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........
Monday, July 12, 2010
Fairbanks to Denali National Park
Fairbanks to Denali-Mt McKinley Nat’l Park
July 11, 2010
Happy 40th Anniversary to my sister, Diane McDaniel and her wonderful husband, Rob.. She & I married in the same year. She is one of my many blessings!!
Well, as luck would have it, Gene and I awoke to rain and rode in it for several hours on our way South on Alaska 3 to Denali Natl Park, This little berg has a lot of hills in it and we were hard pressed to find a room we felt we could afford.. Finally, someone told us to check at the Denali Salmon Bake. They did have one little economy cabin left for $69 + tax. It has heat, electric and two beds.. looks like a little cabin with a tarp over it.. but it was cute and rustic and DRY! Much better than the little place Carole and I had in Okoboji:0)
I know we passed some beautiful scenery and missed seeing the pipeline but that’s what happens when it rains :( We had a salmon BLT at the Salmon Bake and watched a movie on the computer cause we had no TV (like camping only it was dry). I have made reservations for a 7:00am bus trip into Denali Park.. 63 miles in to Eilson Station to hopefully see Mt Mckinley and some animals. The Salmon Bake will have a driver take us to the Wilderness Access Center in the Park. I have a lunch packed with water, cameras and binoculars.. Now..lets see what we can see.
July 12, 2010,
Thank goodness I just happened to wake up at 10 minutes til six am..as I had set the clock but on am/not pm so although the alarm was set for 5:45am.. It didn’t go off until just a little while ago….at 5:45pm!! But that’s Judy for you!..We woke to a beautiful sunny sky, few clouds and were on our way to meet the bus at 6:30. Although ours was not a regular tour bus where the driver is required to point out every detail to you.. we were so fortunate to have an Alaskan woman who drives school buses in her regular job..so therefore had a lot of patience and also had a a lot of knowledge she was willing to share with us.. She’s done this job for several years and knows and loves Denali.. So she showed us the park with enthusiasm …stopped whenever we thought we saw or really did see an animal and also pointed them out to us.
The sheep were very far away..up in the mountains they looked like white dots until you trained your binoculars on them.. We saw grizzlies twice, but they, too, were pretty far away. We had Caribou walk across the road in front of us.. saw a female moose..AND ..WE SAW MT MCKINLEY. I say this with exclamation as it is said that only 25% to 30% of the people ever see the Mountain..It is usually shrouded in clouds but we saw it clearly..Huge!! Looked like some of the photographs I’ve seen.. so they say we saw all Five our our trip. The Four large mammals and the Mountain!.. Our driver, Wendy , remarked that she usually only sees it about 10 times during the whole summer she drives her bus out there. So we were happy.
Then back to our “little cabin in the woods” for our afternoon nap and up to journal and then probably some dinner and a movie before bed..
I called my sister, Diane, to wish her a Happy 40th and she told me her husband had planned a surprise plane trip back home to Maryville Mo where they met in college in 1968 and then married in 1970. They went to all their old hangouts they went to as kids, having dinner with my brother, Frank, In KC, Kansas and then returning to their home in Olympia, Wa today,.. isn’t that wonderful?? Ahhhhh. Love that lasts!! It just doesn’t get any better than this :) :)Love to all!
July 11, 2010
Happy 40th Anniversary to my sister, Diane McDaniel and her wonderful husband, Rob.. She & I married in the same year. She is one of my many blessings!!
Well, as luck would have it, Gene and I awoke to rain and rode in it for several hours on our way South on Alaska 3 to Denali Natl Park, This little berg has a lot of hills in it and we were hard pressed to find a room we felt we could afford.. Finally, someone told us to check at the Denali Salmon Bake. They did have one little economy cabin left for $69 + tax. It has heat, electric and two beds.. looks like a little cabin with a tarp over it.. but it was cute and rustic and DRY! Much better than the little place Carole and I had in Okoboji:0)
I know we passed some beautiful scenery and missed seeing the pipeline but that’s what happens when it rains :( We had a salmon BLT at the Salmon Bake and watched a movie on the computer cause we had no TV (like camping only it was dry). I have made reservations for a 7:00am bus trip into Denali Park.. 63 miles in to Eilson Station to hopefully see Mt Mckinley and some animals. The Salmon Bake will have a driver take us to the Wilderness Access Center in the Park. I have a lunch packed with water, cameras and binoculars.. Now..lets see what we can see.
July 12, 2010,
Thank goodness I just happened to wake up at 10 minutes til six am..as I had set the clock but on am/not pm so although the alarm was set for 5:45am.. It didn’t go off until just a little while ago….at 5:45pm!! But that’s Judy for you!..We woke to a beautiful sunny sky, few clouds and were on our way to meet the bus at 6:30. Although ours was not a regular tour bus where the driver is required to point out every detail to you.. we were so fortunate to have an Alaskan woman who drives school buses in her regular job..so therefore had a lot of patience and also had a a lot of knowledge she was willing to share with us.. She’s done this job for several years and knows and loves Denali.. So she showed us the park with enthusiasm …stopped whenever we thought we saw or really did see an animal and also pointed them out to us.
