Hey! This is the FOTB finally getting around to his wrapup. Wow, what an amazing trip, if you haven't noticed by now, we are extremely grateful to be able to take a trip like this. What started out as a "what if ?" turned into a "why not?" and ended up a resounding "let's do it". I've read for years about the Al-Can highway, the Yukon and Alaska (too many Jack London books as a child I guess) and always saw it as a challenge. Albeit one that I never really thought I (we) would attempt.
There was never a day that I had the thought "Oh man, do I have to do another day on the road". It just never happened, day after day, mile after mile, it was always about the beauty of creation and the wonder of what was around, over or beyond the next hill or curve.
On the last day heading home, Gayle asked if I was looking forward to getting home, I replied that if someone called me and told me I couldn't go home for a couple of weeks, I would have said, "right or left, pick a direction" and kept right on going.
I did notice a few things, there were a lot of Harley's on the road all the way through central Canada, over 50% of the bikes. However, the farther northwest we went the fewer there were. By the time we hit the last stretch of road from Canada to Alaska the percentages were in the neighborhood of 50% BMW GS Adventure bikes, 30 % Harleys and the remainder were Goldwings and other assorted manufacturers.
As far a repairs, thankfully I did not have the need for any. However, the "gravel" they use during the road construction is really crushed granite or crushed shale. It is about the size of a cherry tomato and has lots of sharp points on it after it is crushed. This nice little sharp rock is just the right size for the Harley guys to run through the belt drive, which promptly punches a hole through it, runs another 100 miles and then shreds. We saw a lot of guys replacing drive belts on their Harley's and virtually every group of riders had at least one or not two spare belts with them.
People have asked me "Did you get bored? What about radio stations?" Well, on the first day out, we hit the Canadian border, I turned the radio off and never turned it on for the next 6000 plus miles. Truly, silence is golden, I never missed it for a minute.
The grand total, drum roll please, was 6799 miles, I should have driven around the block to make it 6800 even, but it is what it is. I did not keep track of every gallon of gas, it was just to darn much work with the liters and all, but the running average according to the bike trip meter was at 43.7 mpg for the trip. Not bad at all.
I met a lot of riders who were either on or had completed the "top of the world", Arctic Circle or other trips to the northern hinterlands. (Think Ice Road Truckers in the summer.) I have already warned Gayle, I AM doing this again, and this time I am heading "north". It will not be on a BMW K1200 LT full dresser, I would not want to attempt that trip on a bike this big. I don't know when, but it will be a few years.
Right now we are working on organizing/deleting the over 700 photos we took. Thankfully they are digital and easy to work with. Once completed, I'll throw them on a DVD etc. and you can look at them at your leisure.
For those of you who read this and get the "itch", call me, I'll give you all the pointers I can, but you better know that I will PUSH you to take this trip, using the mode of transportation of your choice. It is one you will never forget.
Again, thanks for your prayers, thoughts, concerns and encouragement. Also we thank you for "going along for the ride". It was enjoyable writing this and attempting to let you see with your imagination, what we were blessed enough to see with our eyes.
Til we talk in person, God Bless!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Sunday, July 11
What an absolutely perfect way to end such an incredible trip! Who could believe that you could drive through South Dakota in the middle of July at 80 degrees the whole way and no wind to complain about. Amazing! We left Spearfish, South Dakota, at 6:45 (LeMars time) and arrived in LeMars at 3:00 p.m. and got home at 3:30 p.m. - 480 miles. We were a little concerned around Rapid City because it was really windy there, but shortly drove out of that front and into absolutely gorgeous weather. Wow!
The only thing that seems comment worthy is that it is so green! Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota and our little part of Iowa were all so green - pastures and grassland very green for this time of year. It made everything much more beautiful. The black hills were all lovely green rather than the dusty, worn-out looking hills they usually are at this time of year. Nice. The other thing that was really striking to us was the corn - when we left it was 6 inches tall and when we got home it was tassling. Unbelievable to us. Our garden also is completely changed from when we left it - we have peas, beans and cucumbers coming out of our ears. Funny, when we left they were just tiny little plants. Once again, God's creation is utterly amazing.
Well, this will probably be my last blog. Duane plans to blog another time or two (so be sure and check again), but I think I'll close is up for me. Wow - how do you put into words this trip? I kept thinking on the way home from Spearfish (remember, I have a lot of time to think on the BOTB), how do I answer the inevitable question, "How was your trip?" How do you put into words the experience we've had - all the amazing things we've seen, the wonderful things we've done, spending time with Jesse, meeting all the different people (who knew there were so many different personalities out there), seeing all the wildlife, and on and on. I still haven't figured out that answer - I better get going on that (I'm sure I'll be asked at work tomorrow). Words escape me, but suffice it to say it was incredible and I am honored to have been blessed to have the opportunity to take such a trip.
So, thanks for checking. Even more important, thank you all for your prayers - thanks to those who signed up as our friends, thanks to those of you who checked regularly and thanks to those of you who just had an interest once in a while. When you're out there on a bike in the middle of nowhere and not sure what may happen next (bike malfunction, wildlife problems, other people driving crazy, etc.), you realize once again the importance of prayer. So, thank you! Last, but the most important of all, I thank God for this opportunity. I know it is by His grace that we were given this blessing. So, thank you, God.....what more can I saw - thank you.
Gayle - BOTB
The only thing that seems comment worthy is that it is so green! Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota and our little part of Iowa were all so green - pastures and grassland very green for this time of year. It made everything much more beautiful. The black hills were all lovely green rather than the dusty, worn-out looking hills they usually are at this time of year. Nice. The other thing that was really striking to us was the corn - when we left it was 6 inches tall and when we got home it was tassling. Unbelievable to us. Our garden also is completely changed from when we left it - we have peas, beans and cucumbers coming out of our ears. Funny, when we left they were just tiny little plants. Once again, God's creation is utterly amazing.
Well, this will probably be my last blog. Duane plans to blog another time or two (so be sure and check again), but I think I'll close is up for me. Wow - how do you put into words this trip? I kept thinking on the way home from Spearfish (remember, I have a lot of time to think on the BOTB), how do I answer the inevitable question, "How was your trip?" How do you put into words the experience we've had - all the amazing things we've seen, the wonderful things we've done, spending time with Jesse, meeting all the different people (who knew there were so many different personalities out there), seeing all the wildlife, and on and on. I still haven't figured out that answer - I better get going on that (I'm sure I'll be asked at work tomorrow). Words escape me, but suffice it to say it was incredible and I am honored to have been blessed to have the opportunity to take such a trip.
So, thanks for checking. Even more important, thank you all for your prayers - thanks to those who signed up as our friends, thanks to those of you who checked regularly and thanks to those of you who just had an interest once in a while. When you're out there on a bike in the middle of nowhere and not sure what may happen next (bike malfunction, wildlife problems, other people driving crazy, etc.), you realize once again the importance of prayer. So, thank you! Last, but the most important of all, I thank God for this opportunity. I know it is by His grace that we were given this blessing. So, thank you, God.....what more can I saw - thank you.
Gayle - BOTB
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Hi! News from the FOTB today, the BOTB says she is too tired to blog..................here's why. We left Missoula, MT at 0545 this morning and drove 360 miles to Billings and stopped for an hour and a half visiting Rod and Jan, my old boss from Sioux City. We had a great visit, we hadn't seen them in person in almost 8 years, but Rod and I talk on a frequent basis.
We left Missoula and then drove another 360 miles to Spearfish, SD, yep, that's a total of 720 miles today. It started out at 46 degrees for the first 140 miles and then slowly warmed up to 70 for the next hour or two. After Billings, it made it up to 96 degrees, and eventually we caught up with a thunderstorm and it cooled off to the upper 70's for the rest of the day.
OK. time for a wildlife checkup (if I don't get this in here, the BOTB will not be happy, this stuff is the highlight of her day!) A herd of elk near Butte, MT, I darn near ran over a momma duck and her chicks, who were trying to cross the road, I think momma duck needed lessons on how to check both ways for traffic before crossing. Don't worry I didn't hit'em. Also, a HUGE mule deer, 3 eagles and over 100 antelope between Sheridan and Gillette, WY.
Last night in Missoula, MT ,I took my blackberry apart, it has not worked in over three weeks. I took the battery out so it would "reset"itself. Needless to say, when I put it back in, it rebooted and then proceeded to vibrate (with incoming messages and e-mails) for the next three minutes, it was HILARIOUS! Needless to say, the e-mail count is up over 150 (not bad actually, much lower than I figured) but I am wondering if my mailbox is full and the rest are just hanging in cyberspace. Oh well, I'll check them next week when I get back.
For the bike guys, I think the BMW is just getting broke in, the gas mileage has steadily improved during the trip. The last two days, running 75 to 80 miles on hour on the open stretches, but slower in the mountains, I have run anywhere from 43 to 49.7 mpg. Not bad!!!!
Ok, that's it, tomorrow we do the final 480 miles home, after the last couple of days it shouldn't be too bad! The best news is, with the limited "one to wear, one to wash" the laundry will not be great once we get home!
Thanks for checking on us, and we promise to sort out the 700 pictures we took, before we bore anyone to death seeing them! Thanks and God Bless!
We left Missoula and then drove another 360 miles to Spearfish, SD, yep, that's a total of 720 miles today. It started out at 46 degrees for the first 140 miles and then slowly warmed up to 70 for the next hour or two. After Billings, it made it up to 96 degrees, and eventually we caught up with a thunderstorm and it cooled off to the upper 70's for the rest of the day.
OK. time for a wildlife checkup (if I don't get this in here, the BOTB will not be happy, this stuff is the highlight of her day!) A herd of elk near Butte, MT, I darn near ran over a momma duck and her chicks, who were trying to cross the road, I think momma duck needed lessons on how to check both ways for traffic before crossing. Don't worry I didn't hit'em. Also, a HUGE mule deer, 3 eagles and over 100 antelope between Sheridan and Gillette, WY.
Last night in Missoula, MT ,I took my blackberry apart, it has not worked in over three weeks. I took the battery out so it would "reset"itself. Needless to say, when I put it back in, it rebooted and then proceeded to vibrate (with incoming messages and e-mails) for the next three minutes, it was HILARIOUS! Needless to say, the e-mail count is up over 150 (not bad actually, much lower than I figured) but I am wondering if my mailbox is full and the rest are just hanging in cyberspace. Oh well, I'll check them next week when I get back.
For the bike guys, I think the BMW is just getting broke in, the gas mileage has steadily improved during the trip. The last two days, running 75 to 80 miles on hour on the open stretches, but slower in the mountains, I have run anywhere from 43 to 49.7 mpg. Not bad!!!!
Ok, that's it, tomorrow we do the final 480 miles home, after the last couple of days it shouldn't be too bad! The best news is, with the limited "one to wear, one to wash" the laundry will not be great once we get home!
Thanks for checking on us, and we promise to sort out the 700 pictures we took, before we bore anyone to death seeing them! Thanks and God Bless!
Friday, July 9, 2010
Friday, July 9
Ah, yes, the adventure continues. Somehow I thought I liked Washington State. Wrong! What they don't tell you about Washington state (or I forgot) is that between the two beautiful border mountains (east and west) is a whole pile of nothing - I would call it high desert. Oh, they do grow some stuff there like vegetables, corn and lots of alfalfa, but it's all because they irrigate the crap out of it. So, that section of the country was 98 degrees today. I can't say it was windy - kind of gusty, but it did start to remind me of a furnace and brought back bad memories (you remember my Wyoming experience). We spent the day on the bike from 92-98 degrees. Hot. Anyway, I have now decided that I have seen Washington. Been there. Done that. Don't need to do that again.
