Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Lunch at Mile One, Pemberton, BC

There is a small section just north of Mount Currie where they are doing road construction on Hwy 99 and the road turns to gravel

P1070717

I probably passed two or three times before I got brave enough to attempt riding on the road. Notice the pea gravel on the left. It is the luck of the draw when you arrive and which side they decide to dump the gravel. I remember my trip to Vancouver Island a couple of years ago where they had over an inch of loose pea gravel which came unexpectedly without much warning and I can still remember the rear end whimping out.

P1070718

For now I am lucky that my side has been compressed down a bit more due to the constant flow of traffic heading north, and I noticed a few groups of bikes ahead of me . I don't know how far I travelled on the gravel but I got a bit used to it after a while, and before long I came to the spot where they started the single lane alternating traffic. Not far ahead I notice the cars waiting for the pilot car

P1070720

I would have continued as I wanted to snap a few photos at the head of Lillooet Lake but time was running out and I had to get back to Pemberton and meet the gang for lunch. So rather than wait in the line and do the same on the return, I opted to turn around

P1070722

and head south, but now I was on the side with more gravel. I tried to stay in the left track and soon enough I got back onto terra firma and went to the Pemberton city centre

P1070726

At the stop sign I snapped a photo of the main business area which extends about 2-3 blocks in each direction and I noticed the ONE EARTH sign (bottom right corner). I am not really much of a consumer but I was interested to find a place where they sold local work by Native Artists for another jewelry maker who frequents this blog
I walked inside and found many items produced by local Artisans

P1070729

Actually there are sections for various artists to display their work. I would presume that these items are sold on a commission basis

P1070730

It was a bit awkward attemting to snap photos in a shop like this with the attendant watching but there was; leatherwork, belts, bags, native bags, walking sticks, cards and lots of other stuff worthy of a visit if you are in the area .

P1070727

On the highway the Government has signage to point the way to local Artisans throughout the area so perhaps you may be able to purchase more traditional native art directly from the artists workshop .

P1070728

Soon enough my time was up and I headed over to our lunch destination

P1070735

I left Vancouver just after 7am and it was now around 1pm and my stomach was just crying out for food . The Gang had arrived

P1070736
(Self portrait at Mile One Roadside Cafe)

It seemed like an upscale place with great food and a great menu

P1070737

It was hard to decide what to order

P1070738
(Otto, James, Sam, Geoff & Mark) (Missing: Peggy & Bob)

If it weren't for us, there would be no line up . On a group ride you are really riding solo, so while waiting for our lunch to be prepared we had lots of time to socialize and talk about our next food destination, which happens to be next Saturday at a DIM SUM restaurant in Richmond, followed by a special Dessert place

P1070739

Their hamburgers are very thick and difficult to open your mouth that wide

P1070740

Here's Mark taking some food porn for himself

P1070742
(Mark, with camera; Peggy and Otto on right)

I ordered the Philly Cheesesteak, it was delicious

P1070743

it was made with very tender Angus Beef with carmelized onions and cheese . With full stomachs we were ready to tackle the ride home

P1070761
(signal light in Squamish, BC, the Chieftan straight ahead)

You have to watch your speed coming down this long hill at Furry Creek, the LEO's are usually waiting for you at the bottom

P1070763

While riding with a group it is difficult to stop for photos, so the only way is to grab them whilst riding

P1070765
(Upper Levels Hwy 1, approaching West Vancouver)

I am riding sweep but decide to break off at Taylor Way and head over the Lion's Gate Bridge as I wanted to stop at a certain store on the way home

P1070767

The traffic is much busier now than it was this morning when there was hardly a soul in sight . We were dead stopped on the causeway for what seemed like a long time with long lines of cars both in front and behind

P1070770

I am beginning to think I made a mistake. I should have followed the group over the Second Narrows Bridge (Steelworkers Memorial Bridge). Traveling farther with less traffic creates less stress, and less sweat on this hot day while you are stopped in traffic ATGATT.