The sheep were very far away..up in the mountains they looked like white dots until you trained your binoculars on them.. We saw grizzlies twice, but they, too, were pretty far away. We had Caribou walk across the road in front of us.. saw a female moose..AND ..WE SAW MT MCKINLEY. I say this with exclamation as it is said that only 25% to 30% of the people ever see the Mountain..It is usually shrouded in clouds but we saw it clearly..Huge!! Looked like some of the photographs I’ve seen.. so they say we saw all Five our our trip. The Four large mammals and the Mountain!.. Our driver, Wendy , remarked that she usually only sees it about 10 times during the whole summer she drives her bus out there. So we were happy.
Then back to our “little cabin in the woods” for our afternoon nap and up to journal and then probably some dinner and a movie before bed..
I called my sister, Diane, to wish her a Happy 40th and she told me her husband had planned a surprise plane trip back home to Maryville Mo where they met in college in 1968 and then married in 1970. They went to all their old hangouts they went to as kids, having dinner with my brother, Frank, In KC, Kansas and then returning to their home in Olympia, Wa today,.. isn’t that wonderful?? Ahhhhh. Love that lasts!! It just doesn’t get any better than this :) :)Love to all!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Watson Lake to Whitehorse YT
This post is out of order.. should be before todays post.. I had it written in Word and then my time ran out of Wi-Fi before I could upload it.. sorry :)
Watson Lake to Whitehorse,YT, Haines Junction YT to Tok, Alaska
July 8 & 9 2010
We arose at 4:30 am again (42degrees) and after packing our tent and gear up, continued our trek up the Alaskan Hwy in hopes of seeing more animals and fantastic scenery. Well, if you call numerous black Ravens and 3 chipmunks crossing the road in front of you… then I guess we saw animals. This was somewhat of a disappointment as we were hoping for a day like the previous one when we traveled to Watson Lake but it was not to be ..We did have a good day of riding however, stopping at Johnson’s Crossing midmorning to warm up with a cup of coffee and one of their ‘world famous’ cinnamon rolls.
We found a nice campground at Haines Junction and ate leftover Dominoes pizza for dinner..heated up on a grate & fire. A couple showed up on their Harley pulling a large camper trailer behind them. They had stories to tell of the awful road up ahead on a 40 mile stretch between Destruction Bay and Beaver Creek. There are large frost heaves..huge holes in the road and these curved huge grooves. At the time of their travel a couple of days ago, these were not marked. He had gotten into a groove and it had thrown them both off the bike onto the roadway while their bike continued down the groove as if someone was riding it and went off on the other side of the road. RVer’s stopped to help them get the bike back up. She was terribly thankful that they had full riding gear and helmets on and were pretty much unhurt other than being so scared and shaken. Their bike survived with only scratches and a couple of dents. Gene said the main reason for their going down was due to the size and weight of their trailer. Once it got into one of those grooves, it took control and jerked them off thebike.
Gene and I showered and were off to bed at 8:30 shuddering inside thinking of what kinds of road hazards we’d have to deal with. We’d also talked to people who’d had their windshields broken by flying rocks from passing vehicles too impatient to take it slow.
Friday, July 9, 2010
We woke at 5:30 this morning to a very cold 32 degrees. Wearing our heated gear to stay warm we packed away our gear and were on the road by 6:30am. No wildlife again but after 1 ½ hours, we found a restaurant along the way where we stopped to warm up, have a cappuccino and a great omelet for ‘only’ $14 each!!. I tell you, things sure cost a lot more up here in the North Country. Seems most things are sometimes double. I guess the cost of getting them here might be one of the reasons…Our stop allowed the temp outside to rise a little where, at least, I was not miserable !!
We were rewarded with a most beautiful ride along the Kluane Lake (Klu-wa-ne) that ran for miles along the highway. Unfortunately, I did not get a photo as the best one happened to be with close vehicles behind us and no place to pull over. Other places did not have the Sunshine in the right place.
After gassing up in Destruction Bay, we rode on with trepidation for what lay ahead of us. We were fortunate that the lady had told us what to look for so were prepared somewhat unlike her own experience. Sure enough, the grooves were many and long and quite bumpy but Gene and I became adept at avoiding the worst and hitting the others as one might hit a railroad track. As traffic was light at that early hour, we could use both sides of the highway to avoid the frost heaves and maneuver our bikes in and around them . When we finally reached Beaver Creek, we both gave a sigh of relief and agreed that had been the most fun part of our trip to date!!!!!
We then crossed the border into America again and entered Alaska about 30 miles further up the road. We now have reached our goal of riding in all of the United States (but Hawaii) and most of the Canadian provinces. It was good to get back to mph and miles rather that kilometers. Plus, we gained another hour as we are now in Alaskan time Zone. We found a nice tree lined tent space at TOK RV Camp in TOK , Alaska.. Tomorrow , it is to Delta Junction (the official end of the Alaskan Highway and then we will be on the Richardson Highway towards Fairbanks. My brother, Nick Carter and his famlly lived on the Richardson Hwy and he worked at the Eielson Air Force Base their just south of North Pole,AK.
