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!