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| |  | | | Date: | 04/26/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 3 / 5) | | Location: | Icefields Parkway | | Area: | Jasper National Park | | Region: | Alberta (CA) | |
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| | | | | Date: | 04/26/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 3 / 5) | | Location: | Icefields Parkway | | Area: | Banff National Park | | Region: | Alberta (CA) | |
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| | | | | Date: | 04/26/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 3 / 5) | | Location: | Icefields Parkway | | Area: | Banff National Park | | Region: | Alberta (CA) | | Why, do I really look pregnant?? |
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| | | | | Date: | 04/26/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 3 / 5) | | Location: | Icefields Parkway | | Area: | Banff National Park | | Region: | Alberta (CA) | | More mountain grazers doing what they do best. |
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| | | | | Date: | 04/26/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 3 / 5) | | Location: | Icefields Parkway | | Area: | Jasper National Park | | Region: | Alberta (CA) | | Less snow in and around Jasper. Temp climbed up into the 60's later in the day. |
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| | | | | Date: | 04/26/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 3 / 5) | | Location: | Icefields Parkway | | Area: | Jasper National Park | | Region: | Alberta (CA) | | On our return from Jasper, we witnessed a spectacular avalanche. Scale is hard to see here... but we watched for more than a full minute as a wall of snow curled well over the tops of the trees. The size of the event made it seem like it was all taking place in slow motion. |
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| | | | | Date: | 04/26/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 3 / 5) | | Location: | Icefields Parkway | | Area: | Banff National Park | | Region: | Alberta (CA) | | We encountered a few coyote’s on this trip. I just barely had enough time to pull over, grab all of my long range camera gear out of the back and click off a few picks before this very leery guy disappeared off into the distance. |
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| | | | | Date: | 04/26/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 3 / 5) | | Location: | Icefields Parkway | | Area: | Banff National Park | | Region: | Alberta (CA) | | Always one of my favorite subjects - my happy & healthy wife. I am truly one of the lucky ones… :-) |
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| | | | | Date: | 04/26/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 3 / 5) | | Location: | Columbia Icefield | | Area: | Jasper National Park | | Region: | Alberta (CA) | | Here is our rig stopped in the lower lodge parking lot, out near the Columbia Icefield. Not many people around at this time of year. |
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| | | | | Date: | 04/26/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 3 / 5) | | Location: | Icefields Parkway | | Area: | Banff National Park | | Region: | Alberta (CA) | | I was looking around at all of the mountain sides we were passing to see if I could see any wildlife (nothing specific in mind). I just happened to catch a little movement out of the top right corner of my eye when I spotted this fellow a couple hundred feet up. I quickly pulled the SMB over and setup my long range camera gear. We watched for about a half an hour as this goat maneuvered around on sheer drops, grazing on small bushes. It was really a treat to see how this animal navigates around on “one wrong step and it is game over” terrain. |
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| | | | | Date: | 04/26/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 3 / 5) | | Location: | Icefields Parkway | | Area: | Banff National Park | | Region: | Alberta (CA) | |
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| | | | | Date: | 04/26/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 3 / 5) | | Location: | Icefields Parkway | | Area: | Banff National Park | | Region: | Alberta (CA) | | We pressure washed all of the Smith Dorian Spray Trail mud off of our rig the night before in Canmore. The first pressure washer we were directed to was too low and our SMB would not fit inside the bay (bay was only 8’6” at its highest point - which is too low for us). We were then directed to a truck wash a few miles away used for commercial rigs. Height was no issue at this place and the facilities were excellent. With a clean van and an absolutely stunningly beautiful and icy morning, we then struck out early to drive the Icefields Parkway on our way to Jasper. |
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| | | | | Date: | 04/25/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 2 / 5) | | Location: | Minnewanka Lake Loop | | Area: | Banff National Park | | Region: | Alberta (CA) | |
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| | | | | Date: | 04/25/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 2 / 5) | | Location: | Minnewanka Lake Loop | | Area: | Banff National Park | | Region: | Alberta (CA) | |