Enjoyed a free hour long show by a local Tok resident.. really good.. then to our campsite to upload this blog and good nite to all..We’ll let you know how the road to Fairbanks went..
Watson Lake to Whitehorse,YT, Haines Junction YT to Tok, Alaska
July 8 & 9 2010
We arose at 4:30 am again (42degrees) and after packing our tent and gear up, continued our trek up the Alaskan Hwy in hopes of seeing more animals and fantastic scenery. Well, if you call numerous black Ravens and 3 chipmunks crossing the road in front of you… then I guess we saw animals. This was somewhat of a disappointment as we were hoping for a day like the previous one when we traveled to Watson Lake but it was not to be ..We did have a good day of riding however, stopping at Johnson’s Crossing midmorning to warm up with a cup of coffee and one of their ‘world famous’ cinnamon rolls.
We found a nice campground at Haines Junction and ate leftover Dominoes pizza for dinner..heated up on a grate & fire. A couple showed up on their Harley pulling a large camper trailer behind them. They had stories to tell of the awful road up ahead on a 40 mile stretch between Destruction Bay and Beaver Creek. There are large frost heaves..huge holes in the road and these curved huge grooves. At the time of their travel a couple of days ago, these were not marked. He had gotten into a groove and it had thrown them both off the bike onto the roadway while their bike continued down the groove as if someone was riding it and went off on the other side of the road. RVer’s stopped to help them get the bike back up. She was terribly thankful that they had full riding gear and helmets on and were pretty much unhurt other than being so scared and shaken. Their bike survived with only scratches and a couple of dents. Gene said the main reason for their going down was due to the size and weight of their trailer. Once it got into one of those grooves, it took control and jerked them off thebike.
Gene and I showered and were off to bed at 8:30 shuddering inside thinking of what kinds of road hazards we’d have to deal with. We’d also talked to people who’d had their windshields broken by flying rocks from passing vehicles too impatient to take it slow.
Friday, July 9, 2010
We woke at 5:30 this morning to a very cold 32 degrees. Wearing our heated gear to stay warm we packed away our gear and were on the road by 6:30am. No wildlife again but after 1 ½ hours, we found a restaurant along the way where we stopped to warm up, have a cappuccino and a great omelet for ‘only’ $14 each!!. I tell you, things sure cost a lot more up here in the North Country. Seems most things are sometimes double. I guess the cost of getting them here might be one of the reasons…Our stop allowed the temp outside to rise a little where, at least, I was not miserable !!
We were rewarded with a most beautiful ride along the Kluane Lake (Klu-wa-ne) that ran for miles along the highway. Unfortunately, I did not get a photo as the best one happened to be with close vehicles behind us and no place to pull over. Other places did not have the Sunshine in the right place.
After gassing up in Destruction Bay, we rode on with trepidation for what lay ahead of us. We were fortunate that the lady had told us what to look for so were prepared somewhat unlike her own experience. Sure enough, the grooves were many and long and quite bumpy but Gene and I became adept at avoiding the worst and hitting the others as one might hit a railroad track. As traffic was light at that early hour, we could use both sides of the highway to avoid the frost heaves and maneuver our bikes in and around them . When we finally reached Beaver Creek, we both gave a sigh of relief and agreed that had been the most fun part of our trip to date!!!!!
We then crossed the border into America again and entered Alaska about 30 miles further up the road. We now have reached our goal of riding in all of the United States (but Hawaii) and most of the Canadian provinces. It was good to get back to mph and miles rather that kilometers. Plus, we gained another hour as we are now in Alaskan time Zone. We found a nice tree lined tent space at TOK RV Camp in TOK , Alaska.. Tomorrow , it is to Delta Junction (the official end of the Alaskan Highway and then we will be on the Richardson Highway towards Fairbanks. My brother, Nick Carter and his famlly lived on the Richardson Hwy and he worked at the Eielson Air Force Base their just south of North Pole,AK.
Enjoyed a free hour long show by a local Tok resident.. really good.. then to our campsite to upload this blog and good nite to all..We’ll let you know how the road to Fairbanks went..
Tok to Fairbanks
Saturday July 10,2010
I had to ask someone what day this is..isn't that awful? We didnt get out of camp until 9:00am this morning as we didn't wake until 5:30 and Gene took the bikes to the bike wash at the campground..then on our way to Fairbanks by the way of Delta Junction.
Not too far outside of Tok.. Gene saw a black bear..down a lane and we were already passed. A little later, he saw a moose but just as he was heading into the treelline. I saw neither!
We next came into Delta Junction which is the official end of the Alaskan Highway..mile 1422 from Dawson City, Alberta.. After gassing up and buying some wonderful beef jerkey, we started the final leg to Fairbanks, motoring through North Pole, Alaska on the way. Just prior to North Pole, I, too, saw a moose but as soon as I pulled up, he scattered into the tree line..No bears for me today.
