Day 3 Beautiful, wonderful day. Had a minor episode--after breakfast went out and my saddlebag lid came off in my hand, attached only by the cloth retainer strip. There is a threaded flat piece of metal that has 5 screws, the screws are about 3/8" long, that only grip the thread by 1 turn max. Over a period of time they had all vibrated out. The last one fell out on the ground when I opened it. I bungied it on and made it to the next Harley shop. Luckily, they had a set of screws. Take home: you may want to check and tighten and loktite them on. (they are under the cloth retainer).
It was a bit of Deja Vu today also. You see, last year I was making the same trip and three days into it, my father-in-law died and I had to fly home for 7 days, leaving my bike at the airport here in Edmonton, in the long term parking with all my gear. Worried the whole time as to whether it would be there when I got back. He had a stroke three days before I was to leave, but it looked like he was getting better. They were going to put him in a nursing home and start therapy. The family told me to go and I could always come home if needed. When I got the call, I posted a help note on this site and got several replies. A big thanks to Canuck here in Edmonton. He replied to the posting at 1am when he got home and offered to store my bike. I had gone to bed and got up at 4am to head to the airport. I didn't have the heart to call him at 4. This site has the greatest members!! Thanks to all who helped during that panic time. When I came back, my bike was fine, but there was not enough time to make it to Alaska. So, I went to Watson Lake and back home through Jasper and Lake Louise. Now, staying at the same motel. Lots of thinking today about Bill---sure do miss him.
The highlight of my morning: