AM in R3 & AK

Discussion in 'Trips & Events' started by A.M, Mar 1, 2017.

  1. A.M

    A.M Moderator Staff Member

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    Haha, data dump be come...be prepared! How hard it is to update every day on the road...but have no fear! Well, maybe fear the data dump.

    RVFR was right, left the Denver area Thursday and bad a storm chase and rodeo back home.

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    So 15,136 miles later and I'm back in Doodah. All a dream. Like it never happened.

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    I slept a lot Thursday, and even more last night. It will take me a good week or two to come down from the experiences of the trip and the sadness that it's over.

    Until then, photos will help. I'll be doing the dumps the rest of this weekend starting this evening.

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  2. Allyance

    Allyance Insider

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    I know you are sad it is over, but we are glad you are home safe and sound.
     
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  3. vdrive

    vdrive New Member

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    AM, YOU are an inspiration to us all. thank you for all the pictures & updates of your great ride.KEEP SMILING !!!
     
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  4. A.M

    A.M Moderator Staff Member

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    Glenn, cannot wait to ride with you again! But hanging out with you for a while was amazing. It was so awesome to see you again, and I miss you. I wasn't able to do GTTSR either since it was still closed and I even piddled a couple more days waiting on it. Something for our list still. As well as me hosting some members here. Now who wants to ride to Kansas?! hahaha...
     
  5. A.M

    A.M Moderator Staff Member

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    Even on my worse days, I work hard to cheer myself up after I give myself time to process uncomfortable feelings. It definitely helps to have someone beside me to help do the cheerins, but that's rarely the case so I have to rely on me to make myself smile. It's worth it. :)
     
  6. A.M

    A.M Moderator Staff Member

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    You betchya! And like Gator mentioned: Oil
    And straight from Hellowstone: Antifreeze

    Someone has got to hire me...
     
  7. A.M

    A.M Moderator Staff Member

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    I can't wait to see where you go... ;) If I inspire just one person to get out there and go and brave the uncomfortable to chase some dreams, I feel my life has been of use in the area of contributing to motorides for others. Doodah would be a fun run for you...

    Another "long" ride cannot be ruled out before school starts!
     
  8. derstuka

    derstuka Lord of the Wankers Staff Member

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    I would suggest double checking your home owners insurance policy before you let AM stay at your place. She brings true meaning to the old adage "can I crash at your place?" Pic of post AM departure below: :shocked:

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  9. OOTV

    OOTV Insider

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    Maybe she can be called the "Kansas Tornado" not sure if Colin Edwards would mind or not though?
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2017
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  10. A.M

    A.M Moderator Staff Member

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    ^^^^ That's not even muh best wurk!

    Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk
     
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  11. A.M

    A.M Moderator Staff Member

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    Wednesday, June 14, in Alaska

    I woke up to a beautiful morning to head to Seward, Alaska! Weather showed that the rain was mostly moving out so the ride was definitely a go! A gal had told me that Seward was getting snow the day before, so I was very happy that seemed to be not the case.

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    I had been trying to get to Anchorage for a few days, so when I finally made it to the city I was super excited! Quick stop for a photo...

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    ...and had a hard time finding a convenient stop for gas, but was finally successful and back on Highway 1 South.

    The ride to Seward was overcast and rainy but sooo beautiful!

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    And I freaked out seeing the Pacific Ocean again!!

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    And I freaked out to be officially on the Kenai Penninsula!!

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    The Seward ride was gorgeous and reminded me of a mini Gaspê Peninsula. Mountains on one side of the road, ocean on other. Inland more beautiful mountains I love like near Hyder, Alaska. The Kenai Fjords are amazing!! Whales even!!

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  12. A.M

    A.M Moderator Staff Member

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    Continued...

    Wednesday, June 14 in Seward,

    While in Seward, I met two cross country travelers on ... VFRs from Ontario!!!! I hadn’t seen a single VFR this entire trip besides the AMAZING ones at R3. Jason and Rakesh had just graduated from medical school so they were on an epic ride before beginning their residency. It’s funny because they had seen me on the road before today, but me not them. The two were sitting at the Seward visiting center, I drove by and saw them, and HAD to turn around to say hello…seeing two Viffers was immediately comforting like I had just found family I had been missing since R3. <3 <3

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    Within minutes of meeting, we hit it off and Rakesh gave me his emergency alarm since they each had one. They immediately took me under their wing and I’ll share more about them in coming posts.

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    They had sightseeing to do in Seward on a boat tour, but we visited and then split off with plans to meet up the next day to ride together home...since they were headed the same way home super fast and are marathon riders like me when needed.

    After parting ways with Jason and Rakesh, I looked around more and took myself out for a dinner I had been waiting for: Fresh Halibut!

