We left Nick & Debbie's Friday morning about 8:30 am as they were trying to finish packing and get going themselves in the cool morning hours..We sad our goodbyes and headed out of Loon Lake south to Spokane hoping to visit the Harley shop before leaving Washington.. However, the shop was closed with a sign on the door saying they would re open under new ownership..Dang
However,
We did manage to visit 17 Harley shops on our trips..we've been to Cranbrook, Bc,
Grande Prairie, Alberta; whitehorse, YT; Fairbanks, AK; Denali, AK; Anchorage,AK,(we missed having coffee with Sarah Palin and visiting the Wasilla HD Shop as she was otherwise engaged that day ~!)
Smithers,BC; Prince George, BC; Kamloops, BC; Kelowna, BC; Missoula, Mt; Butte, MT; Belgrade,MT; Billings,MT; Gillette WY; Columbus, NE; and Fremont,Ne
Funny thing: In all the Harley Shops we visited after I broke my foot, I would enter on my crutches (couldn't be on them long w/o my hip hurting me) ask the sales girl if she had an office chair with wheels and then I would shop around by scooting from place to place! Where there's a will, there's a wheel I mean a way!!
Further Observations:
There are tons of car washes and RV washes. Many campgrounds advertise RV washes as there is always construction going on repairing the many frost heaves which means lots of mud and dust and dirt and gravel.
I saw more moose on signs warning of them being on the rodeway than we ever actually saw.... and I shouldn't complain as the one huge moose we saw crossed the rodeway right in front of us during a rainstorm.
There are more cabover pickup campers up here than we've seen in years. Must be a popular way to travel and camp.
Flowers:
There are flowers all over the place.. You wouldn't think that Alaska and the Yukon Territory would have so many flowers.. I read that a park employee logged 112 different species in one day. The purple and red fireweed is everywhere and really brightens everything up. Also,practically all the motels, gas stations, food marts , etc have flowers everywhere.. all the motels had huge hanging baskets of color (blues, purples, reds and whites) both perennial and annual. I would imagine that after a long, cold, snowy winter, everyone was so happy to see spring that they go crazy at the garden centers...soooo
If you want a job up North,, own a car wash or a garden center!!!!!
Gene & I took it a little slower on the way home(we had rushed out when we left and drove long hours)and enjoyed the trip home going through Custer and up to Hill City, Keystone and Mt Rushmore seeing buffalo and prairie dogs on our way out through Custer Park.
We made a stop at the Little BigHorn Battlefied. There was a 5 mile paved road leading through it with markers of where several of the US Cavalry had fallen and where the various Indian encampments were. Sad to say, the battlefied was beautiful with views of the Little Bighorn River down below. One wonders how the men and Indians on horses could traverse the steep ravines and valleys and hills. I would have loved to have visited the museum but with crutches, not a good idea. That will have to be another trip along with seeing the Wounded Knee sight.
Gene & I arrived home late Monday afternoon to a house that had been vacumned and the air turned on. The refrigerator had food in it~~ Milk, eggs, bacon, bread, smoked turkey and homemade goulash. Why, who could these little helper angels be????? Well, none other than my sweet wonderful daughter-in-law and son, Shari and Brian. My cat, Jessie and my house had been cared for by our neighbor and friend, Kaine Eggers..
I called my wonderful son-in-law, John and he arranged for me to come into Lutheran Hospital the next morning. We were there shortly after 7:00am on Tuesday and he had my foot and ankle re-exrayed.. I have 4 breaks, one in each of the # 2,3,&4 long bones and a fracture in my ankle as well. He called his friend, Dr Eric Barp, a foot and ankle surgeon and emailed my exrays to him..Gene and I were there at 2:00pm where we reviewed my exray with Dr Barp.. He explained we could do surgery on one of the foot breaks but because my foot was still so swollen, he was afraid my skin would tear and theres a good change my foot will heal alright w/o surgery. As he can go in again later and pin the one break, we collectively decided against surgery at this time..I was sent home with a wrap and a boot and told to keep it above my heart and iced down. (oh, and direct Gene to be at my beck and call:) but then he already is :)
My last thoughts:
Gene and I agreed that in spite of my fall, we had a wonderful vacation and finished doing what we'd planned which was to ride to Alaska. We have now ridden in all of the continental US states as well as 7 of the Canadian provinces.