As we reached the end of the Stanley Park causeway we ended up on Georgia street where there were 3 lanes of traffic gridlock in both directions. We were stopped again with multi signal lights for the next couple of miles.

P1070771

I was in the wrong lane, I had to find a spot to move over and take another route through the downtown core, but with all the cars bumper to bumper, there was no space to move into

P1070772

I had to wait it out and be patient while tears of sweat rolled down my face . I eventually made it home, rolled out of my sweaty ATGATT, washed my helmet head, showered and got ready to go out for dinner. I got home just after 6pm which meant 11 hours on the road today, with half of it in the heat.

Normally Mrs Skoot works on Saturday, so I am free to do as I please. Little did I know that this was her rare Saturday off but I offered to abandon the ride and we could do other stuff together (gulp). She insisted that I go on the ride and she would occupy her day and do something else. As a compromise we went out to an upscale restaurant for a meal

P1070774
(Halibut, something or other . . .)

and I decided to order two appetizers, instead of a full meal. It's part of my food reduction mode

P1070775

All of the beautiful servers wore slinky black provocative dresses kind of place, but sorry no photos, as Mrs Skoot was watching my every move




15 comments:

  1. Great photos, and looks like a great trip - I'm suprised though that you didn't use your one-handed sneaky camera technique in the restaurant to show us the slinky waitress.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bobskoot

    do you like the placement of the gear indicator where it is? Good food porn pics btw.

    dom

    Redleg's Rides

    Colorado Motorcycle Travel Examiner

    ReplyDelete
  3. It was a long day for you but looks totally worth it. Great food porn pics. That burger must have been very hard to eat. The cheesesteak you ordered looks more manageable.

    It was good that you could get out of the city traffic for part of the day but getting back into town on a hot day in stop and go traffic with ATGATT is just no fun. You were probably shedding pounds just by sweating in your gear.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bobskoot,

    Wow, rough. Two great meals in one day? So rough. I just realized reading here that I haven't eaten all day. Oh, that food looks good. HA, that's probably the popularity of food porn, internet junkies sitting in basements reading about food instead of cooking. Well, I'm culpable.

    Brady
    Behind Bars - Motorcycles and Life
    http://www.behindbarsmotorcycle.com/

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nice action shots. The food porn looks great and tasty.
    Was it a Cactus Club at the end of the day? The food looks kinda familiar and I remember my hubby likes to go there for specific reasons nothing to do with food I guess...

    ReplyDelete
  6. It looks like you had a good day, glad you braved the gravel! As for the food porn I am guilty of it myself. My hub gets irritated when I am trying to snap pics of his scran before he eats it. LOL what we won't do for a blog post.

    Glad you ATGATTed even in the heat. I bet Mrs Skoot was happy she didn't have to cook, all of the food looks delish. Not sure I would have ordered the burger, how on earth can you comfortably eat something like that? Loved your pics as usual!

    Cheers
    Snicklefritz

    ReplyDelete
  7. Like your new header pic, hard to believe that you are 'riding the wet coast' with all the yellow grass and dry gravel roads around ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  8. G'day Bob!

    Great photos but I'm with Trobairitz on the jumbo-sized servings! Good on you for having something smaller.

    I hate gravel too on sport radial tyres but at least you had adventure tyres and some compressed strips to ride on.

    Your comment about waitress attire took me back to a meal at Buck's place in Pratville, Alabama when I was working in the USA. The waitresses were dressed like Daisy Duke, only more so. One of them started playing up to a rather shy friend I was with and he suffered an almost complete meltdown. Funny as heck, but not from his perspective!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh, now that was just one rough looking day! I'm not sure how you could stand all the blue sky, great scenery, and excellent food!

    I'm glad you sucked it up and "took one for the team" to get the shots.

    :)

    Isn't it amazing how we still lose time even when we are on our own?

    Love the shops and shopping in Pemberton. It almost looks like a couple pairs of earings were fishing hooks. But I did like the earrings in the last image. Where they wood or metal?