We left the ferry parking lot at 8:45 a.m. and arrived here in Missoula, Montana at 6:15, but with an hour time change it was 7:15 p.m. In between the yucky part of Washington we had mountains (I guess I should call them foothills), the dry stuff and then more foothills (to a girl from Minnesota/Iowa they look like mountains to me). The foothills were very pretty. When you get by Coure 'd Alene, Idaho, it's beautiful. I'm sure you've all heard about that area. No more needs to be said - it was lovely. When you get to Montana (I have decided I like Montana), it gets really beautiful. It's forest and foothills (more like mountains to me), but with huge, lovely meadows/pastures that are filled with ranches. Also, the trees are absolutely huge. I would say gigantic, but I leave than for the giant redwoods in California, so huge will have to suffice. The thing I noticed that's different from Alaska is that the forest here is just huge trees - no bushes or brush and it's only evergreen or cedar trees. In Alaska, it's all kinds of trees with tons of brush and stuff stuck inbetween the trees. Very different, yet both beautiful. The thought I came up with is Montana is beautiful and rugged. Alaska is beautiful, wild, majestic and fierce. I can just see the settlers coming up to the foothills/mountains in Montana and going, "Oh, poop, how are we going to cross them?" Then, those settlers coming up to the mountains in Alaska say, "OK, let's go back now." (Yes, I have a lot of time to daydream on the back of the bike.) Anyway, I hope you get the difference. I reiterate, both beautiful.
So, we put in almost 600 miles today - from Bellingham, Washington, to Missoula, Montana. We have another big day tomorrow. Deciding right now how far we need to get.
Back to the ferry - yesterday (Thursday) we a great day on the ferry. It was gorgeous weather (even the captain said unusually amazing). So, we spent time on the decks, enjoyed the great scenery, read some great books and saw humpback whales, orca whales, sea lions and eagles. It was a great day. By the way, they allow you to take your pets on the ferry; however, you must keep them locked in your vehicle (like in the dungeon under the decks) and you get to take your dog out of the vehicle to relieve himself three times a day for a total of 15 minutes each time. Not nice, but a lot of people did it.
I have a few "did you know" type things on my mind......In upper Canada (like the Yukon and northern British Columbia), the restaurants have an open can of evaporated milk for you to use in your coffee rather than cream. There are tons of flowers in Alaska - along the roadway and it's like the people are obsessed with them at their homes. They plant lots and lots of flowers. In most of Canada and Alaska, when you order a bratwurst (they call it a sausage), they cut it in half length-wise to cook it and serve it that way on the bun. We met a lady who travels to Alaska every year for the last 30 years, and she said the road (the bad one I told you about) is the worst it has been in 30 days. She said she personally saw a huge RV with a car behind hit those bumps and the car came unhooked from the RV. Yikes. We spoke with one couple and, unknown to them, the window of their pull-behind RV popped open on the bad road and their RV got full of dust when they went over the construction (the signs even say "Beware of Dust" in construction zones). They spent two days at a campground cleaning things out. One guy on the ferry hit a bump in the roller coaster part of the road and bent the rim on his motorcycle (about the size of a baseball). He kept driving. The last one is Duane and I saw an over-sized pop-up camper (only saw 4 total pop-ups) that was braced underneath with a metal brace. The guy driving didn't know it, but his brace was all bent to crap and his pop-up was almost touching the ground. Yup, the road was bad!
Well, that's enough for now. Tomorrow we have Wyoming?!?!?!? Thanks for checking and thank you for your continued prayers.
Gayle- BOTB
We left the ferry parking lot at 8:45 a.m. and arrived here in Missoula, Montana at 6:15, but with an hour time change it was 7:15 p.m. In between the yucky part of Washington we had mountains (I guess I should call them foothills), the dry stuff and then more foothills (to a girl from Minnesota/Iowa they look like mountains to me). The foothills were very pretty. When you get by Coure 'd Alene, Idaho, it's beautiful. I'm sure you've all heard about that area. No more needs to be said - it was lovely. When you get to Montana (I have decided I like Montana), it gets really beautiful. It's forest and foothills (more like mountains to me), but with huge, lovely meadows/pastures that are filled with ranches. Also, the trees are absolutely huge. I would say gigantic, but I leave than for the giant redwoods in California, so huge will have to suffice. The thing I noticed that's different from Alaska is that the forest here is just huge trees - no bushes or brush and it's only evergreen or cedar trees. In Alaska, it's all kinds of trees with tons of brush and stuff stuck inbetween the trees. Very different, yet both beautiful. The thought I came up with is Montana is beautiful and rugged. Alaska is beautiful, wild, majestic and fierce. I can just see the settlers coming up to the foothills/mountains in Montana and going, "Oh, poop, how are we going to cross them?" Then, those settlers coming up to the mountains in Alaska say, "OK, let's go back now." (Yes, I have a lot of time to daydream on the back of the bike.) Anyway, I hope you get the difference. I reiterate, both beautiful.
So, we put in almost 600 miles today - from Bellingham, Washington, to Missoula, Montana. We have another big day tomorrow. Deciding right now how far we need to get.
Back to the ferry - yesterday (Thursday) we a great day on the ferry. It was gorgeous weather (even the captain said unusually amazing). So, we spent time on the decks, enjoyed the great scenery, read some great books and saw humpback whales, orca whales, sea lions and eagles. It was a great day. By the way, they allow you to take your pets on the ferry; however, you must keep them locked in your vehicle (like in the dungeon under the decks) and you get to take your dog out of the vehicle to relieve himself three times a day for a total of 15 minutes each time. Not nice, but a lot of people did it.
I have a few "did you know" type things on my mind......In upper Canada (like the Yukon and northern British Columbia), the restaurants have an open can of evaporated milk for you to use in your coffee rather than cream. There are tons of flowers in Alaska - along the roadway and it's like the people are obsessed with them at their homes. They plant lots and lots of flowers. In most of Canada and Alaska, when you order a bratwurst (they call it a sausage), they cut it in half length-wise to cook it and serve it that way on the bun. We met a lady who travels to Alaska every year for the last 30 years, and she said the road (the bad one I told you about) is the worst it has been in 30 days. She said she personally saw a huge RV with a car behind hit those bumps and the car came unhooked from the RV. Yikes. We spoke with one couple and, unknown to them, the window of their pull-behind RV popped open on the bad road and their RV got full of dust when they went over the construction (the signs even say "Beware of Dust" in construction zones). They spent two days at a campground cleaning things out. One guy on the ferry hit a bump in the roller coaster part of the road and bent the rim on his motorcycle (about the size of a baseball). He kept driving. The last one is Duane and I saw an over-sized pop-up camper (only saw 4 total pop-ups) that was braced underneath with a metal brace. The guy driving didn't know it, but his brace was all bent to crap and his pop-up was almost touching the ground. Yup, the road was bad!
Well, that's enough for now. Tomorrow we have Wyoming?!?!?!? Thanks for checking and thank you for your continued prayers.
Gayle- BOTB
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Wednesday, July 7
We have reached civilization!!!! I saw a police officer this morning from the ferry. Another shocking discovery - there is such a thing as sunshine! I saw it this morning and it's still out (at least that's what I think that bright thing in the sky is).
The ferry is anchored all day today in Ketchikan - so we left the ferry at 8:30 a.m. and are doing the tourist thing in this town. This is actually a town and not a village. Their brochure actually also wasn't a complete lie - they have stuff here to do - mostly shopping (more jewelry stores than I've ever seen), but also some bigger money items like fishing charters, zip-lining, flight scene tours, etc. So, we headed downtown to shop, but first of all, to find a place to blog. We are in a bar that offers free wi-fi service (hey, you do what you have to do).
So, we'll be doing the tourist thing today. Tomorrow we are on the ferry all day with no stops and no internet or cell phone service. We disembark Friday morning at 8-9 a.m. in Bellingham, Washington, and then start the motorcycle trip home immediately after we get off the ship. So, you won't hear from us until Friday night at the earliest.
The front of the bike says he'll update one of these days when we're in service. We both ask for your prayers on this next phase of the adventure. To be blunt - I am not looking forward to going through Wyoming on motorcycle. I did that once before in my life - it was 103 degrees and 35 mph winds and I literally got heat exhaustion. So, we now know that we have to stop more, drink more water and I'm not sure what else; but, we'll try to do it better this time.
Once more, thanks for checking and thank you for your prayers.
Gayle - BOTB
The ferry is anchored all day today in Ketchikan - so we left the ferry at 8:30 a.m. and are doing the tourist thing in this town. This is actually a town and not a village. Their brochure actually also wasn't a complete lie - they have stuff here to do - mostly shopping (more jewelry stores than I've ever seen), but also some bigger money items like fishing charters, zip-lining, flight scene tours, etc. So, we headed downtown to shop, but first of all, to find a place to blog. We are in a bar that offers free wi-fi service (hey, you do what you have to do).
So, we'll be doing the tourist thing today. Tomorrow we are on the ferry all day with no stops and no internet or cell phone service. We disembark Friday morning at 8-9 a.m. in Bellingham, Washington, and then start the motorcycle trip home immediately after we get off the ship. So, you won't hear from us until Friday night at the earliest.
The front of the bike says he'll update one of these days when we're in service. We both ask for your prayers on this next phase of the adventure. To be blunt - I am not looking forward to going through Wyoming on motorcycle. I did that once before in my life - it was 103 degrees and 35 mph winds and I literally got heat exhaustion. So, we now know that we have to stop more, drink more water and I'm not sure what else; but, we'll try to do it better this time.
Once more, thanks for checking and thank you for your prayers.
Gayle - BOTB
Tuesday, July 6
I'll tell you about this ferry that we're on. It's not a cruise ship and not nearly as big as one either, although it kind of looks like a little one and has a few of the amenities of a cruise ship. We have a cabin on the ship with bunk beds and bedding and towels and soap, etc. We also have our own bathroom with stool and shower (the shower is even bigger than a cruise ship shower). They offer meals, but you have to pay for them (on a cruise ship the food is free). They do have a little lounge which is really very pretty, but it's expensive. You can also opt not to have a cabin - then you take your chances and either sleep in a chair (a plastic deck chair, lounge chair in the theater room, plain chair on the observation deck) or you may pitch a tent on the back of the boat. With this option, they offer public bathrooms and showers. Yikes! Once we boarded, we were very glad we had a cabin. I'm a little too old for that kind of roughing it (Duane claims I would have done it 20 years ago - glad I don't have to decide).
The ferry holds 399 people, 66 crew and 160 vehicles. There were about 20 motorcycles on the ship - you have to secure or tie down your own motorcycle. There was even a semi who had to back up the whole loading dock to get into the ship to leave the trailer on the ferry. It's 485 feet long, has two 6200 horsepower engines and uses 400 gallons of fuel an hour. That should pretty much give you a picture of the ferry.
So, there's not much to do on the ferry. We took books and the fish and wildlife service dude talks to you once in a while about what you might see, etc. (he's not very interesting). The great thing is the scenery and the wildlife. There were times that we were within literally 30 yards from shore. We saw orca (killer) whales, humpback whales, bunches of bald eages, set otters, sea lions and a bunch of sitka black tail deer (tiny - only about 60 to 80 pounds). It was great!
I'm enjoying it, but you know Duane and not having much to do....... He's trying!
Thanks for checking and thank you for your prayers.
Gayle - BOTB
The ferry holds 399 people, 66 crew and 160 vehicles. There were about 20 motorcycles on the ship - you have to secure or tie down your own motorcycle. There was even a semi who had to back up the whole loading dock to get into the ship to leave the trailer on the ferry. It's 485 feet long, has two 6200 horsepower engines and uses 400 gallons of fuel an hour. That should pretty much give you a picture of the ferry.