Our trip was cut short by a week and we spent about twice what we had planned to due to my fall.. the extra cost of the Uhaul, gas to put in it and cost of Motels rather than tenting and that doesn't even count co-pay fees. But hey, you only live once.. we live to ride and we were enjoying ourselves and this beautiful country of ours.
I also realized that I have a very loving, supportive husband who can and will take care of me if need be. Of course I knew that two years ago after my bout w/ Guillain Baree,but this was really a tough one for him too. He never hollered at me when I fell (twice more while on the crutches) nor when his Ultra fell over into my King in the Uhaul.. Somehow he just takes it in stride.. cool, calm Gene..:) My beloved husband of almost 40 years.. Now as I've said before.. 'you know, it just don't get no better than this!)
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Back to Nick & Debbie's home
Wed July 21,2010
La La Hache, Bc to Loon Lake, Washington
So after a good nite's sleep, breakfast at the diner nextdoor and a full day's drive, we reached Nick's place about 8:00pm that night.
We rode through some of the most beautiful country of our trip, fields of hay with beautiful mountain backgrounds and wonderful clear rivers and streams hurrying by as we drove and the most perfect clear blue sky above as we continued south and a little East through British Columbia, Canada..the last leg of our journey until we reached the beloved USA!!!
Gene and I counted 7 border crossings and they didn't keep us at any. Actually, they all went pretty smoothly. I felt the USA crossings were a little more lax than the Canadian; however, we are American citizens so perhaps that is why.
Once over the last crossing into NE Washington State, the mountainous scenery and farmland continued, interspersed with beautiful rolling hills, mindful of the Palouse Country of Eastern Washington. I loved that country and felt as if I were home again as it reminded me so much of where I was raised along with my siblings in Ferndale Arkansas, about 20 miles west of Little Rock. My heart was full!
Upon getting to Nick and Debbie's we had some wonderful conversation with them for a couple of hours, had an ice cream cone and went to bed. The next day, Thursday was spent visiting, looking at pictures of the ones we just took and the albums that showed the years that Nick and Debbie raised their two sons in North Pole and Fairbanks Alaska..Deb made us a wonderful omelet w/cinnamon raisin bagels and two pots of coffee!
Nick and Gene unloaded the Uhaul RV and washed the bugs off of it before returning it to a dealer in Deer Park. Nick spent a lot of time washing it although I tried to tell him that they wouldn't give us a refund if it was cleaner:)
After doing our 'chores', Nick grilled 1/2 a salmon which we had with a baked potatoe and salad and good red wine..Now what could be better than that?
They were also trying to pack for their vacation which they had held up on after learning about my broken foot. They were going to NE WA, Penn Origer county to hunt huckleberries as we'd finished there last bunch when Deb had made us pancakes. They camp in their camping van next to a stream and hunt huckleberries but have to be sure to do it during the mid day so they don't have to share with the bears!!
La La Hache, Bc to Loon Lake, Washington
So after a good nite's sleep, breakfast at the diner nextdoor and a full day's drive, we reached Nick's place about 8:00pm that night.
We rode through some of the most beautiful country of our trip, fields of hay with beautiful mountain backgrounds and wonderful clear rivers and streams hurrying by as we drove and the most perfect clear blue sky above as we continued south and a little East through British Columbia, Canada..the last leg of our journey until we reached the beloved USA!!!
Gene and I counted 7 border crossings and they didn't keep us at any. Actually, they all went pretty smoothly. I felt the USA crossings were a little more lax than the Canadian; however, we are American citizens so perhaps that is why.
Once over the last crossing into NE Washington State, the mountainous scenery and farmland continued, interspersed with beautiful rolling hills, mindful of the Palouse Country of Eastern Washington. I loved that country and felt as if I were home again as it reminded me so much of where I was raised along with my siblings in Ferndale Arkansas, about 20 miles west of Little Rock. My heart was full!
Upon getting to Nick and Debbie's we had some wonderful conversation with them for a couple of hours, had an ice cream cone and went to bed. The next day, Thursday was spent visiting, looking at pictures of the ones we just took and the albums that showed the years that Nick and Debbie raised their two sons in North Pole and Fairbanks Alaska..Deb made us a wonderful omelet w/cinnamon raisin bagels and two pots of coffee!
Nick and Gene unloaded the Uhaul RV and washed the bugs off of it before returning it to a dealer in Deer Park. Nick spent a lot of time washing it although I tried to tell him that they wouldn't give us a refund if it was cleaner:)
After doing our 'chores', Nick grilled 1/2 a salmon which we had with a baked potatoe and salad and good red wine..Now what could be better than that?
