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