hhmoto

[hhmoto]

5/29/16

Calgary to Kelowna

The home stretch took the longest day of this trip. We left everyone with hugs around 10 and then had a long cold ride through rain in the Rockies. The first hour was a straight shot towards Canmore past road construction and the shithole town of Cochrane I'm glad we're not moving to. We stopped in Canmore to stretch and have a snack in the visitor center parking lot, and then we didn't stop until Golden and I was frozen by the time we got there. We'd been rained on for two hours and the Rockies were hidden behind fog and rain, again. The three times we've gone through the valley it's never been totally clear and there was nothing to distract from the cold. We went to a Tim Hortons in Golden for soup and I was miserable. My lip was infected and I was cold and hungry, still with 400km to go. Jesse was cold too but he never dips as low as I do when the temperature is near freezing. I cleaned the crust off my lip in the bathroom and we sat for a while with hand warmers at the counter by the window. 

We knew Rogers Pass would be almost 2 hours without a town to stop in, so we prepared ourselves with layers, warmers, mittens, scarves, Jesse plugged me in. It wasn't as cold though. Some rain, but some gaps of clear weather in the Avalanche zone where the mountains rise dramatically on either side of the highway. All green but snow on the peaks. Waterfalls are a dime a dozen in May in BC. So many trees and so many rocks and mountains. Little chains of lakes. 

We stopped for another coffee and croissant in Revelstoke and Jesse looked up angular chelitis for me. Too late to hit a clinic in Kelowna we kept going anyway and had two beautiful hours on the road, finally warm heading south through sun and lake country. At Vernon we took the back roads next to Okanagan Lake. Sweet curves, the smell of grass and birch trees. In Lake Country there were wild flowers everywhere and it felt so good to be back in the land of mountain lupine and ponderosa pines. 

We pulled over at a boat launch and sat on rocks by the water with crackers a half hour from home. It felt like the brink of summer, the sweet but somber end to almost two years on the road, and the edge of the next part of our lives beginning as this chapter comes to a quiet close. We rode up dilworth mountain and parked in the driveway and sue had the table set for dinner when we came inside, and that was it. We were home. 

We ate and laughed at the table when Daniel and his girlfriend Kenzie got home. I took a bath and we watched part of Eddie the eagle in bed and I fell asleep with wet hair and warm feet. 

[hhmoto]

5/28/16

Calgary 

Bagels, long walk through neighborhood Calgary to massages, lunch Caesars and mimosas, the mall for party clothes, naps, showers, wine. When we were eating Jesse asked if he had to propose for our courthouse wedding or only for the real one. I said the legal one is a real one!! So he has two months to find a ring. He asked how he should do it, and I said he had to figure that out himself. And now it's a race with Jamie who gets engaged and married first. Sue said its about time we did "We've been waiting for ages!" I showered first after our nap. Jesse snuck in when I was done, found me naked, so I slid his boxers off too and we had sex against the bathroom counter.

On the way to Andrea and Jonny's house Sue spilled the beans that we were in town. Then Daniel. And by then Jamie figured it might be a surprise party happening but he didn't know there were 30 people and balloons waiting. We had drinks at home, then drinks at a bar stalling our arrival at the party. Then we showed up to all the people at one long table in the back. The family sat at one end and Jamie sat in the middle. We had the best fish tacos of our life, wine, chatted with the family. I met some of the people Jesse went to high school with. When we were eating cake Jamie made Sue cry and that was the beginning of him ruining his own party. He was pissed she returned Gab's things from his room as she got the house ready for them to move into it. The nicest thing and he's furious. After we left with Andrea and fell asleep early Jamie got belligerent drunk and fought with Jess about who knows what. He slept in his car. 

[hhmoto]

5/27/16

Fort Macleod to Calgary 

Lazy start with oatmeal and leftover tots in our motel microwave. Photographing post cards, sitting in the sun on our stoop. We left and rode the boring highway 2 north, and just after we began to head west we saw the thunderhead in the distance. We pulled over and put bags on our things and I pulled my rain pants over my boots again. A man pulled over to warn us how hard it was raining. Almost like, don't go that way, turn back. But we needed a new tire from a shop on the other side, so we forged ahead into the storm. It was hail and then rain and I was shivering and partially soaked through when we arrived at the shop. Jesse went inside and I plugged my heated vest into the bike and stuffed my hands inside my jacket. While the bike was inside a bay with the mechanics, we got burritos and coffee at the burrito truck on the property and I tried to warm up while Jesse talked to two bikers about our trip, roads in the area, Washington, gear, bikes. When the bike was done we rode the last half hour to Andrea and Jonny's house and unloaded everything.