They were also trying to pack for their vacation which they had held up on after learning about my broken foot. They were going to NE WA, Penn Origer county to hunt huckleberries as we'd finished there last bunch when Deb had made us pancakes. They camp in their camping van next to a stream and hunt huckleberries but have to be sure to do it during the mid day so they don't have to share with the bears!!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
I'm Okay, I'm Okay,I'm Okay!
Seems to be what I always say.. going into a McDonalds this morning..must have gotten too over confident and lead with the wrong foot going up a step, fell and stepped right on the bad foot.. but Gene caught me before I fell to the ground..poor Gene. If he doesn't have a heart attack worrying about me falling before I get home????? But I think I'm Okay.. doing fairly well this am.
We traveled 400 miles yesterday and made 3 stops at HD's. No real bargains to be had but Gene likes his dip dots :)
We did have a lovely day though, riding through beautiful country of rolling hills, mountains, rivers, lakes, hay fields, ranches and logging operations..new terms up here: "long load crossing" (double trailers of pine logs take a long time to crosss the highway). This is a big logging country up here.. many pine forests have to be gleaned as the pine beetle has killed many trees and they want to clear them as they are a huge forest fire danger.
We found a nice little, clean and cheap ($55) motel last nite in Lac La Hache which is a few miles north of Grande Cache, BC on our way home. We met a gentleman staying here on a monthly basis with his wife.. he is from Whitehorse, YT and his mother was a Native so he learned much from her and his grandparents.. He lives in the 'bush' in a cabin and told of how he made his smokehouse to smoke the moose and fish he gets. and his refrigeration which is a huge barrel put into the ground below the permafrost with a lid on it.
That's where he keeps his meat and anything else that needs to be cold. Very interesting fellow.
We are ready to leave now so will post again later.. almost to the end of our trip :(
We traveled 400 miles yesterday and made 3 stops at HD's. No real bargains to be had but Gene likes his dip dots :)
We did have a lovely day though, riding through beautiful country of rolling hills, mountains, rivers, lakes, hay fields, ranches and logging operations..new terms up here: "long load crossing" (double trailers of pine logs take a long time to crosss the highway). This is a big logging country up here.. many pine forests have to be gleaned as the pine beetle has killed many trees and they want to clear them as they are a huge forest fire danger.
We found a nice little, clean and cheap ($55) motel last nite in Lac La Hache which is a few miles north of Grande Cache, BC on our way home. We met a gentleman staying here on a monthly basis with his wife.. he is from Whitehorse, YT and his mother was a Native so he learned much from her and his grandparents.. He lives in the 'bush' in a cabin and told of how he made his smokehouse to smoke the moose and fish he gets. and his refrigeration which is a huge barrel put into the ground below the permafrost with a lid on it.
That's where he keeps his meat and anything else that needs to be cold. Very interesting fellow.
We are ready to leave now so will post again later.. almost to the end of our trip :(
Monday, July 19, 2010
Bears! And Glaciers! and Waterfalls! Oh My!!!!!`
July 19th, 2010 Monday
Vacationing in a "poor man's RV" Not!! (Dang thing cost $2000 plus gas!)..I'm definitely not a cheap date.. I know Gene must have thought seriously (for a second or two) about just getting on his Ultra.. riding off and pretending he didn't know me at all!!! :)
So we rose at 7:00 am.. Genebug brought me coffee while I checked email and replied to a couple. We were on the road by 8:00 am..headed South down the Cassiar toward Stewart BC/Hyder AK. Finally, Gene spotted a black bear grazing by the side of the road. No one behind us so we stopped and backed up and while I filmed him a bit.. Gene caught a couple of pics of him. He just kept eating like we weren't even there. I must admit I felt safer in our "RV" though :) A little further down the road, we spied another black bear walking across a clearing. However, this time we weren't quite so lucky with road traffic. Two vehicles behind us and going too fast to stop and back up.. so we missed filming him but we SAW HIM!! Yeah!!
Our next trip was to turn West on 37A to Stewart. We were rewarded with viewing of hanging glaciers.. the best was Bear Glacier that came all the way down to the lake... They are really quite amazing.. the size of them. Hope we got a couple of good pics and some filming done.
