Alberta | Peaches Prattlings

{September 24, 2026} Day 14: 181.9 Miles, 3:30:28 Hours, 1 Country, 2 Provinces, 1 National Park, 5 Cities

Day 14 started liesurely enough, up about 730a, meeting for breakfast at 8a. And one of the wonderful things about status with a hotel chain, breakfast is included for everyone on the reservations. I booked a room for PSM, DJH, and myself, and PSM booked a room for VGT, so…we had breakfast for all!

We got down to the restaurant and tucked in for breakfast, started planning what’s going to happen after our bikes are done with their service appointments and there was a guy at the next table who was just a…let’s just say if we could have clobbered him with no consequences, we most definitely would have. He was incredibly rude to our server, who was just doing her job. He actually snapped his fingers at her to get her attention and then was crazy rude. It turns out, not only was he a tool…our server was back from being off a few days after having to put a beloved pet down, have some compassion dude, even if you don’t know what she’s going thru, which he didn’t. We tried to cheer her up and left a nice healthy tip, here’s hoping. I think you know how I feel about hotel and wait staff…I used to wait tables and I live in hotels, you have to be nice to the people who take care of you, c’mon!

Now it’s time to head to our respective dealerships, Calgary Harley-Davidson for DJH and VGT, literlly a 3 minute ride, and Indian Motorcycle of Calgary for us, about a 9 minute ride, both opening at 9am, no point in being there much earlier than the doors opening. We didn’t go to the Harley dealership, we were in our own toy store! It was a nice dealership, although, slightly confusing to find, because there was no sign at the street. This was actually Cycle Works Motorsports, to be exact, similar to other dealerships, Indian Motorcycle has their own side and entrance, the rest of the dealership has other things, Polaris, Vespa, 4-wheelers, adventure bikes, things like that.

We walked in when the opened the doors and went straight for the service desk, confirmed what they were going to do, handed the keys over, then went to have some fun!

We were in for the long haul, it was going to take a few hours to get our bikes serviced. We were getting a check-up, oil change, tires, which we needed having put about 5,000 miles on the bikes! We worked up a thirst and hunger, luckily, just around the corner was Éclair de Lune, a love French pastry shop. Isn’t it charming?! Don’t you love the colors of the macarons?! It’s hard to find vegan onces, dosen’t stop me from looking and smiling at the beauty of them!

Everyone at the dealership was so nice, and not just because they’re Canadian! Everyone from service, parts, sales, and on the Indian side, it seems to be a family business of sorts, Kim, I think that’s her name, she was in the Indian section and her sister took care of all transactions.

While we were there, we looked, drooled, tried on, talked, daydreamed, you name it, we entertained it! Since this is the 125th anniversary of Indian Motorcycle, we had to get anniversary dealer t-shirts, of course, even got one for my dad! We got bells bettern known as Guardian Bells [this is one of many sites you can find them]. The guardian bell or gremlin bell is hung on a motorcycle to trap evil road spirits and protect the rider from bad luck.

A little background: Legend and Purpose: Road Gremlins: Folklore says mischievous spirits latch onto motorcycles and cause mechanical problems or bad luck on the highway. Trapping Spirits: The constant ringing of the bell drives the gremlins crazy, trapping them inside until they lose their grip and fall off. Origin: The tradition traces back to World War II pilots who hung small bells to ward off evil spirits, a practice later adopted by post-war motorcyclists.

Rules of the Tradition: Must Be Gifted: You cannot buy a guardian bell for yourself; it only holds its protective power when given as a gift by a fellow rider or loved one. Placement: It should be mounted as low to the ground as possible on the motorcycle frame so gremlins trying to climb up hit it first. Selling a Bike: If you sell your motorcycle, remove the bell. The good luck stays with the rider, or the bell can be gifted to a new bike.

