The GRAND Adventures Sidecar Duo

Day 39: August 8, 2017: Great Falls, MT: 226m/363km Probably our last breakfast at A&W. The tragedy!!  The rest of the ride through Canada was uneventful. Crossed the border from Carway into St. Mary/Glacier National Park. We chose to go back to Great Falls, so we could do laundry. After setting up camp, we drove around to find dinner. Opa chose Golden Corral. It was all fine until the toddler tornado blew in. Three children all under the age of 5, they lived by the dessert bar, screaming, and eating straight from the bar and "double dipping." There was utter destruction left behind. Opa was beyond annoyed and chuckled when I made a comment about my desire to be permanently child-free. We got back to the campground, and settled in. We spotted the rabbits running around and one laying perfectly still, even Opa got concerned and went to check on it. No worries, the bunny was just calm and napping in the sun.

Day 38: August 7, 2017: Granum, AB: 254m/409km No one was at the Office when we were up and ready, I don't know if open even left an envelope of cash in the little box. I doubt he would. I couldn't do much about it, I never carry cash. Opa and I backtracked a bit to make sure that I had stamps in the passport for each province in Canada. Alaska, Yukon, British Columbia, and Alberta, all covered. We finally found the spot with forest fires and making all of the smoke. We could see some of the fires near the freeway and the helicopters dropping water over the fires. We found a lovely campground in Granum. Camping along the pond or lake and settled in for bed before the rain started.

Day 37: August 6, 2017: Golden, BC: 520m/832km We had breakfast at A&W, it is becoming one of our favorite spots at this point. Today was the longest ride, well, it felt like the longest ride. We went through Jasper, through the Icefields Parkway, and Banff, of course stopping for ice cream. We got stuck behind a lot of construction and wandering pedestrian, but the best distraction was the moose wandering next to us. It took an hour from the entrance to the center of Jasper and get ice cream. Opa settled for camping in Golden. We just had to get there, we had a long way to go after wasting so much time in Jasper. We were racing the setting sun and night that was creeping in. We finally gave in and pulled over to put a jacket and gloves on. We pulled into Golden around 9pm. We tried two campgrounds, both were full. We tried the Days Inn, but not for $220 for the night. We finally settled on another campground. Opa is a bit old fashioned, "We can pay in the morning, it's

Day 36: August 5, 2017: Dawson Creek, BC: 399m/641km Today, we will make our way to Mile 0 of the Alaskan Highway in Dawson Creek. Stopped in for gas and a quick coffee/hot cocoa at the Purple Door Cafe in Fort Nelson. About 2 hours after Fort Nelson, we get stuck at this construction site. Opa starts pointing out the clouds and how it looks like bad weather rolling in, "the worst part is that we shouldn't put rain gear on. It's too muddy!" As we get out of the construction zone, we drive straight into a hellish downpour. We were stuck behind a semi, going up a steep hill, in 1st gear, and it was absolutely pouring. I couldn't see anything in front of me. I could barely hear him through the headset. Then, off to the right, we spot some relief. We pull into this little store, grab all of our gear and race under the roofed porch. We waited about 30-45 minutes for the weather to clear. Our clothes were damp. We head off down the road again. Opa starts laughing half

Day 35: August 4, 2017: Toad River, BC: 363m/585km The morning started with hot chocolate and granola bars. We stopped into Rancheria again, Opa had to stop for Bumbleberry pie. Unfortunately, they were out for the day. We fueled up and made our way to Watson Lake. We stopped in to look at the sign forest, but didn't have anything to make a sign with and leave. We made our way through Muncho Lake and had to stop a few times to let the animals cross the road. $35 dollars for an amazing campground and fast wifi! I had rice cakes for dinner-so posh. Opa says that we will be in the U.S. in a few days.