Upon arriving in Fairbanks, we first went to the HD there. I can never find anything for myself that I think I can afford! By that time, I was hot and tired and cranky..Gene thought about continuing another 2 hours down to Denali but I convinced him a motel would be the answer.. Unfortunately, it has no AC..80 degrees here.however, that is not usual for Fairbanks. We are now back in our room after eating some dinner and after my shower.. I'm heading to bed..We will head south to Denali Natl Park in hopes of seeing Mt McKinley. 'nuf for now
I had to ask someone what day this is..isn't that awful? We didnt get out of camp until 9:00am this morning as we didn't wake until 5:30 and Gene took the bikes to the bike wash at the campground..then on our way to Fairbanks by the way of Delta Junction.
Not too far outside of Tok.. Gene saw a black bear..down a lane and we were already passed. A little later, he saw a moose but just as he was heading into the treelline. I saw neither!
We next came into Delta Junction which is the official end of the Alaskan Highway..mile 1422 from Dawson City, Alberta.. After gassing up and buying some wonderful beef jerkey, we started the final leg to Fairbanks, motoring through North Pole, Alaska on the way. Just prior to North Pole, I, too, saw a moose but as soon as I pulled up, he scattered into the tree line..No bears for me today.
Upon arriving in Fairbanks, we first went to the HD there. I can never find anything for myself that I think I can afford! By that time, I was hot and tired and cranky..Gene thought about continuing another 2 hours down to Denali but I convinced him a motel would be the answer.. Unfortunately, it has no AC..80 degrees here.however, that is not usual for Fairbanks. We are now back in our room after eating some dinner and after my shower.. I'm heading to bed..We will head south to Denali Natl Park in hopes of seeing Mt McKinley. 'nuf for now
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Alaskan Highway:Fort Nelson BC to WatsonLake,YT
Wed, July 7 2010
Since daylight begins up here at about 2:00am.. we decidedOn to rise early (4:30am) and get on the road hoping we could see some wildlife. We were rolling at 6:00 (took forever to load the bike and trailer) all gassed up and headed north.
Our plan worked for us today as it was bright and sunny and we were rewarded with 5 bear sightings, a mommy and baby moose running down the river bed, 2 big horn sheep (not sure if my photo turned out or not), several mountain goats on and alongside the road, 3 elk in a field and a large group of bison, (mamas, papas, and babies)..That was a little scary for me..I saw that they were getting skittish..starting to move around and I decided to put my camera away and get the hell out of their way as they were grouping and moving toward me.. luckily,in my hurry to start my bike.. I killed it and they stampeded right in front of me.. Gene had moved his bike a little further ahead and they went right between us!!!.. They were moving fast and went right across the road!! Those of you who know our “Terror on the treeline” story will now know this as my “Terror on the Alcan” story
Of the bears, Gene made me move when one of the bears we saw was getting closer to my bike…but he was just eating things on the ground and not paying much attention to me. Another bear was so cute as he lay down on his back and started licking his feet but by then I’d put my camera away as Gene was telling me to move up to him.
About 2 hours into our ride this morning, we made a stop at a gas place..old time looking and an “old time looking” gentleman came out to gas us up..cost $51.10 to put gas in our two bikes..my was ½ empty and Gene still had a 1/4 tank left but since we didn’t know how far it was to the next place for sure we didn’t want to come into town empty again like last nite. ..It was actually a pretty neat place. We had an awesome bacon and egg sandwich on bread that looked like ½ a loaf and bacon so thick you really had to chew it, good hot coffee and wonderful conversation with Herm.. who had served 20 years in the Canandian Air Force.. and now is a big game guide..he has 4 planes that he uses to fly people into the bush..said he has gone from hunting terrorists to terrorizing tourists..We also had a nice conversation with a couple of Harley riders who had come from Key West to Homer Alaska on the Hokahuy Challenge.. a race that had a winning purse of $500,000. The winner will be announced at Sturgis 8/11/10 and it wasn’t these guys..:)
We decided to camp tonite as it’s not supposed to rain ?? No campfire but we do have our LIT eating cold pizza from last nite or peanut butter. At $21 for this tentsite.. it makes up a little for the $75 spent at Herms and the $ 170 hotel in Jasper..Dang..wish we’d win a million.
Rode 340 miles today and from 6:00am to 2:pm..all in all a very good day 'nuf
for now
Since daylight begins up here at about 2:00am.. we decidedOn to rise early (4:30am) and get on the road hoping we could see some wildlife. We were rolling at 6:00 (took forever to load the bike and trailer) all gassed up and headed north.
Our plan worked for us today as it was bright and sunny and we were rewarded with 5 bear sightings, a mommy and baby moose running down the river bed, 2 big horn sheep (not sure if my photo turned out or not), several mountain goats on and alongside the road, 3 elk in a field and a large group of bison, (mamas, papas, and babies)..That was a little scary for me..I saw that they were getting skittish..starting to move around and I decided to put my camera away and get the hell out of their way as they were grouping and moving toward me.. luckily,in my hurry to start my bike.. I killed it and they stampeded right in front of me.. Gene had moved his bike a little further ahead and they went right between us!!!.. They were moving fast and went right across the road!! Those of you who know our “Terror on the treeline” story will now know this as my “Terror on the Alcan” story
Of the bears, Gene made me move when one of the bears we saw was getting closer to my bike…but he was just eating things on the ground and not paying much attention to me. Another bear was so cute as he lay down on his back and started licking his feet but by then I’d put my camera away as Gene was telling me to move up to him.