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| | | | | Date: | 04/25/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 2 / 5) | | Location: | Minnewanka Lake Loop | | Area: | Banff National Park | | Region: | Alberta (CA) | |
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| | | | | Date: | 04/25/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 2 / 5) | | Location: | Smith Dorien Spray Trail | | Area: | Spray Lakes Reservoir | | Region: | Alberta (CA) | | As usual, we encountered many deer on this trip. Even with a diesel running, you can drive past within 20 feet of these guys and not even get an acknowledgement you are there. Drive safely. |
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| | | | | Date: | 04/25/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 2 / 5) | | Location: | Smith Dorian Spray Trail | | Area: | Spray Lakes Reservoir | | Region: | Alberta (CA) | |
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| | | | | Date: | 04/25/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 2 / 5) | | Location: | Smith Dorian Spray Trail | | Area: | Spray Lakes Reservoir | | Region: | Alberta (CA) | |
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| | | | | Date: | 04/25/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 2 / 5) | | Location: | Smith Dorian Spray Trail | | Area: | Spray Lakes Reservoir | | Region: | Alberta (CA) | |
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| | | | | Date: | 04/25/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 2 / 5) | | Location: | Smith Dorian Spray Trail | | Area: | Spray Lakes Reservoir | | Region: | Alberta (CA) | |
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| | | | | Date: | 04/25/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 2 / 5) | | Location: | Smith Dorian Spray Trail | | Area: | Peter Lougheed Provincial Park | | Region: | Alberta (CA) | |
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| | | | | Date: | 04/25/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 2 / 5) | | Location: | Smith Dorian Spray Trail | | Area: | Peter Lougheed Provincial Park | | Region: | Alberta (CA) | | Eventually, we found that only one side of this gravel road had been plowed (the oncoming lane side). The snow depth on the now plowed side was probably 5 to 6 inches in any given spot. We decided to drive on the unplowed portion of the roadway and make fresh tracks - and it was like gliding on air. |
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| | | | | Date: | 04/25/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 2 / 5) | | Location: | Smith Dorian Spray Trail | | Area: | Peter Lougheed Provincial Park | | Region: | Alberta (CA) | |
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| | | | | Date: | 04/25/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 2 / 5) | | Location: | Smith Dorian Spray Trail | | Area: | Peter Lougheed Provincial Park | | Region: | Alberta (CA) | |
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| | | | | Date: | 04/25/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 2 / 5) | | Location: | Smith Dorian Spray Trail | | Area: | Peter Lougheed Provincial Park | | Region: | Alberta (CA) | | Here we are with the SMB on the Smith Dorian Spray Trail, stopped in the middle of the road for lunch. |
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| | | | | Date: | 04/25/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 2 / 5) | | Location: | Smith Dorian Spray Trail | | Area: | Peter Lougheed Provincial Park | | Region: | Alberta (CA) | | Here we are with the SMB on the Smith Dorian Spray Trail, ducking in and out of snow storm after snow storm. Not another person around for most of the day. One of the best driving experiences I have ever had!! |
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| | | | | Date: | 04/25/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 2 / 5) | | Location: | Smith Dorian Spray Trail | | Area: | Peter Lougheed Provincial Park | | Region: | Alberta (CA) | | Ultimately, Highway 40 was closed at the entrance of Peter Lougheed Provincial Park due to weather conditions. Not really an issue for us as we were looking to gain access to Smith Dorian Spray Trail (a gravel road that runs about 40 miles from here back north to Canmore). |
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| | | | | Date: | 04/25/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 2 / 5) | | Location: | Hwy 40 | | Area: | Peter Lougheed Provincial Park | | Region: | Alberta (CA) | | Snowplow working Highway 40 near Canmore, Alberta. Weather looks pretty nice right here, but about 6 or so miles west of here it was snowing so hard that we could just barely make out the road. |
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| | | | | Date: | 04/24/2008 | | Trip: | SMB: Banff/Jasper Trip April, 2008 (day 1 / 5) | | Location: | Hwy 1 | | Area: | Glacier National Park | | Region: | British Columbia (CA) | | Wife arranged for us to take our SMB to Banff/Jasper to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. I am also using this experience to help plan for our upcoming trip to Alaska this summer. In order to keep the driving down to a minimum, we left home late on Wednesday evening and drove three or so hours to Lake Chelan, WA and stayed in a Best Western hotel. We arrived about 11:00pm. We woke early and were on the road before 6:00am on Thursday in order to get some miles down. Here is our SMB, somewhere in Glacier National Park (British Columbia, Canada). The Canadian Rockies are truly spectacular. |