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    Now I was able to leave beautiful Seward satisfied…

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    The ride back was partly cloudy and sooo gorgeous! And just kept getting prettier!

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    I took some same photos going back as I did coming to Seward. It's interesting to see how the scene gives a different feel in the weather...both spectacular!!

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    The place was just breathtaking...

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    ...and it was here that, at this moment, that the fact was solidified...that my heart was at home near mountains, cliffs, AND ocean.

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    I have had so many times of being inland, near lakes, in mountains, near the ocean, so much terrain. On this trip and over the years through 49 states and 8 provinces...

    I've loved it all, but there's a different beat in my heart when I'm standing on a cliff near the ocean. Someday soon it will happen...

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    I made it back to camp in the same spot as the night before, but no rain. Yesss!!

    So it wasn’t as dark and muddy as the first night. Set camp back up and off to lala land I went, although to a bittersweet rest as this would be the last night of my trip moving forward. When I woke up in the morning, I would be officially starting the 2nd half of my trip…turning back to home. It had to happen eventually…and there were plenty of mixed feelings about it, but nothing much I could do…

    ...Except Make Myself Smile

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  13. Riding a 2000

    Riding a 2000 Member

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    Halibut. (a Fave!)
    In Alaska.
    Fresh?
    Yesssss!
     
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  14. Riding a 2000

    Riding a 2000 Member

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    Oh, and GREAT photos, thanks so much for posting!
     
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  15. A.M

    A.M Moderator Staff Member

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    Thursday, June 15th, Homeward Bound through Yukon

    Thursday morning was a beautiful morning to turn back home…even at 1:30 am! I’ll never get over the coolness that it does not get dark up here this time of year!!

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    I did not leave at 1:30 though. I took my time in the morning to head out. I was excited to run through this route again…


    The Glenn Highway 1 from Palmer to Glennallen is a must!...and really no option if you are going the way of Anchorage.

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    Windy through a valley and Matanuska Glacier. Amazing...even as amazing as Seward!!

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    The ride back was full of blue cloudy skies, afternoon mountain showers, tons of special tree, lots of Diet Dew, and meeting interesting people like these elderly I saw in Glennallen riding from the states to Anchorage to see their grandchildren.

    Find moto!!...

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    One thing that surprised me was the amount of sand in the Yukon and Alaska. These photos show some sand banks (far left corner of first photo and in the distance on the right in the second photo). The sand in the second photo was being blown up into the sky from the wind sweeping through the valley. That was pretty amazing to see!

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    Once I got into Tok I needed to fill up with gas and take a drink break. While standing there I noticed a power wash station. Perfect I thought!! I have some time to get moto clean and boy was it deserved. I took some time to wash and had an interesting character “hang out” with me the whole time. Chatting about interesting things…I kept busy and was glad I was in public.

    We were pretty dirty...

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    Cleaner...

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    As I was starting to load up moto, I heard the rumble of a mean sounding VFR…Rakesh!!!! Jason!!!!

    I ran to the edge of the parking lot and sure enough it was them! We had known that we would all end up in Tok at some point in the day and they were going to message when they made it. I waved and jumped at them, but they didn’t see me. Sure enough though, Jason messaged and I headed over to Fast Eddy’s.

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    Perfect because we were all hungry. And the night ended up to be very dark and stormy and cold so it was super we met up and I had them to ride with into the treacherous night. We finished up eating and then we buckled up to get as close to Whitehorse as possible.

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  16. A.M

    A.M Moderator Staff Member

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    Continued...

    Thursday, June 15th...

    Beautiful ride for a while, we stopped for photos along the way and they let me back into Canada! The evening through Yukon was gorgeous…

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    ...but as mentioned ran into freezing cold rain and it got dark, dark, dark…only because of the storm cover.

    We stopped in Destruction Bay for gas, but the station was closed for the night.

    Interesting and thoughtful thing about Yukon and Alaska and even British Columbia gas stations up there: they all have a lodging or camping area or both at the gas sites. I guess because knowing full well people like us won’t be able to get gas and will have to stay overnight until gas opens.

    So standing under the canopy of the gas pumps and nearing 2:00 am, we decided to call the emergency number on the door to see about hotel room. The person that answered the line said all the keys to all the hotel rooms were in the doors…we could just go around back and pick a room. That’s just what we did.

    And I pondered…If I had a place like this way up here in the middle of nowhere, I’d operate it the same way. Easy for people to skip out on registering and paying, but I’d rather a person survive a night…

    We woke in the morning to find it still raining, but at least we were warm and dry from a super night’s rest.

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    Funny thing about the above photo…Jason’s friend sent a photo to him, almost identical, same parking lot, same hotel in Destruction Bay, but with snow covering everything…including poor moto souls that were surely stranded there for a few days!!