Beautiful scenery! It was about 38 miles to Stewart and Hyder, AK is right there. There was a Fish Creek Bear Viewing platform about 3 miles up this gravel road. Our friend, Charles Simon, had told us about it. He'd had quite a fun time viewing both grizzlies and black bear.. but wouldn't you know it.. it was about 2 weeks early for the fish to be in the creek so no bears:( We didn't see no DANG bears there!!! But we had such a good day with beautiful sunny weather, lots of beautiful flowers, waterfalls, glaciers, bears.. who could complain.. Now I'm just saying...it just don't get no better than this :).
We found a reasonable (cheap as we will find) motel in New Hazelton..not far from the town of Smithers on the Yellowhead (BC 16) highway. We will stop there in Smithers in the morning at the local HD dealer.. then there will be one in Prince George and Kamiloops and Kelownow (?) oh my.. but alas and alack.. we've spent all our money on Uhaul, gas and lodging.. Need to turn this rig in with in four more days.. hope we make it.. Gene is looking for a restaurant.. I will post this and then we will relax.. he doesn't relax until I'm on the bed for the nite snd off the crutches.. later
Vacationing in a "poor man's RV" Not!! (Dang thing cost $2000 plus gas!)..I'm definitely not a cheap date.. I know Gene must have thought seriously (for a second or two) about just getting on his Ultra.. riding off and pretending he didn't know me at all!!! :)
So we rose at 7:00 am.. Genebug brought me coffee while I checked email and replied to a couple. We were on the road by 8:00 am..headed South down the Cassiar toward Stewart BC/Hyder AK. Finally, Gene spotted a black bear grazing by the side of the road. No one behind us so we stopped and backed up and while I filmed him a bit.. Gene caught a couple of pics of him. He just kept eating like we weren't even there. I must admit I felt safer in our "RV" though :) A little further down the road, we spied another black bear walking across a clearing. However, this time we weren't quite so lucky with road traffic. Two vehicles behind us and going too fast to stop and back up.. so we missed filming him but we SAW HIM!! Yeah!!
Our next trip was to turn West on 37A to Stewart. We were rewarded with viewing of hanging glaciers.. the best was Bear Glacier that came all the way down to the lake... They are really quite amazing.. the size of them. Hope we got a couple of good pics and some filming done.
Beautiful scenery! It was about 38 miles to Stewart and Hyder, AK is right there. There was a Fish Creek Bear Viewing platform about 3 miles up this gravel road. Our friend, Charles Simon, had told us about it. He'd had quite a fun time viewing both grizzlies and black bear.. but wouldn't you know it.. it was about 2 weeks early for the fish to be in the creek so no bears:( We didn't see no DANG bears there!!! But we had such a good day with beautiful sunny weather, lots of beautiful flowers, waterfalls, glaciers, bears.. who could complain.. Now I'm just saying...it just don't get no better than this :).
We found a reasonable (cheap as we will find) motel in New Hazelton..not far from the town of Smithers on the Yellowhead (BC 16) highway. We will stop there in Smithers in the morning at the local HD dealer.. then there will be one in Prince George and Kamiloops and Kelownow (?) oh my.. but alas and alack.. we've spent all our money on Uhaul, gas and lodging.. Need to turn this rig in with in four more days.. hope we make it.. Gene is looking for a restaurant.. I will post this and then we will relax.. he doesn't relax until I'm on the bed for the nite snd off the crutches.. later
Sunday, July 18, 2010
The Cassiar Highway # 37 BC
July 17 & 18, 2010
Yesterday wasn't an animal day.. after learning that the ferry to Skagway wouldn't leave until 8:30 pm that nite.. we decided to skip it altogether and headed back up the Haines hwy to Haines Junction and the Alaska Hwy and then on to Whitehorse. We were disappointed to see no animals.. just beautiful country.
Gene & I are laying in bed in a motel room at Iskut, about halfway down on the Cassiar..Not near as neat as our place last nite but he's so funny.. "how many people vacation in a Uhaul?" I just had to write this..
Okay.. on to yesterday.. it was a long day.. we snacked on the way with gas station snacks and finally (after driving back & forth) found a great little cabin room at the Mountain Ridge RV and Cabin just outside of whitehorse.. He picked up a couple of salads at McDonalds..our place had a separate bath, kitchen and bedroom..very nicely decorated and very nice bedding..lots of extra pillows to keep my foot up (I think some of the swelling went down..but back up today :( ..Gene was exhausted so fell asleep & I posted on blogger, looked at email and tried to go to sleep..
We were up and gone by 8:30 this morning as Gene wanted to get some miles in..so we drove..or were on the road.. 12 hours today.from Whitehorse..almost to Watson Lake where we joined the Cassiar headed south in BC.
