I backed out of my garage around 7:00 on the morning of July 9th. As you can see, the weather was perfect! The goal for Day One of this trip to Northern Manitoba, Canada, was a small town in North Dakota--about an hour from the international border. If all went fairly well, we'd arrive about supper time.
Yes, I said WE! This would not be my first time to share a motorcycle adventure with Dan. In fact, if memory serves, it would be our sixth multi-day ride together--in a relationship which has spanned a quarter of a century. And we haven't lived in the same town since the first couple of those years, so logistics have rarely been easy.
This time, Dan left his home in the Porland, Oregon, area four days prior to this photo. After spending a couple of nights with me and my wife in Rapid City, South Dakota, he was reloaded and ready to strike out again! Not that that sort of schedule is at all unusual for Dan. He'd been touring on two wheels for even more decades than me, when he made the transition to three just last year. It's possible that by stopping by his place on my 2025 return ride from the Pacific Coast, I may have influenced his decision.
In fact, our two cycles are the same make, model, and year--2023 Can-Am Ryker Rallies. You've likely noticed that the front-end color schemes are different, though. And even more options are available along those lines, should we ever want to change it up.
Our approach to luggage attachment and choice of accessories had also varied. This trip would be a good opportunity to compare and contrast.
The first 150ish miles were not new to me, and I took no photos until the North Dakota line on Highway 85 (above)--not even at our first gas stop in Sturgis. As my regular readers know, that's unusual. I think I was embarrassed that I'd neglected to fill up before we left.
Most of the country we passed through that day was familiar to me--the highlights being the Missouri National Grasslands and a piece of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. It's similar to the Badlands in South Dakota, but not quite as barren and bad. I guess there won't be as many photos en route on this trip, as the tendency is to stay within sight of your partner by avoiding superfluous stops. But I'll make up for it with more photos each evening. And the evenings will be longer and more eventful, since planned daily mileages for this tour were significantly less than my norm. I know! It just might make for more of a vacation and less of a trying ordeal. We'll see. Hundreds of miles of unpaved roads were still an integral part of the itinerary. That tends to keep things--interesting.
But, so far, so good. We arrived at the historic Hygge Hotel in Powers Lake shortly before 5:00. And that included losing an hour by entering the Central Time Zone! I was turning over the proverbial "new leaf." Still, 415 miles is nothing to scoff at.
Built in 1909 as the Lakeview Hotel, the Hygge now showcases a fantastic balance between modernization and restoration. Its current owners purchased the property in 2018. Sometimes a few minutes of pre-trip internet research can produce incredibly satisfying results!
The only apparent downside was that all the rooms are upstairs. Now, upstairs is where I most like to be. But getting there (with all my gear) at the end of a hot day's ride can be somewhat problematic. But I knew that would be the case when I made the reservation--and figured I could handle it after only one day on the road.
And I did. The setup of our corner room was perfect for our needs. There were three beds--one at each end for the weary travelers--and a larger one in the middle for all our stuff!
One of the windows overlooked a long row of grain silos and beyond that, the lake. It could make the perfect destination for an evening stroll, but first we needed to find some food.
Another window was directly above our trikes--not as convenient as an old-style model, where you can park right in front of your door, but it was nice to be able to easily check in on them. And don't they look cool from up here?
But back to the most pressing concern--dinner. We'd passed the only restaurant in town on our way in, only a couple of blocks away. Once the cycles were unloaded, we headed back to the appropriately named Food Barn and settled down at a spacious table. Okay, it only looked like a barn from the outside. The inside was clean and modern--quite nice, actually. I ordered a chicken sandwich and was thoroughly impressed with its appearance--and later, its taste! A refreshing iced tea washed it down. I was already eating better than I often do on these excursions of mine. Calling it quits for the day before restaurants close is something I could probably get used to.
As we sat down on a bench, Dan spotted a pelican cruising for the opposite shore. It was the perfect scene for reviewing the day's events--and discussing the route of the next one. Dan had left all the planning for our shared portion of his journey to me. It was true that I'd had extensive experience in northern Canada. It was also true that my trips there had usually been incredibly grueling. I hoped his trust in me was not misplaced. I'd tried really hard this time to dial back the intensity level required to make it to each evening's lodgings--for both our sakes. So far it had worked out well. One day down. Six to go.
Here's a better view of the hotel, as we walked back toward it from the lake. Our room is directly above the front corner doors. I've covered my Ryker's touch and mounting points with rain protection. No, it wouldn't melt if I didn't do that, but I like to keep it dry when I can.
Before turning in, I touched base with my wife and my folks via the magic of cellular technology. I knew I might not be able to do that every night as we made our way north, so I wanted to start out right. Tomorrow, we'd cross the 49th Parallel into the land of maple syrup and poutine!
