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CVO Social => Ride Report => Topic started by: Ironhorse on September 13, 2023, 06:49:18 AM
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In what will go down as one of the more memorable West Coast Get Togethers, the Canada trip was a success. For me it was 3,169 miles of fun with friends in a neighboring country. Although I am well cemented in the world of CVO with my 2006 CVO Ultra, this year I decided to take my 2018 GoldWing. Denise finds it more comfortable on the day long rides, and it has a hitch for my trailer.
We left home on August 30th and rode out to the coast, spending the night in Eureka, CA. (For those of you who attended the Fortuna, CA rally in 2016 it was one of our stops) From there we worked our way up the coast stopping for seafood whenever we saw a good eatery. On Saturday September 2nd we met up with Joel in Port Angeles, WA. The next day we caught the ferry over to Victoria Island, British Columbia. Upon our arrival we met up with Gabe and Becky (LetsRoll) and our hosts Wayne and Eleanor (Island CVO) and Blair and Christine (BT). They took us on a ride out to the countryside for a late lunch. Upon our return, Simon (Desert Hog) and his friend Jenise had arrived. Simon was on his BMW.
The next few days were wonderful rides along the coast and to the beaches in a relaxing environment. Our hosts made sure to take the less travelled and trafficked routes. There were the required stops at the local Harley dealer, and even at shops for Indian, Honda, Kawasaki, Royal Enfield and BMW. Each evening was a relaxed dinner at a local restaurant. Thursday was our off the bike day. Denise and I took a walking tour of Victoria and had High Tea at the Empress Hotel. Christine was gracious enough to lend Denise a “Fascinator” so she would be in style amongst the other ladies at tea. That evening at dinner Simon held a raffle, and Christine won. She is now the bearer of the “Travelling CVO Vest”. Wayne and Eleanor had nice party favors for us with Canadian souvenirs! Gabe out did himself and gave each of us a hand-woven lanyard with a bottle opener.
On Friday the 8th we said our good byes. Christine took Denise to the airport and I rode out solo. I rode up to Nanaimo, BC and caught the ferry to Horseshoe Bay, Vancouver. From there I started the Canadian Cascade loop. I spent the night in Squamish. The next day I rode through Whistler, Lillooet, Lytton and spent the night in Hope. In the morning I rode back across the border to Edmonds, WA where I met up with Kelly (Rayson56). Kelly had entered his 1965 Pontiac GTO in a classic car show. That night Kelly cooked up some steaks and we watched NFL football at his house. After breakfast Kelly kept me off the freeways and took me on a tour of the countryside. We stopped at Snoqualimine Falls, where they used to film the TV show Twin Peaks. I took backroads to Bend, OR where I spent the night. I was home today by evening time.
Once again thanks to Wayne and Eleanor for hosting this, Blair and Christine for guiding us ,and Gabe for keeping everything updated on the site. Top notch and first class all the way! To my friends in the British Commonwealth I will say to you, Merci Beaucoup!
Attached is my route.
(I don't know why some of the photos came out "squashed". If someone knows how to correct it, please do. Also, I took some short videos, but don't know how to post those either.)
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Enjoying oysters in the town of Garibaldi, OR.
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Check out this salt and pepper holder.
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Waiting for the ferry to Victoria.
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Parked at the hotel.
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Lunch Bunch.
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Parked on the beach.
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At the Totem Pole.
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Music on the beach.
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The group on the beach.
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If you are familiar with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you may recognize the castle in the background. It's been used as the estate of Professor Charles Xavier as his school for gifted children.
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Victoria has a nice Chinatown. Notice the Chinese Zodiac signs in the crosswalk.
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Denise at tea with her fascinator. The hotel Tea Room had strict dress codes. For women, no yoga pants or open toed footwear.
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Me, enjoying tea. I was surprised to learn that while ladies can wear fascinator hats inside, men cannot. I asked if that included the traditional English Top Hats. I was told that the no hats for men rule was only recently implemented. It was targeted towards the Baseball and Trucker Caps usually worn by visitors. How disappointing. I was looking forward to wearing my red “Make Canada Great Again” cap.
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Christine with the Travelling CVO Vest.
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The Lanyard Gabe made.
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In Squamish I asked for my hashbrowns well done. I got potato chips.
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This is what the Canadians call Louisiana Jambalaya.
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Kelly's 1965 GTO.
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Awesome car.
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Mark and Kellys GoldWings.
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I stopped for some “American” food in Lillooet.
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I’ll try and do this wonderful trip some justice with a few pics. We spent almost 2 weeks in Vancouver island and got a good taste of what it had to offer. The city of Victoria is beautiful and very active and hospitable. There’s always something going on. The food was nothing less than wonderful. Highly recommended 👍👍.
This is on our way from Spokane, WA via Yakima. Hoping to get a glimpse of Mt. Rainier, cause sometimes is to foggy to see it. Score!!
Bottom right pic, caught a bit of that Kryptonite bike hot on my tail.
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Waiting in port Angeles for the Coho ferry, our ride to Vancouver island.
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Upon arrival we met up with our host Wayne and Eleanor and spent the first few days as they call it, riding up-island. Campbell River right about the 50* parallel
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Then once back in Victoria it was nothing less of spectacular. The next few pics are just sights from around the city.
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Fisherman's warf and of course some delicious fish and chips
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A few ways to get around the city. Of course many whale watching tours as well as planes and bus tours
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Many CVO types of yachts if you my drift. The captain of a sea taxi we took told us that there’s more than 100 flights from the inner harbor daily, thus making it an official runway
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If you like the Remi Martin, get the big bottle, is a better deal.
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A day in Nanaimo and if you know you know about the yummy 😋 Nanaimo chocolate bars
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When in Canada 🇨🇦 !!
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Also a few WTH. Notice to late get close, so not sure if the KFC had sushi
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The ice cream was delicious, didn’t get to try that shake. But I can only imagine it is on point.
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Just chilling
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Here at Mile 0, yes mile zero not kilometer zero of the trans Canadian hwy. The others end is 4,645 away on the east coast in St. John's Newfoundland.
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Pics
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More fun
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Was able to catch the blue bridge in action.
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Saying goodbye to Victoria on our ride back on the Coho.
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On our second ferry of the day from Kingston to Edmonds the riding to Leavenworth. Again catching a glimpse of Rainier behind the skyline of Seattle and the space needle
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Washington's Bavarian town in the Cascades. Leavenworth, WA
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Back home!!! Many thanks to our wonderful hosts Wayne and Eleanor & Blair and Christine for their hard work on all the planing and execution of the GTG. To the rest of the crew that made it Mark, Denise, Joel, Simon, Jenise, Moe, Jim and of course my bestest half Becky. May we do it again soon. Let’s Roll
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Ok, Last one
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Wow, what an epic trip you folks had. The time and effort to compile this thread is very much appreciated and kudos to the photographers!
Hopefully I'll be able to meet with more of you in the future.
Kelly
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Great memories!
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Thanks for sharing, great pic of the island brought back memories. I lived in Campbell River for a number of years.
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Mark and Gabe, great ride reports. Was really nice to see everyone and glad you enjoyed your trip to the island. And Mark, there is snow forecast for Whistler tonight so you got thru just in time. Won't be a lot of bikes on that road for 6 or 7 months.
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Mark at Mile Zero on the Wing .....
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Joel .....
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Off the bike day ....
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Called for a water taxi ......they asked at which dock we were at !!!!!
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Last night dinner ..
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The traveling vest ...