The only animals we saw were a grouse, an eagle, mountain goats (or sheep?) and ground squirrels..we scanned the road hard for bears and moose.. but not to be :(
Tomorrow, we will continue down the Cassiar and take a little side trip on 37A to Stewart BC and Hyder Alaska.. hoping to see some bears feeding on salmon. Charles Simon, our friend from the UK , had done this and had a great time watching some bears.. hope we are successful. until next time..
Yesterday wasn't an animal day.. after learning that the ferry to Skagway wouldn't leave until 8:30 pm that nite.. we decided to skip it altogether and headed back up the Haines hwy to Haines Junction and the Alaska Hwy and then on to Whitehorse. We were disappointed to see no animals.. just beautiful country.
Gene & I are laying in bed in a motel room at Iskut, about halfway down on the Cassiar..Not near as neat as our place last nite but he's so funny.. "how many people vacation in a Uhaul?" I just had to write this..
Okay.. on to yesterday.. it was a long day.. we snacked on the way with gas station snacks and finally (after driving back & forth) found a great little cabin room at the Mountain Ridge RV and Cabin just outside of whitehorse.. He picked up a couple of salads at McDonalds..our place had a separate bath, kitchen and bedroom..very nicely decorated and very nice bedding..lots of extra pillows to keep my foot up (I think some of the swelling went down..but back up today :( ..Gene was exhausted so fell asleep & I posted on blogger, looked at email and tried to go to sleep..
We were up and gone by 8:30 this morning as Gene wanted to get some miles in..so we drove..or were on the road.. 12 hours today.from Whitehorse..almost to Watson Lake where we joined the Cassiar headed south in BC.
The only animals we saw were a grouse, an eagle, mountain goats (or sheep?) and ground squirrels..we scanned the road hard for bears and moose.. but not to be :(
Tomorrow, we will continue down the Cassiar and take a little side trip on 37A to Stewart BC and Hyder Alaska.. hoping to see some bears feeding on salmon. Charles Simon, our friend from the UK , had done this and had a great time watching some bears.. hope we are successful. until next time..
Saturday, July 17, 2010
The End of the Ride !
The End of the Ride
July 14th, 2010
Yes, unfortunately, it is the end of the ride but not the end of the vacation..No Bike Accident! After all those months preparing for the trip and concentrating on being safe, not falling, etc. I did it! Stepped up on some rocks, lost my balance and my foot slipped between some rocks, I fell and broke a couple of bones in my left foot.
Now to the good news..there were many angels close by to minister to me. Two sweet young women held my hand, helped get my jackets off etc. I was fortunate enough that we’d stopped in a town, Glenallen, that had a medical clinic and an ambulance. I was still dressed as we’d just stopped for gas so I was unhurt from my fall except for my foot. A wonderful EMT young man, named Dave, tended to me so sweetly and they called their ambulance to take me to the clinic.. how many towns out here in Alaska have clinics? It was a long wait at the clinic only because I had such a caring doctor that he took time with all his patients!..Gene & I were wondering what to do about our bikes since it was becoming obvious I couldn’t ride my own.. He thought of renting a UHAUL..great thinker that husband of mine!
There was a dealer in town but they didn’t have trucks so while I was getting exrays and waiting for the bad news, Gene was busy getting lined up for a UHaul. He found one down in Valdez.. a 2 hour drive down to the sea which Gene and I were planning on riding too .We were also fortunate enough to have a nice motel and restaurant across the street. Gene got us a room there.
Dr B came in and gave me the news of my fractures. He put my foot in a spint and a wrap and I am on crutches. He said I need to see a surgeon when I get back to home to evaluate one of the breaks..Got me pain pills right there in the clinic and called a co worker, who happened to be from Iowa and a Harley rider, who agreed to take me across the street in his van. He was so caring and gentle and concerned for me and Gene.. walked me all the way down to my room to be sure I could use the crutches correctly.
These descriptions of these people goes along with my last observation in my last post….. that there are just good people all over this world, just trying to do their job and being good and loving folks.
As it was a two hour trip to Valdez and 2hr back plus his time to sign the contract, buy tie down straps, load the Ultra, etc. we were late getting out of the motel and the owners there were just kind and willing to let us have a couple of extra hours as Gene had to load my bike and the trailer..in the rain.
