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I followed your ADVrider report. Love it!

Saw Spirit at the D2D gathering but didn't see you to say hi. Wanted to wish you the best of luck and safe travels. Will eagerly watch your posts and travels. Your RR is great.

I'm back in Fort Simpson after riding to Edmonton with my host to pick up a couple of Jet skis (I offered to take turns driving)
I can tell you that not sleeping for two nights in a row is not something that I can do!!!


Little way cabin for the stranded motorist in the winter, a place to get out of the cold. It had a barrel stove to burn wood in and some funky wood benches to keep you off the floor.

Mitch and I took turns driving and even the first night I had some problems keeping my eyes open, but we stopped a lot and drank coffee so I made it till daylight. Then because we arrived a tad early we parked at a rest stop for an hour or so for some shuteye. I could't sleep, bummer!
We ran around Edmonton pretty much all day, picking up stuff, including new brake pads and chain lube, picked up the jet skies and trailer, and stopped by Costco for a box of Lara bars. I was bummed to find out that the Canadian Costco does not carry Tasty Bite

Finally by around 5 we headed back to Fort Simpson.
Barely an hour out of Edmonton we got hit by a heavy storm. Hail the size of golfballs (luckily not rock hard but sludgy) was smashing down on the car and the window. I thought for sure the window was going to crack, and the roof totally dent.
Afterward it turned into a torrential downpour, where you I barely see in front of me! I'm glad that I'd lived on Kauai for so many years, and had gotten used to rainstorms like that.
The rain lasted a while and for short periods it only drizzled or stopped, but after a while it picked back up again and it basically kept raining non stop.
We kept drinking coffee and taking stops, stretching out legs (Mitch smoking) and me running to the bathroom thanks to the coffee, but by three AM I didn't dare climbing behind the wheel again, I was done for. It might have worked if I had put toothpicks between my eyelids but seeing as that seemed rather painful I opted out of that solution.
Mitch got a room at a Quality Inn in High Level (amazing place by the way with an awesome shower and heavenly beds) and we both conked out. Well, I know I conked out the second my head hit my pillow, Mitch checked the news for a while.
I slept like a log, trying to make up for lost sleep I suppose, but 6 hours later the alarm went off and we had to hit the road again (after I insisted that I needed to try the nice looking shower )
I travel, without a shower, so every opportunity I get to actually take one, I got to grab.
It was still a bit drizzly and we stopped at he Esso to gas up.
The Esso has this amazing salad in the cooler! It's Kale and cranberries, sunflower seeds, shredded broccoli and other things topped with a poppyseed dressing. Just GOOOOOOODDDD!!
Once we got back on the dirt my heart sank a bit!!! It looked just like the Top of the World Hwy!!! Slick and slippery! I would have to ride that tomorrow?? 200 km of it?? Ahhhh.
I kept hoping the rain would stop or at least have not hit the part near Fort Simpson, but nope, it was muddy everywhere, and it kept raining.
We stopped at one point to see if we could find Morels, but the only ones we found were old and utterly soggy! I think the rain ruined what was left of them.
We did stop at a waterfall.


What an amazing amount of water!!! The mud creating variegated colors.






Yeah, the van wasn't exactly the cleanest place after heaps of coffee and candies!

We hopped back on the ferry and got home around 8 PM
I cooked dinner real fast as I was hungry and am now fighting to keep my eyes open long enough to post my RR

I'm in Yellowknife!!
Let me go back a few days….
Saturday afternoon Mitch took the two jet skis to the river




He backed the van up to the water, and I held the rope so it wouldn't float away (strong current!)

After he parked the van, he walked in the river (Brrrr, water cold!!) and started it.
Within seconds I hollered at him to stop, something sounded awfully wrong!!
Sure enough, the jet ski has this reverse start so what happened was that the ski was too close to the edge of the river, and it sucked gravel water through and damaged some plastic thingy )forgot what it was called).
So bummer, no jet fun that day. He had pre-ordered a stainless steel one, as every said that this would happen.
I basically relaxed the rest of the day and got a bit further on catching up on my blog (still not done though )
Packed most of my stuff that night, so I might leave early.

I left Mitch's place in Fort Simpson around noon on Sunday basically cause I couldn't fall asleep (which I finally did) and ended up sleeping late. That was fine with me as I was hoping the mud to be drier the later it was.
As it turned out the road was perfect!!! The mud was solid dirt and the gravel punched in pretty good.