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| | | | | Date: | 03/22/2008 | | Trip: | 1st Ride of the 2008 (day 1 / 1) | | Location: | Beverly Sand Dunes | | Area: | Beverly | | Region: | Washington (US) | | First pure off-road ride of 2008. Trying to get all of the dust blown off the bikes prior to the Desert 100 event (Washington’s most attended off-road event) in a couple of weeks. |
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| | | | | Date: | 03/09/2008 | | Trip: | | | Location: | Top Secret Test Facility | | Area: | North Bend | | Region: | Washington (US) | |
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| | | | | Date: | 03/09/2008 | | Trip: | | | Location: | Top Secret Test Facility | | Area: | North Bend | | Region: | Washington (US) | | Testing the viability of attaching my WR-400F to the SMB via a MotoJackRack. I have to use a 7” hitch extension in addition to the MJR to get enough clearance between the bike and the rear storage box. Unfortunately, there is so much slop in the hitch extension itself (side to side and up and down) that the bike has the potential to move all over the place. I need to rig up a solution that keeps the hitch extension in place before this will work. |
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| | | | | Date: | 02/24/2008 | | Trip: | Victoria BC 2008 (day 3 / 3) | | Location: | Victoria Harbor | | Area: | Victoria BC | | Region: | British Columbia (CA) | | My wife enjoying a Victoria Harbor Water Taxi. We got the grand tour of the whole harbor (other than the pilot, we were the only two passengers on-board). |
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| | | | | Date: | 02/23/2008 | | Trip: | Victoria BC 2008 (day 2 / 3) | | Location: | Victoria Harbor | | Area: | Victoria BC | | Region: | British Columbia (CA) | | Wandering around Victoria Harbor. |
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| | | | | Date: | 02/23/2008 | | Trip: | Victoria BC 2008 (day 2 / 3) | | Location: | Victoria Harbor | | Area: | Victoria BC | | Region: | British Columbia (CA) | | We took the Victoria Clipper from Seattle to Victory on this trip. Here is what the Clipper looks like (from our condo) as it makes its way into port on the Victoria side. This waterway is also used for takeoff and landing of many seaplanes and we were told that… in terms of air traffic is the fourth most active airport in BC. During the peak summer months, the air traffic on this waterway is incredible (takeoff or landings every few minutes). |
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| | | | | Date: | 02/22/2008 | | Trip: | Victoria BC 2008 (day 1 / 3) | | Location: | Victoria Harbor | | Area: | Victoria BC | | Region: | British Columbia (CA) | | Enjoying the sunset over the harbor inlet from our condo balcony. We had a hot tub outside on the deck too, which was a great way to relax and watch the sun go down. |
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| | | | | Date: | 02/22/2008 | | Trip: | Victoria BC 2008 (day 1 / 3) | | Location: | Empress Hotel | | Area: | Victoria BC | | Region: | British Columbia (CA) | | Empress Hotel, one of Victoria’s landmarks. |
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| | | | | Date: | 02/22/2008 | | Trip: | Victoria BC 2008 (day 1 / 3) | | Location: | Victoria Harbor | | Area: | Victoria BC | | Region: | British Columbia (CA) | |
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| | | | | Date: | 02/12/2008 | | Trip: | | | Location: | Swedish Hospital | | Area: | Seattle | | Region: | Washington (US) | | Here is my wife four weeks later (after surgery). She had a Titanium plate put in her neck at C5/6 (example shown here). The surgery was a complete success. In our specific case, we have learned that neither of us can predict/anticipate what will happen day-to-day. In an handful of cases, there was zero indication that anything was wrong - and then... in an instant our lives changed. Each day is a precious gift… and our pact is that we will recognize these gifts and make every reasonable attempt to appreciate these gifts - together. |
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| | | | | Date: | 01/03/2008 | | Trip: | | | Location: | Swedish Hospital | | Area: | Seattle | | Region: | Washington (US) | | A week passed and the pain continued (meds had no apparent impact). My wife was in too much pain to attend any holiday functions. On Jan, 01 early AM… my wife’s unabated arm pain has us paying another unexpected trip to the ER. This time we sneak in on a last minute cancelation and get a CAT Scan. The technician seemed somewhat put off by our visit as it was a last minute schedule by the ER. Once the scan was complete, the tech was all of a sudden very sympathetic and offered my wife hot blankets and no end of personal care. Hmmmm… what could this be about? The doctor read the scan and returned moments later. She had already scheduled us to meet a neural surgeon early that next day. Apparently, my wife had a bone fragment that broke off of her spine (???) and was pushing/pinching her spinal column and this required immediate attention. Next day, we see the neural surgeon. My wife gets admitted to the hospital within an hour of that meeting. She has STAT neck surgery the very next morning. |
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