We drove in the rain yesterday to Tok, about 90 miles from the Canadian border and spent the night there. We awoke to sunshine today!!!! And Gene is outside trying to retie the bikes and arrange things a bit better than they were. Like he said this morning.. well, we did what we planned, rode to Alaska and back..and we are still on vacation. He has been my one special blessing in all of this. Although his words don’t come as easy, he has taken care of me like no other.
See, I’m finding some good in the bad :) Although, I must admit it’s a bit of a struggle at times. I keep thinking of how worse off other folks are.. The lady at the motel there in Glenallen said she’d had a couple in there last month that had both wrecked their bikes..someone cut them off. He had a broken leg and they had to stay there a week, had the HD in Anchorage come get their bikes and they had to fly home. Another lady had fallen while walking and broken her thigh bone in two places…Sooooo I’m the lucky one eh??? And so it goes. We rode in the rain here yesterday and couldn’t see the beautiful mountains so I guess I have nothing else to write about. It was hard enough to write about this to all of you. Gene is always telling me to watch where I’m going. I try to but sometimes it just doesn’t work!!!
Another Day
Haines Junction to Haines & Back
Saturday July 17th (I think)
You folks who care enough to read this blog don’t know how hard it was to tell everyone of the end of my riding for a while. It was, is, a little depressing or upsetting, but in the big scheme of things..its all okay. As Gene said, we had already made our Alaska ride and he was tired of riding in the rain anyway !
I had to call my family before posting this but was not able to use my phone most of the time.. I got through to Brian after a couple of dropped calls and was able to tell him and he told John and Kara. Nony called me and I told her and asked her to call my brothers and sisters as I could go ahead and post this and not have them reading it on a blog. I don’t have the phone service to get all the phone calls made..I will not get to see my sister, Diane, in Seattle like I’d hoped to as it would take too much driving time and I need to get back to DsM to have my foot looked at again.
And so on to the trip. Gene & I drove down to Haines, Ak on the Haines Hwy yesterday. It was a very beautiful ride with mountains all around us, snow alongside of us and we saw a beautiful grizzly alongside the roadway. Gene was able to get a couple of pics but I was never able to get video of her. There was another car stopped and just as he was going to snap a foto of her full length, that gal stepped in front of him!! Ackkk! But it was sure fun to watch her walk through the bushes. She didn’t even pay any attention to us. Then, just outside of Haines, we rounded a corner and there was a small black bear running up the highway. She crossed the road in front of us and ran into the bushes in front of us..
We drove almost all day, slowly due to that terrible road between Tok and Haines Junction..some 300-400 miles total. We were going to take the ferry into Skagway but I didn’t realize it doesn’t leave until evening and we have to be out of this room by 11:00am..With me not able to get around too well, we decided to drive back up the Haines and head on to Whitehorse.. heading toward hwy 37 in BC which is called the Cassiar Hwy. It is supposed to be quite beautiful. I hope to make a stop at Stewart,BC /Hyder, AK to see the bear viewing station and then on toward Prince George and home.
I know you folks are sad for me too. But I’m trying to remember to act as my Mother would, to make lemonade out of peaches or lemons or whatever. I am well and healthy and happy and although Gene continues to do more worrying than I wish he would; he too, is doing well and we are in good spirits as we journey on toward home. ‘nuf for now.. our love to you all!
July 14th, 2010
Yes, unfortunately, it is the end of the ride but not the end of the vacation..No Bike Accident! After all those months preparing for the trip and concentrating on being safe, not falling, etc. I did it! Stepped up on some rocks, lost my balance and my foot slipped between some rocks, I fell and broke a couple of bones in my left foot.
Now to the good news..there were many angels close by to minister to me. Two sweet young women held my hand, helped get my jackets off etc. I was fortunate enough that we’d stopped in a town, Glenallen, that had a medical clinic and an ambulance. I was still dressed as we’d just stopped for gas so I was unhurt from my fall except for my foot. A wonderful EMT young man, named Dave, tended to me so sweetly and they called their ambulance to take me to the clinic.. how many towns out here in Alaska have clinics? It was a long wait at the clinic only because I had such a caring doctor that he took time with all his patients!..Gene & I were wondering what to do about our bikes since it was becoming obvious I couldn’t ride my own.. He thought of renting a UHAUL..great thinker that husband of mine!
There was a dealer in town but they didn’t have trucks so while I was getting exrays and waiting for the bad news, Gene was busy getting lined up for a UHaul. He found one down in Valdez.. a 2 hour drive down to the sea which Gene and I were planning on riding too .We were also fortunate enough to have a nice motel and restaurant across the street. Gene got us a room there.
