Clay and Wattles

Well, we arrived at Fort Providence last night. Right now I’m borrowing a laptop from Corporal Poole of the Fort Providence RCMP to do this quick update. Thanks! We’re heading south to Enterprise and High Level beyond this afternoon. Probably won’t have any more internet for four or five days.

Everything is going great so far. No major equipment problems, plenty of food, lots of bison. We were sore the first couple of days, but we’ve found our groove. We’ve been cycling between 80 and 100 kms each day so far – on track for our plans. More info and photos in a few days..

I can’t believe we’re leaving in only a couple of days. I still have lots of loose ends to tie up, but we’ll be ready.

According to this google map, the total distance of our trip is approximately 2945 kms. I’ve created a customized interactive map of our route here. We’ll be updating it as often as possible with our current location and progress. We’ll also both be posting photos and entries on this page about our adventures. It will take us a few days to get to a place with phone or internet, so don’t expect to see anything new until at least June 30th.

I still haven’t settled on our exact route through southern BC, but I’ve had some good advice and found some great sources of info. I’d been hoping to avoid riding through Glacier National Park because of the narrow mountain roads and heavy RV traffic, but I would also really like to ride the trails through the Kootenays and the Kettle Valley. Fortunately, we’ve still got lots of time to decide.

I’m Kevin’s daughter, Martin.  I’m 15 years old.  This summer, me and my dad are going on a bike trip to Vancouver.  I’m pretty excited to see the mountains, but not to bike through them xD.  I’m also excited to be going through one of Canada’s only deserts, and the Mountain Parks.

This is a test of posting to my blog by email. That way (I hope) I’ll soon be able to store up posts on my old-fashioned palm pilot and upload them by modem. All the better to write about the trip!

The previous post is the result of a new bit of technology I’m playing with. I’ve rigged up my blog so that I can relay photos from my cell phone directly as posts here. This means that even without internet, I can post photos to my blog anywhere there is cell service. I figure this will come in handy on our upcoming trip.

I’ve been pretty busy the last while with some City Council-related travel, my garden, and now with planning my next trip.

At the end of this month, my daughter and I will be leaving on a six week bike ride from Yellowknife to Vancouver. We’ll return by train and bus. I’ve started packing and getting our bikes tuned up. Lots to do, but I can’t wait. Watch this space for more info on the trip soon.

It’s been a quiet week as I’ve been out of town. More posts soon.

Certainly no nation that lived simply in all respects, that is, no nation of philosophers, would commit so great a blunder as to use the labor of animals.

-Henry David Thoreau, Walden