Sambaa Deh falls, didn't hike down as I couldn't tell whether it would stay dry or not


The air was pretty hazy and smokey



Bridge before Fort Providence

I made it to Fort Providence in no time.
As I was tired I decided to find a place to pitch the tent early. I wanted to relax and go to bed early.


Found a secluded dirt road, near a gravel pitch.

Within seconds of stopping I was inundated wit bugs.
I frantically pitched my tent hoping to escape them


No such luck!!!

Got the inner tent in and hid out in there until I could face them again.
The noise was horrendous, Ten Buffalo could have surrounded me (or bears) and I would not have heard a thing!!


There were wild strawberries everywhere, and very sweet!! I wanted to pick a bunch but the bugs were just too much.
I thought I'd wait till it got colder and then pick some, but as I went to sleep at around 11, it was still warm, and now the mosquitos where there as well. I decided to go to sleep instead.
Slept long and late!!
It got too hot in the tent, basically forcing me to move and pack up.
Put my bug jacket on, even though it makes me hot, and blurs my vision, and got to work packing Spirit.
I was done in no time, and even skipped breakfast as my vestibule was riddled with bugs.

I stopped along the road to get rid of the trash when I found I had a hurt passenger




His tail had gotten stuck in my umbrella

I let him go and rode off toward Yellowknife.
Well…….. the road there was rather boring only as I was nearing Yellowknife did the scenery change.


Sand on the side of the road, like there were dunes!


Yeahhh, can't see the lake in the photo, it was very hazy


For a second it looked like New Mexico, Utah or Arizona




Stopped at the visitor center to find out where the health food store was…….. there isn't one!!! :cry

So Here I am at McD for internet. I did find a Chinese store that had some That vegetarian curry. And nearby is a grocery store that I've been told carries a few health food things.

I'm not sure if I want to try a paid campsite for tonight, or if I'll head back ways and find somewhere along the road.
It depends on the camp ground and if I can get away from the RVs

Love the frontal shot of the ailing dragonfly

Well!!! I make a lousy tourist!
I did find the yarn shop and bought a couple of skeins of green (JettnJim's request) and I did find some very tasty Indian snacks at "your independent grocery," but other than that I just didn't feel like hanging around Yellowknife.
Then I thought. "Let's just stay at the campground here and explore Yellowknife tomorrow when I'm not so hot and tired.
Somehow I missed the sign to the campground and then decided I'd just find a spot to camp not too far out.

A few miles later I slowed down as I neared yet another milestone.

It's official, I've done 40,000 miles since I left Washington! Cool!

Twenty mile outside of Yellowknife I saw a dirt road veer off to the left. I followed it and it dead-ended at 2 gates, none of which looked like they had been opened in years.
After parking Spirit I was getting ready for the barrage of bugs, but wow! Wonder over wonder, none came!!
You have no idea how weird that was. Weird but wonderful.


I pitched my tent to the side just in case someone drove up to go through the gate. The sun was a red smokey blob in the sky, as the forrest fires still were going on.


Amazing how strong ants are! This little fellow was pulling a dead fly across the rocky ground

Went to bed exhausted and woke up in the middle of the night by the sound of pouring rain. Ahhhh, I love the sound of rain on my tent.
I turned around and fell promptly back asleep

The next morning it was still raining and I decided to just wait and see what happened. Other than raining not much! So, "R&R day" it was! I even dozed at some point, and that says something, I normally can't nap.
Went to bed around 10 and woke up at 5 AM.
I smelled smoke, and how. Of course the first thing I thought, hmmm I wonder if there is a forest fire nearby and the road is closed, so no one knows I'm here. I listened for traffic, but it was eerily quiet.
I figured that no one is normally on the road at 5 AM.
I tried to go back to sleep, but is was way too smokey, so I packed up (yep my wet tent too). It was 7 AM by then.


The rising sun was red again, too bd it didn't really show very well in the photo

Luckily I did hear a truck here and there pass on the road so I knew the road wasn't closed.
Because it was so smokey I had no desire to go back to Yellowknife and opted to just head to High Level.
I had PMed Agplant at tent space, if I could pitch my tent in his yard on my was through High Level, and got lucky in that he actually checked his messages a day later


smokey horizon


The bridge at Edzo river


Too bad it came out fuzzy


Lots of buffalo on the road that morning!

