Valdese and Asheville. North Carolina. USA. Friday. 03 June 2010
USA and Canada – Summer of 2011
From North Carolina to New Orleans, Louisiana, then north to our 49 th
State, Alaska
A Travel Summary
Good morning Family and Friends –
Today’s trip is with the same white 1986 R 80 G/ S BMW motorcycle as
before. The bike has been mechanically restored, at 349,282 miles, this
past winter and spring by Ivan Messino of Motorrad, Unlimited of
Asheville, North Carolina.
The planned route of the ride is to New Orleans, Louisiana, north to
Fairbanks, Alaska, and then turn south on an uninstructed route to
California. Plan to return home in late October or early November.
An
Itinerary follows with accompanying Travel Notes:
All is going well.
With best regards,
Nick
William L. Palmer . Valdese . North Carolina
. USA
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
ITINERARY
Day 01
0 miles
reading)
Asheville , North Carolina
03 June 2010 (349,863 miles – beginning trip odometer
Day 16
2,922 miles
Northwest Angle of Minnesota – Lake of the Woods
18 June 2011 (352,785 miles)
Day 23
Dawson Creek , British Columbia , Canada , Southern
Terminus of the Alaska Highway
4,633 miles
25 June 2011 (354,496 miles)
Day 28
Delta Junction, Alaska , Northern Terminus of the Alaska
Highway
1,475 traveled miles (1,422 miles actual construction miles)
6,018 miles
30 June 2011 (355,976 miles)
Day 32
6,504 miles
Anchorage , Alaska
04 July 2011 (356,367 miles)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
TRAVEL NOTES
North Carolina and Tennessee
Rode west through the Appalachian Mountains on earlier established
roadways along the Little Tennessee River (Fontana Dam and the
Appalachian Trail), crossing the Tennessee state line on Highway US 129
to Pumpkin Center - 318 curves in a distance of 11 miles, Summer has
arrived with + 99 F showing on a bank’s window in Sweet Water,
Tennessee at 5:30 PM.
Georgia and Alabama
Missed seeing Bill Lueising of Atlanta , a classmate at Chapel Hill , NC .
Had a late afternoon meal with his college roommate, Bob Walker, at the
HickoryTavernthe evening before departure. A well maintained Capital and
Grounds of the State of Alabamain Montgomeryand missed what would
have been another pleasant visit with Dwight (Hop) and Virginia Harrigan in
Fulton at their home, Orange Hill.
Now, in the “Heat of the Summer” and the first day of calendar summer,
the 21st of June - a couple weeks away.
Mississippi, Louisiana , Mississippi , Tennessee
Heat and humidity are making themselves known with intermittent quick
and strong lightening showers.
The newly replaced stainless steel exhaust headers are turning to a
strawberry bronze hue with dark blue included on the left one.
Lake Pontchartrainhas a new duel bridge (I-10), three lanes each with
wide shoulders. Entering New Orleans an electrical storm commenced at
Exit 235a for the French Quarter. Lightening strikes and fire engines
could be heard nearby for more than an hour (remained out of harm’s way)
– then when the sun came out on to Jackson Square, the “Café de Monde”
– coffee and chicory with several beignets. Recommended by Phil Coleman
but missed Center Grocery’s muffulettasandwichat 923 Decatur Street ,
created by its original owner, Salvatore Lupo and located just a couple
blocks from General Andrew Jackson’s statue.
Highway # 61, The Great River Road along the Mississippi River north
through Baton Rouge, Natchez, the Natchez Trace Parkway(a 444 miles
federal roadway to Nashville, Tennessee – at mile marker 386, Grinder’s
Stand on October 11, 1809 Meriwether Lewis [Lewis and Clark Expedition,
Corps of Discovery, 1804 – 1806] met his death and is buried there), then
Vicksburg. Heat is persistent (+107 F).
Memphis- Now across the Great River and north along the Mississippi
River on the Arkansas side.
The River seems to have withdrawn backto its original banks following its
near record setting high flood stage in April/May. There is still farm land
under water.
Missouri and Iowa
St Louis (+110 F)founded in 1764 by Pierre LaClede as a trading center
and The Gateway Arch, near the confluence of the Missouri and
Mississippi Rivers, standing above the impressive Jefferson National
Expansion Memorial,with Missouri’s beautiful State Capital in white on
bright green grass framed between the legs of the Arch when looking at it
with the Great River at one’s back.
Highway # 61 continues north through Bowling Green and Hannibal located
on the Mississippi, Hannibal, home of Sam Clemens1839 - 1853, where
Becky Hatcher lived next door – his pen name, Mark Twain,with his two
world known young men – Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn - still live!
One day later in Waverly, Iowa , and the temperature at a local bank
registered 57 F -a change of 50+ Fin a 24 hour period.