Andrea is pregnant again, Jesse and Jonny went on a booze run so Andrea and I talked alone for the first time, and it was nice. A slow transition to a big family weekend and I was social. We took showers and then Sue Daniel Jess and Max came over for dinner. We ate burgers, drank a lot of red wine, made three Oreo cookie cakes, and Jesse told Andrea and Sue our plan to get courthouse married, apparently in August. 

[hhmoto]

5/26/16

Great falls MT to fort Macleod AB

We had another day of dodging rain storms. Border crossing swatting bugs, melted yellow rain pants, a motel with gritty asphalt outside the white metal door, Chinese food, peaky blinders in bed

[hhmoto]

5/25/16

Billings MT to Great Falls

Morning in Billings smells like Boise. There's something sweet, in May, some kind of tree I never thought about before. Jesse walked to Albertsons for oatmeal and an orange while I woke up. We ate and packed and got on the road by 10. The ride went by fast but in a blur 200 miles of rain bursts, cows, wind. We had lunch 15 miles from Lewistown and warmed up with soup and tea at a rest stop diner after being pelted by hail while we drove through a forest of wind turbines. This was a day of trying to make distance across the countryside of Montana where the landscape changes slowly so you barely notice. River valleys with rocks, pastures, hills and gullies, mountains growing in the distance. You can always smell the rain before you feel it. The temperature dips, the wind picks up, and the edge of the storm is upon you. 

We ended our day early in great falls just after 4 at the greystone inn. Grey brick walls in our room and gothic modern decor, mostly black grey and red. We got comfy and watched new girl before walking up sunny Main Street for dinner at Bert and Ernie's. From there back through the too quiet town to drop off leftovers, and check out the Sip and Dip lounge. In a dated hotel, up a cramped staircase past a bouncer reading a big book, we walked in to a perfectly intact 1963 tiki bar. Yellow clamshell booths with seahorse laminate tables. Bamboo roof, flowers, oyster shell lamps, and a mermaid swimming in a pool behind a triple paned window at the bar. We ordered a $28 aqua blue fish bowl drink to share and then sat in a booth watching the mermaid swim over chatter of a group of guys having after-work beers. After the bar cleared out a little we moved to the bar for a better view and Jesse started talking to an old guy about the rock crushing business. After a few minutes we left and ended our day with tv in bed, and three spider bites on my left arm. 

[hhmoto]

5/24/16

Sheridan WY to Billings MT

We saw everything today. Snow rain sun, sagebrush plains and prairie dog towns, high mountain plateau, pines, a moose and snow drifts at 9400 feet, red rock valleys and a rough river canyon displaying 220 million years of earth's silt history, thunder heads, small town streets, railroad tracks, and the orange walls and yellow sink of our dude ranch motel circa 1972. 

After a typical hotel breakfast in Sheridan we rode over the bighorn mountains and I froze. I had to wear mittens again, and plug in my vest, and even then I was too cold to talk. Not great spirits through the day. Jesse and I went back and forth being the grumpy one. We pulled over to watch a moose disappear into the forest and then we continued on in the cold wind climbing higher and higher until the road dove down into a warm dry valley on the other side. Lovell was the visitor center, then a side trip back up into the mountains to see the canyon. It was like a different day. Orange rocks and sweat over a green river, within sight of the snow capped pass and pines but it felt a world away. We ate a granola bar and as we hurried back to Lovell the sky turned ugly and we had a gas station muffin for lunch. Rain gear, and two more hours of dodging storms en route to Billings. We made it, but got to our motel hungry and road weary, buzzing from the wind and freeway. Bar for dinner. Surprise pie from the dude diner. Tv show and now I can't wait to sink into this lumpy bed. 

[hhmoto]

5/23/16

Hulett, WY to Sheridan WY

Cafe breakfast, Devils tower, Wyoming country highways, snakes and wind, AMAZING DINNER, mint bar drinks under the neon cowboy, new girl in the nude.

[hhmoto]

5/22

Rapid City, SD to Hulett, WY

Jewel Cave, Custer, Deadwood, Lead, Belle Forsche to a cabin on a river next to red hills and green grass.

In the cave: Wandering the labyrinth through pools of incandescent light. The long bumpy chambers of cave are encrusted with eight inches of calcite crystals. Passing through feels like walking through the small intestines of a fossilized whale. On and on we walked, up stairs and onto platforms over chasms and piles of rubble, until finally we arrived at an elevator that took us abruptly back to the surface sun and wind after the dark muted world we'd been in below.