That’s a big one, you can’t buy the bell for yourself. Three years ago on our trip out west, DJH had a new bike, PSM and I bought him a bell at Silverton Harley Davidson, today,PSM and I bought each other a new bell for our bikes, we picked out what we wanted, but the other person had to physically pay for it! PSM bought a zip-up sweater, it reminds me of a letterman sweater! How very 50s of him, he looks adorable! I know, I’m biased! Now…the best purchase for me? Do you remember my ‘waterproof’ not waterproof boots? I have been looking for new motorcycle boots for over a year and guess what! Indian had them, and in my size! Aren’t they just the most?! Yes, I am spoiled by my husband…he bought them for me and I have been walking on air in them ever since!

When they were finally done with my bike, which was a little before PSM’s, he had a little more to get done on his, I went outside to head back to the hotel to load up my bike, ready to hit the road. And oh my word…look how shiny and beautiful she looks! They did an amazing job giving her a bath! I could see myself in the pipes!! Sorry, I can’t stop staring at her!

Back at the hotel, I grabbed all our gear from the hotel, loaded up my bike and hung out with the fully loaded card. One by one, they came back from the dealerships, loaded up, by now it’s close to 130p, my bike was ready about 1245p, but the rest still had stuff going on. Everyone was finally ready about 230p, DJH and VGT had to go to Walmart and PSM and I found a place for a late lunch, we were all Starvin’ Marvins!

We went to Moxies Barlow Restaurant for a lovely meal, good conversation and planning on our next steps for the afternoon and tomorrow. We are on our way to Kelowna, BC, we definitely won’t make it tonight, which we don’t have to, our reservation is for tomorrow. If you recall, we were supposed to be in Canmore, BC for 2 nights, but the smoke didn’t allow that to happen. So…We rode for about 4 hours, through Alberta, Canmore, Banff National Park, Columbia-Shuswap.

Riding through Alberta, BC. Love these overpasses with grass on them! Riding through Banff National Park. Riding through Columbia-Shuswap. It got a little smoky and cold!

Then through Stephen, and finally stopped in Golden, BC, tried 3 different hotels and finally got a room for all four of us at the Best Western Mountainview Inn. Two beds and a sofa, what more do you need?! See PSM’s new sweater, spiffy, huh?! HA HA. We got settled into the hotel, dropped our bags and rode over the the Raven & Pine Mountain Eatery for some dinner, it was 815p by now, we were tired and hungry, let’s eat, go back to the hotel, and crash!!!

Are you tired? I’m tired! I was tired from the very long day, you have to be tired from listening to me talk in this very long blog post! WordPress has a new feature, it’s a podcast feature, I’m thinking about letting it create a podcast, I listened to the first episode, it’s kind of cool, I’ll keep you posted on that! Right now, you’re tired, I’m tired, let’s say nite-nite, tomorrow there’s more Canadian adventures to be had!

Day 14: July 24 Relive

Day 14: 181+ Miles, 3+ Hours [Riding], 4+ Hours [at the dealership], Clean bikes, open roads, a National Park, tunnels, what more could you want?!

{September 23, 2026} Day 13: 277.3 Miles, 7:45:54 Hours, 1 Country, 2 Provinces, 4 Cities, and a lot of smoke

Day 13 started relatively early, up at 6, meeting at the bikes at 745a, breakfast at 8a. Bikes are loaded, lets get some grub bubs! We went to the restaurant attached to the hotel, Fire & Oak.

When we got there, we were the only ones in the joint, mostly because it was early, by the time we left, there were a few tables filled. Our waitress was great, the atmosphere was inviting, the decor was spot on, felt at home with the pics of motorcycles, and the food ended up being really great, only drawback…being the only ones in there, we thought it might move faster, but alas, it did not, but…we weren’t in the greatest hurry, so it worked out.

The funniest part, as we’re sitting there chatting and having breakfast, all these bikes are going by and DJH keeps looking longingly out the window, wistfully wishing he was going with them! Dude, in just a bit, we’re going to be on our bikes doing the same thing, it’s all good!