Day 34: August 3, 2017: Teslin, YT: 295m/479km We stopped in Whitehorse to make a grocery run through Walmart. Picked up all of our standard basics. Spent half the day wandering around the roads looking for stamps to go into the (practice) passport to try to qualify for the IBA rides. Kluane National Park and the S.S. Klondike National Historic Site. Yukon has been stamped, now for British Columbia. Oh. and we also spent an hour on the side of the road because, Chase had cancelled the cards, *again*. We managed to make it to Teslin and an early night into bed.

Day 33: August 2, 2017: Quill Creek/Beaver Creek: 337m/542km Opa has recovered from the Arctic Circle, he was up and at it this morning. We settled on the local restaurant for breakfast at the Caribou Hotel. I even spotted a purple Tok Thai Truck parked at the gas station! If only I had known. Hours later he complained that the food wasn't sitting well with him. What he eats makes me sick, what I eat makes him sick: it's a lose-lose situation. We drove through Tok and I was kind of sad. It was nearing the end of my Alaskan adventure for a while. As we pull up to the border, Opa mumbles about all of the RVs and how hot it will be. He wasn't joking. After almost 45 minutes of waiting in line, we were both through and back in Canada. While we were getting gas, he of course, had to scavenge for ice cream. He wasn't satisfied with the selection but reminded him of where he could find some ice cream. The Discovery Yukon Campground. Opa chuckled and said it would be perfect

Day 32: August 1, 2017: Glenallen, AK: 339m/545km Today marks the official halfway point, we are now driving back towards the house! 3 weeks before the turnaround point, not bad (6 days in SLC, 4 in Fairbanks). We made our way through the mountains with these wide open views. Perfect traffic, too-no RVs or campers! We wanted to pull over many times to snap a picture or two but, the shoulders were never big enough. Opa managed to roll into Glenallen with nothing but fumes in the tank. While Opa snagged groceries, I was looking for a camp on the phone. Another night of gravel, fun. This place had a laundry room and showers, even if the price was steep. I did laundry and let Opa rest in his tent, he needs it more than I do. It was odd to see the sunset before midnight after about a week of it still being bright at 3 A.M. I took a shower while my laundry finished in the dryer, the shower itself was an experience. A tiny bear shaped token was worth $4 for 7 minutes of showertime. Opa gave

Day 31: July 31, 2017: Homer/Kenai: 452m/727km (this was a round trip day) Opa insisted that I have my bear mace in the tent last night. Which, luckily I did not need. Opa was already up and moving around while I was packing everything for the day, inside the tent. He starts rushing me to get out of the tent, finally he tells me that there is a bear. I actually managed to get pretty close.  We had a phenomenal breakfast at Kava's on Muldoon Rd (in case you go looking).  Opa settled the trailer and we were off towards the Kenai Peninsula and Seward. He kept raving about the tunnel and the seafood. He would kindly add, "I know you can't eat it but, it is so good!" We would pull over occasionally to take pictures of the mountains and at one point, he helped me stand on top of the trailer to get a picture over the treeline. Now that is some dedication.  We made it to the entrance for the tunnel to Seward and the tone he spoke with broke my heart. We were turned

Day 30: July 30, 2017: Anchorage, AK: 360 miles We slept in and slowly packed up. We were still worn out from riding to the Arctic Circle and back, the rough roads really did a number on us. We stopped for breakfast before continuing to Denali. The road conditions were much nicer than from Tok to Fairbanks. The closer we got to Denali, the more excited Opa got. This was the first time her had driven through Denali with a bright clear day, he would be able to see the mountain! As we pulled into the parking lot of the park, I could hear Opa a few parking spots away (through the headset), trying to answer all of these questions. I grabbed my cap and went to where he parked. There was a family, fascinated by his ride; if only I had a picture of their faces when he said that mine was around the corner. We left to wander the museum, after looking around the building, we had to find the food court for (you guessed it) ice cream. We finished our ice cream and went to the gift shop to look

