LAST ENTRY; AUG 20TH 2007

We have been home for a week now, and are slowly starting to settle into a normal routine.
To say that there was a "to-do" list when we got home was an understatement. I had had 3 days of driving home to think about exactly what I wanted to do when we got home.
1st. After spending about a week and the Mayhew house in Chilliwack, and enjoying their front porch, it was time to make our front porch a more comfortabel place to be. Kathy and I went out to Canadian Tire and bought 7 Muskoka chairs, a 10'x10' gazebo, a wrought iron bench, an outdoor carpet, deck lighting, and cushions for the chairs. After a couple days worth of assembly, we now have a very comfy, very country like front deck. With over 500' ft. of deck space, there is more than enough room to accomadate the new furniture, the BBQ, several potted plants, and several bird feeders. I think it looks great, and am looking forward to spending alot more time out there. Up until this point it have been a virtually unused bit of real estate, and now a part of our home. Thanks to the Mayhews for the insiration, and the ideas.
2nd- Lose that 10 lbs!!! With 3 weeks of no excercise, and eating like kings ( plus the odd beer!)
I seem to have put on an extra few pounds. I mean I still have my 6-pack stomach, its just now its behind the keg! So I really need to hit the gym hard, so what better way than to burn it all off than on a bicycle? The way I see it, if Michael and Liz, can pedal across Canada, than I should be able to do at least 30 or so kms a day on my mountain bike.
Russ and Kathy are also in the market for a new mountain bike, so we go shopping! Luckily in Barrie we have 3 stores that offer nothing but the best, for all your riding needs.
After going to all 3 for a couple hours each ( Kathy always did say I won't buy anything unless I have exhausted all my options, and she is right!) We all finally selected our new bikes,
Kathy got a new Diamond Back, entry level free-ride, dirt jumper, mountain bike with a few goodies on it, Russ got a 2nd hand cross-country, trail riding Schwinn, and I treated myself to a new "Raw" from Rocky Mountain Bikes, Flow Series. A serious hardtail frame, adjustable front susp., disc brakes, and a few other tricks.
So its off the the trails, Russ and I rode together for a couple days, until he had to go back to Toronto, and I keep it up, everyday trying to burn off that extra weight, and also train, in preperation for my day ride with Michael and Elizabeth. I have to be able to keep up with them, on the road, which common sense tells me it won't be easy!
Other than that , Kathy is getting ready to go back to work, I am probably taking the rest of the summer off.
Ryder is doing better than ever, we had him swimming again Sunday in a pool, and he is starting to enjoy real food! For the first time he has tried a couple different cerials, cookies, and an assortment of fruits.
I think this is where I am going to end the blog, hope you got something out of reading it, maybe an idea, or a chuckle, you must have gotten something if you are reading this right down to the last line.... Signing off for now, and already thinking about what we might do next year, keep in touch./..Chris, Kathy, and Ryder Cooke.

Sat. Aug 11th, 10225 kms in.

We had a delicious breakfast at a restaurant, Chris had 3 plates at the buffet, in hopes of sleeping all the way home!!
We made it,, Yeahhh
Total trip mileage 10795 kms.
139 hours, 33 minutes spent in truck,
1894.2 lites of gas burnt,
fuel consumption- a jaw dropping 18.4 litres/100 kms.
5:25 pm arrival,
Greeted by Russ, and the dogs,
Dogs attack Chris, and just wont leave him alone,
I was happy to see them too!!!

Friday Aug 10th, Day 18, 9050 kms in.

Had a great sleep, woke at 10:30, on road by noon. We drive to Sault St. Marie, yet another great drive around lake Superior. Arrive at Mark L:ewis' house at 2:30 AM
Kathy and Ryder go to sleep, Mark and Chris drink beer all night, and into the morning.
Then we decide its time for breaky..........

