TravelStream™ news feed for member bonthorn on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/bonthorn en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:59:09 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bonthorn/2/1257919119/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bonthorn/2/1257919119/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/bonthorn/2/1257919119/tpod.html Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:59:09 -0500 Summer '09

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Markham, Ontario, Canada

We arrived in Toronto despite the tornado and lightening & thunder storm. What a landing!Was I ever glad to be off that plane! I can't remember the last time i was ever sick but it is not pleasant.All i want is a bed now. Goodnight!
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Scarborough, Ontario, Canada

A family bbq with all the grandchildren there, what a treat forGrandma! Being the oldest grandchild, I felt a bit old - and verticallychallenged, but there you have it!
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Durand, Michigan, United States

We're heading west to go home after a fantastic summer. It feels so right to be back on my bike again, it's like we never parted.Wason the road by noon. A good, albeit wet, ride today. A bit of delay atthe Sarnia/Port Huron border for Matt to renew his visa waiver form butno complaints.It will be interesting to compare the journeyback through the US. Already i notice the incessant Golden Arches thatare at every single junction. Aiming to be back in Nanaimo by September 1st but we'll see how things develop and how the roads are. This journey is to be savoured.
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Madison, Wisconsin, United States

We rode for 630km today .... a bit more really because we did a fewdetours trying to find a place for a deep-pan pizza lunch (verydifficult since most places are closed on Sundays, which we didn't know- or expect!) and at around the 200 km mark on my odometer, we foundourselves on the Chicago Sky route (this narrow highway 'bridge' withno shoulder) and so we had to turn off quickly to try and find any gasstation or risk me running into a dry tank. We ended up detouringaround some local airport in an industrial area - a very 'interesting'insight into Chicago's suburbs. But at least we found a petrol stationin the end.  Going through Chicago itself was fantastic. Theskyline is beautiful, and although we got stuck in brutal traffic forover an hour (going at about 10km/hr) this will probably be the onlymajor city we actually ride through. But we were glad to be out of thetraffic jam...my left hand was starting to ache from controlling theclutch at low speed. Good practice indeed! At one point we just turnedoff our engines and pushed our bikes along slowly.We've gonethrough Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and now we're in Madison,Wisconsin. There aren't any 'border crossings' as such and sometimesnot even a sign to tell you you're in another state. It all merges andflows into one another. All names to me before this trip, but I'mslowly piecing together the gigantic puzzle of this country. I find itinteresting to see all the various license plates and notice wherethey're coming from. The furthest so far iIve seen is Colorado and NewYork. No BC plates yet!At around 6pm (we crossed a time zoneafter having passed Chicago, so we gained another hour!) we stopped fordinner just before Rockford. Michigan. We shared the popular anddelicious Chicago beef sandwich and I have to admit i caved and ordereda huge plate ofmsg-filled Chinese food from 'Panda Express' :) Wewere still pretty energetic so we decided to ride for another couple ofhours.... we hit a massive traffic jam about 30 kms into it and werestuck for quite a while. More clutch-control exercises for me!! Therewas a major car crash on the other side but traffic did eventuallymove.... the poor people trying to get back into Chicago after a aweekend must've been waiting for hours! I noticed that the standstillon that side went on for more than 10kms!Today our aim is toget to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The next day we should be in RapidCity (the badlands!) where we'll pass by Mount Rushmore...Hopefullywe'll have enough time to take it slowly and meander throughYellowstone National Park, definitely something I've been lookingforward to since we started.We're staying America's Best ValueInn and value it is. For $44 USD we get a king-size bed, free wifi,cable tv, an outdoor pool, and the breakfast - phenomenal! There arewaffle makers that you can help yourself to, scrambled eggs, potatoes,sausages, cereal, bagels, pastries and American style grits! They suredo value their food here, especially in quantity!
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Albert Lea, Minnesota, United States

Our first day with sunshine, even at 10am (after excellent freebreakfast included in our $44 room) it was baking hot but cooler as wegot moving. Got some good miles done, then lunch at Subway just afterwe crossed the Mississippsiiisiiispiii River (sp?).Then thingsgot worse, Bonnie got a bit of turbulent tummy so she overtook me anddirected us off the Interstate just south of Rochester. Eventually wefound a gas station where she pulled up at the pump then rushed to finda toilet. While she was in there I filled the bikes. She gotback, we were about to set off then I realised we were at a dieselpump! Bonnie had just pulled up at the first pump so she could run tothe toilet and I hadn't checked what it was, we'll learn to doublecheck, but didn't we say that when we did exactly the same thing inFrance a year ago???Luckily we hadn't started the engines andjust as we were walking the bikes to the parking lot Byron rode up onhis antique BMW. He is the area representative for BMW owners ofAmerica and today he was our samaritan and saviour. 4 hours later bothtanks were drained and although he offered to put up his old tent andlet us sleep in his back yard we managed to get another 100kms down theroad and stayed the night in Albert Lea.Sleepy Minnesota townand the lady at the motel check in desk told us not to worry aboutvandalism and that we should park next to the white Toyota, just underthe streetlamp so it would be visible from the motel reception area. Iwent outside to tell Bonnie then a man with ahammer chased a womanout of the hotel restaurant, she got into the white Toyota and hestarted screaming at her and attacking the Toyota with a hammer. Shedrove off and within seconds police cars had converged and arrested thehammer man.Enough drama for the day, we had a sandwich andsalad and beer at the hotel restaurant, then to bed. Forecast of somethunder showers tomorrow but as long as we get less drama than today Iwon't be complaining!Matt (filling in as blogger while Bonnie rests)
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Ten Sleep, Wyoming, United States