About 2 hours into our ride this morning, we made a stop at a gas place..old time looking and an “old time looking” gentleman came out to gas us up..cost $51.10 to put gas in our two bikes..my was ½ empty and Gene still had a 1/4 tank left but since we didn’t know how far it was to the next place for sure we didn’t want to come into town empty again like last nite. ..It was actually a pretty neat place. We had an awesome bacon and egg sandwich on bread that looked like ½ a loaf and bacon so thick you really had to chew it, good hot coffee and wonderful conversation with Herm.. who had served 20 years in the Canandian Air Force.. and now is a big game guide..he has 4 planes that he uses to fly people into the bush..said he has gone from hunting terrorists to terrorizing tourists..We also had a nice conversation with a couple of Harley riders who had come from Key West to Homer Alaska on the Hokahuy Challenge.. a race that had a winning purse of $500,000. The winner will be announced at Sturgis 8/11/10 and it wasn’t these guys..:)
We decided to camp tonite as it’s not supposed to rain ?? No campfire but we do have our LIT eating cold pizza from last nite or peanut butter. At $21 for this tentsite.. it makes up a little for the $75 spent at Herms and the $ 170 hotel in Jasper..Dang..wish we’d win a million.
Rode 340 miles today and from 6:00am to 2:pm..all in all a very good day 'nuf
for now
Monday, July 5, 2010
Jasper to Grand Prairie, AB
Monday July 5,2010
I've read that you guys' have been having a bit of rain there in the Midwest.. Let me tell you.. you don't know about rain until you've driven in it for over 2 solid hours and 40 degree temps and NO place to pull over and try to warm up!!! We woke to rain, and rode in the rain to Grand Cache..Finally after 2 capucinos apiece and walking around to warm up a bit.. we took off toward Grand Prairie..wet boots, socks and gloves and all but at 50-55 degree temps..we survived so much better. We even had peaks of sun and not constant rain. sure hoping for a better ride tomorrow.. we plan to make a long day of it to Ft Nelson after stopping at Dawson Creek.. which is Mile Zero of the Alaskan Highway..
On the animal report.. there were 3-4 mule deer alongside the road and then twice more..we came closer than I wished, to deer..running alongside of me in the ditch and starting to cross then going back into the bush.. we have to keep a close eye out..
Photos: Will try to post what I have tonite..we don't have many yet as I couldn't even see the beautiful mountains and streams today, let alone get off and take a photo of RAIN!..Until next time..Gene and Judy
Grand Prarie,Dawson Creek to Fort Nelson
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Well..obviously the photos didn't get uploaded..I've piddled with them.. named then.. think they are on my computer but haven't figured out yet what I'm doing wrong.. and now.. I am too damn tired :( We plan to rise early tomorrow..leave early toward Watson Lake, Yukon Territory.
We left Grand Prairie AB this morning around 8:00am..sunshine and 50 degrees.. so much better than yesterday..road was great but scenery wasn't exceptional..no photos today.. we rode pretty solid for around 6 hours..we stopped at Dawson Creek which is the official start of the Alaskan highway; Mile Zero. We did get some photos there. We ended tonite at Fort Nelson. We saw a herd of mule deer, I saw a young moose and Gene saw the BEAR!!! dang it.. I missed it.. but we were unable to get photos..We didn't have much trouble with traffic but about ran out of gas.. does that surprise anyone who knows Gene..he came in for several miles on his red lite and I was well into my red zone on the empty side..nervewracking for me.
I was really tired when we pulled into town but am doing fine..Thank you to John and Carole for the use of the trailer. It pulls great although it sure wiggled when we rode over a very long metal bridge..the onewith the open grates..now that WAS nervewracking :)
We have yet to camp but hope to before too long to make up for some of the cost of the motels we've had..the day was sunny all day long and ended at 80 degrees.. I have the AC on again now..And now to shower and bed..Love to all
I've read that you guys' have been having a bit of rain there in the Midwest.. Let me tell you.. you don't know about rain until you've driven in it for over 2 solid hours and 40 degree temps and NO place to pull over and try to warm up!!! We woke to rain, and rode in the rain to Grand Cache..Finally after 2 capucinos apiece and walking around to warm up a bit.. we took off toward Grand Prairie..wet boots, socks and gloves and all but at 50-55 degree temps..we survived so much better. We even had peaks of sun and not constant rain. sure hoping for a better ride tomorrow.. we plan to make a long day of it to Ft Nelson after stopping at Dawson Creek.. which is Mile Zero of the Alaskan Highway..