    The snow moved in just as we had moved out!! I’m super thankful we left Alaska when we did or we would have been stranded for at least several days. Oh well, could have been fun! We had food and shelter and company! But I was happier that did not happen to us…

    Well, Friday the 16ths ride report later. For now some other things…

    Alaska loves their pizza...so many local pizza joints!!!

    The lack of darkness, cool for activities and staying up late…I LOVE IT…but I missed the stars

    Wildlife: deer, elk, moose, mountain goats, sheep, rabbits, bald eagles and bird's of all kinds, whales, brown and black and grizzly bears, lots of bees and butterflies and skeeters...but the most favorite one for me was the

    RAVEN...

    Such a huge, mysterious, wondrous bird with a magical yet haunting call. I could watch them all day...wishing I could soar with them. They seem to be everywhere, especially in Yukon. I never photographed one. I'm just always finding myself entranced by them and I don't think to pull out my phone.

    The other wildlife...I'm not causing dangerous animal jams on the road just for the photo op.

    Those wildlife sightings will just have to be a part of my memory unaided by photos. I’ll remember hopefully, especially the times where I was out in the middle of nowhere and it was just me and them.

    Though the heading home had commenced and as I said goodbye to everything I passed, I was still gaining memories and with nrw friends too!! And those memories are often the inducers of my smiles and no one can wipe them off my face...

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  17. A.M

    A.M Moderator Staff Member

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    Friday, June 16th to Liard Hot Springs, BC

    Saturday, June 17th to St. John, BC

    Sunday, June 18th to Edmonton, AB


    Friday morning rain that we woke up to didn't last long. I’m just still so thankful it wasn’t motos under snow that we saw first thing in the morning.

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    But it was enough precipitation to add to the cold and wet from the night before. Jason and Rakesh had some wet riding gear, so we stopped to dry riding gear and moved on to push it to Liard and the Hot Springs there.

    On the way my moto turned 50 miles shy of 10,000 miles for the trip so far. This was at a gas stop in Whitehorse, Yukon, so I snapped the photo.

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    I could not believe moto and I have gone that far and I quietly thanked my friends, especially TC, BW, and Stuka! Without them and TC’s moto, I would have had major delays or may not have made it so far.

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    We stopped at the sign post place in Watson Lake because Rakesh had a small token to add to a post.

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    Unfortunately, he was unable to find it in his gear. Just means he’ll have to come back someday!

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    We looked around a bit then on the road we were...

    Zoom-zoom, this you up top?

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    The ride was cold, but dry the rest of the way! And east of Watson Lake into British Columbia, is just a spectacular ride with bison everywhere!! Just a few miles east of Watson Lake, the highway turns beautiful! Trees cut away from the highway at least 50 feet, the grass neatly cut or grazed upon, gorgeous winding highway that went up and down hills. The bison were hilarious. They just hung out right on the side of the road watching traffic and didn’t seem startled at all.

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    We made it to Liard late, set up camp, had fire and dinner, and relaxed.

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    Jason and Rakesh had to save me from a huge dog (my guess was a Newfoundland mix) that kept wanting to get frisky with me. When the dog flat out knocked me over and pinned me to the ground and I couldn't escape, the boys had to save me and were pretty upset that happened. They got their grumpy voices out and shooed the dog away as I hid in my tent. Looking back it was pretty funny. And it was my fault for giving the seemingly stray dog some beef jerky...

    This was the night sky at 3:00 am.

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    We were up super late from coming in late and then staying up chatting. I learned so much more about them and could not have met a nicer pair of guys on the trip to ride with. They felt the same way about me...but single dudette...not dude. We turned in to get a few hours of sleep, excited to go check out the Hot Springs in the morning.

    So Saturday we woke, packed up camp, and headed to the Hot Springs. WOW!! Amazing place and huge springs!

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    We had fun swimming and being silly with logs and talking with others. We checked out the foliage too, which was abundant.

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    After we had our fill of swimming, we ate, gassed up, and buckled down for a long haul to as close as Edmonton as we could get.

    The ride to Muncho Lake was so just pretty.

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    Really, the whole ride from Watson Lake to where we ended up in St. John was just beautiful!

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    We felt very lucky to not ride in the rain like we had to the night we rode to Destruction Bay.

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    But the night riding to St. John was a different kind of nervousness. We did not have the bright nights any more to help us. I can’t remember if it was just dark or dark because of cloud cover, but the road and sky were piano black.

    We went very slow while cresting hills and turning corners. One time our slow speed saved us as we crested a hill and right there was a deer crossing.

    Because we took it safe and slow, we didn’t make it to St. John until about 1:00 am. So we decided to hotel it in St. John.

