Thoughts 

Weather: While it was desired to take the trip a month or so earlier it was nice traveling in "post vacation" season. The roads were mostly void of traffic - RV's especially. Parks as well were cleared out - campsites - take your pick, parking lots - park up front, vista points - no people to try and photograph around. Another nice thing was foliage contrast - fall colors on the AlCan highway - gold leaf trees among the green of the pine trees (summer time everything is green). Some snow on mountain tips (that would not ordinarily have snow on them in the summer). Rain - not fun; visibility issues with the helmet's face shield.

I could travel on a motorcycle for much longer than four months. With a change to the helmet (for better wet weather performance) and a change in the air compressor (should I have other flat tire issues) - all set. I'd probably check out some of the roads in California  -  perhaps see about some of the other parks . Spend more time camping and taking day trips from the campsite. Travel to the eastern provinces of Canada. Head down into Mexico. Ship the bike across the waters - repeat!

Met lots of good people. Just about everywhere, when talking for some time, people didn't care for what their government was up to; Taxes were going up; Health care was going down.

Get a campsite guide book first thing

Perhaps get some sort of hotel discount membership.

Smells - my nose isn't too sensitive but when strong enough it'll pick out what's up. Brakes - trucks and RV's heading downhill - I can smell ya as I approach from behind. Pine trees - hmmmmm. The "rain's coming" smell. Rolling by a municipal sewage treatment plant....  Smells by the sea (some good - some not so good).

Lightly overcast days are perhaps easy days - easy on the eyes. I don't want dreary weather - but something to tone the sun a bit - better pictures - less sunburn on the cheeks.

The bike, overall, did well. Fuel mileage could have been a tad better (keeping speeds in the 55/60 mph range would help). "Small stuff" with the handlebar switches (several stopped working after being sujected to mud spray on the Dalton Highway in Alaska) - the starter button also froze in Maine. Need to keep better track of the brake pads. Also need to pull the rear wheel - at least every 5K miles - perhaps every 3K - to lube the rear splines. I should have set myself up with some easy oil change kit. Having a container to drop used oil into was the issue. Filter change - no issue.

Canadian Rockies - Kamloops / Banff  / Jasper - wish to spend some time checking out that area.

I'm an open spaces guy - the hustle and bustle (as long as I'm traveling via a personal vehicle) of the east coast - not quite my cup of tea. Perhaps if I was using public transport or walking about.

Canadian currency - they don't use paper dollars much - preferring to use one dollar (Loonie) and two dollar (Twoonie) coins. This means your pockets get HEAVY. Toonies look neat - they look like a penny in the middle of a silver dollar. Other than the Loonie / Twonnie thing - currency is about the same.

Canadian traffic laws - Right turn on red permitted after stop, unless signed forbidding it.

Satellite dishes - the small size units. Up in Alaska, when looking at a dish from the side it is "tilted down" just a bit (the top edge of the dish is forward of the bottom edge). With the signal passing through more of the lower atmosphere I wonder how much the signal is degraded. Down in the Keys they are tipped back a reasonable amount.

Maintenance - I need to step up preventative measures a bit.

Who knew I'd go through a set of rear brake pads between San Jose CA and West Haven CT (via Maine). The front's will need replacement soon.

Garmin III+ GPS antennas - they don't like the rain. Signal quality degrades with day upon day of moisture exposure making the unit close to useless in unobstructed areas and quite useless in obstructed areas (trees, hills).

When all drivers around are doing a good job and being courtious to each other - riding along hits a bit of harmony rarely experienced.

Motorists who, when exiting a freeway via an off-ramp, wait until they are clear of thru traffic before slowing are much appreciated. Granted, this isn't always realistic.

Oregon - the state with "ONLY FULL SERVICE" fuel stations. For a person on a cycle the attendants willingly stand by to "monitor" the situation - but they MUST pull the handle from the pump to hand it to you. Just so they can "do their job". I find this akin to a washroom assistant that MUST unzip your pants just so that you could wiz.

Oh, and for California with those bulky "vapor recovery" systems - I now understand why websites advetise small "U" shaped pieces of metal that can be easily carried and used to hold back the elephant trunk vapor recovery system. Designers didn't care about non-automobile vehicles in that design.