Thursday Aug 9th, Day 17, 7690 klms in

5:30 am, enough of this catnap shit, I wanna go home, another coffee, lots of sugar please....
Today the truck rolls for 24 hours straight, we take turns sleeping and driving.
Lunch in Indian Head, past Winnipeg. ( fuck I hate the Praries)
20 minutes from our destination, of Kenora Ontario, I get a speeding ticket,,,,,Fuck.....
My first one in over 10 years, not too bad though, only 130 bucks.
( I love cops!.............Sorry Tim, I hate to be sarcastic, but , don't you people have anything better to do in the middle of the night, in the middle of no-where, but to sit in the dark and nail people for 25 kms over the limit!!! Get a life, isn't there any real crimes going on in Ontario????
Sorry, I hate to get off topic, but due to the nature of my past, I have this overwhelming urge to punch cops in the face, every time I look at one.
Anyways back to the story, .......wait, I gotta go cool off for a minute,...............................................
We spent the night in Best Western, on the 4th floor , overlooking the water, ordered in pizza.

Wed. Aug 8th Day 16, 6577 kms.

Pack up all our things, shower up. Went back into Chilliwack Harley, and buy an outfit for Tony.
Bring back gifts, and coffee and donuts for everyone. Say our goodbuys. Got some last minute photos of babies with matching flaming suits on, and hit the road by 1 pm.
Take back Hwy 3, ( same route Michael and Liz took) very scenic, wish I had my bike!
Drive until 3 am, ( 14 hours straight) and stopped for a coffee. Had a quick catnap in truck.

Tuesday Aug 7th, Day 15

We had coffe with Don and Anne this am, and pack up and head for Vancouver.
We drove all around Stanley Park, and then went to the aquarium.
Ryder loved the Aquarium, all the fish, dolphins, Baluga whales, sharks, sea lions, and much more. It took over 3 hours to see everything.
Then we went to North Vancouver to the suspension bridge, a very nice park with a hefty entrance fee of 30 bucks each.
The bridge is 450 feet long, suspended hundreds of feet in the air, between 2 rock faces, with a river below.
Ryder crossed the bridge tucked safely inside daddy's new Gangster Ink sweatshirt.
The trees are 300-600 years old, 200-300 feet tall, 10-20 feet around, and roughly 40 tonnes each.
( they were big)
Had dinner out at a nice restaurant.

Monday Aug 6th , Day 14

Heading out to see the ocean in White Rock, noce quaint town, lots of expensive homes,
Walked along boardwalk, fresh clean ocean air. Walked out on a pier, saw starfish, people fishing for crab. Touched the ocean, and wet Ryders feet, the water is nice, people swimming. Kathy collected some rocks, and a seashell, we had fish and chips.
We head back to Chilliwack for our tattoo appointment, for which we are now late!
Arrive at shop, and Nigel had my tattoo ready, the Harley Davidson skull, done on BC jade.
I saddle up first, and get'er done on my left ankle ( ouch)
Tons of pain, had to drink lots of beer to deal with it. Then Kathy tattooed my other ankle , a double whammy tattoo session! She does a cool custom skull with the toop of skull blown off, and smoke comin out, pretty cool, she never even drew it first! Kathy thought it was cool to use someone elses equipment, and shop.
Chris is lovin it because now I have 2 book-end skulls.
next Kathy in the chair, She gets Rders name in a banner on her shoulder, she says it makes her feel very happy to see that.
Next its Nigels turn , they traded off tattooes so no money had to exchange hands!
He got his " Vampire Assassin Bitches" looked after.
Chris had to do 2nd beer run while he was gettin done.
We bought Nigel a bottle of Jim Bean Black, and gave it to him, he thought that was so cool, hed gave me a Hoody sweatshirt, with his company logo...Awesome...
After spending over 12 hours in tatt2 shop Kathy takes me home, and poures me into bed, was feelin no pain.....