On the animal report.. there were 3-4 mule deer alongside the road and then twice more..we came closer than I wished, to deer..running alongside of me in the ditch and starting to cross then going back into the bush.. we have to keep a close eye out..
Photos: Will try to post what I have tonite..we don't have many yet as I couldn't even see the beautiful mountains and streams today, let alone get off and take a photo of RAIN!..Until next time..Gene and Judy
Grand Prarie,Dawson Creek to Fort Nelson
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Well..obviously the photos didn't get uploaded..I've piddled with them.. named then.. think they are on my computer but haven't figured out yet what I'm doing wrong.. and now.. I am too damn tired :( We plan to rise early tomorrow..leave early toward Watson Lake, Yukon Territory.
We left Grand Prairie AB this morning around 8:00am..sunshine and 50 degrees.. so much better than yesterday..road was great but scenery wasn't exceptional..no photos today.. we rode pretty solid for around 6 hours..we stopped at Dawson Creek which is the official start of the Alaskan highway; Mile Zero. We did get some photos there. We ended tonite at Fort Nelson. We saw a herd of mule deer, I saw a young moose and Gene saw the BEAR!!! dang it.. I missed it.. but we were unable to get photos..We didn't have much trouble with traffic but about ran out of gas.. does that surprise anyone who knows Gene..he came in for several miles on his red lite and I was well into my red zone on the empty side..nervewracking for me.
I was really tired when we pulled into town but am doing fine..Thank you to John and Carole for the use of the trailer. It pulls great although it sure wiggled when we rode over a very long metal bridge..the onewith the open grates..now that WAS nervewracking :)
We have yet to camp but hope to before too long to make up for some of the cost of the motels we've had..the day was sunny all day long and ended at 80 degrees.. I have the AC on again now..And now to shower and bed..Love to all
Sunday, July 4, 2010
On Our Way
July 1, 2010
Well, as Gene said this morning.. today is the official start of our vacation!! We traveled 7 hours yesterday and 425 miles..made it to Chamberlin, SD and spent the nite at the Bel Aire motel..as Frank Howard always used to say..”It’s good enough for who its for!” We really miss that man!
I’m typing in Word and plan to copy and paste into blogger when I get internet access… needless to say..the Bel Aire did NOT have it We hope to make Butte, MT today or at least Billings. We met a couple last nite that said the Black Hills and Idaho were 100 degrees yesterday..ugh..maybe that Alaskan cool will feel good
Actually, the day was beautiful.. cool even.. temps in the hi 60’s.. saw our first wildlife of the trip.. antelope along the highway and a dead wolf along the interstate!
We got to Bozeman, SD today..about 7:30 pm and 700 miles..found a very nice, clean and large lst floor room at the Microtel Inn for $69! After a LIT, a shower and a little email.. to bed.
One really good thing: we found out on the news that we had just missed a very severe hail storm that happened in Bozeman before we arrived.. we had noticed that one side of the Microtel had terrible hail damage all along the siding.newspeople were saying that it was the worst hail storm they had seen in 30 years!!! Our poor bikes would not have faired well
July 2
Left Bozeman about 7:15am.. 450 miles to Spokane-temps in the 50’s..arrived at my brother, Nick’s about 2:30pm PST. He had taken the day off work, not knowing when we would arrive and had put a wonderful pot roast on for our dinner. Since we really hadn’t eaten much that day, when sweet Debbie arrived home from work, we hungrily ate a wonderful meal..It didn’t take much to convince me later on that a trip to a real ice cream store would be a good idea.. We passed Jason and Melanie’s home (Nick’s son) on our way and noticed that Saul (their other son) and his family were there..so we decided to crash their party after our HUGE ice cream cone..It was really wonderful to see Jason n Melanie’s four children, Zoe, Aurora, Selah and Jason, and Saul and Chris’s Cynthia and Isabelle. What a wonderful , happy family they are..the cousins were enjoying each other and the Brothers were enjoying a beer outside while discussing Politics and other things they can’t change
After a delicious breakfast of huckleberry pancakes and eggs (huckleberries handpicked). We loaded up, leathered up and took off toward Canada and Cranbrook BC in 58 degree weather.. the sun occasionally came out.
At the Canadian border, we were told to pull over while they did a background check and figured they’d probably make us unload everything like the car next to us.. fortunately.. we checked out okay and were on our way in 15 minutes or so.
The ride to Cranbrook was beautiful..along mountains and a gorgeous river.. giving us a peak at what we hope to see on this trip.
Visited the HD here to get Gene’s dip dot and found a friendly motel across the street from a steak house..the office said since we were riders.. we got $5 off our rate!!! It’s nice to be liked..
July 4th
HAPPY 4TH TO ALL OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY.. so sorry we are missing Nick and Debbies 4th with all the family..but we are excited for our trip and are on our way at 8:00am.. woke to a bright and sunny day..hope this is how the rest of the trip goes..cloudy and cool just doesn’t cut it
Well, here we are in Jasper..its been an interesting day..certainly not sunny and warm like I thought it would be.. rode through rain and temps of low to high 40's.. yes..that is 40 plus rain..got to Banff and after having a cup of coffee and gassing up, decided to move on toward Jasper. Banff is pretty touristy and we weren't in a touristy mood!! Another 4 hours to Jasper along the beautiful IceFields Parkway.. it certainly was gorgeous in spite of the continual rain and low temps (we did have peaks of the sun and the temp would rise to mid 50's at times) Thank goodness and Gene for my heated jacket. It sure made a difference!
