Memorial Weekend Ride - 702 miles

We woke up Saturday, looked outside at the rain and went back to bed. Sunday we woke up, looked outside at the rain and went out for an adventure anyway. We stopped by Starbucks for a coffee at 7:30AM and then gassed up for the fun.

Here is the "What the HELL ARE WE DOING" look - it was pouring and there was no end in sight. Notice the bulky look - I had on my Gore-Tex rain liners and under that Gerber electric gear - yes heated clothing my friends.


Off we went. It was only 15 minutes later that I had to pull over and try to adjust my gloves because they had been worn the "normal way" and rain was running down off my jacket right into my sleeve. Then we were off again.

When it is cold and wet outside and you are breathing in a confined area, fog tends to form. Our helmets were fogging up and no amount of venting was helping (besides, my vent kept spraying water into my mouth). The constant - pull visor up wipe inside with wet glove and quickly slam almost shut- routine was not working either. We stopped again at a drugstore to see if they had any anti-fog stuff. They did and it sort of worked for a little while. Off we went again.

5 minutes later I realized that my gloves were not actually waterproof. I was completely drenched. We made it to Mount Vernon where we spied a Harley Dealer that was open Sundays (a rare thing for a motorcycle dealer). Of course, it was only 9AM so we ended up having to wait in a McDonald's for an hour until the place opened. It was still pouring. I spent a lot of time in the bathroom with the hot air dryer, but it didn't do much good. Lesson - once you are wet you will be cold all day, especially if your wrists stay soggy. We went to the Harley dealer and bought gloves and anti-fog stuff for the helmets. Off we went again.

By the time we reached the border, it was lightly drizzling and my new gloves (although they were branded with a big Harley logo) were working well. We crossed over into Canada and accelerated to 100KM an hour :). It was turning out to be a lovely day - kind of. We stopped to look at some cows. Why? Well, because they were RUNNING. Yes, I saw Canadian cows running - really. John doesn't believe me, but I swear it's true. We took pictures - they wouldn't run for the camera.

John and the cows


They wouldn't run and they wouldn't come to the fence.


Apparently it is a thing - you are supposed to have a shot with the bird in it.


Ready to move


But there are ominous clouds ahead in the mountains...


Stay tuned for part 2 in which Robin and John see wildlife and more...