Day 29: July 29, 2017: Arctic Circle, AK: (388 mile round trip) Opa jumped out bed and pushed me to get ready as quickly as possible. Today was the day! We were going to cross the Arctic Circle today.  He warned me that this would be the hardest I would drive on this trip. "You will need to be careful with your distance. Stay far enough back to not get lost in the dirt or the rocks, not far enough that I lose you on the headset. Be sure to wave at all of the truckers, they have the right of way, unless they wave us on."  We had paved, gravel, dirt, and everything in between. The gravel wasn't even the small nice stuff that we are used to. Opa had a piece of gravel kick up and hit the windshield-it was the size of my fist! That left a nasty gouge in the windshield too. Opa coached me over the wooden bridge, and through some of the mud. We made it to the Campbase on the other side of the river and topped off the tanks with a gallon each, with gas over $7 per

Day 28: July 28, 2017: Fairbanks, AK We both went to Sam's Sourdough Cafe and then to the Museum. The museum had everything from Russian involvement, how the Japanese immigrants and descendants were treated during WWII, the history of those native to Alaska, taxidermied animals, history of settlers and cities, and so much more. Opa left after a few hours to go to the dealership to get the part from the dealership, I stayed and wandered around all of the exhibits. I finally left the museum to meet Opa at the dealership, we went back to camp, after stopping by the visitor's center and getting ice cream. We found some beemers parked next to us: 2 from Florida and one from Washington. They had just come back from Prudhoe Bay, Opa talked with them about the damages their bikes had received on the road. It was getting close to dinner time and it was starting to rain. I found a local pizza place on my phone, College Town Pizzeria. Opa decided it was a good idea, he let me ride solo

Day 27: July 27, 2017: Fairbanks, AK Opa was waiting at the dealership to open, I slept in and enjoyed a lazy morning. I got up for breakfast and went to Sam's Sourdough Cafe, must have been good food, I found a lot of motorcycles in the parking lot. I got ready to leave and found 2 guys looking at the bike. We talked for a few minutes before I left to meet up with Opa at the dealership. We ran into a Ural driver, Buster, who loved our setup. Buster told us all about Denali National Park, since he works there. We finally found a touch-free car wash, but it was an absolute mess- Opa ended up demanding a refund and storming back to Walmart for a new headlight and ice cream. He paid for his ice cream and we sat in the Walmart's Subway while he ate his buttered pecan ice cream. Opa said that the dealership wouldn't get the part for the bike until tomorrow, sometime after noon. "That leaves the whole morning open to go to the museum!" Opa also added that the weather ma

Day 26: July 26, 2017: Fairbanks, AK: 202m/325km Opa said that it is tradition to eat breakfast at Fast Eddy's. He was disappointed that they didn't have his reindeer sausage. We were on our way to Fairbanks, they have a BMW dealership. Opa was hoping that they could look at his suspension and his tire. We pulled into the dealership shortly after noon, local time. They told us to come back in the morning and that they could do a full diagnostic but, they said they believed the suspension problem would be fixed. We drove across the street and set up camp and then made our way over to Walmart to change the oil. It took three different stores to get the right oil. We went back to Walmart. Loaded my bike with all of his belongings, he jacked his bike up, took the muffler off, took the back wheel off, and rolled it into Walmart so they could repair the hole in his tire. Then be both drained and changed the oil. He got his wheel back on the bike, lowered the jack. He went to turn th

Day 25: July 25, 2017: Tok, AK: 198m/319km I cleaned up after breakfast, finished packing, and Opa was chatting with a young bicyclist from Montreal who was peddling across Canada, into Alaska, and then would fly home. The owner gave us a coupon to get gas in Beaver Creek, the last town before we cross into Alaska. We ran into Stephan, again. He was staying at Yukon Discovery for a few days to help around the camp as a way to pay for room and board. He was backpacking with a razor scooter. He is also trying to make it Fairbanks, I wish him well. We had no problems crossing into Alaska. We thought the roads had been rough, we were wrong. These were terrible. Opa was chuckling as we pulled in to Tok, "Fast Eddy's is still here!" We stopped at the usual campground, but the prices were outrageous. Opa had me look for other options hoping we wouldn't be stuck there or at Fast Eddy's. Luckily, we found Sourdough Campground, down the road and off of the bypass. The youn