The Icefield is absolutely beautiful ...with tall big mountains and a rushing river and lakes of a color hard to describe.. perhaps tourquoise would be an apt description..
On a good note, we had a wolf cross the road in front of us and saw a bear just a few miles outside of Jasper.. both were awesome to see. The bear was a cub..I kept wondering where Mommy was! I was not able to get a photo however. By the time I dismounted and got my camera, he was behind the trees.
On a sour note, the clear storage container we'd bought and filled with food for camping, plates,glasses, S&P, nut, chips crackers and peanut butter and a whole bag of snack protein bars that Nick and Debbie gave us before we left..STOLEN from the top of our trailer as we went inside a motel to check on rates.. Geeze..so disappointing!!
So... Gene is outside locking up everything tight and covering the bikes. Makes us nervous for the rest of the trip:( After paying $150 for the room tonite, Gene says we can't afford to eat!
So... guess I'll enjoy my LIT, watch some TV and find something cheap to eat..Dang..
But Gene and I are doing well. Feeling pretty good and looking forward to the road ahead.
Well, as Gene said this morning.. today is the official start of our vacation!! We traveled 7 hours yesterday and 425 miles..made it to Chamberlin, SD and spent the nite at the Bel Aire motel..as Frank Howard always used to say..”It’s good enough for who its for!” We really miss that man!
I’m typing in Word and plan to copy and paste into blogger when I get internet access… needless to say..the Bel Aire did NOT have it We hope to make Butte, MT today or at least Billings. We met a couple last nite that said the Black Hills and Idaho were 100 degrees yesterday..ugh..maybe that Alaskan cool will feel good
Actually, the day was beautiful.. cool even.. temps in the hi 60’s.. saw our first wildlife of the trip.. antelope along the highway and a dead wolf along the interstate!
We got to Bozeman, SD today..about 7:30 pm and 700 miles..found a very nice, clean and large lst floor room at the Microtel Inn for $69! After a LIT, a shower and a little email.. to bed.
One really good thing: we found out on the news that we had just missed a very severe hail storm that happened in Bozeman before we arrived.. we had noticed that one side of the Microtel had terrible hail damage all along the siding.newspeople were saying that it was the worst hail storm they had seen in 30 years!!! Our poor bikes would not have faired well
July 2
Left Bozeman about 7:15am.. 450 miles to Spokane-temps in the 50’s..arrived at my brother, Nick’s about 2:30pm PST. He had taken the day off work, not knowing when we would arrive and had put a wonderful pot roast on for our dinner. Since we really hadn’t eaten much that day, when sweet Debbie arrived home from work, we hungrily ate a wonderful meal..It didn’t take much to convince me later on that a trip to a real ice cream store would be a good idea.. We passed Jason and Melanie’s home (Nick’s son) on our way and noticed that Saul (their other son) and his family were there..so we decided to crash their party after our HUGE ice cream cone..It was really wonderful to see Jason n Melanie’s four children, Zoe, Aurora, Selah and Jason, and Saul and Chris’s Cynthia and Isabelle. What a wonderful , happy family they are..the cousins were enjoying each other and the Brothers were enjoying a beer outside while discussing Politics and other things they can’t change
After a delicious breakfast of huckleberry pancakes and eggs (huckleberries handpicked). We loaded up, leathered up and took off toward Canada and Cranbrook BC in 58 degree weather.. the sun occasionally came out.
At the Canadian border, we were told to pull over while they did a background check and figured they’d probably make us unload everything like the car next to us.. fortunately.. we checked out okay and were on our way in 15 minutes or so.
The ride to Cranbrook was beautiful..along mountains and a gorgeous river.. giving us a peak at what we hope to see on this trip.
Visited the HD here to get Gene’s dip dot and found a friendly motel across the street from a steak house..the office said since we were riders.. we got $5 off our rate!!! It’s nice to be liked..
July 4th
HAPPY 4TH TO ALL OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY.. so sorry we are missing Nick and Debbies 4th with all the family..but we are excited for our trip and are on our way at 8:00am.. woke to a bright and sunny day..hope this is how the rest of the trip goes..cloudy and cool just doesn’t cut it
Well, here we are in Jasper..its been an interesting day..certainly not sunny and warm like I thought it would be.. rode through rain and temps of low to high 40's.. yes..that is 40 plus rain..got to Banff and after having a cup of coffee and gassing up, decided to move on toward Jasper. Banff is pretty touristy and we weren't in a touristy mood!! Another 4 hours to Jasper along the beautiful IceFields Parkway.. it certainly was gorgeous in spite of the continual rain and low temps (we did have peaks of the sun and the temp would rise to mid 50's at times) Thank goodness and Gene for my heated jacket. It sure made a difference!
