Sleepless in seattle ,honeymoon ride report

Rocketman

Registered user
Joined
May 28, 2013
Messages
581
Reaction score
0
Location
Shropshire
I've been meaning to put this HRR together since we got back in July but with one thing and another just never got around to it .Well here goes please try and bare with me as I'm a bit of a technophobe but I'll try and give as much info as I can ,and With a bit of luck it might inspire someone else to go and experience something similar for themselves .
We flew into a sunny seattle on the 20th of June late in the day we checked into our hotel near the airport and after a very poor meal at a nearby diner we hit the sack .
It took me forever to go to sleep i was both a nervous wreck and as excited as a blind puff in hot dog factory And snoozed for maybe 3 hrs max ,Anita slept like a bloody log as usual .
On the morning of the 21st June we jumped into a taxi heading for eagleriders seattle HQ in burrien only 15 min drive from all the airport hotels.
While I sorted the paperwork inside I left Anita to try and shoehorn our luggage into the bike's panniers ,after that was done the nice guy sorted some storage for the suitcases and we where ready for the off .
At this stage I must confess to bluffing the salesman at wolverhampton harley into giving me a test ride on one of these bikes a few weeks previous so I had a little bit of a head start on using all the controls ,but shit the first 10 minutes were a bit sketchy to say the least .
Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr\
}
So we were on our way a nice steady day today just getting use to the bike
Just 3or4hrs over the border up to vancouver .mainly highway but still fab views and just soaking up being on a bike on a different continent happy bunny's we were.
Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr\
}
Vancouver is somewhere I'd wanted to show Anita as a few years ago I was lucky enough to have briefly visited and really liked the place and with Anita Being more of a city lover than me she was bound to love it .
Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr\
}
Tonight we where stopping at this place http://victorianhotel.ca/
Smack bang in the middle of downtown and with secure bike parking at the rear .
We were All checked in by 4pm and straight out again to spend a lovely evening taking in the sights all around downtown .https://www.tourismvancouver.com/vancouver/neighbourhoods/gastown/

Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr\
}

Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr\
}

We had a great meal at the spaghetti factory in gastown and then back to the hotel
To do what honeymooners do in the evening :D.
 
Good man, thanx for taking the time to put the report together.
Looking forward to the rest of it.
 
Day 2
Vancouver to cache creek via sea to sky highway and whistler .

Flung open the curtains to be greeted by beautiful sunshine again after breakfast we went for a nice walk around the city.
we were feeling very smug at this point seeing all the office bods scurrying to work with briefcases and coffee's in hand while we meanwhile were on our jollies.
By the time we were heading out of the city the morning rush had died down a bit and before we knew it the scenery had improved somewhat .
Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr\
}
Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr\
}
We called into whistler looking for a spot of lunch and found pickings to be slim to say the least very upmarket type of place but perseverance was the key and we eventually found a great little deli .
Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr\
}
All fed and refuelled we were back on the road and what a fab road it was
All the way to cache creek ,also amazing was seeing the landscape change as it did .
Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr\
}

Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr\
}
Eventually arriving at the http://sunsethotel.ca/
Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr\
}
About 5ish ,there's not a lot in cache creek just a handful of motels and small eating places . This place was hot though a real dry heat ,the lady from the digs said it was one of the hottest driest places in all of Canada .
We had a nice meal at a mom&pops type place on the outskirts of town
https://www.booking.com/hotel/ca/bear-s-claw-lodge.en-gb.html
And then we were all pooped out so hit the sack early doors .
 
Cheers dave , it hurts me to talk about the hire cost still but all in it was £2700 that was 18 days hire fully insured to the eyeballs and unlimited mileage and we did 3800 miles in total .
It's a lot of money I know and we're not wealthy people at all but we saved for along time for this as neither of us had ever been on a honeymoon before we wanted this to be something special and a once in a lifetime trip .
I do believe I could of shipped my own bike in for quite a lot less sgt Bilco would be you're go to guy for any questions on that :thumb2
 
A trip of a life time, well done!

Nearly 10 years ago (blimey) we took a month long Honeymoon bike trip to Greece.
It was brill, hope you enjoy this one as much.