I kept riding and found myself yawning a lot. I am no early riser, that's for sure!!
I made it to Fort Providence and gassed up. That place is expensive!!
They did have free wifi so I checked my messages to see if Al replied, he had. Yippee, I would have a place to pitch my tent without having to look for it. And no worries about bears D
I was filling my tires with air at the pump when I heard this guy holler, excuse me ma'am!! He was holding my water bag that I had left in the diner! Wow, he had run all the way across the muddy parking lot to bring it to me. I told him he just saved my life!! IN a sense he did, as my Spot dangles from my camel pack.

I got back on the road , and before I knew it I got to the bridge.


I didn't get that view coming from the other side, so I stopped and took a pic.

As I hit the turnoff to High Level there was a huge sign saying,

"Road may be closed due to forest fires"
Ah, great! I hoped that this wouldn't be the case


Got lucky, the road was open but it was smokey and it looked like they just got the fire contained



As I got to the NWT/Alberta border I stopped at the tourist info, and had a cup of coffee. As I was sitting there it started pouring like there was no tomorrow. Later on it started hailing as well!! Boy what strange weather for July!
I think I spend more than an hour there, staying dry. Afterward it cleared up pretty good, but still I put on my rain gear and hit the road again. This time I had a Canada map that the owner of the info place got out of his truck and gave to me. He was very impressed that I did this ride all by myself

I got to High Level at 6, and went straight to the Esso for another one of those delicious salads!
I texted Al, and he came shortly after to show me where he and his family lived.

More later, my eyes are falling shut!

Thanks!!
That was a fun picture to take, had no idea how it would come out either.

I just had to take a pic of these pretty clouds


Following Al to his house in High Level

I had a great but short stay at Al's (Agplant). While his wife Melanie was in town we talked bike and travel stuff, but once she was back and I noticed that she crocheted, the talk switched to creative stuff
So I sat and knitted while Melanie crocheted, and we talked about family and other things.
I had pitched the tent in their yard, and it was very comfy!! They have a really nice and quiet yard.


complete with strawberry patch behind me.

Al had to go to work early and Melanie shortly after, but they let me use the kitchen to fix my oatmeal and finish packing.
I left fairly late that morning, as the tent was still wet.
Once I got packed I hit the road, it was drizzling unfortunately, but I was hopeful it would dry up fairly soon.

The beginning of Hwy 88 to Red Earth and then Slave Lake was a tad dull.
I did see these things in the fields, but have no clue as to what they are. I'm hoping someone can enlighten me


They are about 6 to 7 foot high


After Red Earth however the scenery turned way nice, rolling hills and a few curves does much to improve one's riding!

Once the rain let up I parked Spirit on the side of the road. sat down and had a snack.


These yellow shrubs where all along the road, making the scenery very sunny and lively, and putting me in a way more cheerful mood


Mixed in was some clover

While sitting there eating my snacks and looking at the flowers I realized that I was positively getting addicted to these!:

They are made with just corn flower, oil and salt, no cheese or anything, yet they taste totally cheesy!

Of course, one of the things that happens when riding down a not too challenging road, is that one looks at the speedometer more often, to see how far one got.
As I looked down I was a few miles away from this


I just had to slow down and then stop right as I hit this number

I hopped back on the road after a while until these amazing flowers caught my eye (more like the color caught my eye)

Side view


top view


I just love clover!

After a while I found myself getting tired again and automatically started looking out for a good spot to camp.
Then I decided on a whim that maybe it might be nice to stay at a camp ground for a change, and grab a shower.
Looking at the map I saw one near Slave Lake. I found it easily. It was a fancy road, and even saw a deer in the bushes.
Once I actually got to the entrance the place looks just too fancy!
RVs everywhere, kids running about and huge building for showers. Yikes! Something tells me this is not a $12 camp ground!
LOL, it wasn't but truthfully it was not as much as I would have guessed, namely $24.
Still I wasn't willing to spend that much for a small piece of dirt to pitch my tent, and probably not even get much sleep with all them folks about!

I turned around and spent the next hour trying to find a place to crash. Some of the roads I got on were just too muddy and I found Spirit doing the old tail swinging again. I really am not comfortable with that feeling!




