Introducing a Californian to the Kootenays

 For years, we've been encouraging our friend Eric to come up from San Francisco for a visit.  This August (2011), the stars finally managed to align!  We met up in the evening of Friday the 19th in Radium Hot Springs and enjoyed a few drinks together.

Saturday, we headed through Cranbrook and Creston and then up the 3A to the Kootenay Lake ferry.  Despite some excitement with a rock in his rear brake, Eric started to get a taste of the roads we've been encouraging him to come ride.


After a wait of about half an hour, we crossed Kootenay Lake on the ferry, and then enjoyed our advantage of being the first off the boat!

Lunch in Kaslo was followed by the there-and-back trip to the end of the pavement at Meadow Creek.


As happens to us all too often, we rode the 31A at the end of our day when bodies and brains were getting tired.


The road never fails to impress, though!


What a pretty row of bikes!


We spent an enjoyable evening talking/relaxing under the tree in the outside dining area of the Valhalla Inn in New Denver.  We also spent some time chatting with the new owner.  They seem to be making an effort with the place.  Hopfully they keep it up!  For now, the rooms are still all nice and clean, the food is yummy, and motorcyclists get a discount!


Eric's ZX14 looks a little lonely under that tree...


...but its Ducati friends were parked just across the way.



Sunday's ride carried us north on the 6 & the 23, across the Galena Bay ferry and on to lunch in Revelstoke.


A quick stop at the top of Roger's Pass.


I think Eric enjoyed the ride!


We couldn't find any UniMoGs to snap Eric's picture beside, but we *did* see this Syncro at our fuel stop in Field before we parted ways.

At this point, it was Sunday afternoon and we had to hightail it home (darned work expecting to be done on Monday mornings....) so we suggested that Eric ride the Icefields Parkway to Jasper - the breathtaking views are not to be missed!  

Showing the BC Rockies to someone who has never seen them before was a lot of fun.  It made us both realize that we've been taking the scenery and roads that we have *almost* in our backyard (not quite close enough...) for granted, we need to remember not to do that!!!