[hhmoto]

5/21/16

Rapid City 

Black hills exploring, ride around the hills with Rick, lunch at the Coolidge lodge, Wind Cave, bath, dinner, dominoes 

[hhmoto]

5/20/16

Cedar Campground Badlands National Park to Rapid City South Dakota 

I woke up at 5:05 to birds chirping outside our tent. My head popped off the pillow, and Jesse's alarm went off a few minutes later. He was sleepy but the boys in the tent next to us woke up loud and we couldn't fall asleep again anyway. We got dressed and started off from the campground on foot in search of a sunrise spot in the hills. We wandered up the road and across the street from the visitor center we found a small trail through the grass 

Mt Rushmore

Rick and Sarah's

Nepalese dinner

[hhmoto]

5/19/16

Chamberlain to Badlands national park

140 miles

The wind battered us. Wind rippled grass. Badlands smell like grass and summer. Crickets and stone. Caterpillars rabbits bluebirds. The prairies are all but gone, one last pocket of what was. But without the people, the wolves, and bears. 

[hhmoto]

5/18/16

Palisades state park to Chamberlain SD

170 miles

We woke up early in our cabin. Jesse heated water for coffee and oatmeal on the deck, I wrote more interview prep and we packed up. Beautiful campground I wish we had explored more. But on the road by 9:30 and a quick ride to Sioux Falls for our motorcycle service. 

We unloaded and Jesse told the guy at the service counter I had a phone interview at 11:30 so he let me use his office so "when the time comes you have somewhere quiet." I was nervous, but I think it went well. After I was done Jesse and I looked at pictures and got a snack from the vending machine. When the bike was done we got lunch at a restaurant by the freeway and then hit the road a little after 2. 

This afternoon was mind numbing, and so sunny I got a headache from squinting for so long. In four hours of driving, we only had 4 slight curves. No turns. Dead straight from Sioux Falls to Chamberlain. Our butts hurt. We laid in the grass next to the highway. When we rolled into Chamberlain we stopped for breakfast groceries and set up camp at the American Creek campground right next to the Missouri River. Terrible bar dinner, but gorgeous sunset over the hills, a fire at camp under a huge tree. Windy sleep. 

[hhmoto]

5/17/16

St Croix Falls WI to Palisades State Park SD 

303 miles 

A long, long day of Minnesota. We started just over the Wisconsin border and ended barely over the state line in South Dakota. We had breakfast in our hotel, and then went to the St Croix riverway visitor center for stamps and info on the river. Jesse asked the ranger what route to take. 

The first half hour was scenic, trees and river close. Then we came in to Minnesota farmland. Not a lot of memorable things here. Just a lot of barns and meandering country roads. We stopped for lunch at a riverside patio in Northfield. I called Rachel on my Bluetooth headset and we talked most of the afternoon, adding Jesse in once we figured out we could three way call. 

We stopped and stretched, took a couple wrong turns, got gas, and finally FINALLY got camping groceries in Luverne. Sausages, red peppers and onions. Then only 20 miles to palisades and it felt like an oasis after the endless farms for 300 miles. We got a cabin with a fire pit, surrounded by oak trees and lilacs, dandelion puffs and long soft grass. We couldn't see the river, but we could hear it. We had a fire, I took pictures, Jesse wrote in his journal. We cooked dinner and listened to Eric Church, and when it got dark I prepared for my phone interview and Jesse wrote postcards. We fell asleep with mouth guards in, the electric wall heater on.

Jesse just said "You know what one of my favorite parts of this trip was? The bugs with the lights for butts"..."night bugs"..."fire bugs. Fire flies. I don't know why I couldn't think what they're called."

[hhmoto]

5/16/16

Iron Mountain MI to St Croix Falls WI

292.5 miles

We made it to the Minnesota border today, and besides a glorious lunch spot it was uneventful. It was still winter when we left our nice hotel, and all morning none of the trees had more than buds. We made our way through cold Wisconsin lake country. Lots of forest and small towns with bars and lakeside cabins with decks and single fishing boats floating with solitary men. 

We made it to Woodruff by lunch time and tried Paul Bunyan and Tula cafe before we ended up at Woods Cafe under a rusted out neon sign. Inside was like a time warp to the 70s when even then the countertop was dated. The tiny cafe has been perfectly maintained by the same family for 50 years at least. It was like eating in a Wisconsin grandparents house with a perfectly clean original milkshake machine and griddle. Wood paneled walls, cream and blue starburst laminate countertop, goldenrod vinyl on the 19 stools the counter seats. 1992 bowling trophy, a wooden duck, a clock, the soda machine had real taps instead of buttons. I loved it. I got coffee in a typical brown diner mug, and our meals came on white glass plates with brown print. The men next to us were regulars, talking about their docks on the lake, their boats, friends and gossip. It slowly emptied and we were the last in the lunch crowd. Jesse left to find an ATM and I chatted with the waitress about Idaho and our motorcycle travel. Her sister lives in Idaho but she can't remember where. Much younger. How far do we go a day?

