A quick note.

Just wanted to let you know, there is a reason for my silence and it's a sad one. It started  in 2014 when I was diagnosed with cancer and it's been an up and down ever since. All kind of treatments, surgeries and still going downhill but I'm a fighter up to the last minute. If I don't post here you know why, if I do it means I'm still kicking dust. I keep trying.

Here is how I spent a lot of time in the last 4 years.

Still around and trying.

Vancouver Island Motor Gathering at Vancouver Island Motorsport Circuit.

I didn't do any blogging because of health problems. The blog would be mostly about our travel but today is an exception. We can't travel as much as we would like but trying to do more "local stuff" like today's post about the Motor Gathering. It was on the brand new Vancouver Island Motorsport Circuit in the Cowichan Valley.

Getting there wasn't easy

                           

An older Lotus right at the entrance......

                            

.......is accompanied by a much newer Lotus.

A spoiled visitor.

The new Alfa Romeo. They just opened a new dealership on Vancouver Island.

Daddy has a toy son has to have one too.

And he is really proud of it.

                           

Sport cars are not just for boys!!

A classic Porsche with the new ones.

The never ending job.

Hot Rod Alley.

If you hadn't seen any Corvett on the road it's because all of them were here.

A beautiful Motor Home.

The whole Fast and the Furious movie could have been shot here.

Great show but going home was just as bad as coming here. In 2017 the show is going to be on the 27th of August.

A trip to Ontario.

Because of health issues we couldn't spend much time on the road, just a short one month on the road to visit family in Ontario. We did the same trip in 2011, the only difference was we drove east trough Canada and came back trough the US. This year we had 2 reasons to do it both ways in the US: 1: every province in Canada had hundreds of forest fires with unpredictable road closures, 2: fuel was a lot less south of the border. Crossed the border on the 11th of July with a little mishap: Eggs were seized because of the possibility of Bird flu. Always something new. Smooth sailing to Marysville, Tulalip Casino for the first night. Bavarian lunch next day in beautiful Leavenworth, WA.

Bratwurst & and a beer at München House in Leavenworth, WA

Carriage for hire downtown.

Hwy 2 in Central Washington, farmlands for 100-s of miles.

Very nice campground, Coulee City, WA.

Crossing into Idaho on a nice, sunny day.

Not so in Montana. We had rain and stormy weather for a few days.

In Montana every Truck Stop,  gas station has a casino as well.

Nice truck at a Truck Stop in Montana.

Filling up with fresh water at a Truck Stop.

The rolling hills of Montana.

We were either in a storm or very close to it.

One reason we choose to drive trough the States.

It doesn't happen very often. Another rig just like ours, they are from Iowa.

The only good thing about a storm, the Rainbow after it's gone.

Rapid City, South Dakota.

Still more than 2 weeks before the Sturgis biker rally begins but lot of bikers already.

We have seen hundreds of Corvette-s, they were on a tour from South Dakota to Wyoming.

I 90 south Dakota

Nice quiet little campground behind a hotel in Wall, South Dakota. We usually don't go to RV parks when we drive every day but this time we had to do it because it was so hot every day. It was nice to run the AC for a couple of hours to cool the rig before we went to bed.

An Oasis in Oacoma, before.....

.......we cross the Missouri.

The Visitor Center at the other side of the river. After seeing the sign we decided we've seen enough.

Still very hot every day. ( 100 F )

Not a single day without a storm.

Even the Rest Areas have free Wifi in Iowa.

Smokers are restricted to their "enclosed" vehicle when puffing away

You see nothing but corn for hundreds of miles.

A very nice way to end a hot day. Little Bear RV Park in Iowa. I 80 exit 259.

Visited the World Largest Truck Stop in Walcott, Iowa

So large a Big Rig is inside the store.

Crossing the Mississippi and we are in Illinois.

Next day we are in Indiana and it's getting harder to find a camping for the night.

Michigan City, we found the campground but: 31 $ for camping ( power only ) and an extra 9 $ because " you are not from here" Nice way to promote the area!! If it wasn't after 9 pm I would've left  to never come back.

After 10 days on the road we are getting closer....

.......crossing the Ambassador Bridge at Detroit and we are in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, where our folks live. No delay at the border and we were having lunch together. Spent 10 days in Windsor and time just flew by so fast. All of a sudden time was over and we had to turn around and head home.

 It was good to see everybody, especially the kids changed so much it was unbelievable.

In Ontario not just hard liquor but beer also sold in designated stores.

Our favorite store was the Polish "European Market".

Back on the road, back in the States.

This time down south on I 75 towards Toledo and than the toll I 80 to Chicago.

We used to shop at Aldi in Germany all the time, We found one in Elkhart, Indiana

Elkhart also has a nice campground....