We finally got on the bikes and on our way. It was mostly clear when we started out, but unfortunately, as we rode on, we started to see the effects of the wildfires that were burning through the Pacific Northwest. Even before we reached Canada, we were seeing and feeling the effects in some of rhe areas of Colorado we were riding through, it was heart breaking.

On the Kootenay Hwy [can you see how smoky it is?]. I love riding over a bridge! It’s hard to see the mountains with all the smoke and haze from the fires.

It was time to take a break, get some petrol for the bikes, and fuel for our bodies. We stopped at the Big Horn Cafe in Radium Hot Springs, BC. It had just what we needed, hot beverages, warm pastries, a bathroom, and tables outside, what more could you want?!

We hung out for a bit, and as we’re sitting there, we’re seeing bikes go by, and PSM and I are noticing, we’re seeing a lot of Indian Motorcycles, even more when we went to get petrol. Let’s just say Indian Motorcycles, although wonderful and beautiful and we’re out there, to see that many outside of a rally or a meeting…is rare. We chatted with a rider at the gas station and it turns out they were there for the 7th annual Western Canada IMRG Celebration (WCIC) 2026! Looks like we need to add this event to our roster!

This event brings in riders from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and the Pacific Northwest! And of course, there’s an Eastern Canada IMRG Celebration as well. Adding to the list!

After we got back on the bikes, we headed towards Canmore, where we were going to stay at The Drake Inn, but as you can probably tell from the few pictures I included here, we couldn’t see much, the smoke was too thick, we were going to stop in Banff to walk around, that was a no-go, first, because we couldn’t find parking, and second, it was just too smoky to be enjoyable. We stopped at Smitty’s Family Restaurant, which was on the TransCanada Highway, which spans 4,860 miles across all ten provinces of Canada. That would be an interesting trip, take the TransCanada Highway from one end to the other, especially since it connects Victoria, BC on the Pacific Coast to St John’s Newfoundland, and Labrador on the Atlantic Coast!

Smitty’s Family Restaurant is both a restaurant and a cultural center, at least this location was, it seemed to be populated with a lot of locals, and even though it had high ceilings to give it an overwhelming feel, it still felt intimate and welcoming.

As we kept riding and got to Canmore, the smoke got thicker and thicker, it was affecting our breathing, PSM was really feeling it and when we got to The Drake Inn, the woman at the front desk was very kind to let us cancel our reservations because of the smoke and some of us were having issues breathing, we weren’t sure we would be able to stay there for two days comfortably.

One of the other reasons we were very glad they were able to cancel our reservation is we were all having our bikes serviced in Calgary the next day and from Canmore to Calgary was over an hour, and our appointments were first thing in the morning. That meant we would have to get up early, ride an hour plus to the dealerships, then sit there all day waiting for the bikes, then ride back the hour plus to the hotel. That did not sound like fun.

We ended up booking the Hampton Inn Calgary-Airport, which was perfect! 3 minutes to the Harley Davidson dealership and 10 minutes to the Indian Motorcycle dealership. We checked in, did laundry, ordered Chinese food, watched movies, and chilled out! We put close to 8 hours on the bikes, through the smoke, we were done, we needed to give ourselves a breather and a break. Tomorrow’s another day!

Two provinces, many miles, many hours, many Indian motorcycles, tomorrow…new tires and a check-up for all the bikes! And a lot of waiting around…

Day 13: July 23 Relive

Day 13: 277+ Miles, 7+ Hours, 2 Provinces, too much smoke. Tomorrow, another province, a national park, a shiny bike, and somewhat clear skies.

{September 16, 2026} Day 12: 354.4 Miles, 9:36:21 Hours, 2 Countries, 7 Cities, 2 National Parks, 1 Lake

Day 12 started early, 630am alarm to be exact, we have a long way to go and…get your passports ready kids…we’re going to Canadia! Yes, I know it’s Canada! I worked with someone from there who used to say Canadia and it stuck!