Dr B came in and gave me the news of my fractures. He put my foot in a spint and a wrap and I am on crutches. He said I need to see a surgeon when I get back to home to evaluate one of the breaks..Got me pain pills right there in the clinic and called a co worker, who happened to be from Iowa and a Harley rider, who agreed to take me across the street in his van. He was so caring and gentle and concerned for me and Gene.. walked me all the way down to my room to be sure I could use the crutches correctly.
These descriptions of these people goes along with my last observation in my last post….. that there are just good people all over this world, just trying to do their job and being good and loving folks.
As it was a two hour trip to Valdez and 2hr back plus his time to sign the contract, buy tie down straps, load the Ultra, etc. we were late getting out of the motel and the owners there were just kind and willing to let us have a couple of extra hours as Gene had to load my bike and the trailer..in the rain.
We drove in the rain yesterday to Tok, about 90 miles from the Canadian border and spent the night there. We awoke to sunshine today!!!! And Gene is outside trying to retie the bikes and arrange things a bit better than they were. Like he said this morning.. well, we did what we planned, rode to Alaska and back..and we are still on vacation. He has been my one special blessing in all of this. Although his words don’t come as easy, he has taken care of me like no other.
See, I’m finding some good in the bad :) Although, I must admit it’s a bit of a struggle at times. I keep thinking of how worse off other folks are.. The lady at the motel there in Glenallen said she’d had a couple in there last month that had both wrecked their bikes..someone cut them off. He had a broken leg and they had to stay there a week, had the HD in Anchorage come get their bikes and they had to fly home. Another lady had fallen while walking and broken her thigh bone in two places…Sooooo I’m the lucky one eh??? And so it goes. We rode in the rain here yesterday and couldn’t see the beautiful mountains so I guess I have nothing else to write about. It was hard enough to write about this to all of you. Gene is always telling me to watch where I’m going. I try to but sometimes it just doesn’t work!!!
Another Day
Haines Junction to Haines & Back
Saturday July 17th (I think)
You folks who care enough to read this blog don’t know how hard it was to tell everyone of the end of my riding for a while. It was, is, a little depressing or upsetting, but in the big scheme of things..its all okay. As Gene said, we had already made our Alaska ride and he was tired of riding in the rain anyway !
I had to call my family before posting this but was not able to use my phone most of the time.. I got through to Brian after a couple of dropped calls and was able to tell him and he told John and Kara. Nony called me and I told her and asked her to call my brothers and sisters as I could go ahead and post this and not have them reading it on a blog. I don’t have the phone service to get all the phone calls made..I will not get to see my sister, Diane, in Seattle like I’d hoped to as it would take too much driving time and I need to get back to DsM to have my foot looked at again.
And so on to the trip. Gene & I drove down to Haines, Ak on the Haines Hwy yesterday. It was a very beautiful ride with mountains all around us, snow alongside of us and we saw a beautiful grizzly alongside the roadway. Gene was able to get a couple of pics but I was never able to get video of her. There was another car stopped and just as he was going to snap a foto of her full length, that gal stepped in front of him!! Ackkk! But it was sure fun to watch her walk through the bushes. She didn’t even pay any attention to us. Then, just outside of Haines, we rounded a corner and there was a small black bear running up the highway. She crossed the road in front of us and ran into the bushes in front of us..
We drove almost all day, slowly due to that terrible road between Tok and Haines Junction..some 300-400 miles total. We were going to take the ferry into Skagway but I didn’t realize it doesn’t leave until evening and we have to be out of this room by 11:00am..With me not able to get around too well, we decided to drive back up the Haines and head on to Whitehorse.. heading toward hwy 37 in BC which is called the Cassiar Hwy. It is supposed to be quite beautiful. I hope to make a stop at Stewart,BC /Hyder, AK to see the bear viewing station and then on toward Prince George and home.
I know you folks are sad for me too. But I’m trying to remember to act as my Mother would, to make lemonade out of peaches or lemons or whatever. I am well and healthy and happy and although Gene continues to do more worrying than I wish he would; he too, is doing well and we are in good spirits as we journey on toward home. ‘nuf for now.. our love to you all!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
"On the Road Again" to Anchorage
July 13,2010
55 degrees this morning..left our little cabin by 8:30..rain gear on as it was sprinkling.. Thank goodness we'd had a bright and sunny perfect day yesterday on our trip into Denali as today was not going to be so. It rained all day on our ride into Anchorage. Our big excitement of the day was an animal sighting..but not one you would want. A huge moose jumped up out of the roadway in front of Gene.. He braked & didn't have time to warn me but I braked when I saw him brake and she passed in front of me. Thank God she didn't stop on the roadway.. I didn't see her until she was right in front of me. With the rain, I could really only watch Gene and the roadway. It was a scary situation but we were blessed.