64220597b2221ca05d4b3a4ae46d00d7.jpg


Sent from my SM-A320FL using Tapatalk
 
Cheers Phil , great pic of you both 10 yrs you say amazing how time flys by it's 15 yrs since we first got together seems like just a couple of years ago :eek:
 
Day 3
Cache creek to valemount via kamloops

We woke to Another beautiful morning and decided as there wasn't much choice in town we would head in to kamloops to find some brekkie .This was a very brave of me to do this as Anita turns into a real grouch :wife if she hasn't had breakfast within 30 minutes of waking up.
We headed out of town on the trans Canada highway of which was a very pleasant ride but with a couple of pic stops and chatting with a local turned into a 2.5 hr ride into kamloops .
Honey moon17 by gavin jones, on Flickr\
}

After a short one sided discussion:wife ihop was chosen for brunch and jeesus i really struggled to move after eating this lot ,a days worth of calories in one meal .
Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr\
}
Back on the bike and heading north on the yellow head highway you soon start climbing a little and getting away from the dry arid terrain and move into the more cooler mountainous region .
Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr\
}
A couple of hours later we pulled off the highway into a sleepy little place called Gosnell just to have a nose around really and quickly found ourselves in a rail yard as you do :augie
Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr\
}
Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr\
}
An hour later on we were at our digs for the night http://www.dreamcatcherinn.ca/
A place I know has been used by Bilco and others and it didn't disappoint ,the gaffer was a lovely lady and gave us an upgrade to a dogging in the woods cabin :Dfor very little $ more.
Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr\
}
{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252
{\fonttbl\Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr\
}
A nice little walk into town brings you to this place http://www.threeranges.com/
Some lovely beers were tasted and I think by closing time I'd consumed tomorrow's calories as well
Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr\
}

Couldn't help ourselves had visit this place before bedtime https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Resta...he_Funky_Goat-Valemount_British_Columbia.html
The Goat burgers were the bees knees.
 
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/225055266" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe> <p><a href="https://vimeo.com/225055266">Untitled</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user68668306">Gavin jones</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

183 in total ,I let Anita count them as she's better at maths than me :D
 
Cheers dave , it hurts me to talk about the hire cost still but all in it was £2700 that was 18 days hire fully insured to the eyeballs and unlimited mileage and we did 3800 miles in total .
It's a lot of money I know and we're not wealthy people at all but we saved for along time for this as neither of us had ever been on a honeymoon before we wanted this to be something special and a once in a lifetime trip .
I do believe I could of shipped my own bike in for quite a lot less sgt Bilco would be you're go to guy for any questions on that :thumb2

Gavin

I agree, £2,700 is a lot of money, but if it's what you wanted then I say "Good for you". Ignore all the people who say "You should have done such and such" or "For that money you could have done so and so" :blagblah

If it makes you feel any better, you got hire for 18 days, fully insured, unlimited mileage for only slightly more than I paid to have to have my final drive repaired after it failed and cut short my holiday.... link here
 
You're right Dave you only live once mate , shit luck that was with you're final drive
I have an 08 gs and if I remember correctly mine give way at about 35k ,I was lucky though and it went at home and not half way through a tour like you .
I take it you'll be keeping it for a couple more years :thumb
 
Day 4

Valemount to Banff via jasper and ice fields parkway

Early start today as there's a lot of ground to cover ,another beautiful morning to be on the road chilly though because of the altitude but it soon warmed up.
35465042590_ffefa2d73a_c.jpg
[/url]Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr

And before long we were approaching mount robson
35720924551_fd3aa84c4c_c.jpg
[/url]Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr

Not long after we called into the town of jasper to fuel up as I'd read there was a good distance between gas stations on the ice fields parkway ,a nice little town a little upmarket but not to bad. Got on the road again and stopping loads for pics
Temp about 25c just nice .

35690580812_d201b0a5d5_c.jpg
[/url]Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr

35472184460_5be7f29790_c.jpg
[/url]Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr

35465049800_6602da9499_c.jpg
[/url]Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr

35465038150_09eccb48fe_c.jpg
[/url]Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr

Long spells of silence over the comms as I think we were both struggling to take in the beauty of the place .

35720936321_8c8ca25517_c.jpg
[/url]Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr

35020050484_31836094c6_c.jpg
[/url]Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr

36421927996_50bd2c3d3b_c.jpg
[/url]Honey moon17 by gavin jones, on Flickr

Walked up onto the Columbia ice field ,well as far as we we're allowed to very cold up
there brr.
35050613353_b5426bb9fe_c.jpg
[/url]Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr

The next one is bow lake of which was a really lovely place a few tourists about but you could still get away from the crowds to try and soak it all up in peace .
35043374913_c9de445683_c.jpg
[/url]Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr

On the way into Banff we called into lake Louise gorgeous as it was I couldn't wait to get back on the bike and away as I think the entire Beijing population all armed with the very finest selfie sticks we're there :mad: I think if I'd of stayed any longer I may of pushed a few into the turquoise waters :D.
Tonight was Saturday and the prices for lodging in town were just damn right daft so we opted for the backpackers hostel close to the centre of town https://samesun.com/backpackers-hostels/banff/ it was around the £60 mark and that included a light brekkie and underground parking .
37291511771_1c8a7de962_c.jpg
[/url]Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr

We didn't take long with dinner and soon hit the bunks :D
35852965835_5c87b79a9f_c.jpg
[/url]Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr

35852965065_4136915fb1_c.jpg
[/url]Untitled by gavin jones, on Flickr
all in all not a bad days biking .
 


Back
Top Bottom