The afternoon was long. Trees and trees and the small roads through farm towns as the forest thinned and the used to be grasslands began. We couldn't find a hotel or camping and Jesse was getting exasperated so we stayed in a holiday inn express off the highway for $140. Huge king room. We changes clothes and walked to a restaurant for dinner. Came back, watched new girl. Hottest shower of my life, the first bj with braces, sleep. 

[hhmoto]

5/15/16

Roberts Corner to Iron Mountain MI

191.7 miles

We woke up to snow 34 degrees. We waited as long as we could, through more snow and a dip to 32, but then the sun came out and we had miles to go. We bundled up big time. Thermal layers, scarf, hood, heated vest, hand warmers, ski socks. And then we rode 200 miles. 

We made one big stop in Munising. At a cafe book store we got sandwiches and a mocha, post cards and a little carved canoe, and warmed up a while in a room full of hundred year old books and trinkets. I got an email that I have a phone interview for my She Explores, internship, so I responded to a scheduling survey and got nervous about a PHONE INTERVIEW. I have a or two to prepare, but not knowing where I'll be makes me anxious. 

After the snack and souvenirs, we went to the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore visitor center. A ranger gave us a map, chatted about the cold weather on a bike, and wished us a safe ride. We took a four mile detour to Sand Point before hitting the road, and I'm glad we did. The beach had soft pink marmalade sand and birch driftwood. We could see the pictured rock cliffs in the distance over a span of dazzling blue water. Jesse did hand stands and we took pictures in the wind. 

The next three hours were dull and cold. My legs started to go numb, but after one gas station pee stop, there was nowhere to rest a while. We kept going through the sun and cold wind, one wrong turn, moods slipping. We stopped and jumped around, I walked circles around the bike, and then we pushed on to Iron Mountain Country Inn. Coffee, cookies, a big fluffy bed, ahhhh luxury. We got salad and deli snacks for dinner and drank wine and watched new girl. I took a bath and then fell asleep next to busy Jesse. 

[hhmoto]

5/14/16

Massey ON to Roberts Corner, Michigan

201 miles

This was our coldest day ever. We started well enough with breakfast at a cafe in Massey, and we loaded up like usual. I started with a pair of hand warmers inside my mittens and the temperature stayed in the 40s. It rained a few drops and my heated vest was plugged in. We stopped after an hour and a half chilled but still okay. Coffee and soup, more hand warmers in my gloves. We pushed through wind and sunshine to Sault Ste Marie. Hot chocolate and a cheese croissant at Tim Hortons and two more pairs of hand warmers, boots, hands, fingers, wrists. 

The border crossing over a dramatic bridge and the Soo Locks was easy, but the next 65 miles to Newberry was miserable. Each mile was misery. The wind picked up and the temperature dropped, 65mph on a highway towards Lake Superior it was 36 degrees when we finally got to a McDonald's. My bladder hurt and my legs had numb red and white patches. Neither of us could stop shivering as we tried to warm up with hot chocolate and nuggets. I was so done. So sick of this winter weather and the ugly scruffy pine trees. The grey sky. The knee pads of my new pants. And then we noticed it was snowing outside. 

We got a motel room at the knollwood inn, ordered pizza, drank wine, had really good sex and hung out naked until it got late. Our boobs and our noodle, braces kisses, tickling each others backs. I showered and now Jesse is asleep beside me. More at peace after a few long days of thinking and letting go, of trying to be comfortable myself and make him feel that way too. We're good together. And we can be better apart. But that's on both of us.

[hhmoto]

5/13/16

Meaford to Massey Ontario, 297 km

Today feels better. We talked about getting married again. We stayed in bed and I got on top of him before we started the day. It's freezing outside though. We're on a ferry across Georgian bay to Manitoulin Island and my hands are still stiff trying to warm up. We've already gone 140km to make the boat, with layers and heated vests, and the sun barely cuts through the chill of Lake Huron on the peninsula. 

The rest of the day went by slowly. The landscape of Ontario looks mostly the same so far, but after the ferry it got rockier. There are marshes full of old fluffed cat tails and yellow flowers. We pushed further than we thought we would today because the towns were dumpy and we wanted to see if the next motel was better then the last. We ended up at a medium dump the Mohawk Inn. It's old but painted bright colors. We got dinner and a milkshake, drank a bottle of wine and fell asleep early.