We spent the afternoon at the Harley Davidson dealer getting the oil changed in our bikes.. we were both over 2500. I was so muddy and wet and dirty I wasn't sure that they would let me in. However, when I saw the large lighted sign "Free Biker Trash Coffee" I knew it was meant for me. While waiting, we had a couple of interesting conversations. One was with a couple of longshoremen (or woman).. They have to work at least 1 day per month to keep their union standing. She usually works 3-4 days per month..making $500 /day..They are on an extended trip..probably mid 40's.
The other gentleman had ridden the Hoka Hey Challenge on his Road King Police Bike. He,too, was very interesting..telling us some of his travels. The Hoka Hey means "its a good day to ride (or die) depending on which Indian dialect is being used. A lot of it is filmed. I'll have to check it out online when I get a chance.
We're trying to decide whether to ride down the Kenai (and back up) or ride to Valdez (and back up)Too many decisions.. Think I'll sleep on it and see what the weather looks like tomorrow.
Observations:
1) There ususlly is no road kill on the road as the wild animals and birds get it eaten in a hurry.
2) Most of the "other kind" of bikes are ridden by one person, usually younger males.
Of the larger bikes; they are often ridden two up and often pulling trailers (like Gene says about me..with a woman..you've got to have a trailer)...I don't see many bikes being ridden like me and Gene with the man on his bike and the woman on hers.
Most of the Gold Wings are ridden by couples.
3) Most of the people we see and meet are very nice people. In fact, the world is full of good folks. We are having an opportunity to see that. Too bad we usually only hear about the bad ones :(
4)For the most part, the Alaskan highway is very good, well maintained. However, there are some long gravel,wet dirt,rocked miles while they work construction, Overall, I am very impressed with the roads in Alaska.
Until next time........
55 degrees this morning..left our little cabin by 8:30..rain gear on as it was sprinkling.. Thank goodness we'd had a bright and sunny perfect day yesterday on our trip into Denali as today was not going to be so. It rained all day on our ride into Anchorage. Our big excitement of the day was an animal sighting..but not one you would want. A huge moose jumped up out of the roadway in front of Gene.. He braked & didn't have time to warn me but I braked when I saw him brake and she passed in front of me. Thank God she didn't stop on the roadway.. I didn't see her until she was right in front of me. With the rain, I could really only watch Gene and the roadway. It was a scary situation but we were blessed.
We spent the afternoon at the Harley Davidson dealer getting the oil changed in our bikes.. we were both over 2500. I was so muddy and wet and dirty I wasn't sure that they would let me in. However, when I saw the large lighted sign "Free Biker Trash Coffee" I knew it was meant for me. While waiting, we had a couple of interesting conversations. One was with a couple of longshoremen (or woman).. They have to work at least 1 day per month to keep their union standing. She usually works 3-4 days per month..making $500 /day..They are on an extended trip..probably mid 40's.
The other gentleman had ridden the Hoka Hey Challenge on his Road King Police Bike. He,too, was very interesting..telling us some of his travels. The Hoka Hey means "its a good day to ride (or die) depending on which Indian dialect is being used. A lot of it is filmed. I'll have to check it out online when I get a chance.
We're trying to decide whether to ride down the Kenai (and back up) or ride to Valdez (and back up)Too many decisions.. Think I'll sleep on it and see what the weather looks like tomorrow.
Observations:
1) There ususlly is no road kill on the road as the wild animals and birds get it eaten in a hurry.
2) Most of the "other kind" of bikes are ridden by one person, usually younger males.
Of the larger bikes; they are often ridden two up and often pulling trailers (like Gene says about me..with a woman..you've got to have a trailer)...I don't see many bikes being ridden like me and Gene with the man on his bike and the woman on hers.
Most of the Gold Wings are ridden by couples.
3) Most of the people we see and meet are very nice people. In fact, the world is full of good folks. We are having an opportunity to see that. Too bad we usually only hear about the bad ones :(
4)For the most part, the Alaskan highway is very good, well maintained. However, there are some long gravel,wet dirt,rocked miles while they work construction, Overall, I am very impressed with the roads in Alaska.
Until next time........
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