    Sunday morning I woke early while the boys still slept. I went downstairs and made them breakfast and coffee and brought it back up for breakfasts in beds to help them get going.

    After we ate and enjoyed more conversation, we headed out to ride for the day. Our plan was to ride to Edmonton and get there no matter what. Glenn had been waiting on me to get to Edmonton so I was especially determined to make it.

    Success!! We made it to Edmonton and had a fun goodbye dinner together.

    So bittersweet to have made it to Edmonton to see and stay with Glenn, but it also meant I had to say goodbye to Jason and Rakesh after being with them constantly for almost 4 days.

    We said our goodbyes and I headed to Glenn’s as they moved on. They were on a power ride back home to start their residency posts. I was happy I wasn’t in a super hurry home and that I was able to see Glenn. I made it to his home later that evening and we stayed up super late catching up and looking at roads. Soooo good to see Glenn!! <3 <3

    Not many photos of slabbing it back across Alaska, Yukon, British Columbia, and Alberta, but I posted what I had. A few more things though:

    Something about riding in the rain in a dark night on Alaska and Yukon roads:

    IT SUX

    I was so thankful to have Jason and Rakesh to ride with that night to Destruction Bay. When it is dark because of cloud cover, in torrential rainfall, and on roads that turn to gravel, have frost heaves, and lack painted lines…it gets super super tricky. You cannot tell where the edge of the road is at times. So you try to stay in the center, but then the road winds, and the occasional opposing car light glare makes it worse. The entire time I rode with Jason and Rakesh, they kept me sheltered between them. I was so thankful to be with them, especially at those nerve-wracking riding times. I kept thinking to myself, “Just follow the beacon of light…” Because Jason and Rakesh were like my beacon, my light house.

    Those guys are just amazing!! They watched over me the whole time, guided me safely through rain and wildlife night riding, always had me in the middle of them on the road, they never left me hanging and made sure I was able to get out of tight spots with moto, and not to mention in the first minutes of meeting them, Rakesh gave me his emergency alarm since they had two. They are amazing people and I know will be amazing doctors. You meet the NICEST of Nicers on VFRs!!

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  18. A.M

    A.M Moderator Staff Member

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    Monday, June 19th in Edmonton

    After Glenn and I talked and talked until late into the night, I slept in a bit Monday morning.

    Once we got around (well, me…teeheehee), we went to lunch at Cora's which was Amazing with bendy straws...I LOVE bendy straws!!!!

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    And I’ve never seen such a place make food so beautiful! I even had some pita wrapped sausages that were made with flaxseed! Now to have a place like that here in Kansas. With my food allergies, it was such a treat to have a bread product. I hadn’t had bread I could eat since being in San Francisco! <3 <3

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    After eating, Glenn took me to a couple of stores (ugh) to pick up some things I needed.

    Important things:

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    No kidding, I’m sooo hooked on Boxers under riding pants…Thanks Marrib!! They are soooo comfortable! When cold, I still have to wear tights under my riding gear, but just having boxers gave me such comfort on hot days.

    Shopping in Canadian stores was fun this time of year...so many goodies to celebrate Canada's 150th!! <3 <3

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    Had to get some Canada hoodies in Canada! <3 <3

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    Glenn and I enjoyed visiting, enjoying the nice weather outside, I took photos of their beautiful plants outside, and of the Raisin flavored soda he gave me. I never had Raisin flavor before!!

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    I also started laundry and was reminded of that horrid dog, but got some laffs and smiles when fond memories of Rakesh and Jason popped into my head. <3 <3

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    Later in the evening I went out to dinner with Glenn and his wife. I had never been to a Boston Pizza so it was super to be somewhere new again for more eats! Had some yummy salmon and veggies!

    When we got home, we had delirious fun when Glenn’s wife showed me how dandelion stems curl in water. Who would have known?! Such a cool thing to do!

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    Went upstairs to get ready for sleepies and had a party crasher waiting for me... <3 <3

    He was actively not looking at me...as it seemed he thought he would blend in to the stuff and not be seen if he didn't look at me. Tommy stayed with me a while. Such a treat to have kitty cuddles a couple times on the road. <3 <3 I hadn't had any since RVFR's place in Washington!

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    Finally laid down, rested and satisfied, after a wonderful day spent with Glenn just relaxing.

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    As I fell asleep I had visions of Moraine and Peyto Lakes dancing in my head…
     
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  19. derstuka

    derstuka Lord of the Wankers Staff Member

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    Great write up and AMAZING pictures AM! As always, you rock!

    Oh, and I be diggin' your new threads in the last picture!
     
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  20. VFR4Lee

    VFR4Lee Member

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    Awesome trip. How did I not look at this sooner?
    Must read it all. :Clap2:
     
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