Canada Tourist info

[fredintoon]

Oh okay, can't speak for the prairies, you'll have to let prairie chickens like Rasputin and Fred jump in here to defend their honor.

Hi Courtney,
Alberta's roads are either nice or being resurfaced.
Saskatchewan's honor is in surviving the ruins of what used to be a good road system before too many trucks and too little maintenance wrecked it.
Any 250cc off-road bike would beat an XS11 in a road race anywhere in Saskatchewan.
We even have an annual "Worst Provincial Highway" award. I think Hwy#20 won it. Again.

[Erik the Red]

I don't get out to the western UP that often, but have been to the Porkies several times. Lake of the Clouds in Porcupine Wilderness State Park is pretty neat. If I remember right, you'll have some back-n-forth going up to it. Other than that, I can't think of any standout motorcycle roads in the area.

Since you'll be in the Keweenaw for a couple days, M-203 is a nice little loop up that way too. In Copper Harbor, there's a German restaurant that has good food. A quick google search tells me it's called the Harbor Haus.

Also, in Calumet, there's the Michigan House (also home of the Red Jacket Brewing Co.) and I don't know if they still do it, but they used to have deep fried chocolate. You want to tell them at the beginning of the meal that you want it, because it takes a while to prepare, but is totally worth it.

On the way out or Houghton, heading west, take Canal Rd. (on the right) and take that out to Schmidt's Corner Bar (maybe 5 miles or so) for the best pickled eggs in the area. Other folks like the pickled eggs from the Douglas Houghton House (aka 'The Dog') which is in downtown Houghton, but I think they're too briney. Schmidt's eggs are a little sweeter. Great food at Schmidt's too. And Canal Rd. has some nice curves and scenery.

Ya, Keweenaw Peninsula is already mapped out for two days. That is planned to be the highlight of the trip. Tod your going to miss the best part.

Do you know anything about the Porcupine Mountain area though? Heard some good roads through there but not finding them.

[trbig]

I think we've got it nailed down that we're going to join Cruiser and Bob on the U.P. and not ride around Superior into Canada, though they are still going to.

I was looking at that Porcupine State Park and saw that Lake of the clouds. I love beer and German food, so appreciate your input on those, though I wouldn't walk arms distance to get a pickled egg.. let alone make a detour and drive/ride somewhere for one.. on PURPOSE?? Bleh.. lol. I suppose you drink rotten.. err.. buttermilk as well?

[Erik the Red]

Yeah, pickled eggs aren't everyone's bag, but they make the good ones. Canal Rd. is a decent ride anyhow. For the good beer (microbrewery, that is) check out the KBC (Keweenaw Brewing Co.) in downtown Houghton. Real good beer, but no food. You can, however, bring food in to eat it there.

Go to the Ambassador (a block from the KBC) for either pizza or The Traditional sub. So flippin' good. They also have fishbowls (mixed drinks) at the Ambo.

What dates you guys going to be up that way? I have a class/professional development in Kingsford on Aug. 10th, but was considering heading up a day early to just ride.

[trbig]

The rally is Aug 10th, then the 11th is when we'll be heading up to the U.P. Just about everyone will be in Hayward on the 9th.

[Crusty Snippets]

Yessum.

As a born and raised British Columbian I can state with complete assurance thatthere is nothing worth seeing east of the Rockies

I have been East of the Rockies, nothing there.
No mountains and all the roads are straight.
Osoyoos to Keremeos is a treat.
Penticton to Hope is a great ride. So is HWY 22 in WA.
Island Highway has too many traffic lights and can be boring.
Osoyoos East to Grand forks and beyond is great.

Unkle Crusty

[Erik the Red]

Well shoot, I may look to join up with you guys when you hit the UP. Not sure how late my thing goes on Saturday, so getting to Hayward on the 10th might not be in the cards. I'll keep an eye out for rally details over on the Lost thread and see what's what.

The rally is Aug 10th, then the 11th is when we'll be heading up to the U.P. Just about everyone will be in Hayward on the 9th.

[trbig]

Sending you a PM of the proposed 1st day route, which we'd be heading out on Sunday, the 11th after breakfast. It'd be nice to meet another XSer.

