We have seen countless bear since first entering Canada and talked to at least dozens of people about their bear (not bare) experiences. The further North we traveled, the more the bear and other animals seemed to want to put distance between them and us. Early on we hit the brakes hard if a bear appeared ahead. They were gone before we had a chance to shoot a picture. Later we accelerated in hopes of capturing a picture. We caught this guy Wednesday evening in Hyder, Alaska walking the bank asking everyone, "wheres the salmon bake?". The people throughout Canada and Alaska respect but do not fear either the grizzly or black bear. A flag lady on road construction today told us that she occasionally has to beat on the construction barrels to get wandering bears to leave. BTW, throughout Canada and Alaska, motorcycles are invited to the front of the line when waiting for the pilot vehicle to escort them through the countless construction stretches (many flag persons are attractive young ladys and a 20-minute wait  seems to be over in seconds!). Wednesday night Redsy was riding in the middle of the little town of Hyder, AK, when a black bear ran across the street in front of his motorcycle.

Having said all of that, Dick Wooley's 12-gauge pump shotgun, loaded with OO buckshot, has been closer to my sleeping bag than Faith. I have the shotgun in one arm and a super sized bear repellent spray can in the other arm. SAFETY FIRST :=)

SOrry you haven't heard much from us. Many days there is no internet or cell phone. Other days just disappear.Tonight I'm updating this in a campground laundry room at 1 AM PDT, somewhere in the Yukon Territory. Above is a cob-job repair to the broken trailer suspension. The suspension A-frame on the trailer I tow behind the Rocket broke in 2 places Sunday afternoon about 15 miles East of Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. It also punctured a air/oil shock which also drained the air from the shock on the other side.We walked in a dirt road that led to a cabinet maker. He kindly cut 4 blocks from 3/4 plywood to our description.. He then walked out to the road and helped lift each side of the trailer while I slid the blocks in between the suspension and body. With this we were able to limp back to Whitehorse to a campground.

Today I found a welder who fixed both breaks. That leaves the problem of a punctured shock with both shocks deflated. So rather than wait several days for air delivery of a shock from Tennessee, we improvised the temporary fix, pictured above until we finish the crippled trek of about 1800 miles to Seattle where the shock should be waiting.

Since the picture above is rotated to the left, lay on your left side to view it. In the center is one of two welds. To the left (Top) of the weld is a hunk of truck tire tread attached to the suspension with plastic wire ties.This currently supports the body, in the absence of a working shock. Hey its better than bailing wire and bubble gum! So now we will probably stop at the big cycle rally at Sturgis, SD where the trailer company will replace the whole chassis on warranty. If not there, I'll stop at the factory on TN. The Alaskan Highway is bruttele!

Tomorrow we hope to see bears catching salmon and grizzlys chasing the fishermen-NOT!

Faith and her credit card arrived in Anchorage and immediately boosted the local economy at the Harley store!

Redsy eating roadkill moose from the barbie North of the Arctic Circle!

Haven't blogged for a while. Been sitting on the porch with Sarah for a week looking across at Russia (or did Tina Fey say that on SNL)

4th of July-45F with rain-off the road for a day in Grand Cache , Alberta...Hot dogs, beans and good old red, white and blue PBRs

4th 0f July--Celebrating kicking the Redcoats ass in Grand Cache, Alberta, Canada. We have global outlook...celebrated Canada Day (Independence) in Banff, Alberta on July 1 in an Irish pub...so many ironies, so little time.

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Grizzly picture from the cell phone of  traveling salesman we met at Vegas Restaurant and Lounge in Grande Cache, Alberta during rainy day layover. Taken along the road we rode in on.

Bison along the road in theYukon Territory

Redsy on a plank bridge on the road from British Columbia into the Northwest Territory

Two old retired farts (one with a blocked artery) spent a nasty day looking out a motel window and napping, while the poor working stiffs with jobs to rush back to, slopped on :-)

Travel Parks in Lake Watson, Yukon, don't like Yankees (at least with tents). A "local" directed us to a secluded spot  of unknown ownership  nestled between an tiny airport Lake Watson. Redsy built a big bonfire and I cooked the usual fine meal on the Barbie.....can't remember what. LOL

(see grizzly caption earlier above) Same road, different grizzly eating elk kill.

In the tent and ready for bear

Ron/Redsy misses Barb!

WE MADE IT! Arrived in  Tok (~toke) Alaska, about 100 miles from the Canadian border. We felt a big sense of accomplishment making it to this point.....2 old farts, 1 with a blocked artery! We've been camping, but last night we got a room. Good thing. Its in the 40s and rained all night and all day.  Going to check out and head to Fairbanks tomorrow.

Canadian Rockies Between Banff and Jasper, Alberta

Sunday, June 1, we arrived in Banff, which is a major Alberta tourist destination and also the site of some of the Calgary Winter Olympics twenty something years ago, What we hadn't realized when we headed to Canada last weak was that July 1 is the equivalent of our July 4th. Additionally things are ramping up for the Calgary Stampede (allegedly the biggest rodeo in the world). So, the result is an abundance of tourists (some from pushy shovey cultures :) and a shortage of camping and lodging places. But, being resourceful ,we did score a campsite (w/o fire ring, boo hoo) and celebrated Canada Day in grand style at St James Irish Pub. Being camped in Grizzly, country, Redsy slept in his tent with a loaded shotgun.I was tired and left my shotgun (borrowed from Florida friend Dick Wooley) in the trailer, useless, and left my fate in the hands of Redsy "Grizzly Adams" Goshow. We talked to a couple Monday morning who camped at Lake Louise (between Banff and Jasper) Sunday night. Everyone with a soft sided trailer or tent, was required to camp in an area surrounded by an electric fence. They saw 3 Grizzlys outside the fence when they went to the showers in the morning,

Monday June 2, we had intermittent rain and couldn't find an available camp site, so stayed in a Best Western in Hinton, Alberta. We'd camped 6 nights straight (since Fargo, ND).

Elk East of Jasper, Alberta

Video - Sheep we watched coming out the east side of the Canadian Rockies today, west of Edmonton. We saw a Grizzly and black bear along the road today, but didn't  get pictures.

Ed promoting improved international relations between US and Canada with bridal party at the Last Chance Saloon near Calgary (should qualify for Obama stimulus money - no pun intended!)

A fun stop near Calgary - Last Chance Saloon

Fargo ND - Ron getting registration paperwork in order to take shotgun into Canada