So, there's not much to do on the ferry. We took books and the fish and wildlife service dude talks to you once in a while about what you might see, etc. (he's not very interesting). The great thing is the scenery and the wildlife. There were times that we were within literally 30 yards from shore. We saw orca (killer) whales, humpback whales, bunches of bald eages, set otters, sea lions and a bunch of sitka black tail deer (tiny - only about 60 to 80 pounds). It was great!
I'm enjoying it, but you know Duane and not having much to do....... He's trying!
Thanks for checking and thank you for your prayers.
Gayle - BOTB
Monday, July 5
I'm back! I'm sure you figured out that I'm posting this way past July 5 - and, yes, we were totally out of internet service for a few days. Even the cell phone service hasn't been much. So, back to July 5...
We left Haines Junction at 7:30 a.m. and arrived in Haines, Alaska at 9:15 a.m. (there was a time change in there somewhere - I have no idea which way it went at this point). I tried to update my blog in Haines Junction - the Alcan Hotel we stayed at said that if I sit in their laundromat and hold the laptop just right I might be able to connect. I tried - didn't work.
So, we went through a mountain pass to get to Haines - WOW! Breathtaking, inspiring, magnificent, majestic, exciting - yup, all those things! It was 42 degrees for 60 miles. We were above the tree line and snow line. The landscape went from trees to stone face mountains, huge monster trees, raging rivers, northern rain forest - wow! It was amazing. We tried to take pictures - we can only hope they will give you some small idea of the beauty of majesty of God's creation. I kept hearing the song, "Majesty, worship his majesty....." Truth!
We saw a black bear, eagles and two grizzly bears - one was absolutely huge and right next to the road (I mean right next - he had one paw on the road). Of course, Duane wanted to stop - I said no way and I won that time. I also didn't get a picture of him. Panic can do funny things to a person.
We arrived in Haines and thought we'd take in the place. In all of these small Alaskan villages, you see these wonderful brochures describing "all" they have to offer. When you get there, you realize they are all liars (and trying to make a living) - because they have absolutely nothing to offer except a couple of shacks and, if you're lucky, a grocery store with some locals and natives and maybe a black banana or two. Haines was definitely in that criteria - wonderful brochure and then absolutely nothing! So, we boarded the ferry (Alaska Marine Highway System) at 2 p.m. and it departed at 5 p.m. We immediately saw glaciers, lovely mountains, gorgeous landscapes and some sea lions. A good start.
Well, I have more days to do - so, thanks for checking. Thanks for the prayers.
Gayle - BOTB
We left Haines Junction at 7:30 a.m. and arrived in Haines, Alaska at 9:15 a.m. (there was a time change in there somewhere - I have no idea which way it went at this point). I tried to update my blog in Haines Junction - the Alcan Hotel we stayed at said that if I sit in their laundromat and hold the laptop just right I might be able to connect. I tried - didn't work.
So, we went through a mountain pass to get to Haines - WOW! Breathtaking, inspiring, magnificent, majestic, exciting - yup, all those things! It was 42 degrees for 60 miles. We were above the tree line and snow line. The landscape went from trees to stone face mountains, huge monster trees, raging rivers, northern rain forest - wow! It was amazing. We tried to take pictures - we can only hope they will give you some small idea of the beauty of majesty of God's creation. I kept hearing the song, "Majesty, worship his majesty....." Truth!
We saw a black bear, eagles and two grizzly bears - one was absolutely huge and right next to the road (I mean right next - he had one paw on the road). Of course, Duane wanted to stop - I said no way and I won that time. I also didn't get a picture of him. Panic can do funny things to a person.
We arrived in Haines and thought we'd take in the place. In all of these small Alaskan villages, you see these wonderful brochures describing "all" they have to offer. When you get there, you realize they are all liars (and trying to make a living) - because they have absolutely nothing to offer except a couple of shacks and, if you're lucky, a grocery store with some locals and natives and maybe a black banana or two. Haines was definitely in that criteria - wonderful brochure and then absolutely nothing! So, we boarded the ferry (Alaska Marine Highway System) at 2 p.m. and it departed at 5 p.m. We immediately saw glaciers, lovely mountains, gorgeous landscapes and some sea lions. A good start.
Well, I have more days to do - so, thanks for checking. Thanks for the prayers.
Gayle - BOTB
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Saturday, July 3
Thank you for your prayers. Today I need to start with that rather than end with that - so, thank you for your prayers. It was a little scary on the bike today. We left Anchorage at 7:30 this morning in spitting rain and drove through rain about 200 miles or so. Rain in itself is not so bad, but when you add the winding, curving, up mountains and down mountains, not so great shape roads with spots of gravel thrown in - it gets a little testy. At times it was raining to the point that it was a little difficult to see, not bad, but just enough to add to the whole adventure. We drove in temperatures anywhere from 42 to 50 degrees, but most of the time we were either in 43 degrees at the top of the mountain or 50 degrees in the valleys. It was interesting driving in rain while you were actually in the cloud producing the rain (we were). We arrived in Tok, Alaska about 2:15 p.m. - so we made good time despite the weather and road. I am very thankful for Duane and his experience with motorcycles - you could not pay me to do that drive with an inexperienced driver. So, again, thank you for your prayers.
Yesterday, after we finished packing up our stuff, we spent the day with Jesse helping him begin his moving process. We brightened the day of the postal clerk (LOL) when we brought him 14 flat rate boxes to mail (11 for Jesse and 3 for our stuff). Then, we went to UPS and shipped his shotgun and conga drums home to LeMars. After a bunch of other errands, Jesse hosted a barbecue with his closest friends and us and we ate a big bunch of our fresh fish we caught on Wednesday, some Alaskan King crab and a couple other less important items. I don't even want to know the pounds of fillets we ate (it was ridiculous), but it was delicious!!! Fresh salmon, halibut and rock fish just can't be beat. Then, it was time to say good-bye to his friends and then Jesse. Funny how it was still a little hard even though we know he'll be in the Midwest the middle of July. That fact helped a lot-otherwise it would have been really hard. It was a great opportunity for us to thank his friends who have been wonderful to him. He will miss them.
So, we are now in Tok, Alaska, and went straight back to the street vendor who makes the fabulous halibut. Yup, it's fabulous. I am not looking forward to tomorrow. That's the nasty stretch of road with the construction, bumps, craters, and all kinds of other road holes just waiting to "eat" a bike. Yuck! So, you all just keep praying.
Thanks for checking.
Gayle - BOTB
News from the FOTB. What an absolutey hunbling experience. Just being able to revel in the glory of God's creation on a trip like this. Then also being able to experience the joy of meeting with good friends, sharing good food and amazing fellowship. It is truly a humbling journey that we are all on, on this journey of life.
Today was interesting, but the good news was that the rain filled up the potholes and you knew instantly what to avoid, STANDING WATER! We'll see how tomorrow goes, slow and steady will prevail. Thanks again for checking on us and we'll be home in a week!
OK, bike notes, I filled with gas twice today, once at 51 mpg and once at 49.6. Not bad, but I guess the slower speed helps alot!
Yesterday, after we finished packing up our stuff, we spent the day with Jesse helping him begin his moving process. We brightened the day of the postal clerk (LOL) when we brought him 14 flat rate boxes to mail (11 for Jesse and 3 for our stuff). Then, we went to UPS and shipped his shotgun and conga drums home to LeMars. After a bunch of other errands, Jesse hosted a barbecue with his closest friends and us and we ate a big bunch of our fresh fish we caught on Wednesday, some Alaskan King crab and a couple other less important items. I don't even want to know the pounds of fillets we ate (it was ridiculous), but it was delicious!!! Fresh salmon, halibut and rock fish just can't be beat. Then, it was time to say good-bye to his friends and then Jesse. Funny how it was still a little hard even though we know he'll be in the Midwest the middle of July. That fact helped a lot-otherwise it would have been really hard. It was a great opportunity for us to thank his friends who have been wonderful to him. He will miss them.
So, we are now in Tok, Alaska, and went straight back to the street vendor who makes the fabulous halibut. Yup, it's fabulous. I am not looking forward to tomorrow. That's the nasty stretch of road with the construction, bumps, craters, and all kinds of other road holes just waiting to "eat" a bike. Yuck! So, you all just keep praying.
Thanks for checking.
Gayle - BOTB
News from the FOTB. What an absolutey hunbling experience. Just being able to revel in the glory of God's creation on a trip like this. Then also being able to experience the joy of meeting with good friends, sharing good food and amazing fellowship. It is truly a humbling journey that we are all on, on this journey of life.
Today was interesting, but the good news was that the rain filled up the potholes and you knew instantly what to avoid, STANDING WATER! We'll see how tomorrow goes, slow and steady will prevail. Thanks again for checking on us and we'll be home in a week!
OK, bike notes, I filled with gas twice today, once at 51 mpg and once at 49.6. Not bad, but I guess the slower speed helps alot!
Friday, July 2, 2010
Friday, July 2. Good Morning! News from the FOTB today.
Nice day yesterday, sunshine for the first time in almost a week, 65 degrees! Spent the day doing the wash, a little shopping, cleaning and bagging the remainder of the fish that didn't get shipped home. Jesse had some paperwork at Parachutes to catch up on, so he spent the morning/noon hours working there.
Mid-afternoon we went to Jesse's place and helped him pack/sort stuff to ship home. We checked into shipping stuff home in bulk, but there is a 500 pound minimum, he does not own 500 pounds of stuff, even if you weigh him with it! So we filled 11 postal flat rate boxes and the rest he will have to take on the plane.
Last night we went out for dinner with Jesse, Josh and Jessica (Jesse's old roomate) and Jake. We ate at the Thai place again, meeting at 9:00 PM, (a couple of them had to work). It's just crazy how the sun dictates our time, we didn't think a thing of getting our food after 0930, and then heading to Humpy's for a beer and a live band. Needless to say, the next thing you know it's 1:00 in the morning, and you can still clearly see the snow on the mountains that are 10 miles away. Weird!
Today is packing day, as we will leave first thing in the morning tomorrow, and we will make the trip to the Post Office to mail all the stuff back home, some of ours included. We will be back to the day's of "one to wash, one to wear" starting tomorrow!
Please continue to pray for safe travels as we begin the 2400 mile return ride with 3 1/2 days of the "ferry" sandwiched in the middle. Later!
Nice day yesterday, sunshine for the first time in almost a week, 65 degrees! Spent the day doing the wash, a little shopping, cleaning and bagging the remainder of the fish that didn't get shipped home. Jesse had some paperwork at Parachutes to catch up on, so he spent the morning/noon hours working there.
Mid-afternoon we went to Jesse's place and helped him pack/sort stuff to ship home. We checked into shipping stuff home in bulk, but there is a 500 pound minimum, he does not own 500 pounds of stuff, even if you weigh him with it! So we filled 11 postal flat rate boxes and the rest he will have to take on the plane.
Last night we went out for dinner with Jesse, Josh and Jessica (Jesse's old roomate) and Jake. We ate at the Thai place again, meeting at 9:00 PM, (a couple of them had to work). It's just crazy how the sun dictates our time, we didn't think a thing of getting our food after 0930, and then heading to Humpy's for a beer and a live band. Needless to say, the next thing you know it's 1:00 in the morning, and you can still clearly see the snow on the mountains that are 10 miles away. Weird!
Today is packing day, as we will leave first thing in the morning tomorrow, and we will make the trip to the Post Office to mail all the stuff back home, some of ours included. We will be back to the day's of "one to wash, one to wear" starting tomorrow!
Please continue to pray for safe travels as we begin the 2400 mile return ride with 3 1/2 days of the "ferry" sandwiched in the middle. Later!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Thursday, July 1
I did it - I caught a halibut! No, I did not squeal, however, I did grunt and groan quite a bit. Let's just say, it was quite an adventure! But, before we get to that, let's get you updated.