We’re going to Canada, but first…breakfast! Can’t go to another country on an empty stomach! So…we loaded up the bikes, loaded up the people and then went to the Laughing Grizzly Restaurant, Bar & Casino. It was close, the reviews were great, and supposedly the corn beef hash is very popular. We got in, got seated, it was crowded, a lot of Post Malone tshirts, a lot of college students! He had played the Washington-Grizzly Stadium, apparently it was part of the BIG ASS Stadium Tour Part 2, good on ’em. Our server was great! I know we’ve talked about good and bad servers before, but a good server can really make a meal. I wish I could remember our server’s name, but he was one of the good ones, thank you!

On the bikes, we rode through Wye, Polson, through Lakeside, Kalispell, Martin City, Coram, until we got to Glacier National Park!

Riding over a bridge in Polson. Riding through Lakeside. Riding past the Montana Vortex and House of Mystery.

Glacier National Park is a place that DJH, PSM, and I had been to in 2023, I don’t know if you remember me telling you about it back then…there was construction and I don’t mean a wee bit…there was NINE miles of dirt and gravel and we could only go about 5 miles an hour, if that. If you know me and my love of gravel you know I was miserable, but we survived! Thankfully, this trip was not like that!

This was VGT’s first time at Glacier and we were excited to share it with him because, the Going-to-the-Sun Road is 50 miles connecting West Glacier and St Mary and the highest point is Logan Pass at 6,646 feet. It can take about 2 hours without stopping, that is…if you are actually moving more than 2 miles an hour. One of the pluses 3 years ago, aside from the negative construction, was the timed entry. You had to sign up on recreation.gov to get timed entry for the Going-to-the-Sun Road. We had to do this for Cadillac Mountain in Maine, among others. The benefit is there are a limited number of tickets that you can get to cut down on the issues we faced…S L O W MOVING VEHICLES. We spent most of our time starting, stopping, inching, trying not to fall over on the bikes because we were going soooo slowly.

Even going back down it was excruciatingly slow. There were places we would have liked to have stopped to get pics, but everyone else had the same idea and there were no places to pull over. I’ll be honest, the scenery was amazing, but it was also exhausting. I would like to go another time when it’s not so crowded, not sure when that is. I asked a park ranger why they took away the timed entry and it was a bureaucratic answer that she had to give…

Riding through a tunnel. Can you feel how slow we were riding?! The videos don’t do it justice! Look at the snow on the side of the mountain! Green on both sides, snow above!

We rode out of Glacier looking for a place for lunch and ended up in Whitefish, at the edge of Glacier National Park in the Northern Rocky Mountains. We landed at the Bulldog Saloon, a bit bigger than a hole-in-the-wall type of plac,e but definitely a local hangout. There are bulldog pictures everywhere, college pennants and sports memorabilia, and the bathrooms were trippy!

The sign on the ladie’s room door had Notice: The men’s restroom and the first stall of the women’s restroom contain adult material. Please escort children to the second stall of the women’s restroom. Let’s just say, everything outside of the second stall was cheeky and one or two things could make you blush, but they were defintely funny!

Back on the bikes, riding through the Kootenai National Forest, located in the extreme northwest corner or Montana, bordered on the north by Canada and the west by Idaho, guess which one we were headed for?! Just before 7p we crossed the border into Canada! And Oh Canada was it a beautiful ride as we headed towards the Prestige Rocky Mountain Resort in Cranbrook, BC.

Riding into Canada. Look at the mountains! Not a bridge over troubled waters!

We rode into the sunset, but got to the hotel just before, but don’t forget…this is the summer, sunset is about 9p/10p, we have time! It really was a beautiful sunset. Our goal tomorrow is Canmore, BC, which is in the province of Alberta! because the day after, we are getting our bikes serviced in Calgary!

For now friends, it is late and it’s time to crash! Do you see how close Eunice is to 30,000 miles?! I am sooo stoked! I will definitely be getting a picture of that!

We did a lot today! Gotta get some rest, tomorrow’s another grand adventure!

Day 12: July 22 Relive

Day 12: 354+ Miles, 9+ Hours, 2 Countries, 1 National Park, what more could you ask for!? Tomorrow…another province!

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