May 20, 2010
Miles: 460
Total Miles: 2,411
Time on Road: 10 hours 15 minutes

Woodstock, GA to Charleston, MO

I left this morning at 6:00 am. It was a good ride (for interstate) with the temperature staying in the low 50's and 60's. In Monteagle, TN I went west on Hwy 64 to I-65 in order to avoid the traffic on the I-24 detour around the sink hole.

Just north of Nashville I hit heavy rain which slowed my pace down some. By the time I reached Paducah, KY it had turned into off and on rain and windy.

I purchased my DL from kspugh, who is also a member on this forum and a fellow ST rider. Kevin has already been to Alaska on the bike and assured me that the DL already knows the way so it will get me there and back with no problems. Kevin also invited me to stop by on my way through Paducah for a free lunch. I could not turn that down. Thanks for lunch Kevin and it was good to see you again.

Tomorrow I will be working my way up to Des Monies, IA where I will be stopping for the night.

May 21, 2010
Miles: 524
Total Miles: 2,935
Time on Road: 10 hours 15 minutes

Charleston, MO to Des Moines, IA

There is not much to report today, just basically another travel day.

This morning started off good with lots of sunshine. By the time I got to St Louis the clouds replaced the sun and I was riding in a light rain for about an hour. Jack was suppose to take the rain today, but I saw how well that worked out....... The rest of the afternoon was cloudy, light showers (most of them I missed), and wet roads. I found a couple of good but short back roads is northern MO and southern IA. The sun came back out just south of Des Moines, so the day ended well.

Tomorrow will be a short day stopping in Sauk Centre, MN and catching up with Jack.

May 22, 2010
Miles: 388
Total Miles: 3,323
Time on Road: 9 hours 15 minutes

Des Moines, IA to Sauk Centre, MN

I got an early start this morning and the day started out good for riding. Reasonably warm, lots of sun, and mostly 2-lanes. The wind started picking up to 20-25 mph and was coming from the south. This was actually good as I was traveling north with the exception of about 75 miles of road that I was on that headed west. This gave me a tail wind which for me is unusual. Also gave me very good gas mileage.

Shortly after crossing into MN I was welcomed with rain. The wind changed to the east and increased to 25-35 mph and gusting up to 40 mph. The rain lasted only about an hour but the wind continued. It was good practice for things to come.

It was a short day and when I got into Sauk Centre Jack was in front of his motel room finishing up maintenance on his bike.

Tomorrow's destination is Minot, SD.

May 23, 2010
Miles: 430
Total Miles: 3,753
Time on Road: 8 hours

Sauk Centre, MN to Boissenvain, Manitoba

Early morning breakfast

This morning we left around 8 am and it now seems like we are actually on our trip to Alaska. Plenty of sunshine today and no rain but the cross winds made up for the absence of rain. By mid afternoon they had increased again and made their presence known on the bikes, giving us some interesting moments at times.

We decided to shorten the mileage for tomorrow and instead of going to Minot we turned north about 65 miles before reaching Minot. We made the border crossing with no major hassle and Jack had only a minor delay while they checked out his passport, then we were on our way again.

After a short ride north from the border we stopped for the night in Boissevain, Manitoba. Destination for tomorrow night is Vermillion, Alberta.

Entering Manitoba Canada

May 24, 2010
Miles: 645
Total Miles: 4,398
Time on Road: 11 hours 45 minutes

Boissenvain, Manitoba to Vermilion, Alberta

Boissenvain, Manitoba

When we got up this morning we knew that we were in the north. Cloudy skies and in the low 40's. Rain was coming up from the south but we were on the road by 7:45 and was able to avoid the rain from the south. We were traveling NNW and there was another line of showers that was heading NE that we had to go through. It was a short light shower and then the sun was back again. The temperature stayed cool the rest of the day but we had plenty of sunshine and no wind that really effected riding. The country side still remained fairly flat with some slight rolling hills. It was almost 12 hours of riding today and we stopped for the night in Vermilion, AB.

Tomorrow should start out in the low 30's and then get up into the 50's. After a full day's ride we should be just south of NWT with no rain forecast for the next 2-3 days.

May 25, 2010
Miles: 613
Total Miles: 5,011
Time on Road: 11 hours 30 minutes

Vermillion, Alberta to High Level, Alberta

Life is good again. This morning started in the mid 30's and cloudy. We dodged a few showers, by mid afternoon it was almost 70, clouds were gone, lots of 2 lane and light traffic. The ponds of a few days ago that were occupied by ducks, geese and their little ones now seem fewer and have more beaver lodges than duck families. The grass lands and fields have now been replaced with evergreens and birch trees. There are more large rolling hills and valleys replacing some of the flat sections of the landscape. We crossed a couple of large rivers and numerous smaller ones.

Wildlife sightings have been rather low. We saw only one coyote, two deer, and a red fox.

Twelve hours on the road and we stopped for the night in High Level, AB.

Peace River, Alberta

Tomorrow will be a short riding day. We will ride up to see the Great Slave Lake and then backtrack to Enterprise, NWT for the night.

May 26, 2010
Miles: 215
Total Miles: 5,226
Time on Road: 7 hours 15 minutes

High Level, Alberta to Hay River, Northwest Territories

We started off in the mid 30's this morning. Most of today's scenery was thhe same as yesterday but it seems like there are more evergreens and less birch trees.

Stopped for gas in Indian Cabins, Alberta

Drive way from the gas pump back to the main highway.

As we continued north from High Level we were following the Hay River. As we crossed the 60th parallel and entered into the North West Territories, we stopped for the required pictures at the NWT sign.

60th Parrallel
Crossing into the Northwest Territories

Northwest Territories
The Adventure begins.

Just north from there on the Hay River there are two water falls, Alexander and Louise. We stopped at both falls and did a short walk down to them. Both were awesome waterfalls.

Alexander Falls
Northwest Territories

Louise Falls
Northwest Territories

From there it was north on to the town of Hay River. Hay River (the river) empties into the Great Slave Lake just north of the town of Hay River. We took a quick trip down to the lake, which, from what I was told by a local at Indian Cabins, is suppose to be the largest lake in Canada. The point that we were at had a very sandy beach covered with drift wood. The lake is so large that it was almost like being on the beach at the ocean. The horizon on the lake was solid white with ice that had not yet melted.

Great Slave Lake
Northwest Territories

The town of Hay River
Northwest Territories

Tomorrow starts our first dirt day. The MacKenzie is suppose to be in good condition. There have been reports that the Liard is soft and vehicles are bogging down on the road. Work crews have been sent out so hopefully by the time we reached the Liard the conditions will have improved.