KRATZMC

May 31st and June 1st, 2010…Burns Lake B.C. to Williams Lake B.C. to Wenatchee, Washington

For some reason these two days seemed to blend together and were devoted to getting out of Canada and the changing weather situation. Our initial plan to hit was Canadian coast was thwarted by threats of heavy weather systems moving in. A strategic decision was made to move inland away from the center of the heavy systems and try to move to the coast if these fronts disappeared.

We broke camp in Burns Lake and headed south towards Williams Lake, B.C.. Upon securing a Motel and checking the latest weather data, we would make a decision whether to go west or south.

Note:  I did not take a lot of photos these two days, as we were retracing the route we had taken into Hyder.

The never ending job of sealing cracks on Hwy 16. The road worker flagged us to the front of the line and said in Canada, motorcycles can move to the front of the line. One reason to like Canada.

Trees and stuff.

Merritt Francies and his Canadian town Namesake, Merritt, Canada. Shortly after this photo, Merritt dropped his GS and learned how heavy she is. As Merritt told another GS owner later, “Have you ever had to pick up your bike by yourself?” Reply: “No”.  Merritt: “Well if you do …You will!”

A cool rest area with a neat Lake with blue water and white sand beaches. I was craving a cup of coffee so we stopped here, somewhere on Hwy 8. I think the sign said No Motor Vehicles on the beach but Merritt beat me to it. I thought it would be a great place to ride the bike and get a photo.

Firing up the stove for some hot coffee. I must admit that Starbucks instant packs of coffee are pretty good.

I set up my ST and walked over to take a picture to find it had sunk in the flour like sand.

I found a kids shoe to put under the kick stand. I then showed Merritt how I trained folks the way to pick up a 800 lbs of machine.

The bike still wanted to sink but I got my picture.

We reached Williams Lake for dinner time and got a Hotel with Wi Fi, except the connection was down. The Motel whose name escapes me, had a nice view of the Lake and still had the original furniture, mattress and  television from 1974.  We had Chinese food again but this time it wasn’t as good as the one in Burns Lake. I guess 12 consecutive days of riding was taking its toll. It sprinkled off an on with a reminder that Mother Nature was in charge.

After a good nights rest, Merritt and I continued south with plans to go down into Central Washington and Oregon. We would cross the border in Osoyoo’s, a great place to cross with shorter lines.

Burns Lake to Williams Lake, B.C….288 miles.

One last visual reminder of the beauty of Canada as we continued to near the U.S. Border.

Osoyoos border crossing. They’ll ask how long you been in the country, where you went, who you saw, where your from, who did you see. They are all standard questions. Oh yeah, and to see your passport.

The Uni-Go and me from Merritt’s cockpit.

We hit the road around 1100 hrs. We rode to Wenatchee, Wa arriving there about 10 hours later in the dark and in the rain. Wenatchee, Wa is known as the Apple Capitol of the U.S..

Williams Lake B.C., Canada to Wenatchee, Wa, USA……456 miles.

We checked into Motels and would decide what to do in the morning. More than likely, it looked like we would have to “Hole Up” in Wenatchee for a day to wait out the weather. At least Merritt has a sister nearby and can visit, while I do laundry and catch up on blogging.

Weather in Wenatchee, Wa.

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