Lessons from the Past

 Thankfully for Natalie and Gord, the wedding went without a hitch, and the ensuing reception was fun-filled.  A great meal, some poignant speeches and a few games set the tone for dancing and carrying on.

I ended up sleeping on the couch at the Community Hall, as the keys somehow went missing, and there was too much  food and booze to leave the building unattended. After a few more pieces of wedding cake, I was able to crash until the early morning.

After our goodbyes, the visitors from the Okanagan and Alberta headed east.  I decided to head up the Fraser Canyon and in an  easterly direction, with the goal of hitting the Sturgis North gathering north of Vernon.

My grand nephew is growing.

 I stopped in the museum in Hope.  Nice little operation, with a good complement of exhibits  of historical significance.  The way the Fraser river was roaring, I doubt that the original sternwheelers whuld have stood a chance in the fast flowing river.

 Ever since I saw the Grizzly near Bella Coola, I am paying closer attention to where I camp.

 I enjoyed the exhibit of the first school in Hope.  Notice Queen Victoria above  the blackborard, checking out the students.

 In case most of you dont recognize it, the stick laying across the desk is not only used as a pointer, but also to remind reluctant students who was the boss...

 I think that this was from the Rambo Movie, which was filmed in Hope.

 A selection of local weapons including a magnificent looking 30-30 lever action.

Considering the state of affairs of the local provincial government, perhaps a new BC convention is in order, with the goal of changing the way  things are decided in Victoria....

 I stopped in Yale to check out the museum.. They had an excellent exhibit detailing the research conducted around the Sasquatch.  I was impressed with the quality of the presentation, and I think that I have always been a bit of a believer regarding the presence of a Yeti-like animal in our forests.  I fully understand why any self-respecting Sasquatch is not interested in showing his face in our society..

I will have to be careful about where I camp.  Bears are one thing, but an 8 foot female Sasquatch  would be scary....

 A mock-up skeleton of a Sasquatch

Some of the finely-woven baskets of the local first nations tribes.  These people fished the mighty Fraser and lived right in the canyon...

A clip from the Patterson movie

A T-shirt made from the clip's image..

After Yale, I travelled up the Fraser Canyon.  The weather became progressively hotter.  After a brief lunch stop in Lytton, I headed through Spences Bridge and Cache Creek.  The  temperature was over 36 degrees, and the bike started missing  and surging.  I rode through  Kamloops, and towards Monte Lake and Falkland.

I stopped on these corners outside of Westwold.  Over 45 years ago I was riding on a brand new BSA Scrambler that I had purchased from Trev Deeley in Vancouver for  $1150.00  My girlfriend was on the back, and the rear tire blew.  I managed to get the bike stopped without incident, but the potential consequences of what could have happened scared me, and it was soon after that event that I sold that particular bike, and did not really ride again for 40 years..Hindsight being what it is, I should have quit drinking and kept on riding...

About 10 kilometers down the road, I had another bout of nostalgia.  I recognized what I called "Red Rock", which are the cliffs to the north of the Westwold highway.   Years ago, my Dad and I hunted in those hills.  On one particular weekend, my Dad shot 4 bucks over the weekend.  The last one that he shot was at the  top of of one of the cliffs that I could see in the distance.  I had spotted it, but it was too far away to tell if it was a buck or a doe.  Dad made a phenomenal shot, well over 700 yards, and nailed his fourth buck for the weekend.  Those times hunting with my father were part of a critical period in my life.  I was fortunate to have those times with him, and I didn't realize, of course, that those times would not be repeated as we both moved into sepaarte paths with our lives.  I took off down a dirt path to see how close I could get to those cliffs....I put the side stand down, expecting that I could take some pictures.  Blondie decided to fall over.  Try as I might there was no way I could lift that bike. I ended up taking all of my gear off the bike, including the panniers.  i was then able to raise the bike onto her side stand.  Lesson learned again about the amount of gear that I am packing, and the consequences of the bike going down...

Once I had repacked the bike and got on the slab, I headed for Armstong and my Neice's place.  My grand nephew is practicing riding his slider bike.  I have seen youngsters'  using these, and I have also read that these bikes are are great for teaching children how to balance themselves,,,,

Grandma is ensuring that he gets  to read 1000 books before Kindergarten ...a true teacher.

 Grandpa and Grandson chewing away on a dinosaur....a good bonding exercise.

 I took the bike to Kelowna, to the local BMW dealer.  The surging that I had experienced during the hot weather, and the strange exhausting of pressure from the tank concerned me, and I was unsure of the venting on the F800.  The mechanic ran the diagnostic on the bike, and it seems that everything is okay.  I had the mechanic add some Motul for the fuel injectors, and the air cleaners were cleaned and oiled.  I discussed the situation with the mechanic, and he assured me that if there was a repetition of the    surging, that I should bring the bike back in for further work..

One of the mechanics' bikes intrigued me. It was a 1994 Ducati Elephant.. I had read about these bikes, but never seen one.  The mechanic told me that it was a 900cc bike, and that he had a 1100 cc  motor that he was going to install next winter.   A great looking bike, which reminded me of a TransAlp, with a similar headlight set up.