 .......with pool. Made me happy because temperatures are still close to 100 F during the day.

More and more bikers as we get closer to Sturgis.

Back to Iowa.......

.....and back in the pool at Little Bear Campground.

Even filling up makes me happy......

....fuel is getting cheaper every day.

Everybody is headed to Sturgis.

Some people hauling the bikes ....

....but most of them are riding.

Don't forget the business part! Over a million thirsty bikers are coming to Sturgis.

It was time to wash our camper.

Walls, South Dakota. This over sized rig is advertising the local Auto Museum.

We were still more than 40 miles from Sturgis but the city of Walls was taken by bikers. 

Old photos of the history of the area, a very interesting exhibit.

In Walls business is booming.

The view in my mirror all day. Especially after the news spread: off ramp to Sturgis is closed, the city is plugged, much more bikers came than expected, they had to close the exit. Later we heard: 1.3 million bikers were expected but 1.8 showed up. The area is used to big crowds but it took some time to handle it.

Bikers on the Black Hills Rally around the area.

Business was really booming. We were looking for a place late afternoon. Nice camping south of Rapid City on Hwy 16, they said they still have vacancy. For 65.90 $ !!! I told them I have been robbed once in my life but they used a gun not a campground. "Well, you know it's Sturgis" was the answer. of course we turned around and found a nice place within 30 minutes for less than 30 $. 

It's so nice to get off the freeways, we stopped in Castle City to take pictures of the Courthouse.

The plan was to drive around Sturgis to avoid all the chaos on the freeway. So we took Hwy 16 and after we crossed the border to Wyoming we decided to go and see the Devil's Tower.

Of course one of the rallies from Sturgis came here. Bikers everywhere. 

It's legal to climb the rocks, all you have to do is register. The little dot on top.......

....are 2 climbers on top of the Devil's Tower.

Beside the access road to the Monument is a place called " Groundhog Village" Here is a local.

Found a very nice private campground......

.....the All Seasons. Wyoming, I 90, exit 141 Rozet City. We had a very quiet night, no bikers at all after 4 days. The park is about 3 miles off the Interstate.

Almost feels like home!

DOT is warning everybody: " Motorcycles are everywhere!"

We were so close we just couldn't drive by.

On the way towards Yellowstone.

On the way towards Yellowstone.

Locals on the way towards Yellowstone.

Found a nice place for the night in Cody, Wyoming.

Live display at the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody.

The Dam at Buffalo Bill Reservoir, very interesting old equipment on display.

Some really interesting rock formations inside Yellowstone park.

At Yellowstone Lake.

Wildlife is all over the place, they walk across the campground.

One of the geysers in the park.

Unfortunately large areas of the park have been damaged years ago by fire.

Buffalo so close to the hwy.

Buffalo herd between the hwy and the river.

The Lower Falls on the Yellowstone river.

Geysers are all over the park.

A little parking cut out of rocks.

Mineral deposits just south of Mammoth Hot Springs.

Elks feel really like home in Mammoth Hot Springs.

We Didn't have reservation inside Yellowstone and it was a mistake in the summer high season. We were forced to go to the Fishing Bridge RV Park  for 57 $ if we don't want to leave the park. After we left the park we needed a break, parked free at a Flying J in Montana.

After Butte we drove on Hwy 1, a scenic bypass. Here we are in Anaconda.

A few old houses are kept in very nice shape.

Only a few miles to beautiful Philipsburg but it looks like you are 100 years back in time.

You can try your luck by panning for sapphire, Jade and all king of stones.

Main street Philipsburg

Time goes by in Drummond, Montana.

Back on the freeway ......

......camping for 4 hrs behind an accident.

Couldn't resist a good taco in Tonasket, WA

Murals in Oroville, WA just before the Canadian Border.

After crossing the border at Osoyoos you are in the Okanagan Valley, they also call it the fruit basket of British Columbia. First thing to do: shopping for fresh fruit. 

We went to our favorite campground: Haynes Point. It's a beautiful park on a peninsula that cuts into the lake, it just changed ownership, it's run by a native tribe now, so far s good. It's my wife favorite fishing spot, she always got some carp out of the water before.

Not today, we had to go and get some Greek food.

Still so hot, the lake is the best place to be. Spent 2 days here.

Still to much smoke in the air, there were over 200 forest fires in BC in August.

On the 13th of Aug. only one thing left: buy a ticket for the ferry and go home. We were on the 1 pm boat, nice and sunny day, smooth sailing. Even though on the way back we made it at a slower pace we made a decision: in the future we are going to have every week at least one day ( or more ) off,  We'll see how it works. I know it's only going to work when we are at a nice and sunny place, if it's cold I'll keep going. After 33 days and 9526 km ( 5920 mile ) we made it home around 5 pm.