Day 5 - Williams Lake, BC to Burns Lake, BC

Today was pretty uneventful but was a sampling and test run for possible future events. When we woke up it was dry but by the time we started packing the bikes it was raining. We got partly prepared for rain and went to get some breakfast. Fortunately by the time we finished breakfast the rain shower had passed over us. It was good to think through the preparation for rain without having it pour on us.

It was also our first encounters with wildife. The first was Walt's up close and personal encounter when a bird flew into his bike's front wheel. The bird was cuisinarted (never felt a thing) and there was an explosion of feather around Walt's bike. An interesting site for sure.

The next encounter was our first bear. Alongside the highway it was just watching the cars with a perplexed look. There was not a chance to stop and get a picture. The highways here have very narrow shoulders and very few places to pullover for pictures.

A bit further down the road we ran into some highway construction. Did a little traveling on packed dirt and gravel temporary road. We hear that we'll encounter this type of stuff in places along the Alaska Highway.

We've been starting each day pretty early. Usually getting packed and ready to roll by about 7:00AM. First order of business each day is breakfast. In a typical 300 mile day we get done riding between 2:00PM and 3:00PM. We've been having a granola bar, Clif bar, and and occasional ice cream cone for a midday snack. Then we have an early dinner, some coffee, and wind the day down. End of the day is sometimes checking in via internet/phone where available. After that we read and talk, prepare for the next day, and are usually in bed by 9:00PM.

On this day we were getting an early dinner when we heard thunder and it begain to rain. Walt and I had to ride a few miles back to our KOA cabin and got a little wet. It wasn't raining enough for us to want to bother with the gear. Once the rain started it kept going for several hours. We passed time in the KOA office lobby reading.

That evening a couple firefighters from Sacramento rode up on a Harley and an Indian. They were drenched and cold. Walt stuck up a conversation after noticing that the Harley was a firefighter special. These two riders hadn't planned like we did. They just decided to go and threw some stuff together and were off. Made me glad we had prepared more. Turns out it is probably good to start early since thunderstorms are likely to hit in the late afternoon. The Sacramento riders noted that they stayed in a dump at 100 Mile House. We've been fortunate so far. All of the places we've planned on staying have been pretty good choices.

Went to bed at 8:00PM tonight. Got lots of sleep.