Jesse picked us up yesterday about 1:00 p.m. and we headed for Seward, Alaska. What a gorgeous drive! The landscapes around here are incredible - more mountains and this time with more vegetation than previous with the snow still down the mountain and inbetween the trees. Beautiful. We stopped right outside of Seward to see Exit Glacier. You can walk right up to this glacier and, if you take the 8-mile hike, can walk right on it and the ice fields leading up to it. We opted for the 1-mile and just walked up to it. Breathtakingly beautiful. The blues and whites in the glacier are just amazing. Really glad we stopped.
On to Seward to get our fishing licenses, some food for on the boat and check into our room at the fishing lodge. None of us could believe how gorgeous the room was. Like Jesse said, it's more like a honeymoon suite than a lodge. Yeah, it was really nice. Too bad you don't get to hang out there long - you can't check in until 6 p.m. and we had to be at the fishing lodge at 6 p.m. I'm not complaining - better than being in one of those nightmare places.
The boat leaves as soon as everyone gets there or not later than 6:30 a.m. - we had 12 people in our group. They make sure no one has a banana along (they told you the night before not to eat one) - bananas are bad luck. (Fishermen are so superstitious - they were serious.) The boat was 58 feet long and came complete with a cabin with tables, coffee maker, bathroom (yeah) and lower sleeping area (which we didn't use - that's where they stored our food, rain gear and stuff). On our way to the fishing site and while fishing, we saw more glaciers, eagles, sea lions, porpoises (they looked like little killer whales and swam right with the boat), puffins, all kinds of birds and humpback whales about 100 feet away from the boat. Amazing!
So, on to the fishing. The first thing we fished for were halibut. Now, that all sounds easy, tut what you don't understand is the equipment they use. We were fishing for "normal" size halibut, not the 300+ pounders, so we didn't have to use harneses. BUT, they hand you this rod and reel that has to weigh easily 10-15 pounds. Then, they put a big (I mean big) weight on it. That weight was 3 inches by 1.5 inches by 1 inch (Duane says they were 15 pound wieights). I could barely lift the whole rod and everything. Then, after people kept getting their lines caught all the time, the captain said to his crew (of 2) - Ok, boys, get the big weights on now so they don't get caught any more. What? More weight? Yup - an even bigger weight. That whole rig had to weigh 20 pounds. Then, you get a fish on the line - a halibut, which are flat and are notorious for just laying there and letting you pull them up from the bottom of the ocean. Good grief! Well, I got my first one and I cranked and cranked on that reel, grunted and groaned, panted and took a break for a few seconds and kept on cranking and grunting. I finally got that darn fish up to the boat only to look up and see Duane snapping pictures of me - the poop! I look like I'm in pain or something - like trying to deliver a baby or something like that. Oh, well, I got the fish! The three of us all got our limit of halibut (2). Jesse had no trouble with them - he limited right off the bat.
On to Silver Salmon (aka "Silvers"). They were more elusive to everyone (except Duane - and yes, I am bitter), but WOW, were they fun to catch (and I could actually manage the weight of my rod, although still heavy). I only caught one, but he was a big one and had the most fight in him of any. He ran, jumped out of the water, tried to go around the boat, ran some more, jumped some more until I finally conquered him. Yeah!!! It was a thrill! Duane limited out on those right away (3 is the limit) and Jesse only got two.
The last thing we fished for were rock fish (some kind of bass). They were just plain fun. Put your line down to about the bottom of the ocean, play around with your line a minute or two (jig) and shazam, you have a fish. They put up a nice fight and are simply fun. Jesse and I limited out on them right away (4), but Duane only got 3 (poor Duane). Fun fish to catch.
With our group of 12 people, we came home with 44 rock fish, 28 halibut and 25 silvers. The average weight of the rock fish was about 5 pounds each, all the halibut were between 15-25 pounds and the silvers were between 7 and 20 with most being 20. Wow - what a day of fishing.
Duane, Jesse and I ended up with 65 pounds of fillets.
So, we're done fishing and on the 2-hour ride back to the harbor. My lower stomach hurt so bad! Not kidding - it hurt! I'm sitting there thinking what could be wrong. Well, maybe I had to go to the bathroom. No, didn't think so - besides, we had a bathroom right on the boat. Maybe it was gas. I hope for the sake of the boat, that's not it. If it is and I can't control it, this boat is going down with all of us on it. I can't be having a baby! I didn't just have surgery! I could not figure it out. I had to stand up some of the time my stomach hurt so bad. We get back to the harbor and I finally figured it out - it's from pulling on those darn halibut with the gear that weighed a ton. Yup, that was it - my muscles were so sore from fishing I thought I was having a baby! The guys got a bite to eat - I couldn't eat a thing my stomach hurt so bad. But, I caught fish!
We left Seward about 8:30 p.m. and I warned the guys there would be crazy things going on in the back seat. I had to get some of those clothes off! You know me - I'm always cold, so I wasn't taking any chances. I had on 3 shirts (one was body armor), 3 jackets, my hunting boots, women's linen long underwear and my bluejeans. Whew! What a relief to get some of that off (while driving in the car), but I was completely comfortable while fishing on the ocean. It was a great day. All of us were just ecstatic and thrilled about the whole day. We got back "home" about 10:30 p.m.
So, I slept in this morning until 8:30 a.m. I am getting very concerned about my sleeping habits and the transition to home. Let's put this in perspective - this morning I got out of bed the same time as Shonden (my coworker) is going to lunch. Yikes! Today we're helping Jesse with prepacking for his transition to Chicago. It looks like he'll be moving around July 16 or so. It will be nice to have him closer, but we also are very thankful for the experiences he has had here and that we could get a taste of it.
Sorry for the long blog - I get a little carried away sometimes. Thanks for checking. Thank you for your continued prayers.
Gayle - BOTB
Jesse picked us up yesterday about 1:00 p.m. and we headed for Seward, Alaska. What a gorgeous drive! The landscapes around here are incredible - more mountains and this time with more vegetation than previous with the snow still down the mountain and inbetween the trees. Beautiful. We stopped right outside of Seward to see Exit Glacier. You can walk right up to this glacier and, if you take the 8-mile hike, can walk right on it and the ice fields leading up to it. We opted for the 1-mile and just walked up to it. Breathtakingly beautiful. The blues and whites in the glacier are just amazing. Really glad we stopped.
On to Seward to get our fishing licenses, some food for on the boat and check into our room at the fishing lodge. None of us could believe how gorgeous the room was. Like Jesse said, it's more like a honeymoon suite than a lodge. Yeah, it was really nice. Too bad you don't get to hang out there long - you can't check in until 6 p.m. and we had to be at the fishing lodge at 6 p.m. I'm not complaining - better than being in one of those nightmare places.
The boat leaves as soon as everyone gets there or not later than 6:30 a.m. - we had 12 people in our group. They make sure no one has a banana along (they told you the night before not to eat one) - bananas are bad luck. (Fishermen are so superstitious - they were serious.) The boat was 58 feet long and came complete with a cabin with tables, coffee maker, bathroom (yeah) and lower sleeping area (which we didn't use - that's where they stored our food, rain gear and stuff). On our way to the fishing site and while fishing, we saw more glaciers, eagles, sea lions, porpoises (they looked like little killer whales and swam right with the boat), puffins, all kinds of birds and humpback whales about 100 feet away from the boat. Amazing!
So, on to the fishing. The first thing we fished for were halibut. Now, that all sounds easy, tut what you don't understand is the equipment they use. We were fishing for "normal" size halibut, not the 300+ pounders, so we didn't have to use harneses. BUT, they hand you this rod and reel that has to weigh easily 10-15 pounds. Then, they put a big (I mean big) weight on it. That weight was 3 inches by 1.5 inches by 1 inch (Duane says they were 15 pound wieights). I could barely lift the whole rod and everything. Then, after people kept getting their lines caught all the time, the captain said to his crew (of 2) - Ok, boys, get the big weights on now so they don't get caught any more. What? More weight? Yup - an even bigger weight. That whole rig had to weigh 20 pounds. Then, you get a fish on the line - a halibut, which are flat and are notorious for just laying there and letting you pull them up from the bottom of the ocean. Good grief! Well, I got my first one and I cranked and cranked on that reel, grunted and groaned, panted and took a break for a few seconds and kept on cranking and grunting. I finally got that darn fish up to the boat only to look up and see Duane snapping pictures of me - the poop! I look like I'm in pain or something - like trying to deliver a baby or something like that. Oh, well, I got the fish! The three of us all got our limit of halibut (2). Jesse had no trouble with them - he limited right off the bat.
On to Silver Salmon (aka "Silvers"). They were more elusive to everyone (except Duane - and yes, I am bitter), but WOW, were they fun to catch (and I could actually manage the weight of my rod, although still heavy). I only caught one, but he was a big one and had the most fight in him of any. He ran, jumped out of the water, tried to go around the boat, ran some more, jumped some more until I finally conquered him. Yeah!!! It was a thrill! Duane limited out on those right away (3 is the limit) and Jesse only got two.
The last thing we fished for were rock fish (some kind of bass). They were just plain fun. Put your line down to about the bottom of the ocean, play around with your line a minute or two (jig) and shazam, you have a fish. They put up a nice fight and are simply fun. Jesse and I limited out on them right away (4), but Duane only got 3 (poor Duane). Fun fish to catch.
With our group of 12 people, we came home with 44 rock fish, 28 halibut and 25 silvers. The average weight of the rock fish was about 5 pounds each, all the halibut were between 15-25 pounds and the silvers were between 7 and 20 with most being 20. Wow - what a day of fishing.
Duane, Jesse and I ended up with 65 pounds of fillets.
So, we're done fishing and on the 2-hour ride back to the harbor. My lower stomach hurt so bad! Not kidding - it hurt! I'm sitting there thinking what could be wrong. Well, maybe I had to go to the bathroom. No, didn't think so - besides, we had a bathroom right on the boat. Maybe it was gas. I hope for the sake of the boat, that's not it. If it is and I can't control it, this boat is going down with all of us on it. I can't be having a baby! I didn't just have surgery! I could not figure it out. I had to stand up some of the time my stomach hurt so bad. We get back to the harbor and I finally figured it out - it's from pulling on those darn halibut with the gear that weighed a ton. Yup, that was it - my muscles were so sore from fishing I thought I was having a baby! The guys got a bite to eat - I couldn't eat a thing my stomach hurt so bad. But, I caught fish!
We left Seward about 8:30 p.m. and I warned the guys there would be crazy things going on in the back seat. I had to get some of those clothes off! You know me - I'm always cold, so I wasn't taking any chances. I had on 3 shirts (one was body armor), 3 jackets, my hunting boots, women's linen long underwear and my bluejeans. Whew! What a relief to get some of that off (while driving in the car), but I was completely comfortable while fishing on the ocean. It was a great day. All of us were just ecstatic and thrilled about the whole day. We got back "home" about 10:30 p.m.
So, I slept in this morning until 8:30 a.m. I am getting very concerned about my sleeping habits and the transition to home. Let's put this in perspective - this morning I got out of bed the same time as Shonden (my coworker) is going to lunch. Yikes! Today we're helping Jesse with prepacking for his transition to Chicago. It looks like he'll be moving around July 16 or so. It will be nice to have him closer, but we also are very thankful for the experiences he has had here and that we could get a taste of it.
Sorry for the long blog - I get a little carried away sometimes. Thanks for checking. Thank you for your continued prayers.
Gayle - BOTB
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Tuesday, June 29
Good Morning! Another wet, rainy, cool day here in Anchorage. The daily high temp runs around 62 and 52 for a low. We are finding out the sun shines only a few hours a week, and it is always gray and drab. Think Seattle in the winter, only it moves to Anchorage for the summer.
