Pocatello is a common stopping point for Canadians heading south.  We stop at the local Best Western and crashed after long day ride yesterday.  Nights usually ended by pouring a glass of Rye and Coke before crashing.  Makes me feel a bit like Julian, except the plastic hotel cups and lack of ice just doesn’t do it justice.

Waking up early we load the bikes and hit the road.  The way through Utah was pretty uneventful and full of freeway riding.  Like Calgary who hosted the Olympics in 88 and only recently took the Olympic signs down from the city entrances, Salt Lake still clings on to the fact they hosted the Olympics many years prior.

The weather was great and we stopped periodically for minor adjustments of luggage and water breaks.  People are super friendly and usually stop to chat at gas stations.

Southern Utah starts to turn into red desert.  Its an amazing landscape and makes me want to head out to Moab one day.  Vegas is one of our destinations, but the day is getting long and we decide to crash in St. George for the night.

Judging by the number of white steeples in St. George, I get the sense there is a very strong Mormon presence in the St.George area.  We dump our gear and head out without our riding gear for a quick bite to eat and a cold beer.  We find a great Thai place that serves cold Singha beer.

Woke up early in the morning unbelievably sore thinking there is no way I could climb back on the bike.  The KLR is not known as a comfortable bike, many people upgrade the seat as their fist investment, but on the short days in the saddle I never had an issue.  We had a great breakfast and hit the road crossing the Montana and Idaho border around noon.  The weather was perfect the scenery spectacular.  The mountainous well forested regions of Montana opened up to the expansive open rolling hills of Idaho.

First State to State Crossing

Idaho

We tried to stay off the interstate and follow back country roads.  The road south along Snake River was an empty, well maintained, curvy stretch of road.

One rider keeps his helmet clean, the other doesn’t.

We got into Pocatello as the sun was going down.  It was a long day riding by my body was getting use to sitting on the bike and the previous days aches and pains had melted away. Ry seems to cruise easily on his VFR and amazingly for a 4 cylinder gets better mileage than my KLR – something to be said about fuel injection.

The day off work and a beautiful summer morning I woke up early with anticipation and pack the KLR.

KLR packed and ready to kit the road

My plan was to stop by my Oma’s (grandma) house for breakfast and to say bye.  She spends all summer working in her beautiful yard and thought I should surprise her with a visit.  She passed away a few years later and I’m glad I took the opportunities like this day to spend some time with her.  Life is busy, but family and friends are truly what is most important, followed by experiences and lastly by the material items we collect along the way.

Oma and her flowers

The day was early and I was feeling great.  Most of my friends were sitting in their offices at work and I was glad to be hitting the road early.  I met up with Ryan and we fueled up our bikes with gas and bellies with more Coffee at Tim’s.  Unlike myself, who shaved his head prior to departure, Ry decided to go with the afro for the trip.  To my amazement his head squeezed  into his lid, yet left what I referred to as the ‘rats tail’ flapping out the back.

Our first destination was Waterton Park in southern Alberta which connects to Glacier Park in Montana.  Ive always seen pictures of the hotel and although I’ve lived most my life a short drive away, had never been there before.  We met a German couple out at the lake who was excited to hear about our planned destination.  It gave us motivation to pack up and hit the road.

Waterton

View out of the hotel

Our first border crossing was into Montana from Alberta through the US crossing.  The border guards were surprisingly pleasant (both sides can be intentionally rude at times).

Our first border crossing

On the US side of Waterton was Glacier National Park, truly one the most visually spectacular places on earth.  The road was twisty along the side of a mountain, but was packed with traffic and made for a scenic yet slow ride.

Stunning Road to the Sun

I really love Montana, its littered with quaint towns and cafes.  By the time we got in it was late and we started looking for a place to stay for the night.

This year was bad for forest fires and the air was thick with smoke.  You could see flames on both sides of the highways and see as the crown of pine trees caught ablaze.  We stopped for a quick picture and had a fire crew pull up in a truck and absolutely tear a strip off us with their airhorn.   As I thought about it, they were trying to snuff the fire and save lives and properties, and we were gawking and taking pictures. We quickly pack up and sheepishly drove off.

Forrest Fires

We arrive into Kalispell late and exhausted.  My ass and back ache from riding all day and I’m totally burnt out.  I start to feel disillusioned about being able to physically ride a dualsport bike all the way down to Mexico.  My mind starts to make alternative arrangements, maybe we just head down to Vegas and call it quits.  I cant image climbing back on my bike another day, let alone another 3 weeks.

In 2004 I purchased a used Kawasaki KLR 650 with the dream of touring the world on a motorcycle. Like many before, the realities of life quickly got in the way of those plans. I had a decent job for someone in their mid 20s, yet didn’t really have enough capital acquired to drop everything and live on the road for 6 moths.

A few years of riding and by 2007 I was ready to plan a trip. John, a friend of mine, had just finished a trip to Mexico and loved the idea of riding through the endless desert landscape of Baja. My other buddy Ryan had just left his job and the timing sounded perfect to take some time and hit the road. I took a month leave from work and we planned a trip from Calgary, Alberta, Canada to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Ryan would be riding a road bike so we would be somewhat limited to the slabs of concrete (or asphalt) that connect Canada to the tip of Baja. Planning was loose and I like it that way. Staying to a schedule leaves opportunity to fall behind, feel rushed or skip places you would otherwise stay another day. We planned a few destinations including visiting friends in Vegas on the way down and San Francisco on the way back. A mutual friend of ours was getting married in Penticton, BC, so we knew we had to be back for the wedding. My girlfriend (now wife) was going to drive out to BC to meet us for the wedding (and bring my suit to avoid me having to lug it 10,000km)

So it was planned, we leave August 20, 2007 for a 10,000km roadtrip to Cabo and back:

Planned Trip to Cabo and back