It is currently 5:54pm, and all riders arrived in Clova safely at around 4:30pm after about 197 miles.
Last night’s dinner was a good one. The choices were Salmon with rice and vegetables, or the Braised Beef with carrots and mashed potatoes The starter choices were either vegetable soup, Caesar salad, and the appetizer was an individual size artichoke cheese dip. Oh, and for dessert, a slice of chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. Very nice dinner and very tasty. A couple bottles of wine may have been passed around as well. Another good night on the trail.
This morning’s snowmobile breakfast was the usual eggs, any way you like, scrambled or over easy, bacon or sausage and your choice of brown or white toast that was served family style, out of basket on the table. French toast was also an option, and I saw quite a few orders of that go around the table.
Ski’s up time was 9am, but we were pulling out of the snow covered parking lot by 8:45am. The temperature on my gauge said 50 degrees this morning. The sky was partial overcast and partial sunshine, and it stayed that way all day.
Wish I could tell you there was some drama or issues on the trail, but these guys just won’t give me anything much to write about. I did just recall a little thing, leaving Mekoos, about a mile down the trail, we did pull over to wait for Farmer to catch up to the pack. Apparently, his hybrid Arctic Cat/Yamaha thru an error code of P100 or some such number, and his throttle stuck for a moment before going back to idle. Orange Helmet said there was probably moisture in the throttle unit that let loose, and it threw the error code. Then Connecticut Jim said, while we were waiting on the side of the trail for Farmer, that his Yamaha had thrown that R85 or whatever code on his dash display again. I am not in tune with all these error codes, my Ski Doo dash lights up only when it needs fuel. Just saying.
We stopped for lunch and fuel around 12:15pm, and after 95 miles. Alot of chicken hamburgs (breaded chicken patty on bun, with mayo, lettuce, and a tomato slice) Caesar salads with breaded chicken tenders, or just a good old kids meal of chicken tenders and frites. By 1:15, we back on the trail with about 100 miles to go.
The trails started off wide and smooth, and varied all day between wide and curvy, to wide and easy, with the last 30 miles or so, wide and fast.
You may recall that last week when we were here at Clova, the dining lodge does not offer Wi-Fi service. The renovated schoolhouse that is now rental rooms, does have Wi-Fi. And damn, is it fast. Apparently, this young guy from South Africa, with I’m told a few bucks, has his own satellite system up above us. Let me tell you, it’s pretty impressive. I’ll even be able to upload a few days of pictures. Smart fella, that young guy!
So, I am here in the basement of the schoolhouse, that is now a recreation room, with a TV, wood burning fireplace, a couch and a couple recliner chairs. Bent Bumper Dave and Ole’ Man Ron are simultaneously staring at their phones and occasionally looking at the auto repair show on the television. Farmer is sitting at the 6 person wood table, doing a sewing repair on his snowmobile jacket. I am impressed he has a sewing kit packed!
Wish I had more, but these guys are pretty boring. Just riding along all day in a tight pack, scared to screw up and be written up, I guess.
Dinner is scheduled for 7pm. Probably a New York Strip again. I am hoping.
Chip Nasty says tomorrow is booked at about 197 miles.
We shall see.
Bye for now,
Stick
PS: Let’s see if my fact checker back home can find today’s intentional error. For those that notice my little errors in grammar, or context, or run on sentences, keep this in mind. I don’t proofread. If 2 red lines pop up under a typed word, I use the spell check to correct those obvious errors. I ain’t got time for all that. As my pal Marshall Mathers sings, You get one chance, make it count.