Minnesota
Albert Lea, Minneapolis, Morris– visited with Ed and Joan Dablow,
Motorcycle Maintenance to include an oil change 20W-50 Castrol and a
hair cut at “Dave’s”, Saint Cloud (crossed the Great River for the last
time this summer),
Duluth- Aerostich & Andy Goldfine, the founder, and two blocks away,
Duluth Tent and Awning,
Two Harborspreparing for their annual marathon, a run to downtown Duluth
for tomorrow (18 June) and Granite Gearwith Jeff Knight – coowner/designer, Wade Niemi - production and Dana Jablinske –
receptionist,
Ely - It was once named "que quam chep", which means "land of the
berries" in the Chippewa language and is located in the Vermilion Iron
Range,Elyis the home of our“Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness”
(BWCAW or BWCA) - a 1.09 million acre wilderness area under the
administration of the U.S. Forest Service. The BWCAW is renowned as a
destination for both canoeing and fishing on its many lakes and is the most
visited wilderness in the United States and home of “The International
Wolf Center” - the center is celebrating its 25th anniversary as it
continues to fulfill its mission to educate people about wolves and their
relationship to the wild.
Met Chuck Ciaramita and Cecil Gregory preparing to go into the Boundary
Waters on a fishing trip. They were waiting for their friend Brad
Zimmerly
Tower, Virginia (Verizon and changing to the US/Canadian phone plan),
Cook, International Falls , Baudette at the east shoulder of “Lake of the
Woods” on the US/Canadian border, the border outcropping called the
Northwest Angle of Minnesota . (A survey error (part due to the use of
the Mitchell Map) was made in the interpretation of the source of the
Mississippi River as stated in Treat of Paris (1783), the treaty that
concluded the American Revolution War.)
CANADA
Manitoba
Crossed the international border (the 49th Parallel) at Sprague , Canada ,
Steinbach (a cup of Tim Horton coffee and a cranberry muffin), Winnipeg
(Red River Floodway), Now entering the Interlake Region of Ashern,
Moosehorn, Grand Rapids . Ponton (Gasoline at $1.334 CD/liter X 3.8
liter/gallon= $5.07 CD/gallon X $1.02 USD/CD = $5.17 USD/gallon) and
Snow Lake – a visit with Don and Elena Gowans and Flin Flon
[The town's name, “Flin
Flon”,is taken from the lead character in a
paperback novel, The Sunless City by J. E. Preston Muddock. A
prospector named Tom Creightonfound the book in the wilderness. The
story is about a man named Josiah Flintabbatey Flonatin, who piloted a
submarine through a bottomless lake. Upon passing through a hole lined
with gold, he found a strange underground world. When Tom Creighton
discovered a rich vein of almost pure copper, he thought of the book and
called it Flin Flon's Mine,
Saskatchewan
hence the town’s name.]
Have now entered the Mountain Standard Time Zone, Creighton, Smeaton,
Prince Albert (Farming field within 60 miles are slightly underwater thoughts of Arkansas rice fields. Heavy rains for the last week, today sun
shine, but flooding south along the Trans-Canada Highway , Hwy 1 Regina , Moose Jaw . Evacuations in North Dakota – Missouri River coming
out of its banks), North Battleford (501 miles), now joining the
Yellowhead Highway with a heavy dark weather front overhead.
(The Yellowhead Highway is named for the Yellowhead Pass, the route
chosen to cross the Canadian Rockies and after the fur trader and
explorer named Pierre Bostonais, who had located the Pass many years
earlier. His nickname was "Tête Jaune" (Yellowhead) because of yellow
streaks in his hair.
The Yellowhead Highway is a major east-west highway connecting the four
western Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan,
and Manitoba.
It was started in 1962 and officially opened in 1970. The total length of
the “Yellowhead”, including ferries, is 2,960 km / 1835 miles.
In the west, the highway begins at Masset, British Columbia in the Queen
Charlotte Islands and its eastern terminus is at the corner of Portage
Avenue and Main Street in Winnipeg, Manitoba.)
and the last city in Saskatchewan and first in Alberto, Lloydminster
Alberta:”Wild Rose Country”
Alberta is known as the Petroleum Providence of Canada and it is evidence
by the many refineries, heavy trucks, and at time oil wells, Edmonton (the
providence capital),
The agriculture fields are now starting to show evidence of new crops –
and to come later at harvest time will be the Bright Yellow Fields of
Canola and the Sky Blue of the Flax Fields – side by side – a stunning
sight,
Whitecourt for an overnight stay, Weighted the bike, rider and a full tank
of fuel, 390 kilograms (858 lbs) at an official truck inspection station
(rounds up to the next full 10 kilograms) on the outskirts of Whitecourt,
Western Alberta is now pasture country with the energy industry every
present, Valleyview, Grand Prairie is an impressive petroleum center,
reminds one of Odessa, Texas.