Lesser Slave Lake, there was an awesome day park, and I was very tempted to sneak Spirit into one of the little hiking trails and hide there. The gate closed at 11. Yeah, I really didn't fancy getting caught and having to break camp up again, so I left

Finally I rode through Slave Lake and headed toward Lac La Biche.
About half an hour later (after a few wrong roads) I saw a steep dirt road veer off to the right. I drove past it not wanting to deal with steep mud, but then I turned around, maybe there would be a spot right on the top with a view.
I walked up the hill first to see how thick the mud was, not too bad! And yes!! a gorgeous spot on the top.
So even though I was tired and didn't need the challenge I decided to go for it and rode up the steep hill.
Spirit made it easy!!!
The only thing wrong with the location was the amount of garbage people left lying around! Why do folks do this???


I pitched the tent in no time and crawled in. It was bear country but I decided to just be aware but not to worry too much.
It was a very cold night!!
I woke early, 7 actually, and the tent was covered in dew and condensation. I turned around and went back to sleep for an hour.

Yeah, in no time at all my tent turned into a sauna!! It was time to pack up!
The ride toward Lac La Biche was pleasant and quick


lots of yellow fields, which Jeff says is probably Canola


Stopped at the visitor Bureau in LLB and according to my GPS I was parked in the water! Sorry, blurry!


I sat outside for a while enjoying the scenery and the fresh air


And the birds


And some more of those amazingly beautiful blue dragonflies

Tomorrow Jeff and I are going to Edmonton (wasn't I just there with Mitch???) to get a new rear tire for Spirit.
The 130/80 is just too small. I have a hard time parking and believe it or not, but that tire is almost worn out!!! I've only done 2,500 miles since Fairbanks. I've never had a tire go bald on me that fast before.
I wonder if it spins a lot more because it is so much smaller……

I had fun today! Went ATVing More later.


Saw a fox walking in the yard

Yesterday, Saturday, Jeff and I drove to Edmonton to pick up the Shinko that he found at Alberta Cycle.


Stopped to take some pictures of these tiger lilies

When we got there we looked around to see if maybe…….. they had a 130/90/17. The one he put on hold was a 140/80/17.
Lo and behold!! They did, Jeff found it. I was happy, the 90 is taller and so much easier to slide your hand in when pushing the tube valve through the rim hole.

We walked around the store for a while looking at bikes and goodies.
Then because Jeff paid for my Shinko, I told him I'd take him out for lunch at Guru, and indian restaurant.
LOL, he had never had Indian food.


I think it hit the spot!!
The food was awesome, and we almost finished the whole order. (Ended up with a tiny doggie bag)

We stopped at a few other places, including on the highway to take a photo of this mosque,



and got back to Lac La Biche around 8
Jeff asked if I was interested in going for an ATV ride on Sunday, I said sure, sounds like fun.

When I got up this morning he was at his neighbor's picking up an ATV for me to use.
I took a quick cruise around the yard to try it out.
Then Jeff took me on a trip around the property, which I later found out was so that he could gauge how well I could ride the ATV.

It was good to have a few obstacles to run over before we set out, because the road (Hmmmm, don't think I can call it that) was quite a challenge here and there!
I'm just going to post a bunch of pics:


Following Jeff












Lots of those little blue dragon flies










It's amazing how a beaver can fell a huge tree!


Stopped at a beaver dam






dragonfly in flight








A little too much light, but Jeff is in really deep water there!! He had to back up as the ATV started floating!



Tomorrow I'm going to replace the tire, change the oil, clean the air filter and maybe figure out why my heated grips don't work.
The Shock is not here yet, my brother sent if off the day I got to Lac La Biche…….
According to DHL it just left Cincinnati. Yeah, we'll see when it gets here…..

Great pics thanks

I've got pain in muscles I didn't know existed!! Yep, ATVing is good for arm development!

Changed the oil today, and again had some metal slivers in it, not too much like at the beginning of my trip a few years ago, but still some. Mostly aluminum, but a couple of tiny slivers looked like either bearing or stainless steel (bolt?) There were only a couple and about 2mm in size. I'm just hoping that these were wedged somewhere that I didn't get to when cleaning the engine after cracking it open and replacing the worn out bearings. I never did remove the electric copper coils (stator?) so maybe they were wedged in there. Still, she sounds and runs good so I'm not going to worry.

