Day One The Departure

My Alarm sounded at 4:30 this morning and being a Saturday that was just way to early. I only slapped the snooze once so I was up and out of the bed by 4:40 a.m. So the normal routine kicked in with start the coffee and let the dogs out. The bike was fully loaded so all I had to do was roll it outside. Dawna got up and dressed and we were outside taken photos by 5:30 a.m. After a few photos we headed over to the Shell station to meet up with Dave and Fred.
Everyone showed up at the Shell station and after fueling and being directed to gather the bikes for photos and getting last minute orders from the two wives I couldn't help thinking just how lucky Fred was to have said good by to Nicki at his house.
We finally got all the photos done and mounted up and were heading north on 205 by 6:15. The weather was overcast and the temperature on my instrument cluster was reading 54 degrees but with the moisture in the air it sure made me wish that I had worn my touring pants rather than my blue jeans. Traffic was light and we cruised right on up the highway. After about 85 miles we stopped in Centrailia for a quick snack at where America Eats McDonalds and to top off the fuel.
Travel through Tacoma and Seattle was uneventful although Seattle did get quite congested for a Saturday. By the time we got to the Sumas exit at Belling ham my instrument cluster was telling me that had only 14 miles of fuel left. She only took 4.3 gallons so if the owners manual is correct I should have had about a gallon of fuel left.
The info sign on the freeway had said to expect about a 5 minute way at the Sumas border crossing and when we got there the sign was correct. The only thing the sign didn't say was that Sumas was having a Parade today and there was a 20 minute wait to get through town to the border. I was really disappointed that no one was standing on the corner waving at me because the were celebrating my birthday.
Through the border and on to route 1 we headed to Hope for lunch and a quick stop at the bank. Then it was back on Rouote 1 and north to Cache Creek. The road up through the Frazier River Canyon was in great condition with very little traffic and only a couple of minor delays for road construction. The sun had come out and the temperature was soaring into the 80's. Several miles out of Cache Creek my instrument Cluster once again told me that I was low on fuel and only had 42 miles remaining. I quickly punched Cache Creek on my GPS and it read 41 miles. So I watched to the miles to Cache Creek click away and range remaining click away while scanning the road ahead for any signs of a fueling station. None to be had. Finally Cache Creek came in to view and I pulled into a gas station with 3 miles remaining. This time the tank took 17.872 liters. By this time is was just at 4:00 pm and Dave and I decided to travel one more hour before calling it a day. We got up to 100 Mile House and the one place we stopped did not provide room for three, so we decided to try the next big town William Lake our orginal goal for the first day. I check hotels and motels on my Garmin and while down the road I called two of them to check accommodation. The Supper 8 just as you entered Williams Lake had a large suite like room that offered two queen size beds and a pullout sofa bed.
Short Review of Day one. after a little less than 12 hours on the road we had traveled a little over 575 miles and crossed one border. The weather started out on the cool side warmed up and by 4:00pm it was cooling back off. Traffic was light, my butt is sore, I over packed as is usual but it was just a great day of riding. Even when the Buck came bounding out into the road just out side of Williams Lake forcing me to apply the brakes, I don't think it could have been better riding.