A few words about Anchorage traffic. They LOVE traffic circles up here, you know the kind where you have an inner and outer lane going in a circle and you have to decide which "spinoff" road to take to get out of the loop. Last night I found one on a four lane road that I needed to turn off of, onto an over head 4 lane interstate. The road I was on had TWO traffic circles, one on either side of the interstate, so you had to go in a circle around the first one to get to the other to go around so you could guess where the heck to get off! Think square dancing/square skipping only using cars and trucks.
They also like their U-turns up here. When you see something on the other side of the road, you need to go to the next intersection, wait for the left turn light and take a u-turn, so you can get to it. You spend more time waiting for lights than actually driving.
The last item is that they all use studded snow tires in the winter, so the roads get huge grooves in them where the traffic drives. They literally are 3 inches deep and 18 inches wide, just nice and rounded on the sides. Not bad to drive on with a motorcycle, until you switch lanes, then you need to fight it up the hump and back down again, several times, until you get where you want to be. It makes it interesting when you come to an intersection where the traffic grooves also run in the opposite direction. Just think plowed field on a bike for 40 yards. Interesting!
Today we head for Seward, with Jesse, to go Halibut fishing on Wednesday. Wish us luck! The only thing I want to see is Gayle catch a halibut big enough to make her squeal while she tries to reel it in! If that happens, pictures will be taken!
Good Morning! Another wet, rainy, cool day here in Anchorage. The daily high temp runs around 62 and 52 for a low. We are finding out the sun shines only a few hours a week, and it is always gray and drab. Think Seattle in the winter, only it moves to Anchorage for the summer.
A few words about Anchorage traffic. They LOVE traffic circles up here, you know the kind where you have an inner and outer lane going in a circle and you have to decide which "spinoff" road to take to get out of the loop. Last night I found one on a four lane road that I needed to turn off of, onto an over head 4 lane interstate. The road I was on had TWO traffic circles, one on either side of the interstate, so you had to go in a circle around the first one to get to the other to go around so you could guess where the heck to get off! Think square dancing/square skipping only using cars and trucks.
They also like their U-turns up here. When you see something on the other side of the road, you need to go to the next intersection, wait for the left turn light and take a u-turn, so you can get to it. You spend more time waiting for lights than actually driving.
The last item is that they all use studded snow tires in the winter, so the roads get huge grooves in them where the traffic drives. They literally are 3 inches deep and 18 inches wide, just nice and rounded on the sides. Not bad to drive on with a motorcycle, until you switch lanes, then you need to fight it up the hump and back down again, several times, until you get where you want to be. It makes it interesting when you come to an intersection where the traffic grooves also run in the opposite direction. Just think plowed field on a bike for 40 yards. Interesting!
Today we head for Seward, with Jesse, to go Halibut fishing on Wednesday. Wish us luck! The only thing I want to see is Gayle catch a halibut big enough to make her squeal while she tries to reel it in! If that happens, pictures will be taken!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Sunday, June 27
So, you heard about the king salmon fishing. That was quite an experience - so fun to watch Duane and Jesse catch those big fish. Hopefully, it will be my turn this week.
Duane and I turned into tourists Saturday and did that sort of thing. Downtown Anchorage has "Anchorage Market & Festival" every Saturday in the summer. I image they had around 100 vendors selling everything from food (all kinds) to native crafts (ivory carving, etc.) to photos to purchase to glass to furs to you name it. It was really fun and relaxing. We scored a couple of things and just enjoyed the day. Saturday night we went out to eat with Jesse at McGinley's Pub also in downtown, Anchorage. Food was fabulous - I had halibut and waffle fries (yum). Duane said when you're in an Irish pub you must eat "Irish" - so he had Shepherd's Pie and a Guiness. Also delicious (so he said). It was really a fun day.
Yesterday we went to church with Jesse in the morning. We can now understand why he enjoys that church so much. Great sermon, true worship and also an adult full-immersion baptism. It was good to worship God with that community here in Alaska. After church, we met my cousin, Edith, who lives in Anchorage - I have not seen her in 30 years. We got to meet her husband, her two daughters, see her beautiful house and then went out to eat at "Moose's Tooth." It's a brewery in town that specializes not only on "brew," but also in pizza. They have people come from all over the world to taste and then try to duplicate their pizza. It was amazing! The best part, though, was catching up with Edith after all these years. Jesse put it the best (he's never met her before) - "that lady was fantastic." It was one of those special things that happen, but we never planned on. Another thing to be thankful for.
Then, we had another barbecue with Jesse's friends Sunday night. This time, we even participated by bringing our fresh king salmon and a spinach salad. Again, we so enjoyed Jesse's friends - they are truly a great bunch. Only problem with last night was waaaaaay too much food. Good grief! I have to put those chaps back on in a few days.
Today is a light day - catch up on laundry, run some errands, get some post office boxes (so we can mail our stuff back), etc. Tonight we're having dinner with a friend of Duane, Ryan, who is a deputy Marshal here in Anchorage. After that, Jesse is still talking about midnight golf (I keep saying - can we fudge a little and have 10:00 golf instead?).
We have been truly thankful for our host and hostess - Pastor Dave and Darlene. What wonderful people. They not only let us hang out in their whole basement, but they let us do laundry and even offer us a car to use when it's raining, which was really nice Saturday. After all, I am a girl (who kind of likes to look nice) and putting that helmet on when I'm having a good hair day only to ride in the rain is sometimes, well, not great. So, we are very thankful for them. As I said, they are truly great people - and he can really preach, too.
A couple of comments about Anchorage. It's cold! Simple - it's cold (to me, anyway). These people are convinced it's summer (I have no idea where they get that idea - it's 55 to 65 degrees almost all of the time and overcast or raining) - so they all have their windows open all of the time. For goodness sake, it's cold! But, as I said, they're convinced it's summer. I think they should be in the midwest when it's 98 degrees and 80 percent humidity and the night "cools off" to 76 degrees - then they'd understand what summer is. My other observation is that Canada and Anchorage people love A&W restaurants. They are everywhere. We're accustomed to seeing McDonalds and Burger Kings all over - well, they have some McDonalds, but they really have lots of A&Ws. Difference in parts of the USA I guess.
Well, Duane is chomping at the bit to read this - I'm not sure if he loves my blogs that much or is hoping to catch a typo. We'll see what the day brings.
Thanks for checking and thanks for the prayers.
Gayle - BOTB
Duane and I turned into tourists Saturday and did that sort of thing. Downtown Anchorage has "Anchorage Market & Festival" every Saturday in the summer. I image they had around 100 vendors selling everything from food (all kinds) to native crafts (ivory carving, etc.) to photos to purchase to glass to furs to you name it. It was really fun and relaxing. We scored a couple of things and just enjoyed the day. Saturday night we went out to eat with Jesse at McGinley's Pub also in downtown, Anchorage. Food was fabulous - I had halibut and waffle fries (yum). Duane said when you're in an Irish pub you must eat "Irish" - so he had Shepherd's Pie and a Guiness. Also delicious (so he said). It was really a fun day.
Yesterday we went to church with Jesse in the morning. We can now understand why he enjoys that church so much. Great sermon, true worship and also an adult full-immersion baptism. It was good to worship God with that community here in Alaska. After church, we met my cousin, Edith, who lives in Anchorage - I have not seen her in 30 years. We got to meet her husband, her two daughters, see her beautiful house and then went out to eat at "Moose's Tooth." It's a brewery in town that specializes not only on "brew," but also in pizza. They have people come from all over the world to taste and then try to duplicate their pizza. It was amazing! The best part, though, was catching up with Edith after all these years. Jesse put it the best (he's never met her before) - "that lady was fantastic." It was one of those special things that happen, but we never planned on. Another thing to be thankful for.
Then, we had another barbecue with Jesse's friends Sunday night. This time, we even participated by bringing our fresh king salmon and a spinach salad. Again, we so enjoyed Jesse's friends - they are truly a great bunch. Only problem with last night was waaaaaay too much food. Good grief! I have to put those chaps back on in a few days.
Today is a light day - catch up on laundry, run some errands, get some post office boxes (so we can mail our stuff back), etc. Tonight we're having dinner with a friend of Duane, Ryan, who is a deputy Marshal here in Anchorage. After that, Jesse is still talking about midnight golf (I keep saying - can we fudge a little and have 10:00 golf instead?).
We have been truly thankful for our host and hostess - Pastor Dave and Darlene. What wonderful people. They not only let us hang out in their whole basement, but they let us do laundry and even offer us a car to use when it's raining, which was really nice Saturday. After all, I am a girl (who kind of likes to look nice) and putting that helmet on when I'm having a good hair day only to ride in the rain is sometimes, well, not great. So, we are very thankful for them. As I said, they are truly great people - and he can really preach, too.
A couple of comments about Anchorage. It's cold! Simple - it's cold (to me, anyway). These people are convinced it's summer (I have no idea where they get that idea - it's 55 to 65 degrees almost all of the time and overcast or raining) - so they all have their windows open all of the time. For goodness sake, it's cold! But, as I said, they're convinced it's summer. I think they should be in the midwest when it's 98 degrees and 80 percent humidity and the night "cools off" to 76 degrees - then they'd understand what summer is. My other observation is that Canada and Anchorage people love A&W restaurants. They are everywhere. We're accustomed to seeing McDonalds and Burger Kings all over - well, they have some McDonalds, but they really have lots of A&Ws. Difference in parts of the USA I guess.
Well, Duane is chomping at the bit to read this - I'm not sure if he loves my blogs that much or is hoping to catch a typo. We'll see what the day brings.
Thanks for checking and thanks for the prayers.
Gayle - BOTB
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Friday, June 25.
Hi! A little change up for you today. You get to start with news from the front! Are you excited?
Friday was another of the "first ever" days. Jesse's friend Scott, who is a fishing nut to the n'th extreme, took the three of us King Salmon fishing. It is running toward the end of the season, so most of the fish have migrated up the river to points where you are not allowed to fish. Scott made the appropriate "no promises" comments that all true fisherman are known for, but he seemed pretty excited.
We left Anchorage at 12:30 and met Scott at the Deshka River landing at about 3:oo. After an easy boat launch, and an hour of boat throttle cable problems sitting on a sandbar. We were headed 6 miles down river and then up another river to fish.
King fishing is done by looking for a school of migrating salmon, and then casting lures into the school trying to get them to bite. If you can't spot a school, you troll the section of river and try to locate a school. We tried both methods. Jesse picked up the first king and after a 5 minute battle, Scott netted 22 pound king. AMAZING fish!
A few hours later, Scott hooked a king and handed me his rod, (I know that's kind of "cheating" but the limit for king salmon is only ONE fish per person for non-residents and 6 for residents). Anyway, after a few nice "runs" and a good battle, Scott landed another salmon, this one was a tad smaller than Jesse's, but still just over 20 pounds.
We fished until 10:00 pm, and yes the sun was still up, but they close the water from 1100 pm until 6:00 am. We cleaned and bagged salmon, stopped a the grocery store to put them on ice and started the trip back to Anchorage. What was astounding, was that at 1145 pm (yes almost midnight) the sun was still shining on the mountain tops around town. Totally confusing to the mind, believe me.
So we returned to Anchorage, split, wrapped and bagged fish on the hood of the Buick in the driveway, and finally got to bed just before 1:00 in the morning! So that's the reason, I'm blogging today, at 10:00 Gayle was still in bed!
Needless to say, those were the biggest fish Jesse or I have ever caught! Gayle was not so lucky, but we're going to get her a bigger fish on Wednesday when we go halibut fishing.
Not much on the schedule today, a little wash, looking at some touristy stuff and just relaxing, Church with Jesse tomorrow and another laid back day. You probably won't see any updates from us for a couple of days, so for you daily readers, don't be frightened, we'll be back next week.
