Not too long after leaving that Internet pub, I reached latitudes where secondary roads may possibly be paved. Taking advantage of my constitutional right to the pursuit of happiness even in another country, I left Hwy 16 just south of 100 Mile House on to Hwy 24 and then Green Lake Road which was recommended highly by a reputable source. Good source. The road was small, slow and gorgeous with lots of unmarked curves and roller coaster asphalt. It skirts the shore of a fairly long small lake of the same name with occasional small farmsteads scattered between the Provincial Parks. I stayed in the first one I came to, coincidentally named the same as the road and the lake. Evening was approaching, another latitudinal change. It gets dark around 10 here in the Canadian tropics. Another lovely camping spot on another lovely lake. Yada yada, more of the same. I wandered around to the lakeshore and took a shot of the sunset.

  A German couple had seen me rumble up on the bike, and wanted to talk. Though he's a rider and German he'd never heard of MZ. Oh, THAT company. He pronounced it M Zed. Didn't they stop production at Unification? He remembered their Commie era 2stroke utilitarian models, which were carefully designed to be no fun at all to ride. Fun wasn't allowed in East Germany. They were a very pleasant couple with amazing attention spans. They stood through my entire photo gallery, cooing and oohing at nearly every frame. As we said goodnight the husband translated for the wife: "Vy are ve going to Prince Rupert, instead of heading north?" They were taking the ferry back to Seattle. Not to worry. Scenery is to be had on that route too. This time the food stayed in the bag not up in the tree to protect it from bears, and no ravens had ramen. The next morning the Germans came by to say byebye as I was suiting up. They actually THANKED me for inflicting my photos on them! Green Lake Road continued for another 30 miles, then a few miles farther south on 16 Hwy 99 gave me a great big "HELLO, SAILOR!" Holy Spamoli, Batman. Those unnamed sources score again. This is a world famous road, and it's justified. If only they hadn't made it safe! But this is Canada, where a pack of pipe tobacco costs $24 because it's bad for you. Roads are designed to be navigated at a specific speed, and you can pretty much assume that the next corner will have a very similar radius to the last one. Which is a lot of fun if the RCMP isn't around, but I was being polite and not passing traffic to outrageously. Still, the scenery is impressive enough that having a wide shoulder and predictable curves is probably a good idea. There's a lot of stuff moving through this pass, both in trucks and on the double train tracks on both sides of the Frazer river canyon.

 At Lillooet (one of the advantages of email is that I don't have to pronounce it for you) the fun continued unabated on Hwy 12. I turned the wrong direction and continued on 99 for a dozen miles, and then five more because the downhill esses along the side of the canyon were so much fun. Boy, the MZ really bellows at 75! I really should slow down to 100 KPH. Or maybe, turn around? In a bit. Here's another ess! YahOO! It was just as much fun uphill, just louder. I jogged north on CA1 a few miles to Hwy 8, yet another "don't miss" route. Not nearly as spectacular as the Frazer Canyon, it's a lot prettier, running through farm country and past small lakes. I'm getting to civilization, with farms and fields increasingly overtaking the forest. The farms are lush with spring, glowing bounteously in the occasional bright sunlight. I'm also approaching the Pacific Northwet. Low clouds are overtaking the bright spring sunlight. I had a stop to make in Armstrong, a recommended route away. Eric, one of those sources would like to say Howdy if I'm in the area. A short stint on 5 and 1 brought me to 97, and 97 brought me to Armstrong. Pretty pretty pretty. It was getting to be suppertime and starting to sprinkle when I knocked on his door. We had a really excellent Greek supper and yakked a hour or so, and then I moteled it for the night. Hi Eric: I enjoyed finally meeting you. Next morning I adjusted the chain again (it's every day now, and I'm almost out of adjustment) and started the bike. It puffed white smoke for a minute. Oh, shit. I'd put in some 5w30 oil day before yesterday because that was the choice in northern BC, and oil is better than no oil but the bike really prefers 15w50. I sure hope that's the reason. Since it was a bit low anyway I got some 20w50 and added it to thicken things up a bit. Hope it works. About noon I made the border crossing, and tried my cellphone a few miles later. I got a signal as I turned on to Hwy 20 and started climbing the Cascades. I called Minet and left a message, and tried to call Carl about setting me up with a tire. The phone died as a co-worker of his started to talk. Low battery. THAT's what those beeps meant. I haven't plugged it in since Alaska. Hwy 20 is yet another world famous road, totally justified. If you haven't ridden it yet you have a major treat in your future. At the first pass I stopped for some lunch and was joined by four camp robber jays

 who really wanted to be my friend. Or at the very least, steal a cracker. As I was stuffing a bite in my mouth, one of the jays got that look that, on my cockatiel means  " You are about to acquire a bird. INCOMING!" and sure enough, here came the jay trying to snatch the cracker from between my teeth. I'm back in snow country. Heavy snow country.

Can you find the motorcycle? 

The woman with the umbrella was looking for the perfect spot to get a gag photo of herself under the waterfall. I got her before she was all set up and spoofy. The things people will do in mountains... At risk of repeating myself, if you haven't ridden this road you have NOT seen enough beauty in your life. Do something about it. Dress warm. I rolled into Minet's at 10, a very long but highly entertaining day. It was misting as it had been doing all day, this being The Great Northwet. Grip heaters are niiiiice. A heated vest would have been nice too. It took me a good ten minutes to get all the layers off. Today, it's been sprinkling all day. The bike started up without smoking. I'm just about to see if it's ready at the local Kawasaki shop. A tire and a chain, plus install. This is going to be expensive. Tomorrow? I think I've got a hankering for volcanoes.