Afterhaving changed the oil, I loosened up the rotor bolts and the axle before lifting her up and putting a frying pot underneath her.


Who would have thought such a pot could have a double use??

I removed the rear wheel and one of the bolts attached to the links. Took out the shock bolts and then took the shock out.
As I looked at the shock I thought "What the???????"


I was baffled at first until a small piece broke off………. I had never seen dirt accumulate like that before.
I'm guessing the red stuff is shock oil, which really shouldn't be leaking out like that though….

As I had to take the plastic covers off to get to the shock I figured that my air filter would probably like a cleaning as I'd been riding through a lot of dirt and dust.
I took the screw out and removed the cover, then noticed a small strip of plastic that had slid down and wedged against the frame. Whoa! isn't that supposed to be attached to the air box cover?


Never thought I'd see that! Well, nothing some plastic glue or duct tape can't fix!


Yeah, she looks like this again So much for my silent hope that I would not have to work on her for a few months.

I had put the new tire in the sun for a few hours, and started to remove the little 80 off the rim.
I am very thankful that I didn't have a real flat tire along the way, i.e. a nail or so.
This little bugger was hell to get off!! Had to use Jeff's C-clamp to squeeze the bead down. Even then it took me quite a while to get it off.
Putting the 90 on was a piece of cake!!! So much more room to work with. Had the valve in the rim hole is just seconds. I think it took me half an hour last time to get it in while I had the 80 on it, and ended up with bruised knuckles and fingers to boot.
Yep, I am so happy to have been able to find a 90!!!

The now Ohlins shock arrived today!!!!
It is awesome!

Other than a few minor glitches the shock fits beautifully, and as far as I can tell, without having had a chance to ride it yet, works great too. I haven't even messed with the settings yet!


The old and the new just so you can compare the difference. The dampener is the little black ring on the bottom, and the spring preload adjuster is the one on the top, kept in place with a similar ring that needs to be loosened first when adjusting.


close-up of the dampener and the difference in the bottom mount.


The top is different too! I removed the spacers and foam bumpers so you can see the heim-end (like a ball bearing)


That is sooo cool!


It was really a shame to put such a nice and shiny shock in a dirty bike, but after hours of trying to get the clay off everything, she still looks absolutely dirty!!

The only thing that was missing in the box was the Ohlins sticker that I was to stick on my bike!
haha, I guess my brother forgot to put it in.
Thanks Stan, I love it!!!

I am in Big River after having slept about 12 hrs straight! (Well sort of)

I loved my stay with Just Jeff, I could have easily stayed longer! LOL
Jeff is a really sweet guy who surprised me after coming home from work, with veggie cheese and my favorite Veginaise mayo. I cooked dinner a few nights and he got a taste of meatless life.
The Ohlins shock was awesome, but unfortunately I had to leave it with Jeff, as unfortunately the main R&D guy that put the shock together forgot to put the 7.4 KG spring on it. Jeff and I were baffled for a while, trying to figure out what was going on. Well good to know that even the guys in Taiwan are human and can make a mistake
So Stan my brother is sending Jeff the correct spring, and Jeff will mail it to me once I figure out where I will be.
Jeff had designed a spacer to go under the spring on his KLR, and he put it on mine.
Basically what it does is that the spring has a way higher compression now. Amazing!!! i"m way high up and done bottom out. back to tiptoeing though! Even with a full load!
So I decided to leave Thursday even though I could have hung out till Monday for the now spring to arrive. But I figured if I wanted to make it to Quebec in about a month time (to maybe meet up with Jettn Jim) I would have to mosey on…
Jeff told me about Meadow Lake provincial park, and suggested taking Hwy 950.
I was on the road by 9


This picture is for Jeff who did not quite believe me that my RPM is only 4200 at 65 miles an hour (98kmp)

I rode into Saskatchewan and decided to take a picture of Alberta too, as I had missed the sign entering from NWT