Sunday Aug 3rd, Day 13

Chris went for a motorcycle ride with Donny and a few of his buddies..
I got to ride a tricked out 2006 Harley Davidson Streetbob, purple, with mini ape hangers, brass knuckles for footpegs, screamin' Eagle pipes, and lots of chrome. This low ridin' bar hopper had tons of power, and what a blast to ride.We rode through the mountains of BC all day, stopping at a Pub for a bite to eat inbetween. What an adrenaline filled, heart pumping, pipe dragging, scenic adventure ride of a lifetime. Thanks D3, I wont forget it...
Later we had a tattoo appointment, but the artist wasn't feeling up to it, so we put it off until Monday. We still got a tour of his impressive shop called Gangsters Ink, cool salt water aquariums, a boa constrictor, and a shop full of farmiliar surroundings for Kathy to look at./

Home for a Spaggetti dinner, then back on the bike, this time with Kathy on the back. We had a nice scenic tour to D3's girlfriends house and back. I guess we took about 10 mins too long, Ryder was crying when we returned.( Sorry Guys) We found the Mayhew's did a really thing, they took pics of Ryder and printed them on shirts for us...Thanks, what a cool idea.

Saturday Aug 4th, day 12 ( 6108 kms in )

Pancake breakfast, beautiful weather again! We went to Chilliwack Harley Davidson, to get some shirts for souvenirs., We took the Hummer in for a service and oil change. Donny gave us his Tracker to use while we were without the Hummer.
Chris took Huff, the huge 180 lb. Rottweiler for a walk a few kms down the road, and feared for getting home....the dog decided we had enough walking , I thought I might have to go back to getr a wheel barrel! Then I go for another walk with Kathy and Ryder, down to the Blue Heron sanctuary. We walk around the park, but didnt see any Herons. Kathy was eating some delicious wild blackberries along the way. I realized, way back into the park, about 6 or 7 lms away from the house, we are running short on time to pick up our truck from the dealer. Its a long weekend, and we didnt want to go without it until Tues., so I ran all the way back to the house to get the Tracker , leaving Kathy and Ryder behind. I had to bring the stroller with me, because it wouldn't fit in the Tracker. This must have looked suspicious, as I walk into the park with my family, and come running out without without them!! We did make it in time to get truck.
Had a BBQ, steak and potatoes, helped clean up, and Chris wired up Jeremy's car stereo for him.
Hang out and chat all evening, and let Ryder try out a few of Tony's ride-on toys, which he loved.Might just have to get him one!

Day 11, Friday Aug 3rd

Packed up and stopped in Cache Creek for some java, and to check out BC Jade store. They had a 3000 lb. slab of jade sitting infront of the store!
On road again towards Chilliwack, things start to get a little more green as we move further away from this desert like region.
Driving along the Fraser river, saw some of the longest trains imaginable, we are both wondering what the limit is, or a record length of a train.
The Fraser river is long, and powerful, with rocky shores, and steep mountain faces next to the highway. We drive through 7 rock tunnels that burrow, and twist through the mountains. Now we can really say, that we truely drive " through" the Rockies!!
We stopped at Hells Gate Air Tram, which is a place where the river channel is its narrowest, at 30 meters, and 150 ft. deep. The water hydraulics are deadly fast, strong, and impassible by boat. We took the air tram across the river, and walked across the small suspension bridge.
Standing in the middle of the bridge was like standing in a wind tunnel, you really had to hang on, and the noise of the hydraulic was deafoning.
We did the whole tourist thing of the resort, and had some ice cream, learned the history of the river, ( Simon Frazer, and explorer who named thos location Hells Gate, upon approaching it said, anyone who omes this way, surely has come the the gates of hell)
We also learned about Salmon, and how they pass this awesome rapid. It was an overall great stop, and we got a few good photos.
We carry on to Chilliwack which is a beautiful farm country, very lush nestled in mountains. Arrive at the Mayhew's, get a big welcome. Tony is 18 months old now, and is surprisingly bigger and much more mobile than the first time we met him in Barrie at 9 months.
We have a huge mess of pizza, and hung out front on the porch, getting to know everyone. We got our own room, and crib for Ryder, a couple gifts for teething ( good timing)
We got to have real showers, and do all our laundry.

day 10, Thursday Aug 2nd, 5291 kms in

Good, but chilly sleep in Wapiti, pack up, and run into whole herd of elk laying in grass while trying to leave park. We get out and wlk around amongst them, taking pictures.

