We met Jamie Z very early on in our Round-The-World trip, we had just left Toronto heading towards the west coast when we it started raining on us (a common theme in our travels) in Wawa, Ontario.
We sought shelter at the local Subways and we were eating our subs waiting for the waterworks to subside when another motorcyclist strides into the restaurant.
"Who's the ADVRider?" he asks out aloud.
He had seen the stickers on the panniers of our bikes parked outside.
We chatted for awhile and the rains didn't look like they were going to let up so we decided to split a motel room with Jamie instead of camp that night.
That was July 16th, 2012.
Geez, we looked so young back then!
We've kept in touch over ADVRider over the years. He's followed along with us on our journeys, and just recently he's started his own RTW trip. Since he was in the area, we reached out and invited him to stay with us for a few days to catch up.
But first, we had to recreate that picture from 9 years ago!
We get older and the bikes keep getting younger. LOL!
As moto travelers, we knew exactly what Jamie needed as he pulled into our driveway: wifi, laundry and a nice hot shower, followed by a hearty meal:
We spent the whole evening exchanging stories of our travels. It was nice being pulled back into our old life via memories, after such a long time being sedentary in one place.
The next day, I took Jamie on a tour around Kelowna.
The Okanagan is well-known for its fruit and wine, and the whole region is dotted with orchards and vineyards. This picture was taken less than 5 minutes away from where we live. This one is actually a golf course that's decorated with orchards and from here you can see Okanagan Lake in the background.
I've only been here for about a year, but as I was showing Jamie around and telling him the story of this place, I really felt like a local.
Next morning, Jamie wanted to do more riding. But before we left, some tom-foolery:
We were watching some F9 videos on YouTube the evening before and decided to try out some poser tricks! This is the first time we've ever done this on our bikes, so we're not as polished as RyanF9.
I took him up the west side of Okanagan Lake, where the sportbikers like to ride. For good reason:
Stopped along the way to take in the scenery.
Kind of an overcast day, threatening rain the entire time we were out. But we managed to get back before the rains started in the afternoon.
The west bank of Okanagan Lake has been plagued by forest fires last month. My co-worker was evacuated from his house and was homeless for over three weeks while firefighters fought the blaze. Fortunately his house was spared, but there were homes that were burnt to the ground. This area recently was reopened, so we took in the charred remains of the trees on both sides of the road.
We stumbled onto a car graveyard. These must have been all the cars abandoned by their owners when they were forced to evacuate. I noticed they were all older models. No new cars.
I have a theory: whenever homeowners are forced to evacuate their houses because of forest fires, they take all their valuable possessions with them. However, they leave behind anything old and if it's burnt by the fires, they get to claim the insurance money... As you can see, there's nothing but older cars left behind in the fire.
Unfortunately Neda is working this week so she's unable to join us on our rides. Our garage was full of motos, it was quite fun walking in and seeing motorcycles everywhere!
Jamie's riding on a CB500X, which is quite a popular model for motorcycle travelers. I remember riding one years ago at a demo ride when they first came out. I remember them being down on power by quite a lot.
The next day, we went out riding again and we switched up our bikes. Here's Jamie on my GS following me:
Well, I remembered right. I was redlining that poor little 500's engine in every gear trying to find the powerband! LOL! I was kind of glad to get back on my GS again.
The CB500X gets great gas mileage though...
Jamie stayed with us for four days and we went riding pretty much every single day. Was a good time hanging out and catching up with him again after all these years!
If you want to follow his travels, he's also got a ride report on ADVRider:
To see where I currently am, click here: https://new.spotwalla.com/trip/fad5-5fe4c-4716/view I’ve been waiting for this day for a very long time. This...
advrider.com
Also, a throwback to when we first met Jamie, as documented on our blog, oh so loooong ago:
We've taken a few pictures of the goose over the years and just recently, rust spots have appeared on the wings and body. The town is trying to raise funds to repair the statue. Poor goose!
www.ridedot.com
