Day 11 – Keith
We woke in the morning to hundreds of little red beetles on our trailer. We both figured that we should just pack up and hit the pub for a bite to eat. It did not take us tool long to pack up and had the trailer hitched up and ready to go.
We parked at the pub only to find that it was closed so we decided to just head down the road to find food but instead found a coffee shop just down the from the pub that roasted their own beans. The coffee was fantastic.
After coffees we hit the road and I was immediately greeted by some really fun roads. As this is the second year of pulling the trailer, I would have to say I’ve gotten a lot more confident with my abilities and really enjoy the twisty roads, trailer or not.
We stopped at the turn to Rossland and had a good chat with some other bikers that were stopped. One of them was from Fruitvale and retired. He let us know the roads that have been paved recently in the area. This was great as he let us know that my favourite road the one between Kaslo and New Denver has seen better days. Leah was also hungry and we still had sausage rolls so we each scarfed one down and heading down the road.
It did not take long until we headed into Rossland, the brewery was closed and Leah looked up Torchlight in Nelson and we both decided it was for the best and headed back onto the road on our way to Nelson.
The brewery in Nelson was fantastic and the food was great. After eating we quickly hit a beer store and then onto Toad Rock. It didn’t take us long once we arrived and had our trailer set-up just down from the pavilion ready for a night of insanity.
Nelson and stuff
Day 12 – Keith
The day started pretty late as we had both enjoyed a little too much last night. We both made our way down to the pavilion and had one of Toad Rock’s coffees.
Leah wanted to do laundry and take a look to see if we can figure out what was going on with her guage. I ripped the gauge out and had a look, then tested the electrical as much as I could with the tools available at the campground and everything checked out so I guess her bike is being booked into Harley when we get home.
After putting her back together we headed into Nelson for a bite to eat. We made it into Nelson and found that parking is ridiculous. It took us at least 15 mins to find a parking space and made our way to Jackson’s tap house. We ordered the mussels and I had good old Halifax donair and Leah had soup and salad.
After eating we headed back to Toad Rock and just chilled out at our site. I had brought everything to make a traditional pasta carbonara so I whipped that up for supper. I have to say it was super easy to make and really hit the spot. Our Neighbours joined us and we sat around telling stories until the dark hit, then made our way back to the pavilion. Again things got a little out of hand and Leah and I said our good nights around 11:45 and headed to bed.
Leah rides bitch.
Day 13 – Keith
We started out the morning with a good cup of coffee and I decided that I needed to make us breakfast using the griddle that was left behind for us. Breakfast consisted of bacon and using the left over bacon grease, egg in a basket. After cooking everything up we were basically attacked by wasps at the table, we tried to eat under our awning but they would not leave us alone so we had to eat inside our trailer. This really solidified us buying the screen room add on for the trailer, that and the mosquitoes in Thompson creek.
I had heard about the Marblehead quarry north of Meadow Creek the previous time we had been to Toad Rock so I suggested that we head out to check it out. Leah wanted a break from riding and took the opportunity to jump on the back of mine to really set in my need seat.
Our first stop was in Kaslo for a pint and some wings at a wonderful little brewery that if you read our blog know we have to stop at every time we are in Kaslo, Angry Hen brewing! We both had a couple of flights and their sticky garlic wings which were amazing and continued north to Meadow Creek.
The road north runs along Kootenay lake to the northern edge, it’s super twisty and a really enjoyable ride. What can ruin it is when you get in behind a cage that is putting others at risk by cutting blind hills and corners because they are too lazy to drive in their own lane. I passed this moron as quickly and safely as I could then it was smooth sailing to the Marblehead quarry.
Coming into the short road of the quarry I almost dumped my bike as I rode through what looked like black dirt and ended up being very slippery mud. I was able to keep the bike up and we were immediately greeted by the quarry. This place was super cool just a big notch cut into the side of the mountain where they mined marble for various buildings in BC. We spent some time exploring both the quarry and steam boiler and headed back down to Kaslo.
The plan was to head to Salmo to hit Erie Creek Brewing but it was already pretty late we decided to burn some time touring the Moyie paddlewheel museum and I’m glad we did. Apparently when the CPR, owner of the paddle wheeler retired the vessel in the 50s the then mayor of Kaslo raised funds to acquire and restore the boat. CPR agreed and they pulled the boat out of the water and have been completing a multi decade restoration. If you’re in Kaslo I highly recommend stopping in and seeing one for the last steam paddlewheel boats in North America.
The whole reason we wanted to burn up some time was to build up an appetite to go back to Angry Hen for supper as I decided I was not going to cook back at site due to the wasp issues. Leah had the burger and I had the po-boy. Both were equally amazing.
About halfway through our last beer I felt a drop of water and looked at the forecast to see that a system was coming through and would hit us. We each finished up and hit the road, we both had left our jackets at camp and only had vests and T-shirts. I quickly grabbed fuel and headed down the road back to Toad Rock. Well it did rain pretty good but about 15 mins after it started we were out of it and starting to dry.
We made it back to Toad Rock in record time and made our way to the pavilion which I was surprised did not have a ton of smokers tonight which was really refreshing. Again around 11:30 we called it a night and headed back to the trailer to have some well deserved rest.
Keith and Leah's travel on 2 wheels 