Back on the road its Jasper for Java, then west.....
We run into 2 more Elk, large males with huge racks!!

Spectacular views, on route , terrain starts to change as we get towards Camloops, very desolate, smaller mountains, and very hot. Trees mostly dead, and scrubby bushes everywhere.
We pass up a campsite in Juniper Beach , and push on to Cache Creek, where we get the best site in the park!!
We set up camp and heqad for the huge pool for a swim. We only paid $4.50 for the 3 of us to swim, and get showered up. The best part was they closed up the pool 15 minurtes into our swim, for the adult swim, and we had to whole pool to ourselves for awhile.

This campsite has computers and internet, so we update the blog,
Now back to our site for a fire , and some dinner.

WED. AUG 1ST, DAY 9 CONTINUED, 4580 KMS IN.

Ryder rolled over to stomach and back again on motel room floor totally unassisted!
He is doing great despite the foreign scenery and routine.
After being held up in the middle of the road by a large family of Billy Goats, we made it back to
Jasper Provintial Park., We have a huge campsite, big enough for 10 people in Wapiti campgrounds.. It was very busy, we had no reservations, it took 1/2 hour just to speak with the park police....Having the baby with us has its advantages! we get right into a primo spot.
they assign us campsite number H2 !!!!!!!!
how cool is that , we drive in, in our Hummer H2, and get site H2 ..




We got in contact with Don Mayhew JR., we will be at their house in Chillawack BC by Friday.

Its 10:00 PM, and still daylight!
We had a late night campfire, and enjoyed a nice quiet mosquito free night.

3 LIFE LESSONS

3 LIFE LESSONS that I have learned so far,
3 life lessons, that I have been aware of for quite some time, but now I think I better understand.....


1. Family comes first- Being a husband, and a Dad are the most important things I will ever do.



2. Take the time when you got it, because you can never get it back....




3. The most important thing you can give to your family is Time.





Thank you Michael Cooke, who helped me realize, and better understand these things.
He demonstrated all 3 of these things the night we met up in Saskatchewan.

DAY 9 4850 kms in.

We do some banking, find the library to type this Blog, and now we are back off to Jasper,
for some more swimming and camping.....

Day 8 continued

the West Edmonton Mall was cool, seen lots of unusual things in the mall like, a skating rink, amusement park, waterpark, and lots more...
They even had a real submarine ride under water!!
After the mall we are in search of a Hotel for over 2 hours.
anger...............
Was it worth it, Well I wont be back, I dont like driving in this town......

DAY 8 4265 KMS IN

Cold when we woke, no mosquitos here, yeah!
3 kms into day we seen a bear cool 9 am.
a little black bear crossing the road, Chris had opportunity to shoot a photo, but blew it fumbling with camera, Bear disapeared into bush.
took pics with giant Hummer bus!!
We seen a huge grizzly bear, this time in plain view for awhile, Kathy took several pics, What a sight !!!
Ice Passage highway has the most beautiful mountains yet, road rises with them instead of being in the valley.
Immense visions on stone and ice surround whole periphery. giant glaciers, peaks and clouds,
at times driving above clouds.
Ice blue lakes and fast movong rivers, whose colour alone screams cold.
Visit Sunwopta Falls, very powerfull , shooting out of crevais into rock wall wearing out scoop in stone.
Shorty after we see mountain billy goats eating arouind river, and effortlessly wandering about the rock wall, that is near vertical.
Head to Miette Hot Springs where we swim again.
Kathy hits showers , Chris stays in for awhile longer, and while on the way to showers, witnesses little girl slip and hit head hard enough to be knocked out, and alerts lifeguard.
She comes to, so I hit the showers.
Go to hang towel, and man in ate 40's passes out, and hits the ground with eerie loud slap of bareskin, and overweight on wet tile floor, again has to alert lifeguard, for there is no other witness but the mans young son, who to no avail is slapping PAPA's face.
He comes to and, shaken, I head outside wherea young boy in sandals trips, hands knees and face into stone parking lot. WHOA too crazy ,,,tooo much
head for trruck to get a grip, and I am surrounded by 10-12 billy goats.
( got pics_)!!
Ryder and Kathy come out from buiding, oblivious to all this, to find me white faced and shaken.
I', m ready to get the hell out of here.
Destination, Edmonton

TRUCK FACTS

- We had only seen 4 Hummers after 6 days ( seen 2 more on day 7 ) not bad only 5 in 7 days.