[slow mo]

And Canadian roads suck...

speaking as a good Canadian NAT roads up here are great and your chances of getting raped murdered robbed assaulted mugged are nearly zero ,, the country north of superior is rugged and beautiful bring a camera and Nate i would like to meet you in person!!!!

[trbig]

speaking as a good Canadian NAT roads up here are great and your chances of getting raped murdered robbed assaulted mugged are nearly zero ,, the country north of superior is rugged and beautiful bring a camera and Nate i would like to meet you in person!!!!

Well heck.. doesn't sound like a fun time at all then.

I've met Nate.. no big deal.. and he's not even that good lookin'. Plus, he likes to sit on the beer cooler and blocks quick access in case of emergency.. crashes in parking lots.. sits between married couples... You know.. typical kind of guy that hangs with types like us. lol.

[natemoen]

speaking as a good Canadian NAT roads up here are great and your chances of getting raped murdered robbed assaulted mugged are nearly zero ,, the country north of superior is rugged and beautiful bring a camera and Nate i would like to meet you in person!!!!

Ok I will give you that the National roads up there are decent, but even major provincial road I have been on are not good, and then local or county (whatever you guys call you then up there) are terrible from the ones I have been on. I am not saying it is that way all across the country but the ones I have been on that has been the case.

I have plenty of family up in Canada, FIL was born up there, wife and all of them lived up there for awhile, pretty much entire FIL's side of the family do still live up there spread across from New Brunswick to British Columbia but most living in Manitoba. They all pretty much agree that US roads are much better than Canadian roads.

Not sure why you want to meet me, as Tod says....

I've met Nate.. no big deal.. and he's not even that good lookin'. Plus, he likes to sit on the beer cooler and blocks quick access in case of emergency.. crashes in parking lots.. sits between married couples... You know.. typical kind of guy that hangs with types like us. lol.

I don't ever remember sitting on the beer cooler, and Nikki and James always sat down AFTER I did and just happened to sit on either side of me! I have no defense for the parking lot thing...

[slow mo]

i was angry at your vision of MY country untrue as it was meeting you was to express in no uncertain terms my upset you don't hear me ragging on aboot your pristine country i,m done ,,

[natemoen]

i was angry at your vision of MY country untrue as it was meeting you was to express in no uncertain terms my upset you don't hear me ragging on aboot your pristine country i,m done ,,

At least my opinion comes from personal experience rather than just assumptions.

Plus you would already hate me since I am a cop, but I understand your opinion and respect that because of your experience, I just hope you wouldn't hold that against me too.

[Courtney]

Nate and Slo Mo

Hey guys, not being the peace maker here, just stating that BOTH countries have some great roads, and not so great roads. Having lived on both sides of the border, Nate's comment is true about major roads for sure. I just finished a 6000Km roadtrip through 7 states and the freeways stateside are pretty tough to beat, but I also drove some secondary roads that look pretty much like ours do. Our new Island Hiway is just like a US Freeway which really diddles the Islanders like me off, because now all the tourists drive fast and congest the island.
I think one of the big problems here though Nate is you have to realize that California alone has more people than ALL of Canada, and Canada is a bigger country than the USA, which means we don't NEED the roads the US has, and them farmboys in Sask and Manitoba get by with a lot of gravel roads still. Of course, they also have farms measured in square miles to grow wheat on too, but that's another story.
As to cops, why would anyone hate a cop unless the cop is into power etc?
Hell I worked with the police for the last 32 yrs because I worked with challenging kids in education. It's like any career or occupation, you get some that are great, and some that shouldn't be in the profession. And as my good friend Forest Gump likes to say, "And that's about all I got to say about that"

[trbig]

LOL.. Dang, Nate, you got ol' Slow mo fired up. From his post, I had no idea he was even mad until he said so. Never seen you anything but level-headed, Mo...


Nate, see if this jogs your memory... The Beer-Keeper!









Nate.. C'mon down to Oklahoma and we can discuss how crappy our roads are here, and I work for the highway department! You can badmouth the roads and highway workers in general.. I'll badmouth cops.. it'll be a grand time!