We have been so blessed being able to take this "trip of a lifetime" and are so thankful for the means, and the time off, to be able to take it. It has truly been a blessing!
Thanks for checking!
Hi! A little change up for you today. You get to start with news from the front! Are you excited?
Friday was another of the "first ever" days. Jesse's friend Scott, who is a fishing nut to the n'th extreme, took the three of us King Salmon fishing. It is running toward the end of the season, so most of the fish have migrated up the river to points where you are not allowed to fish. Scott made the appropriate "no promises" comments that all true fisherman are known for, but he seemed pretty excited.
We left Anchorage at 12:30 and met Scott at the Deshka River landing at about 3:oo. After an easy boat launch, and an hour of boat throttle cable problems sitting on a sandbar. We were headed 6 miles down river and then up another river to fish.
King fishing is done by looking for a school of migrating salmon, and then casting lures into the school trying to get them to bite. If you can't spot a school, you troll the section of river and try to locate a school. We tried both methods. Jesse picked up the first king and after a 5 minute battle, Scott netted 22 pound king. AMAZING fish!
A few hours later, Scott hooked a king and handed me his rod, (I know that's kind of "cheating" but the limit for king salmon is only ONE fish per person for non-residents and 6 for residents). Anyway, after a few nice "runs" and a good battle, Scott landed another salmon, this one was a tad smaller than Jesse's, but still just over 20 pounds.
We fished until 10:00 pm, and yes the sun was still up, but they close the water from 1100 pm until 6:00 am. We cleaned and bagged salmon, stopped a the grocery store to put them on ice and started the trip back to Anchorage. What was astounding, was that at 1145 pm (yes almost midnight) the sun was still shining on the mountain tops around town. Totally confusing to the mind, believe me.
So we returned to Anchorage, split, wrapped and bagged fish on the hood of the Buick in the driveway, and finally got to bed just before 1:00 in the morning! So that's the reason, I'm blogging today, at 10:00 Gayle was still in bed!
Needless to say, those were the biggest fish Jesse or I have ever caught! Gayle was not so lucky, but we're going to get her a bigger fish on Wednesday when we go halibut fishing.
Not much on the schedule today, a little wash, looking at some touristy stuff and just relaxing, Church with Jesse tomorrow and another laid back day. You probably won't see any updates from us for a couple of days, so for you daily readers, don't be frightened, we'll be back next week.
We have been so blessed being able to take this "trip of a lifetime" and are so thankful for the means, and the time off, to be able to take it. It has truly been a blessing!
Thanks for checking!
Friday, June 25, 2010
Thursday, June 24
Long day yesterday, but WOW! Denali National Park is amazing! We got up yesterday morning at 5:20 and left for Denali (a 10-minute drive from our hotel) at 6. Our bus left for the back of Denali at 6:45 a.m. sharp - it was an 11-hour trip to the back of Denali (at least as far back as you're allowed to go - 88 miles) and back. To say that the view and landscape were amazing is true, but I can't say more so than all of the other beautiful things we've been seeing around Alaska. Maybe if Mount McKinley had been out, it would have been even more breathtaking than what we've already seen (although I doubt it), but the chances of seeing all of Mount McKinley are slim at best. We did get to see most of it, the bottom and the top, but not all. It's quite a sight.
What I found most interesting about Mount McKinley is the fact that, right while we were looking at it, 287 people were attempting to climb it and reach the summit. We also found out that 4 people have been killed already this year climbing it (climbing "season" obviously is very short). I guess it's a very difficult mountain to climb. The fee to attempt to climb it, as far as what you have to pay to the state of Alaska, is $285.
Back to Denali National Park. What was most amazing about Denali is the wildlife you see - sometimes literally right next to your bus. We saw a moose, several caribou (one trotted in front of our bus for 1-1/2 miles), an alpha male wolf watching 5 pups, a couple of golden eagles, several dall sheep (right next to us on the mountain) and 8 grizzly bears. Amazing! Duane got some absolutely fantastic pictures of a caribou and a dall sheep - looks like the animals posed just like a professional photograph. Hopefully, he'll get a couple of these photos posted one of these days. They do a great job there with allowing you to see the wildlife, but now allowing the wildlife to get accustomed to humans. No one goes to the back of Denali on your own unless you backpack (which requires taking a course and getting permission). They want the animals to retain the fear of humans and yet allow humans to see them up close. They do it well. One reason they want the animals to retain their fear is for humans' protection. When you go backpacking, the only protection you have against grizzlies is your voice - so they do not want grizzlies to get accustomed to that noise which would enable them to ignore it. At this point, they are still afraid of a human's voice. It's working well for them - they have not had anyone killed by a grizzly on that park ever.
I have to thank my dad and Duane for one special part of the day. Toward the end of the bus ride, our driver (and tour guide) asked me if I had anything planned for Saturday - he needed a wildlife spotter on the bus for him. I'm guessing I spotted about 2/3 of the wildlife we saw (the driver spotted the rest). I'm not saying this for bragging rights. The truth is, it's all because I used to go wildlife watching with my dad and now I go hunting with Duane and family. So, I have them to thank; but, it was fun that the guy was impressed with this "lady from Iowa" who spotted so much. The other part of the equation is that 99% of the people on the bus have no idea what they're looking for and no idea how to go about spotting wildlife. As a matter of fact, once you spotted anything, you had all you could do to even explain to them where to find the animal. Sometimes, they never did get it. Thanks for Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota home roots and hunting.
It was a wonderful day filled with exciting and amazing sights (the wildlife), but it was a long day. We got done with our tour of the park at 5:45 p.m., packed up the bike and hit the road back for Anchorage. Duane made good time and, even with a little construction, got us back to Pastor Dave's at 10:15. We were pooped!
Jesse picked us up this a.m. at Pastor Dave's and he and Duane are organizing our equipment for salmon fishing. We already have our licenses and hope to leave with Jesse's friend, Scott, for Scott's hot spot for salmon. It's the late end of king salmon, but we're hoping to catch a few. We'll see how that goes. I'm blogging at a bagel shop we found and enjoying a cup of coffee while they chase around (I like this assignment).
Well, that's all for now. Thanks for checking and thank you for your prayers.
Gayle - BOTB
What I found most interesting about Mount McKinley is the fact that, right while we were looking at it, 287 people were attempting to climb it and reach the summit. We also found out that 4 people have been killed already this year climbing it (climbing "season" obviously is very short). I guess it's a very difficult mountain to climb. The fee to attempt to climb it, as far as what you have to pay to the state of Alaska, is $285.
Back to Denali National Park. What was most amazing about Denali is the wildlife you see - sometimes literally right next to your bus. We saw a moose, several caribou (one trotted in front of our bus for 1-1/2 miles), an alpha male wolf watching 5 pups, a couple of golden eagles, several dall sheep (right next to us on the mountain) and 8 grizzly bears. Amazing! Duane got some absolutely fantastic pictures of a caribou and a dall sheep - looks like the animals posed just like a professional photograph. Hopefully, he'll get a couple of these photos posted one of these days. They do a great job there with allowing you to see the wildlife, but now allowing the wildlife to get accustomed to humans. No one goes to the back of Denali on your own unless you backpack (which requires taking a course and getting permission). They want the animals to retain the fear of humans and yet allow humans to see them up close. They do it well. One reason they want the animals to retain their fear is for humans' protection. When you go backpacking, the only protection you have against grizzlies is your voice - so they do not want grizzlies to get accustomed to that noise which would enable them to ignore it. At this point, they are still afraid of a human's voice. It's working well for them - they have not had anyone killed by a grizzly on that park ever.
I have to thank my dad and Duane for one special part of the day. Toward the end of the bus ride, our driver (and tour guide) asked me if I had anything planned for Saturday - he needed a wildlife spotter on the bus for him. I'm guessing I spotted about 2/3 of the wildlife we saw (the driver spotted the rest). I'm not saying this for bragging rights. The truth is, it's all because I used to go wildlife watching with my dad and now I go hunting with Duane and family. So, I have them to thank; but, it was fun that the guy was impressed with this "lady from Iowa" who spotted so much. The other part of the equation is that 99% of the people on the bus have no idea what they're looking for and no idea how to go about spotting wildlife. As a matter of fact, once you spotted anything, you had all you could do to even explain to them where to find the animal. Sometimes, they never did get it. Thanks for Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota home roots and hunting.
It was a wonderful day filled with exciting and amazing sights (the wildlife), but it was a long day. We got done with our tour of the park at 5:45 p.m., packed up the bike and hit the road back for Anchorage. Duane made good time and, even with a little construction, got us back to Pastor Dave's at 10:15. We were pooped!
Jesse picked us up this a.m. at Pastor Dave's and he and Duane are organizing our equipment for salmon fishing. We already have our licenses and hope to leave with Jesse's friend, Scott, for Scott's hot spot for salmon. It's the late end of king salmon, but we're hoping to catch a few. We'll see how that goes. I'm blogging at a bagel shop we found and enjoying a cup of coffee while they chase around (I like this assignment).
Well, that's all for now. Thanks for checking and thank you for your prayers.
Gayle - BOTB
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Wednesday, June 23
I know you've all heard the stories about how big the mosquitos are in Alaska - well, it's true. As Duane so perfectly stated the other day, "What the heck! I've shot at pheasants the same size as that mosquito." Truth. They're huge here.
Spent most of this morning finding WiFi (Anchorage is a pain in the butt for that - even Starbucks doesn't have it). Then, on the road again to Denali - 240 miles (4-1/2 hours). Haveto really be careful with gas on this road - can't find it all the time. We go on our bus tour of Denali at 6:45 a.m. tomorrow. It's a 9 to 11 hour tour and then we have to drive back to Anchorage. I sure hope this tour is great - we're going to get back awfully darn late tomorrow night. Good thing it stays light here constantly.
Drove up to our hotel here next to Denali - I went, "Oh, crap, not again." It looked like one of those strip hotels that strippers use for their "tricks." Good news is that it was sparking clean on the inside. Thank goodness.
Don't have a lot of news today. It was basically a travel day just to get somewhere. Like I said, sure hope Denali is all they say it is.
Thanks for checking - thanks for the prayers.
Gayle - BOTB
Now for news from the front....
At Pastor Dave's house, the neighbor reported that she went out to check the mail earlier this week and a black bear sow and three cubs were standing by her mailbox, and this is in the middle of Anchorage. Strange but true!
At the BMW dealer yesterday I also yacked with a professor from St Cloud State (MN) university who does nothing other than ride all summer long. He has a cabin in Homer AK and has ridden up here 3 of the past 5 years. He said that this year the road out of Canada to Alaska was the worst he has ever seen. The dude was a little eccentric, (I mean he IS a Professor!) Last summer he did the USA "4 corner" trip.. He left St Cloud MN, went to Maine, Key West, FL, San Diego and then up to Seattle before heading back to MN. 10000 plus miles, now that dude has an "iron butt"!
More tomorrow!
Spent most of this morning finding WiFi (Anchorage is a pain in the butt for that - even Starbucks doesn't have it). Then, on the road again to Denali - 240 miles (4-1/2 hours). Haveto really be careful with gas on this road - can't find it all the time. We go on our bus tour of Denali at 6:45 a.m. tomorrow. It's a 9 to 11 hour tour and then we have to drive back to Anchorage. I sure hope this tour is great - we're going to get back awfully darn late tomorrow night. Good thing it stays light here constantly.
Drove up to our hotel here next to Denali - I went, "Oh, crap, not again." It looked like one of those strip hotels that strippers use for their "tricks." Good news is that it was sparking clean on the inside. Thank goodness.
Don't have a lot of news today. It was basically a travel day just to get somewhere. Like I said, sure hope Denali is all they say it is.