    Glad you had a great day!

    -Steel Cupcake

    ReplyDelete
  10. El D: The higher the prices, the lower the light levels. It would have been hard . . . to sneak one with slow shutter speeds, speaking of which, did you obtain your new camera yet ?

    Charlie6: That LED display is rather large and covers too much of the speedo or Tach. I wanted to make an "L" bracket and mount between the plastic panels farther up the dash, but never got around to it. I use it mainly for the false "7th" gear, and 2nd when I gear down for a turn

    Trobairitz: It was a long day and hot during the afternoon. Not many miles, only around 250 miles, but took 11 hours with lots of stops. The cheesesteak was delicious, come on UP and I'll spot you for a meal

    Brady: Yes, we RTE: Ride to Eat, food between rides, something to look forward to when you get there. All the time while I was riding my myself I was thinking about the food at the end of the rainbow. It was the riding force . . . the image of the steaming food that kept me going.

    Sonja: somehow I just knew deep inside that you are going to recognize that place which is right around the corner from your office. If your Hubby is looking for other distractions, instead of food, then try Joey Tomatoes. There is a contingent of yummy stuff strutting around in evening wear and high heels who make your visit so welcome. You soon forget that you are there to have a meal.

    dear Snicklefritz: I had the cheesesteak, and it was delicious with the Angus Beef and Carmelized onions, devoured using knife and fork. You get used to ATGATT, even when hot, you just wear less underneath. No one can see under there anyway, unless you stop and others wonder why you aren't taking your riding stuff off.

    SonjaM: When people see the words "wet coast" they really think West Coast which could include the coast all the way down to California, except this photo was taken in Mid Oregon, on the way to Condon

    ReplyDelete
  11. Geoff: I notice that sometimes in the 'States the waitress' often call you "Honey" . I know I should be having salad, but we have salad at home and I'd rather have something we don't make at home. When I have something more fried and greasy then I adjust accordingly. No one noticed that I deleted the Wedge french fries, so I could have an iced tea instead. Ordering is all about compromises

    Steel Cupcake: I don't know where the time went. I left early enough but probably spent too much time in the Whistler Village walking about. There are lots of Natives in Pemberton due to proximity of the Indian Reserves. You notice in the supermarket where I went for a power drink

    I saw those earrings and had to snap a photo for you. I think they were wood, probably hand carved. Don't tell me you want one, then I have to go back. It's around 2-1/2 hrs each way, which allows for a quick stop in Squamish for a snack. I did think about it but then I don't know your style. I was actually looking for one of those straw baskets you saw on the website

    ReplyDelete
  12. Nice pics! That was the biggest burger I've ever seen! The dinner looked yummy! Great you're having such fun!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm impressed that you are willing to try new things. Like gravel roads and different menu items.

    I've come to realize that your photojournalistic style has inspired me. I really enjoy doing the same.

    Not sure how you find time to ride, eat, AND find time to write it all up!

    ReplyDelete
  14. At least getting out of the city for a bit was nice. I have to confess, I still won't ride gravel when I'm by myself. Gridlock in the city sounds miserable. I can't handle hot weather too well. I'd rather ride in cold and rain than in hot weather, at least if I have to ride in town.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Sharon: That burger was a wide mouthful, very tall. You had to squish it in order to eat it. All their sandwiches were neatly presented. I am glad you are feeling better and riding again.

    Mr IronGrandDad: I am humbled by your remarks. I have always enjoyed the PJ style. You have to have a plan in your mind as you snap away so it can be presented later in a cohesive manner. I have lots of stuff to post and I am so behind. I still have unfinished stuff from last year which has now been long forgotten & filed away

    BlueKat: I am a wimp. I looked at the gravel and went back and forth several times before I attempted it. With the Vstrom I knew that I would regret it later, so off I went. I don't enjoy Hot weather either, so today was very pleasantly cooler. Our traffic is horrible as you noticed

    ReplyDelete