Yep, now I am in Saskatchewan


Route 950
I easily found the turnoff to go to Meadow Lake provincial park. Right as I got onto the gravel I realized that my tire pressure was just way to high! I was going all over the place. I stopped and lowered it to 25 psi to see if it made a difference. In those few minutes I had 2 trucks stop and ask if I needed help, how sweet
I hopped back on and continued.
15 half an hour later, Spirit really started squirreling, what the??????
I hopped back off and immediately saw what was going on. I was standing ankle deep in gravely sand! Yikes.
Just by looking at it you can't tell. Someone had just grated this road!! Wonder if it was that huge weird tractor looking thing I saw?
I lowered the pressure down to 15 and decided to keep going on (I kinda debated turning around I have to admit)
While I was lowering the pressure another truck stopped and a guy came out offering to help. I told him what I was doing, and of course there came the usual questions, where was I from and where was I going. He kept on saying I don't believe it, by yourself? This whole way? He kept shaking his head, but was really sweet and gave me a map of the park and told me how much more of this sand I had to endure. He said even his little truck was going all over the place. He said bye and drove off, me I hopped back on hoping the ride would be easier now.
It helped just a little but not much. I basically kept riding on parts of the road that looked the hardest, and occasionally hit really soft groves. It was no fun!
On top of that I saw a bear at the side of the road, now would be a really wrong time to crash! Luckily it took one look at Spirit and ran.
There were maybe 4 or 5 times that I almost dropped her but didn't. Phew!


I finally hit this, oil treated, yippee!!

For my brake I stopped at a day park at a lake (can't remember the name) and had a bite to eat




I decided to forego my idea of going all the way north on this road, and took the turn off to Goodsoil.
I was already getting tired and figured I'd set up camp early


Lots of farms on the road, which I thought might make it a bit of a challenge to find a spot to pitch my tent
After a little while I saw a sign dead end road…. Bingo, that might work.
I rode down there a bit, but it was getting very hairy! Deep sand ruts, yikes, nope, not my cup of tea….
I managed to turn around in the sand and rode back to the road.
Right before I got there I saw a meadow on the left with an old run down shed. Perfect!
Away from the eye, unless you came down the road, and close enough to the road that even if it rained I could easily make it.
I did have to ride through a ditch of sort, but it was dry.


I love the high grass, it keeps the mosquitos out!

It was mosquito heaven there, so I quickly pitched the tent, tossed my junk in there and crawled in myself.
I lit some incense to keep the bug aways and got ready for the night.
As soon as I had gotten myself settled, it started raining. Talk about perfect timing!
It rained all night, sometimes heavy sometimes light. I fell asleep at 8 but woke up at midnight with one thought on my mind, I rode through a ditch to get where I was! Of course then I started worrying about how to get back on the road if the ditch filled up with water. I finally convinced myself that worrying did no good and that I would just have to find out in the morning. I slept till 9! I did dream about someone walking around my tent though, but I couldn't talk or move, it was weird.


Cute little fellow!

There was no rain in the morning and as I peeked outside it looked like it might be a nice sunny day. The weather forecast for Beauval and Flin Flon was rain rain rain. Crap!
I decided to ride to Green Lake and find out if they knew what the road was like up in Beauval.
Luckily I bumped into a Harley guy who called his friend in Beauval to see what the road was like. It had been raining up there too.
I decided then and there that I was going to head toward Prince Albert and take the road through Prince Albert National Park to avoid going through the city, and then head North to Flin Flon.
Don't ask me why I want to go there, I don't know myself! Still if the forecast keeps being tons of rain in Flin Flon I might just chance my mind, and stay where the sun is

I made it to Big River and am drinking some decaf while typing up my report at the Esso gas station which has a cute little diner


They have lots of good stuff to eat if you're a meat eater, I did see a Greek salad on the menu too though
Well, it's 4 PM and I am off again, spent too much time typing up my report!!!

This ride report is proof of how diligent I am in keeping up with it! I actually have to pay here at the library in The Pass to use the internet. $1 per half hour!
But as I am a firm patron of the library system I figured I’d help.

Where did I leave off??
Oh yeah, I left Big River heading to Meadow Lake Provincial Park.


Big River, it reminded me of one of my nicest costumes I’d made, that required 14 yards of fabric. It was one of those “Scarlet O’Hara” dresses

The weather was nice and I was glad not to be riding in rain again, kinda had enough of rain for a while.
Pretty soon I got to the shortcut to the park, which turned into a dirt road, Hmmm, the Harley guy said it was paved.


It looked pretty dry so l kept riding.

Yeahhhhhhh, I had to stop and lower the tire pressure. It wasn’t all that dry in places, and in other places it was super dry and sandy. I don’t like sand, have I mentioned that before??


