Welcome to the Tofino Camping Tour blog!
First of all, a little housekeeping: you will note some new features on the blog, which include a countdown clock to The Great American Total Solar Eclipse, which is happening August 21st. Then, you will notice below that a link to the blog for that event; it is set up to preview but won't begin in earnest until we leave for the trip, Thursday August 17th. Lastly, there is a link directly to the SpotWalla tracking device so that you can see where Nan and I are riding (or hiding) at any given time. However, if it is not patently obvious,
Ed note: I had a link here to the tracking device but it seems to have failed. However, the link in the sidebar DOES work (on the right, if you are viewing this not from your mobile device) so you can see where we are by clicking it.
You are invited to post your comments but you will need to sign in to do that. Plus, comments are moderated so there is no point in calling us names because I will just delete them and re-write what you wrote, posting all your wonderful comments about us.
While this trip is not expressly about a "warm-up" to the eclipse trip, we are undertaking a little experiment here, which is two-up riding and camping. I have camped from the motorcycle a number of times but Nan has not and our plan is to camp for about half of the Eclipse tour, where we will alternate days of camping with days of no-tell motels. It is a different experience camping from the motorcycle because there is limited room for packing all manner of things. Like shoes. NOT SAYING WHO might be taking a shoe collection but let's just say, there is room for only so many pairs. This trip will be the testing (or proving) grounds of whether or not we can take on a fairly major motorcycle trip and include enough gear to comfortably camp. Barring a disaster, we will be able to parlay our experience into an eclipse camping trip.
Nonetheless, I am confident. Nan is an experienced back-packer from our early days of marriage and while we haven't done that for many years, motorcycle camping is not entirely different: it is all about gear packed small and light, wedged, crammed or squeezed into every available space and then, as you will see from pictures to follow, sometimes strapped to the outside. The good news is that unlike back packing, strapping something onto the bike doesn't immediately translate into struggling under the yoke of a heavy back pack, since the bike is looking after all of that. The downside: no dogs!
Our projected departure is Saturday morning at 7:00 a.m. Or should I say, hoped-for departure. I've already been given the gears by Rod, who reminds me that I am often doing bike repairs the night before departure on a motorcycle trip. I am happy to report that a number of the repairs have already been completed, such as a new hand rail for Nan's left side. I recently discovered that her handle for hanging onto dear life was broken at the base. It was still being held at the top end but it gave me the heebee jeebies to think that if we were cornering hard on the twisties of Hwy 99 in B.C. Nan might be flying off into the stratosphere. Couldn't have that!
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It's a wrap.
Distance traveled: 451.4 Cumulative (total) distance: 3218 Maximum speed: 137 kph Average speed: 99 kph Temperature range: 14.4 - 28.2 ...
I see you have made it as far as Pemberton this morning, according to your tracker! Did you manage to get away from the all that grandma-hair-colored smoke? I have driven that journey many times from Whistler to Vernon, you are right, the Duffy Lake road portion is absolutely stunning. I usually take the leg from Lillooet, via Cache Creek and Savona Lake to Kamloops however, I have never tried the route you took. I am looking at your email and see that you will probably pass through Parksville in the early evening... do you want to be fed dinner? Let me know and i'll shop... cheers, Tim.
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