get big ships from lake to lake. Stayed in Brimley stste park for the night. Met great folks,Todd and his wife Ann and two daughters were in the next camp site. provided great hospitality that night. Tuesday July 2nd. Brimley Michigan to Duluth Minnesota. 433 miles. Could not ask for a better day,sunny and cool. Riding by Lake Superior is like riding by the ocean back home. When the wind is off the water it was very cool almost cold! Stopped by the Point Iroquois Light house in the Hiawatha National Forest. As I was leaving met the care taker Gilley. He had been in Maine years ago while in the Navy.So he knew Maine. Told him I was going to the BMW rally he told me to look for someone with a hat like his by the name of Saul and to say hello.This gentleman goes to many BMW rallys across the country. Gilley told me to follow the shore road to see the sites. So many beautiful beaches, and no one at them. Saw a doe and twin fawns cross in front of me. The mom was in the woods before you knew it but the fawns wanted to check every thing out crossing the road. Very cool! staying here for two nights to rest and relax and read the map for the next part of the adventure. Will update in a few days. Happy 4th of July to everyone!

Pack, Unpack, Pack, Mount Up, Remove...Repeat

Packed once,packed ten times!

   

 each time take something out, 115 pounds of stuff to travel.