After a while it turned pretty good and before I knew it I hit pavement again.
The pay booth was not too much further.
The lady at the booth asked if I planned to stay, and I said no, just passing through on my way to Flin Flon. She let me pass without paying a fee.
The road itself was nice, but not spectacular though. I pulled over at a campground to inflate the tires again. I so love my green slime inflator!!



Gorgeous view before the end of the road

After about 40 minutes of easy riding I came to Meadow Lake Town.
What a shock! After being in nature all of a sudden I was in touristville!!!
There were little shops and restaurants, cafes with chairs and tables outside, very cozy! This was really a high-end resort!
Kinda got lost cause my GPS didn’t see any of this, so I asked for direction back to the Hwy.
I was curious about camping prices so at the little exit booth I asked how much the overflow was to pitch a tent for the night. Not as bad as I had thought, but with the entrance fee it would have cost me $25, so I opted not to.


I parked right in front of this deer, and it just looked at me!

Pretty soon I hit Hwy 2 (I think) and headed North to Weywatkin, the last place to gas up the Harley guy told me, before I got to La Ronge.
By now it was pretty late and I was tiring

The sun was fast on its way down, and I really don’t like riding at night, not only that, I discovered to my dismay that only one setting of my headlight works.
Seeing as I painted over the little drawing I don’t know if I now have my regular or my brights on. I have the top part of the button pressed down.

I kept turning in little side roads and one after the other turned too muddy or sandy, and almost all of them had bear poop on the tracks. Hmmm, nope, so not going to stay here!

I was hoping to find a spot with trees, so I could have some shade, and put up my tarp in case it rained
Then I saw a little tent sign with the letter 2 Km underneath.
I kept my fingers crossed that this place wouldn’t charge an arm and a leg.
Two Km later I saw the turn off…………
?????
This is a campground? I rode Spirit around the little loop and saw 2 open spaces between the trees, and 2 toilets. No sign anywhere about having to pay!! Yippee!!
One of the open spaces had a teepee frame on it, so I picked that one.


My tent fit right inside of it, and I fixed my tarp over it just in case.

Pretty soon a car showed up with a canoe on the top, and the guy picked the other empty spot. My did would be happy I had a fellow camper and was not all alone.
After I finished setting up it was dark, and I cooked my dinner quickly as I was hungry to the max!
Then I checked my cell phone. I had reception!!! Awesome!

Around midnight I crashed, and I slept like a log.
I vaguely heard the canoe guy leave early in the morning, but I fell right back asleep again.
As I had such a nice spot I decided to stay for a day. It rained on and off, and I spend the day knitting (again) and reading.

Started on Brain Sanderson’s Way of Kings, pretty awesome book so far! I now the sequel is out, but probably not yet on e-format at the library.


I walked around when the rain stopped and saw why there were sooooo many mosquitos at the campground


Interesting little (actually pretty big) bug in the tent
I packed up everything I didn’t need and put it in my cases. According to the weather forecast it was gong to be sunny the next day.
I woke early and packed up the rest. I wouldn’t say it was sunny, but it was dry.

When I got to Weywatkin I found the gas station, but it turned out that the pump was no longer in use. Shucks! I would have to go to La Ronge now to gas up.
Luckily it was only 20 miles further than the turnoff to Hwy 165 that headed to Flin Flon.

I got to La Ronge a couple of hours later and filled up my gas tank. It took me a while to get out of there as people kept coming up to talk to me and ask me where I was going and where I was from. Finally I said my goodbyes and rode away.
They had a huge grocery story in town I was told so I headed there in search of some almond milk. It was closed on Sunday! Bummer.
I turned around and headed back to the gas station to get some paper towels and fill up my water canteens.

As I headed to Hwy 165 I was both nervous and happy. At least I didn’t totally ex out the route I wanted to take. I hoped that the road would be dry.
As I turned off unto 165 I was happy to see that the road was in really good shape. l kept my fingers crossed.



I just had to take a pic of Spirit and the open road!
The speed limit was 80 Km an hour and I kept it at 70 pretty much, until the road got tricky. Again I stopped to let the air out of the tires, down to 20 Psi
I thanked my lucky starts that it had been dry for a little while, cause I saw what this road would have looked like when wet! There had been some heavy cars that left their tracks and I pretty much kept Spirit riding over their tire tracks, which were about a foot wide. Left and right of the nicely flattened area the dirt was sometimes a foot high, but mostly about half a foot of mud, gravel or sand, depending on how wet it was.
Occasionally I had to fight to keep Spirit upright as the tracks crisscrossed, but other than that it was really easy.