- so far we get best fuel mileage in the Rockies, Consumption has dropped to 19.4 litres per 100 kms.


= fuel consumption was up to 19.8 in the Praries, due to high winds, high heat,, and speeding due to boredom.

- After day 7 we used 773 litres of fule, at about a buck a litre..... you do the math.

_ on route to Edmonton, we dropped to a record 19.3 litres/100 kms..!!

Monday July 30th Day 7 ( 3888 kms in)

Last night we went to sleep in complete silence, just the sound of the campfire crackling and popping. I awoke this morning, again in silence. It is completely quiet and peacful out here.
Kathy is sleeping, Ryder is between us wide awake, smiling at me, and reaching for my face.
I move closer so he can reach me, and go back to lala land for a nap.

We drove into B.C. , off to radium Hotsprings for a swim
\Hwy 93 through the rockies is awesome. A scenic and adventerous drive.

Swimming the hotsprings is like being in a hottub the size of a soccer field with a mountain for a back drop. To cool off you jump in the 11 deg. glacial springwater pool,,,, wow is that ever cold,,
back into the hotspring.

After lunch we are headed back to Alberta to Lake Louise. On the way we get some neat pics of some Big Horn Sheep ,,,Cool We drive through Kicking Horse, right on the edge of the mountain,,, Breathtaking Scenery
Once we arrived at Lake Louise, we took some pics, found it very touristy,, Gondola's were closed for the day, and campsites all full, so wheaded North.
We ended up finding a campground called WaterFowl Lake in Banff, about 60 k South of Jasper
Went for a dusk walk in search of Moose, along a noce glacial river, beautiful wildflowers, bear warnings...
there was a cool running bird at our camp.

day 6 2950km.

Woke early to sounds of many birds. Ryder slept through the night too. Chris and Michael went for swim in VERY weedy lake. I went up to knees & decided not to bring Ryder in, nice just to be there in water with lots of reeds & rolling fields around, very peaceful. Loony showers, Banana bread, & packed up-said our goodbyes, planned to hook up again on the way home. On our way to Swift Current for java & off to Alberta.
Crossed into Alberta around 2PM, some hilly terrain, strange rolling smooth hills, "Cypress Hills", hard to capture on film.
Pull off highway to check out Dinosaur Park. Really cool, very Twilight Zone, felt like we were in Jurassic Park. Strange looking rock formations, and landscape. Cactus! Very very hot.
Back on the hwy. Calgary bound. Stopped for a DQ ice cream, decide to make it an "ironbutt" day and head for Banff. In Banff National Park, 3 Elk on the road, Kodak awesome moment on the Bow Valley Prkway. Check into a campsite called Johnston Canyon. The Rocky Mountains are amazing. Set up camp & enjoy a fire. Very quiet and peaceful here, and we both miss our dogs very much.

Day 5 ( 2400 kms in)

We hit the road, more vast fields, one of blue flowers, same colour as sky, which is cloud free.
Crossed border in to Saskatchewan without as much as a sign. It is scrubby looking here, not near as clean looking as Manitoba.
Very little sign of life out here, just some raodside cattle,,, Very hot out!!
Arrived in Kincaid where we are supposed to meet up with Michael and Liz....Its a ghost town, all windows borded up, just a post office, and a corner store.
we check out the camping facility, no way we can camp here, in an open field, no trees , all dried up and hot. ( Kathy is still happy, we seen a deer)
No sign of Mike and Liz, so we drive west to meet them,
We pick them up in next town, load up their bikes, and drive back to Laflesh for camping,dinner, and a swiming pool!!
Spent a wonderful night swappoing stories, having a steak dinner with a few drinks.
Stayed up late talking past our bedtime.
Beautiful full moon...

