NORTH TO ALASKA - PART 4

 After partaking of the Lodge’s continental breakfast a little before 6:00 we were soon on the road south toward Kamloops. It was overcast but at least no rain. We were still traveling on Hwy 5 along the North Thompson River. This river is wide with lots of water. I believe we stopped along the way for one or two geocaches. By the time we got to Kamloops the sun was brightly shining and it was a beautiful day. A little bad weather makes you really appreciate the fine weather.

At Kamloops we turned southeast on Hwy 97 down to Vernon where we turned east on Hwy 6 which eventually turns south down to Fauquier. We were on the opposite side of the Columbia River from Fauquier so we had to take a ferry to cross. We were the last of a long line going down a steep hill to the ferry. It was very awkward, at least for me, creeping down that steep hill on the bike. Unlike Washington, motorcycles do not move to the front of the ferry so we were stuck on the tail end. There was a little park on the other side of the river so we decided to stop and let the traffic in front of us clear out. While we were waiting I checked the geocaching app on my phone to see if there were any geocaches near and, sure enough, there were, so we hiked across the road into the woods and eventually found the cache. By that time the traffic was well ahead of us so we could do some spirited riding along the twisty roads unimpeded.

Cemetery cache at Nakusp

After crossing the river Hwy 6 turns north northeast along the Columbia up to Nakusp where we had reservations. Nakusp is one of the most beautiful towns I’ve ever seen. It reminded me of Coeur d’Alene 50 years ago only smaller and cleaner. It’s beauty plus boating and winter sports opportunities makes it a tourist attraction. There were lots of motorcyclists there. In fact, there was a rally of women Harley riders (of all things), although we didn’t see many. Having logged only 306 miles, we got there early in the afternoon and spent it separately, since Sam needed some refreshment in the bar. We both toured the town on foot. I visited a half dozen caches and found four, which gave me a pretty good tour. As it turned out Sam visited some of the same places I did.

Sam had found a place on the river he wanted to try for dinner. It was a beautiful setting and we were seated outside on a deck by the river. However, it was very crowded and probably for that reason the service was very slow. In fact, we almost left but one of the employees persuaded us to stay. Sam said his Southern Fried chicken was terrible. I don’t remember what I had but it was okay. I warned him about ordering Southern Fried chicken in Canada. What would they know about that? To be continued.  M/W