Day 3- 10 Aug 2007

Jim got very little rest due to leg cramps, but Butch slept very soundly and snored loudly most of the night. Jim awakened at 5am, and was ready to go! Butch finally awakened at 6:30 and announced the he wasn't getting his fat butt out of bed until 7, because he didn't want to be on the road until 9am due to the cold weather and ice forming on the many bridges we had to cross. We finally went to breakfast and noticed two bicycles parked outside. We sat down, and as Butch raced for the food, I asked the young lady sitting at the next table if the bikes belonged to her. She said yes, that she and her friend (another young lady) were biking to Whitehorse - the same place that we were headed for. We planned on being there this evening, whereas they planned on being there in several weeks. Butch and I vowed then and there that we would never complain again about anything. We were going to spend the night in a hotel-they were camping in the rain with the grizzlies. Yep, you'll never hear us complain again!

Butch was ready to go at 8am, and chomping at the bit to leave............we finally pulled out at 8:30am. What a lovely place Bell ll is............we'll have to bring our spouses next time. This is a link for Bell 11 which is noted for their heliskiing: http://www.lastfrontierheli.com/content/brochure.php

Shortly after we left the hotel, we ran into a little rain, but the temperature was about 50 degrees. We did cross over at least 4 wooden planked bridges and 2-3 metal-mesh bridges. Then it happened: CONSTRUCTION. This was supposed to be an easy day of only 450 miles - we were hoping to get into our hotel in Whitehorse early enough to relax a bit before bed - but construction was going on big time! This day will be forever known as "White knuckle" day.........we ended up going about 30 miles is LOOSE GRAVEL and 30 miles in MUD. Our top speed was 30 miles per hour, but most of the time we were going 15-20 mph - with our hands tightly holding onto the grips with all our strength. Needless to say, we lost valuable time-about 3 hours of valuable time. We wouldn't make Whitehorse until 10pm, so we decided to stay elsewhere, a place that was about one hour from us at the time. Bad luck. Jim's bike broke down..........the engine just stopped at 70 mph shortly after we entered Yukon Territory. After several tries to restart it, we simply hooked a tow strap to Butch's bike and towed Jim's bike about 1000 feet to the first building we had seen in about 45 minutes......a small mom and pop motel. But we were grateful for a place to spend the night. As a matter of fact, Butch is asleep and snoring even as I write this. Seriously. Anyway, I will call the Harley dealer in Whitehorse in the morning and hopefully explain the problem to them (I believe it to be electrical) so that they can bring the necessary parts to fix my bike. Otherwise, they will have to take it back to their shop and repair it there.

Things learned today:

1. We have been very blessed thus far on this little adventurer.

2. Bikes can be easier repaired than people.

3. Butch can sleep anywhere and at anytime.

4. We both miss our brides very much, but glad that they didn't join us on this little adventure - they would not have enjoyed today at all.

5. We are blessed.

I had hoped to post at least six photos per day, but we miscalculated some times, and didn't allow for so much construction, so photo ops are not feasible. If I stopped for every outstanding photo I saw, we wouldn't get very far. But I have passed up hundreds of simply outstanding and breathtaking shots - British Columbia is beautiful! I will post some shots tonight before I go to bed.....be sure to check out the link at the top of the blog.

jp