The Icefield is absolutely beautiful ...with tall big mountains and a rushing river and lakes of a color hard to describe.. perhaps tourquoise would be an apt description..
On a good note, we had a wolf cross the road in front of us and saw a bear just a few miles outside of Jasper.. both were awesome to see. The bear was a cub..I kept wondering where Mommy was! I was not able to get a photo however. By the time I dismounted and got my camera, he was behind the trees.
On a sour note, the clear storage container we'd bought and filled with food for camping, plates,glasses, S&P, nut, chips crackers and peanut butter and a whole bag of snack protein bars that Nick and Debbie gave us before we left..STOLEN from the top of our trailer as we went inside a motel to check on rates.. Geeze..so disappointing!!
So... Gene is outside locking up everything tight and covering the bikes. Makes us nervous for the rest of the trip:( After paying $150 for the room tonite, Gene says we can't afford to eat!
So... guess I'll enjoy my LIT, watch some TV and find something cheap to eat..Dang..
But Gene and I are doing well. Feeling pretty good and looking forward to the road ahead.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Planning "The Alaskan Adventure"
Well, it seems that this final adventure of ours will be coming to pass after all. We've been working on loading the trailer we will pull behind Gene's motorcycle..went shopping for batteries for the bed and camera, arm band for my ipod, bug spray, etc.
I've been trying to read about Alaska, the routes, people, and other things we should know about or would like to see..Like my usual habit.. I have procastrinated with it all :)
Just found out that sweet sister Sandra will come visit us for a week..this Tuesday, June 15th through the following Tuesday..we will have some good sister time..working the soduko puzzles and having some good chats..Excited for her to come.
Okay.. so our plan is this: We will leave Des Moines on June 30th as soon as I can close the month, cut some checks and get out of the office,traveling first to my brother,Nick's home north of Spokane, Wa. Gene will be pulling John Ballenger's chrome cycle trailer behind. We plan to tent whenever we can as we are not sure of the availability of motels along the way. Most of what I read say that you should book your rooms months in advance. Well, most of you know that Gene and I prefer to 'fly by the seat of our pants' so to say..seeing whatever is around the corner:) I have my maps,the Milepost, AAA travel books,etc.
We then plan to head up north from Nicks on Hwy 2 through Idaho and enter Alberta, Canada somewhere from there, heading first to Banff and Jasper.. Our idea is to travel 200-300 miles per day, depending on weather, road condition and things to see. We will take the month of July to do our traveling, hoping to re-enter the US at Vancouver and see Rob and Diane perhaps in Seattle. This all depends on how our travel goes.
I have just ordered a new Dell laptop with webcam and wireless. We have a new movie camera that will mount on the motorcycle and our little digital camera. I hope to learn how to upload video and/or photos to this blog so those of you who might be interested can travel along with us.
I only wish my dear Mother could see this but I will have her on my mind and on my shoulder throughout the trip. That was on of the last things she told me before she died.. She was so happy that Gene and I had something to do that we both enjoyed: "I will be with you, Judy, as your travel along..I will tell you to watch that gravel on the corners and to keep your eye out for the truck coming around the corner" She told me that she would be my angel..I know she is always with me :)
I've been trying to read about Alaska, the routes, people, and other things we should know about or would like to see..Like my usual habit.. I have procastrinated with it all :)
Just found out that sweet sister Sandra will come visit us for a week..this Tuesday, June 15th through the following Tuesday..we will have some good sister time..working the soduko puzzles and having some good chats..Excited for her to come.
Okay.. so our plan is this: We will leave Des Moines on June 30th as soon as I can close the month, cut some checks and get out of the office,traveling first to my brother,Nick's home north of Spokane, Wa. Gene will be pulling John Ballenger's chrome cycle trailer behind. We plan to tent whenever we can as we are not sure of the availability of motels along the way. Most of what I read say that you should book your rooms months in advance. Well, most of you know that Gene and I prefer to 'fly by the seat of our pants' so to say..seeing whatever is around the corner:) I have my maps,the Milepost, AAA travel books,etc.
We then plan to head up north from Nicks on Hwy 2 through Idaho and enter Alberta, Canada somewhere from there, heading first to Banff and Jasper.. Our idea is to travel 200-300 miles per day, depending on weather, road condition and things to see. We will take the month of July to do our traveling, hoping to re-enter the US at Vancouver and see Rob and Diane perhaps in Seattle. This all depends on how our travel goes.
I have just ordered a new Dell laptop with webcam and wireless. We have a new movie camera that will mount on the motorcycle and our little digital camera. I hope to learn how to upload video and/or photos to this blog so those of you who might be interested can travel along with us.
I only wish my dear Mother could see this but I will have her on my mind and on my shoulder throughout the trip. That was on of the last things she told me before she died.. She was so happy that Gene and I had something to do that we both enjoyed: "I will be with you, Judy, as your travel along..I will tell you to watch that gravel on the corners and to keep your eye out for the truck coming around the corner" She told me that she would be my angel..I know she is always with me :)
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