List of Things We Wish We Had.

Satellite radio would be nice, we keep losing reception. When we do have reception though, the stations are not half bad, like Q104, Rock 94, The Bear....


Scrabble for late night entertainment ( this one is Kathy's, Chris doesn;t want to play)

Battery Eliminator ( a battery pack booster , and power supply) would have come in handy, especially after having to boost the truck in Pancake bay.


A sign that reads "DO NOT PARK TOO CLOSE TO THE HUMMER, OR I WILL BREAK YOUR LEGS " for people like the frenchman who parked his minivan right beside us, so close we couldnm't open the door all the way, In a HUGE , EMPTY PARKING LOT!!!!


the other side of the sign would read " UP YOURS!!" to all the people who drive at 80 kms/hour, then accellarate to 110 on all the passing opertunities.
( good thing the Hummer packs lots of Jam!!


a motorcycle....roads around Lake superior (n Just a pre-cursor to the Rockies, I'm sure) are awesome, and would be great on a bike.
( Although the comforts of the Hummer are Unmatchable- ie, 6 way power seats, air lumbar, and air side supports, loads of room, also dark tint and air comditioning come in handy for those muggy points.

Day 4 ( 1750 kms in)

Up early, all showered and shaved, and packed up.
Decided to go look at Lake and couldn't pass up a swom opertunity.
Cleanest water I have ever seen, Ryder went skinny dipping,
Back on the road, there is a lake on every bend, most with little islands.
Coffee in Kenora, 12:50 pm, wolcome to Manitoba, 1900 kms from home.
Landscape changing, walls of granite have disappeared.
Just passed ;arge field of sunflowers.
Land is remarkeable, flat like a still ocean of green. Only sign Ryder is awake is the crunching of his new book.
Longest trains ever out here, they have no beginning and no end,.
Enter Winnipeg, crazy like any other city, traffic, and one way streets everywhere, but nice big river in the centre.
Decide to have a patio lunch at Earls. ( a high end restarant)
After parking the trruck, and buying tha parking pass, we noticed most vehicles are equipped with " the Club", and steering wheel lock, anti theft device.
Winnipeg must have a high theft rate and though they might like the Hummer, so we moved it to a closer lot, where we could see it from the patio ( had to buy another parking pass )
We both had a delicious and healthy lunch.
More driving along the Praries, nothing to look at but fields, and farms.
Stop in Brandon for some groceries, and beer, and gas.
In search of beer store , no farmiliar signs, followed cold beer sign to back of old building,
Upon entering, I realize Manitaba's beer store is nothing llike I'm used to. It had more of a resemblance to an old abandoned jail, with a counter surrounded with metal bars.
Behind the bars, a filthy old man , overweight, unshaven, cigarette hanging out of mouth, and fan blowing on him. After placing my order, he disappeared into the back, returning with my 24 Bud. "that'll be 37 dollars"
Off to Oak Lake provintial park fpr camping, and a couple of cold ones.
arrived at Oak Lake, found no camping. There was a small campground next door, on a private RV site, but is was way overcrowded with local yokels. The people really seem different, hard to say how... We decide to move on.
Kathy's directions ended us on a goat path in the middle of nowhere, nothing to see in any direction. I keep driving despite my gut feeling, and the fact that the gps was telling up this was not the way.....We ended up in a farmers driveway..... Kathy was happy thou, we seen an Owl in flight.
Back track, head to Virden, and stay in a Hotel for the night.

day 3 continued

Holy Smokes, we just went to Kakabeka Falls, probably the most gorgeous sight ever seen,
white water cascading over black shail shelves to rusty coloured pools.
the original bridge for the trans Canada highway allows you to view from every angle,
air smells of forest perfumes after rain.....amazing.

Hummer navigation system is a priceless tool, you can type in any point of interest ( ie. the library) and it brings you to the front door!
We just crossed time zone into central time, and gained an hour.
Ate a delicious dinner in Dryden.
Camping again this evening in Blue Lake Provintial park, between Dryden, and Kenora.