Hit another easy stretch

After about 100 Km (really short road) I hit pavement again.
Stopped again to put air in.
I kept on noticing oil on my bottle and the frame, and I couldn’t figure out where it came from.
I figured as I had spilled some on my engine guard that it must be flying off it and unto the frame. I really should not have assumed and looked, but I’ll tell you later why I was leaking oil. I did check the oil level and it was good.
The weather was really nice, even though my android weather told me rain, rain, rain in Flin Flon and surrounding areas. I am so not going to look at that thing again!!!

The road to Fin Flon reminded my of a patchwork quilt!


The closer I got there the more rocks I saw. This was exactly like going to Yellowknife!


It was very pretty driving by all that water.

I was in Flin Flon before I knew it, and nowhere did I see a sign saying Welcome to Manitoba! Sniff

I did find the tourist info center and got a map of Manitoba. The kid didn’t know anything about camping or which routes where the nicest, so I left to crass the road and go into Walmart for some almond milk.
They had just closed!! Oh well, I still had one little 8 ounce carton.
They also had camping in Flin Flon, but camping right in town just doesn’t do it for me, even though I would have like a shower.
I headed South toward The Pass, looking for a place to camp. Another campground was also $25, nope!
After a while I noticed a sign saying picnic area, and I turned off into the dirt road.
I was really a short road and ended up at the lake.
There were no tables or anything, so it didn’t look like a picnic area, but boy did it look like the perfect camping spot!
I decided to just pitch my tent and if I got booted out, so be it!


It was the perfect spot, and even better was the fact that there were hardly any bugs!!


View from my tent door

I was really comfy and happy there, the sound of the water lapping was very soothing and not having to swat away mosquitos in my tent was just awesome!
After cooking dinner and eating I walked around a bit. There was a hill behind my tent and I walked up it



The sun was setting and I got a pretty nice shot of the sunset

I slept like a rock and woke around 8, but really 9 Manitoba time.
I took it easy and made pancakes, but before too long it got too hot. There was not a cloud in the sky!! Amazing!
I did my morning check for Spirit, checked the oil, still good but a little lower….. so I added a little.
Check the tire pressure, both good, and waxed the chain.
Then I looked at the oily frame and water bottle again. I had just wiped those yesterday!
Then I saw why!! “#*^%oghlfjb32)!lgrrrhidssht*&%!!!”
My stupidity is going to kill Spirit one of these days, if it hasn’t done so already!
I could have cried!!!
Dimwit I told myself! I had totally forgotten to reconnect the fat hose that goes from the engine to the airbox, and oil had been leaking out of there.
I took it of and checked the inside. The part that had been hanging out was dirty with oil and sand, but the inside near the engine was just oily, and I could not detect any griddy stuff. Maybe the pressure coming out of it stopped dirt from going into my engine. I sure was hoping so, but what worried me was the fact that it had rained with that hose out. I can only hope that because it was kind of under the seat somewhat, that no water got into it.
I cleaned up the inside of the hose with paper towel, and put it back on.
Maybe just to make sure I’ll change the oil in The Pass if they have a Walmart or Canadian Tire that sells Rotella-T

I left around 11 Manitoba time, and headed for the pass.
The road was pretty boring, but still nice.
The pass is a nice size town but I still had no reception. Then a lady told me, yep, Telus has no service here. Shucks!!
I found this library and figured I’d type up my report first and the pay for the internet to upload the pics and my report.
An hour later, paid for internet and I couldn’t upload the pictures. The guy at the library was a jerk, didn’t even offer to return the dollar.
Went back to McD and uploaded everything there.
No Walmart or Canadian tire here, not sure if I can find Rotella-T here.

I’m gonna head south and see if I can bypass Winnipeg.

Really enjoying your RR and your travels. You might check on ADV riders and the Winnipeg group for routes south of the Peg.
They might also help with suggestions for campsites that are reasonably priced.
As you get into Ontario campsite prices go up considerably. I just paid $38 plus tax in Tobermoray,(a tourist trap) for one night so it might be worthwhile to check on ADV tentspace sign up thread to help keep the budget.
Hope all your travels are wonderful, Keep up the great RR.