Thanks for checking - thanks for the prayers.
Gayle - BOTB
Now for news from the front....
At Pastor Dave's house, the neighbor reported that she went out to check the mail earlier this week and a black bear sow and three cubs were standing by her mailbox, and this is in the middle of Anchorage. Strange but true!
At the BMW dealer yesterday I also yacked with a professor from St Cloud State (MN) university who does nothing other than ride all summer long. He has a cabin in Homer AK and has ridden up here 3 of the past 5 years. He said that this year the road out of Canada to Alaska was the worst he has ever seen. The dude was a little eccentric, (I mean he IS a Professor!) Last summer he did the USA "4 corner" trip.. He left St Cloud MN, went to Maine, Key West, FL, San Diego and then up to Seattle before heading back to MN. 10000 plus miles, now that dude has an "iron butt"!
More tomorrow!
Tuesday, June 22
We kind of got a late start doing "things." We could not find wireless internet, so as I mentioned yesterday, ended up at Jesse's office using that. Jesse was done with his staff meeting at about 1 p.m., and we were done blogging by then and also done doing a couple of loads of laundry at Pastor Dave's house, so headed out of Anchorage. Duane was also "tied up" yesterday at the BMW dealer. He had arranged a month before we left to have it serviced while we were up here. I think he had a really good time - Jesse and I heard all kinds of stories as he and other BMW owners swapped stories of their treks to and from Alaska and other places.
Jesse wanted to show us Whittier, Alaska, and the tunnel that gets you there (it's the only way by land to Whittier). The tunnel takes you 2-1/2 miles (10 minutes to go through it) right through a mountain (literally). They blasted their way through a mountain - not over or around it - straight through it. It's quite amazing. Once you get through the tunnel, you're in the little town of Whittier. Once again, beautiful! Whittier is surrounded by glaciers - great big, gorgeous ones. All kinds of shades of white and blue. They were incredible. The glaciers then are surrounded by snow and forest. Such beauty is just a statement of God's greatness - it really is. I was in awe.
Then, on the way back from Whittier, we had the most exciting thing happen! We came across mountain goats on the cliffs right next to the road. So, you looked up the steep cliff (right next to the road), and there were the goats just looking down at you. The closest one was probably about 100 feet away straight up. The groups (there were two of them) included little ones also. They were so darn cute - and they just fly across those cliff faces like nothing and look down at you as if to say "what are you looking at?". It was great - I was excited. Duane got some great pictures. He's going to have to post some one of these days.
Back to Anchorage and Jesse took us to his favorite Thai place to eat - a little hole in the wall in a bad part of town, but wow, that food was amazing. True Thai food is delicious - and this was fabulous. Yum!!! Don't aske me what I had - couldn't remember anyway. All I know is it was great!
Last stop of the day was a restaurant downtown called "Humpy's." A staple of Anchorage where people gather, eat, drink and, I'm pretty sure, get rowdy. It was fun to see! Jesse wanted to show it to us because that's where he had a conversation with Sig Hanson, Captain of the fishing vessel Norwegian on the TV show the Deadliest Catch. I can see why those crab fishing guys hang out at "Humpy's" - it just fits. In a couple of the guide books, the authors said if in Anchorage, you have to try a "duck fart" - it's a drink. Well, me being all about experiencing the real Anchorage, I thought I better try one. It's kahlua, Bailey's irish cream and Crown Royal. Yum! But, I wouldn't want to have too many of them. My waitress was nice - when I ordered it, she laughed and smiled and made sure to bring me a tall glass of water! Yup - experienced waitress.
It was a fantastic day! We are thankful to be experiencing it and thankful to be with Jesse. (Now if only Jamie and Brady were here - oh, well.)
Again, thanks for checking and thank you for your prayers.
Gayle - BOTB
Now a little news from the front.....
As Gayle said, stopped at the BMW dealer for a service call, needed the oil changed and a few other minor things checked. Sat about two hours conversing with some of the most "eclectic" and interesting people I've met so far. Talked with one guy from Belgium, who flew from Frankfort, Germany to Anchorage with his dad and brother and rented BMW's. They are touring Alaska for a week and then will fly home. The same guy was here last year, after he delivered a friends BMW, from New York to Anchorage, it took him 7 weeks and he toured most of the Northern US and Canada. What a trip that would be!
So today we head for Denali National Park and Mt. Mckinley, that tour will be tomorrow and we will drive the 240 miles back tomorrow night. It never gets "dark" here, sunset last night was 11:41 pm and sunrise was at 04:14 this morning. I was up at 02:30 this morning, just looking around, and I could read the newspaper while sitting in the basement family room, with no lights on! It was a little dim, but I could read it. Weird!
The best part of the trip is that my blackberry has no service up here. I have not received an e-mail from work for over a week! For those of you from the office, I have not gotten to the point where I was wishing I was back to work! Sorry!
Jesse wanted to show us Whittier, Alaska, and the tunnel that gets you there (it's the only way by land to Whittier). The tunnel takes you 2-1/2 miles (10 minutes to go through it) right through a mountain (literally). They blasted their way through a mountain - not over or around it - straight through it. It's quite amazing. Once you get through the tunnel, you're in the little town of Whittier. Once again, beautiful! Whittier is surrounded by glaciers - great big, gorgeous ones. All kinds of shades of white and blue. They were incredible. The glaciers then are surrounded by snow and forest. Such beauty is just a statement of God's greatness - it really is. I was in awe.
Then, on the way back from Whittier, we had the most exciting thing happen! We came across mountain goats on the cliffs right next to the road. So, you looked up the steep cliff (right next to the road), and there were the goats just looking down at you. The closest one was probably about 100 feet away straight up. The groups (there were two of them) included little ones also. They were so darn cute - and they just fly across those cliff faces like nothing and look down at you as if to say "what are you looking at?". It was great - I was excited. Duane got some great pictures. He's going to have to post some one of these days.
Back to Anchorage and Jesse took us to his favorite Thai place to eat - a little hole in the wall in a bad part of town, but wow, that food was amazing. True Thai food is delicious - and this was fabulous. Yum!!! Don't aske me what I had - couldn't remember anyway. All I know is it was great!
Last stop of the day was a restaurant downtown called "Humpy's." A staple of Anchorage where people gather, eat, drink and, I'm pretty sure, get rowdy. It was fun to see! Jesse wanted to show it to us because that's where he had a conversation with Sig Hanson, Captain of the fishing vessel Norwegian on the TV show the Deadliest Catch. I can see why those crab fishing guys hang out at "Humpy's" - it just fits. In a couple of the guide books, the authors said if in Anchorage, you have to try a "duck fart" - it's a drink. Well, me being all about experiencing the real Anchorage, I thought I better try one. It's kahlua, Bailey's irish cream and Crown Royal. Yum! But, I wouldn't want to have too many of them. My waitress was nice - when I ordered it, she laughed and smiled and made sure to bring me a tall glass of water! Yup - experienced waitress.
It was a fantastic day! We are thankful to be experiencing it and thankful to be with Jesse. (Now if only Jamie and Brady were here - oh, well.)
Again, thanks for checking and thank you for your prayers.
Gayle - BOTB
Now a little news from the front.....
As Gayle said, stopped at the BMW dealer for a service call, needed the oil changed and a few other minor things checked. Sat about two hours conversing with some of the most "eclectic" and interesting people I've met so far. Talked with one guy from Belgium, who flew from Frankfort, Germany to Anchorage with his dad and brother and rented BMW's. They are touring Alaska for a week and then will fly home. The same guy was here last year, after he delivered a friends BMW, from New York to Anchorage, it took him 7 weeks and he toured most of the Northern US and Canada. What a trip that would be!
So today we head for Denali National Park and Mt. Mckinley, that tour will be tomorrow and we will drive the 240 miles back tomorrow night. It never gets "dark" here, sunset last night was 11:41 pm and sunrise was at 04:14 this morning. I was up at 02:30 this morning, just looking around, and I could read the newspaper while sitting in the basement family room, with no lights on! It was a little dim, but I could read it. Weird!
The best part of the trip is that my blackberry has no service up here. I have not received an e-mail from work for over a week! For those of you from the office, I have not gotten to the point where I was wishing I was back to work! Sorry!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Monday, June 21
Yes, I'm at Jesse's computer at his office. Yesterday, Jesse showed us Anchorage - boy, did he ever. He had us busy all day, but it was great and I think we're getting a feel for it - both the immense and amazing beauty and the not-so-pretty as well.
Let's see, we started by going to this park to see Mount McKinley from a distance. It was a perfectly clear day, which apparently doesn't happen much around here - so everyone said we'd better go see it right away. It was amazing - even from a distance. Then we went downtown Anchorage and just walked around. Busy, busy, busy. They keep their downtown very active, but beautiful as well - lots of flowers and plants and activities for peoples. All kinds of shopping. Then we had a reindeer sausage at a vendor (the one who makes his sausage out of almost all reindeer - the others apparently use pork as the main meat) - yum!!!!! It's like a bratwurst - a little sweet, but yet with a little spice on the tongue after you savor it. Delicious! Then on to "Flat-top" - a mountain outside of Anchorage where you overlook the whole town and are in the foothills kind of. It really gives you a feel for Anchorage and how it lies within the mountains. It was also beautiful. I could stay up there all day - except I'd like to have our binoculars along to see what's looking at me from the forest and other mountains. (I'm taking them from now on.) Had to make a Wal-Mart run and then Jesse took us to see a little town called Girdwood (which is on the way to Seward). It's one of the towns you would not even know was there (I bet 99% of all tourists drive right past it - we would have). What a fun, cute, eclectic little town that has two glaciers right outside their city limits. Beautiful and fun all in one package. And a gorgeous drive. The bay all along one side and straight up mountains on the other with water coming right over the mountain rock - and the mountains on the other side of the bay beautiful as well. Amazing!
Another picnic last evening - this time with the Parachute workers and the kids. Interesting. Duane and I agreed that you can just feel the energy draining from you as you're around those kids - they are very needy, hyper or introverted, talk too much or difficult to talk with and many of them just do not have much in the way of social skills. You can tell they absolutely thrive on the attention of the staff (and others), and they like the food, too. Then, a couple of homeless people see our picnic, and you can just see them waiting around the garbage for us to leave (or maybe when we're not looking), so they can dig around and see what they can find. Sad! It was good for us to see - now we have a tiny bit of an idea what Jesse has been doing and what he's been dealing with.
We were pooped - so headed back to Pastor Dave's and just sat in the quiet for a while. Many of us obviously take way too many blessings for granted. It's good for us all to ponder that once in a while.
We have many, many plans in the days we have with Jesse here in Anchorage - salmon fishing, ocean halibut fishing, eating here and there, Denali National Park, etc., etc. I'll try to keep you updated.
Thanks for checking and thanks for the prayers.
Gayle - BOTB
Sunday, June 20
Well, I'm sitting at Jesse's computer in his office at Parachutes - cannot find wireless internet access anywhere. Pastor Dave has wireless at his home, but can't remember the password for guest access. One of those mornings! Let me get you caught up.....
Sunday -
Just when you think it can't get anymore beautiful traveling, it does. Amazing! Through more mountains - this time we were actually even with or above the snow cap. Long winding curves leading into hairpin curves that take you into Anchorage. Glaciers right off to your right or left sitting among gorgeous mountains surrounded by forrest. Like I said, I didn't think it could get anymore beautiful - and it did! Wow! Words and even pictures just don't do it - I wish I could paint it for you, but I just don't know how.
