The past 5 days have been fairly long and I was looking forward to a day off. The ride so far was at times starting to feel a bit like ‘work’ and that I was simply riding to get somewhere, so I decided to change things up a bit.

A couple of days earlier while in Muncho Lake, I had messaged an ADVrider, Carl, who lived in Grande Prairie. My tires were getting fairly worn by now and I asked him if he knew of any good shops in his area that had tires in my size. He not only did some searching around but offered to put me up at his place for the night! It would only be a 2-3 hour ride day but since I was feeling a bit worn out already, Carl’s offer was just what I needed: an easy days ride, a change of pace, and a free place to stay. Woot!

So with no big mileage to fulfill for the day, I slept in a bit and didn’t actually check out of the hotel until 1100. Along the way South to Carls in Grande Prairie, I would stop in Dawson Creek for a famous picture of the ALCAN Highway sign.

Once I got to Grande Prairie, I sent Carl a text message and he led me back to his house. We chatted about stuff like motorbikes (Carl has a motorbike addition; his garage(s) full of bikes is proof) and other ADVriders that have come through the GP area and have stayed at his place. Later on him, his wife and I went to dinner at a local bar/grill. They even paid for my meal! Thanks guys!

Once back at the house, we worked on my bike a little bit and fixed my bent pannier rack. After about an hour of tweaking, bending and twisting, it’s now better than ever before.. no need to even open the pannier lid to pump fuel into it anymore. My day keeps getting better. 😉

After retreating from the garage, Carl hooked me up with some expierenced trip advice and drew me out a route on the best roads that Canada has to offer. Should be some good stuff coming up further South.

 

Note to self: I  really need to take more photos of daily travel life. I got a few scenic photos that I posted above but everything else from the day went undocumented.