D2D Day 19 Fort Nelson, BC to Dawson Creek, BC 278 Miles

Greetings from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, faithful blog followers,

Today, we were up early and anxious to get to Dawson Creek, the official beginning (Mile 0), or as I have stated before, the official end of the Alaska Highway, for us. After an included buffet breakfast at the hotel, we loaded up our bikes along with a group of riders from Michigan. They had just successfully completed a ride up the dirt Dalton Highway (AKA the Haul Road) from Fairbanks, AK to Deadhorse, Prudhoe Bay and the Arctic Ocean and were on their way back home.

One of the Michigan riders was lamenting the fact that they had successfully negotiated the Dalton without mishap; however, yesterday one of their riders dumped his BMW 1200 GS in the loose gravel on some road construction on the Alaska Highway. He was alright but had some bruises, not to mention his male ego. I was a little dicey for us as well, but we managed to keep the shiny side up.

The weather and road conditions were perfect for riding today, as you can probably see from a couple of the attached photos. We just rode today, no sightseeing, hence not many photos, sorry. It was really an easy, low-mileage jaunt. We stopped for lunch in Fort Saint John, BC, at A&W Root Beer, which are very prevalent in Canada. Papa burgers all around please.

I think we have also shopped just about every Wal Mart in British Columbia, Yukon and Northwest Territories buying motorcycle oil for the KLRs. Aside from the radiator problem we had with Lane's bike in Chicken, AK, the little bikes have performed flawlessly with one exception. Stock KLRs are known for high oil consumption, especially at freeway speeds. We're using a quart of oil every 1,000 to 1,500 miles on average. I don't think it's burning the oil, it seems to just blow it out past the rings at higher speeds. Kawasaki knows about it but they haven't fixed it. There is a retro-fit aftermarket 685 cc big-bore kit available to resolve that problem. I think I'm going to look into it upon my return home.

We pulled into Dawson Creek in the early afternoon and made the obligatory stop for photos at the Start of the Alaska Highway sign and visitor center/museum, the brown grain elevator building. The family photo is not my new instant Canadian family; it's just a local family who has never visited the museum before. They were kind enough to take our picture. The little girl with the bonnet wanted to see the motorcycle, so I sat her on it and they wanted a photo. Nice folks.

We left the visitor center and checked into a brand new Holiday Inn Express Hotel. Later, we enjoyed a very nice supper with wine at the new FIXX Urban Grill.  It was excellent; we recommend it.

Please stay tuned. Over the next two days we'll be in Jasper, Alberta, and Kamloops, BC, before returning to the US. 

Here are a few photos. That little dot between Lane's silver helmet and his orange camera strap is me.