627 km of blissful riding. Probably the most enjoyable riding day I've ever had in my short riding career. We'vegone through some interesting and unique town names, many derived fromthe First Nations who were here first and created legends about theland. Some names include: Kalamazoo,....and others i will post laterAfterriding on the I-90 for some time now, we decided to take a side routeto get to Yellowstone National Park. By chance, we turned west afterBuffalo and the scenery just got more and more dramatic. It wasabsolutely stunning, no other words to describe it. You know how somethings can look/hear/taste/feel so incredible that you would actuallytear up? Well, this was one of those moments.I'm going to cheat and copy/paste what the Ten Sleep website has wrote about on how its name was derived:"<i>Nestledin the base of the Big Horn Mountains in the Nowood&nbsp; Valley, 26 mileseast of Worland on US Highway 16, Ten Sleep long ago staked its&nbsp; claimto a share of Wyoming’s and Washakie County’s colored history. TenSleep&nbsp; received its name because of the method of measuringdistance&nbsp;that&nbsp;was used by&nbsp; Indians at&nbsp;one&nbsp;time. <i>Therewas once a large Sioux &nbsp; Indian camp on the&nbsp;banks&nbsp;of&nbsp;the Platte&nbsp; River,and there was another large&nbsp;Indian camp on the Clark's Fork River tothe North, near present-day Bridger, Montana. These campswere&nbsp;important&nbsp;to Indians and settlers&nbsp; due&nbsp;to&nbsp;the&nbsp;trails&nbsp;leading to and&nbsp;from&nbsp;them&nbsp;in&nbsp;all&nbsp;directions&nbsp;across&nbsp;the&nbsp;West.&nbsp;According to thereckoning of the Indians, it was twenty "sleeps," or nights, betweenthe two camps. <i>It&nbsp;took&nbsp;ten&nbsp;"sleeps"&nbsp;to&nbsp;get&nbsp;halfway&nbsp;between&nbsp;them.&nbsp;This became thelocation of the present town of Ten Sleep." &nbsp; With apopulation of 350 (estimated) it is a sleepy little Western town butfull of natural glory and splendor. And with delicious oven-baked pizzatoo in the town's only pizzeria!
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Columbia Falls, Montana, United States

Glacier National Park is fantastic. The highway, named "Into The SunHighway" (exactly what we were doing!), hugs the mountainside, dipsinto valleys and brings you up through glorious passes. It's like a 50km scenic roller coaster ride. Wheeeee!
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West Yellowstone, Montana, United States

Old Faithful didn't disappoint. Saw a beautiful bison at sunset. Goodriding but the traffic made it more exhausting than necessary.Apparently Yellowstone National Park gets 30,000+ visitors PER DAY!More to come later... just wanted to post pics now while i have high-speed connection.
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Wall, South Dakota, United States

Today:-started off with some intense spurts of rain-sunshine and big open skies followed-miles and miles of corn fields dotted with wind turbines-saw a plane dusting sunflower fields, very very cool-long straight empty roads, wishing for twisty roads-passed many billboards.. getting sick of them but can't help reading them! -Manyadvertise the towns and attractions ahead. If you've passed the exitjunction, the next billboard will scream "STOP! You've just missedXXXXX, turn off at next exit"-Many messages of faith and Christianity. Ie: "There are many ways to go to hell but only one way to heaven - Jesus"-Intothe Badlands National Park, Matt tipped his bike over at entrance whiletrying to read the signs.... adrenalin pumping, he yanks the bikeupright just as i ran over. No visible damage.-Incredible scenery at Badlands-the twisty roads were excellent!!-Hadyummy 'Indian Taco' at local family diner in Wall. It's fried doughbread (bannock) topped with refried beans, ground beef, salad andcheese. Summary:Successful riding day! 771 kms exact! Redeemed ourselves after yesterday's incident. On schedule once more.
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Grand Forks, British Columbia, Canada

Another beautiful ride in the Rockies. Everything is just so green! Andfantastic twisty roads going up and down and around mountain bends...there were a few times where my poor bike just couldn't catch up toMatt's, throttle open and all! Going around a sharp right hand cornerat one point my right foot peg skimmed the ground.. it shook me up abit but no damage done.We crossed back into Canada from the Idaho border. It feels good to be back on Canadian soil. Weimmediately stopped at a local cafe in Creston for a good smoothie andhomemade chilli. For some reason, I'm feeling much safer and relaxedbeing back in BC.We checked into this fantastic motel in quaintGrand Forks and then walked next door for a delicious Russian meal. Theborscht and perogies were like something i've never tasted before! Whata welcome change from Subway lunches and burgers and fries!523km to go until home! Can't wait to be riding up to our apartment, I'veimagined this for so long. Last stretch, we'll be sure to make it safe.
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