British Columbia
Now entering Pacific Standard Time Zone, Dawson Creek and the beginning
of:
The Alaska Highway , starting at Mile Post “0”:
Alaska Highway also known as the Alaskan Highway, AlaskaCanadian Highway, or ALCAN Highway, was constructed during
World War II for the purpose of connecting the contiguous U.S. to Alaska
through Canada. It begins at the junction with several Canadian highways
in Dawson Creek, British Columbia and runs to Delta Junction, Alaska, via
Whitehorse, Yukon.
Completed in 1942, it was 2,237 km or 1,390 mi long, but is
becoming shorter due to rerouting.[1] The historic end of the highway is
where it meets the Richardson Highway in Delta Junction, Alaska, about
160 km (99 mi) southeast of Fairbanks. The Alaska Highway is popularly
(but unofficially) considered part of the Pan-American Highway, which
extends south to Argentina.
On February 6, 1942 the construction of the Alaska Highway was
approved by the United States Army and the project received the
authorization from the U.S. Congress and President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Canada agreed to allow construction as long as the United States bore the
full cost, and that the road and other facilities in Canada be turned over
to Canadian authority after the war ended.
The official start of construction took place on March 8,
1942 after hundreds of pieces of construction equipment were moved on
priority trains by the Northern Alberta Railways to the northeastern part
of British Columbia near Mile 0 at Dawson Creek . Construction
accelerated through the spring as the winter weather faded away and
crews were able to work from both the northern and southern ends. On
September 24, 1942 crews from both directions met at Mile 588 at what
became named Contact Creek, at the British Columbia-Yukon border at the
60th Parallel; the entire route was completed October 28, 1942
with the northern linkup at Mile 1202, Beaver Creek, and the highway was
dedicated on November 20, 1942 at Soldiers Summit.
The needs of war dictated the final route, intended to link the airfields of
the Northwest Staging Route that conveyed lend-lease aircraft from the
Thus, the rather impractical,
long route over extremely difficult terrain was chosen.
United States to the Soviet Union.
>>>>>>>>>>>
An alternate route to Dawson Creek ( Prince George to Dalton Creek) is
now closed – a bridge recently washed out.
Fort Saint John, Pink Mountain, Buckinghorse, Fort Nelson, Steamboat,
Summit Lake (services closed – for sale), Toad River (met Butch Cooper
and Stan Smith of Paragould, Arkansas, both on R 1200 G/Ss), Muncho
Lake, Laird River, Cold Creek, Contact Creek (gas only),
Yukon Territory
Watson Lake (fine visits with Mike Lexow, owner of the Air Force Lodge
and Denis Houyoux of Virginia and Key West – a resourceful young man of
an amazing off road ride with a Kawasaki Versys), Junction 37, the turn
off for the Steward-Cassiar Highway (Hwy 37) – now paved road to the
Yellowhead Highway (Hwy 16) in the south, Rancheria, Continental Divide
(with nearby lodging), Swift River (services closed), Teslin (Dawson Peaks
Lodge 5 miles south), Johnsons Crossing, Jacks Corner, Marsh Lake and
the Yukon River, Whitehorse, Hanes Junction, Destruction Bay (120
miles of frost heaves and construction to Beaver Creek), Beaver Creek,
International Border; Alaska
Alaska, USA
Looking for the ever-evasive High Pressure System !
Where did the Blue Skies Go ?
Alaska Standard Time Zone – now four time zones from home, Tetlin
Junction (turn-off for Chicken (aka Ptarmigan) and the “Top of the
World” highway to Dawson City & Whitehorse, in the Yukon Territory),
Tok, Delta Junction, Big Delta, Fairbanks (Hospital visitation), Denali
National Park, Trapper Creek, Anchorage – The Motorcycle Shop, Don
Rosene, the owner and Zach Johnson, the service supervisor; Visited with
Vic Micol - his wife Jane presently in Washington, DC, representing the
State of Alaska at the annual Daughters of the American Revolution
Conference as its Regent; Lodging at the North Star Inn, Elmendorf Air
Force Base; Motorcycle Maintenance - Replaced rear tire with a
Metzeler Lazertec and changed engine oil (10W-40 Mobil 1), the stainless
steel oil filter cleaned; Seward Highway; Alyeska Resort of Alaska; Also,
visited with Emil & Margaret Cekada and their family in Anchorage for a
4th of July cook-out celebration !
Nick
–
William
Lea
Palmer.
Valdese.
USA
Mailed . Anchorage . Alaska . 4th of July 2011
North
Carolina.