2017 Long Ride.......Getting Ready

I like to get in at least one ride every year that is a week or so long.  Last year Jenny and I did the Pacific Northwest Grand Tour and this year we are going to visit the Canadian Rockies.  Unlike last year, though, where it was just me and Jen, this trip may have as many as six riders.  One of them is going to be my son Brian, so it will be sort of a family affair.  I've got the route figured out and reservations made at motels.  The highlight of the trip should be the Ice Field Parkway between Banff and Jasper.  Carolyn and I rode this highway back in the early 80's and it is pretty spectacular.  Here is the planned route:

The plan is to start riding from my house on Sept 18 and return here on the 23rd.  Since Jen could only take a week off, we had to find a way to get her bike to my house because otherwise she would have to take an additional four days getting from, and back to, San Francisco.  So Carolyn and I are going to take our pickup truck down there the week before the ride to fetch the bike, and Jen is going to fly up the day before we start the ride.  Then, after the ride she will fly back and we will truck the bike back down to her house.  Preparation for this trip actually started last winter when I replaced the head gasket on the truck and also installed a new exhaust manifold, water pump, cam, cam chain, and sprockets.  It should be in good shape for the drive, but I'm still having some problems with the temperature gauge that I should get sorted before we leave.  We hope to get to SF in one day and then back in a day.  That's about 700 miles each way, and the truck doesn't have air conditioning.  Right now the high temps in Redding on interstate five are over 100 degrees.  Hopefully that will change to cooler by the time we leave.  Another problem that has me worried is that there are forest fires all over the west, including British Columbia, and it would be a real bummer if the views on the Ice Field Parkway are obscured by smoke.  What we need is a good rain, but NOT while we are riding.
But, as we get closer to the departure date, it looks like rain is exactly what is going to happen.  That's still six days away and things can change, but it looks like we may be in for a real adventure.  Tomorrow we leave to get Jenny's bike.