We left Tok, Alaska, at 7:30 a.m. and arrived at Anchorage at 3:30 p.m. We just parked in downtown Anchorage and Jesse got us about 4:00 p.m. The last miles into Anchorage were fabulous driving, but before that we had some more of the crappy permafrost stuff and also some construction, but not nearly as bad as the day before. In Tok, we had fresh halibut at a roadside stand - that's all she served was halibut out of a little hut. You only had like 5 choices of how you want it prepared - halibut and chips, halibut tacos, halibut wrap and a couple others. We had halibut tacos - they were fabulous. Obviously made with fresh halibut! Of course, you already heard about the massive size marguerita - I had to try one just to say I did it. I did it (with a little help from Duane)!
We saw a bald eagle, a fox and a moose with her calf right in the middle of the road along the way.
So, we arrived in Anchorage and are staying at the home of Pastor Dave and Darlene Kuiper - they gave us their basement to use as our own. It's such a lovely home and such a wonderful gift to be able to stay there. They are extremely nice people and very easy to talk to - we feel truly blessed by their hospitality. Anchorage itself is surrounded by mountains all around with the bay to the ocean in front. What a location! It's absolutely gorgeous! We got somewhat settled at Pastor Dave's and then off with Jesse to have a barbecue with some of his friends. As a parent, it was great to meet them and realize what wonderful friends Jesse has here - truly wonderful friends. We are thankful.
Well, that's about all for Sunday, Oh, yeah - I did manage to sprain my left ankle the other day. I was not thinking about what I was doing (completely in thought about something else) when I got off the bike and, for some crazy reason, got off the bike in a way I have never done before (and should never do again) - I don't even know what the world I was thinking. So, ended up stepping all over Duane's foot on the ground (he can't move his foot or the bike would tip over) and twisted it. It swelled up, but overnight, it went down and by the end of the next day was feeling fine. Thank goodness. I don't know what my deal it - first I think I can shove my left leg under a 800+ pound bike and think my leg can hold it up and then I get off the bike like a contortionist (is that spelled right?). I'm going to have to settle down here - I'm just getting too much into the adventure I guess.
Thanks for checking and thanks for the prayers.
Gayle - BOTB
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Saturday, June 19
We made it to Alaska. Woo Hoo!!! Wow - it was a rough day (at times). We left Whitehorse at 7:30 a.m. and arrived in Tok, Alaska at 5:30 p.m. (which is 4:30 p.m. Tok time - another hour time change). Long day.
The day began fabulous. Couldn't believe it, but another day riding in gorgeous weather between snow-capped mountains. This time, we were even higher in the mountains. When we looked, we were actually even with the snow in the mountains. Temperature hung right around 50 degrees most of the day. Absolutely fabulous. Scenery again amazing. We also saw a bunch of elk, a moose, a mountain goat and, the best of all, a grizzy bear with her cub right along the side of the road. I even got pictures! Duane almost stopped the bike, which freaked me out - but I got the pictures anyway. Then, in all my fluster, I thought I lost one of my gloves and Duane was going to turn around and pick it up right in front of the grizzly (I said forget the stupid glove), but fortunately I found it underneath Duane's butt. I must have shoved it there in my panic (now you know not to get me panicked - you never know where I'll shove things). Anyway, the shots turned out great. Hopefully, Duane can post one of them one of these days.
Speaking of pictures - we purchased a new camera for this trip. That was a great decision! I literally take pictures "on the fly" (that's what Duane and I call it - it means as we're going down the road) and they turn out fabulous. Good decision.
Before I get to the rest of the day, let me update you regarding last night. We stayed at "Canada's Best Value Inn," which I was concerned about, but it was very clean, a big and nice room, had a television, wireless internet service and even a bathroom with switches for the fan, light and heating light individually - I knew we were up in the world. However, I didn't realize how thin the walls were and what an unusual place it was. As I was walking down the hall, I happened to glance into a room and they had string across the room with laundry drying on the string (lots of laundry). Duane said he's quite sure people stay there permanently. I got quite concerned when the dude "came home" next to us and I heard him go to the bathroom, take a shower, talk to some chick, pass gas, watch TV, talk to some chick again. I thought, oh, no, what next?!!?! But, the next thing I heard was snoring. Thank goodness. Duane slept through all of it. That's good - he was pooped.
So, back to today, the first part of the day was amazing. However, we then ran into the Canadian version of road construction and what Jesse had warned us about - roads suffering the damage of permafrost. Once again, Jesse did not exaggerate! WOW! Were they bad. The best way I can describe it is the road looks like a small roller coaster except big chunks of the roller coaster road are missing here and there and you're just supposed to guess when and where. I did get some pretty good pictures of it "on the fly." Maybe if you see it sometime, you'll understand. I know for a fact that some spots, if we would have hit them with the bike, it would have taken the whole front tire of the bike into the hole. Yikes! So, Duane had a rough day of it. We had about 140 miles of permafrost and 30 of construction (gravel/rock/they pour water on it/you drove on it behind pilot car - nasty). It took us 3 1/2 hours to do the 140 miles. We're pooped.
Will have to blog more later and check this later - battery running out and don't want to lose this. Duane might have to change my miles and hours - I just guessed
Gayle - BOTB
News from the Front. Wow what a day. Imagine driving through an Iowa plowed field on a two wheel 800 pound bike. There were places where the road sank, and the groove in the road looked like a plowed furrow 6" deep and meandering across the road like a snake for 30 or 40 yards. Now try to drive through it without getting yourself tossed off!
I now know how they keep people in Canada, they make the road to get out of the country so damn bad, you don't dare leave!
The good news is that with all that slow travel, I averaged 46.9 mpg for the day, with one tank at 57.3 mpg. Unbelieveable, but I checked it several times.
Tonight we stayed at a Westmark Inn, in Tok, that advertised the "largest Margarita in Alaska", of course Gayle ordered one, it is 46 ounces, (more than a quart) and was darn good! (don't worry, I took pictures, it's as big as Gayle's head!!!!!!!)
On to Anchorage tomorrow to see Jesse!
Thanks for checking and your prayers!
The day began fabulous. Couldn't believe it, but another day riding in gorgeous weather between snow-capped mountains. This time, we were even higher in the mountains. When we looked, we were actually even with the snow in the mountains. Temperature hung right around 50 degrees most of the day. Absolutely fabulous. Scenery again amazing. We also saw a bunch of elk, a moose, a mountain goat and, the best of all, a grizzy bear with her cub right along the side of the road. I even got pictures! Duane almost stopped the bike, which freaked me out - but I got the pictures anyway. Then, in all my fluster, I thought I lost one of my gloves and Duane was going to turn around and pick it up right in front of the grizzly (I said forget the stupid glove), but fortunately I found it underneath Duane's butt. I must have shoved it there in my panic (now you know not to get me panicked - you never know where I'll shove things). Anyway, the shots turned out great. Hopefully, Duane can post one of them one of these days.
Speaking of pictures - we purchased a new camera for this trip. That was a great decision! I literally take pictures "on the fly" (that's what Duane and I call it - it means as we're going down the road) and they turn out fabulous. Good decision.
Before I get to the rest of the day, let me update you regarding last night. We stayed at "Canada's Best Value Inn," which I was concerned about, but it was very clean, a big and nice room, had a television, wireless internet service and even a bathroom with switches for the fan, light and heating light individually - I knew we were up in the world. However, I didn't realize how thin the walls were and what an unusual place it was. As I was walking down the hall, I happened to glance into a room and they had string across the room with laundry drying on the string (lots of laundry). Duane said he's quite sure people stay there permanently. I got quite concerned when the dude "came home" next to us and I heard him go to the bathroom, take a shower, talk to some chick, pass gas, watch TV, talk to some chick again. I thought, oh, no, what next?!!?! But, the next thing I heard was snoring. Thank goodness. Duane slept through all of it. That's good - he was pooped.
So, back to today, the first part of the day was amazing. However, we then ran into the Canadian version of road construction and what Jesse had warned us about - roads suffering the damage of permafrost. Once again, Jesse did not exaggerate! WOW! Were they bad. The best way I can describe it is the road looks like a small roller coaster except big chunks of the roller coaster road are missing here and there and you're just supposed to guess when and where. I did get some pretty good pictures of it "on the fly." Maybe if you see it sometime, you'll understand. I know for a fact that some spots, if we would have hit them with the bike, it would have taken the whole front tire of the bike into the hole. Yikes! So, Duane had a rough day of it. We had about 140 miles of permafrost and 30 of construction (gravel/rock/they pour water on it/you drove on it behind pilot car - nasty). It took us 3 1/2 hours to do the 140 miles. We're pooped.
Will have to blog more later and check this later - battery running out and don't want to lose this. Duane might have to change my miles and hours - I just guessed
Gayle - BOTB
News from the Front. Wow what a day. Imagine driving through an Iowa plowed field on a two wheel 800 pound bike. There were places where the road sank, and the groove in the road looked like a plowed furrow 6" deep and meandering across the road like a snake for 30 or 40 yards. Now try to drive through it without getting yourself tossed off!
I now know how they keep people in Canada, they make the road to get out of the country so damn bad, you don't dare leave!
The good news is that with all that slow travel, I averaged 46.9 mpg for the day, with one tank at 57.3 mpg. Unbelieveable, but I checked it several times.
Tonight we stayed at a Westmark Inn, in Tok, that advertised the "largest Margarita in Alaska", of course Gayle ordered one, it is 46 ounces, (more than a quart) and was darn good! (don't worry, I took pictures, it's as big as Gayle's head!!!!!!!)
On to Anchorage tomorrow to see Jesse!
Thanks for checking and your prayers!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Friday, June 18
I'm pretty sure we made it to the wild, wild west. We're in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada. It is definitely a rough town (also, very busy - of course, there's absolutely no other towns around here). We walked past a bar on the way to our restaurant, and we about got blown over by the smell of marijuana coming out of the bar. Rough looking crowd at about all corners. Yikes! Good news is that our hotel has special accommodations for motorcycles - they have an underground parking garage for them so they're safe. I chose wisely when I chose this place.
Another day almost identical to yesterday - I thought we were through the mountains yesterday, but shazam, there we were back in the midst of snow-capped mountains, forests, and just gorgeous scenery. The only difference today would be more water - lots of mountain-top lakes (one of them was 52 miles long, and we only drove next to it for half the distance) and pools of water surrounded by marshes where the moose like to hang out. It was beautiful. Got skunked today in the wildlife watching department, though - but, with such amazing surroundings, it didn't matter that much.
Slept great last night - had a clean, "normal" hotel - so didn't have to keep one eye open all night and my nose could take in the sweet smell of nothing (as opposed to musty/smelly) all night long. Could actually put the TV on this morning and watch the weather - WOW, technology is great!
I'll let Duane go into detail about the ride/road itself - I'll talk about the food! The prices for food in restaurants in Canada is ridiculously expensive. At Subway, we ordered a 6" turkey sub, a 6" cold cut sub, a package of chips and two drinks and the price was $17.50 Canadian money ($17.00 US). For breakfast Duane had two pancakes and two eggs, I had a bowl of oatmeal, 2 coffees and one orange juice and it was $21.00 Canadian. Ouch! I guess they have to pay for all their social programs somehow. All the food is that expensive. It's crazy. As long as we're talking about food, I'll tell you where we went for dinner tonight. We went to Klondike Rib & Salmon Barbecue. Duane had Musk Ox Stroganoff and I had Wild Caribou Stew. Both were absolutely delicious. I was surprised that the caribou was actually gamier than the musk ox, but neither was really overly gamey tasting. As I said, both were great!
Short blog today (don't you all send me a comment how thankful you are that it's shorter). I'll let Duane take over. We are just thankful for this experience, for all of you checking in and for your prayers.
Gayle - BOTB
OK FOTB's turn,
Now for an update on the bike, (OK Eric?) the beemer is running great, one small problem with an incompetent driver, (me) a REALLY bad parking lot, lots of potholes and loose gravel. Anyway, I was patiently waiting for my "spot" at the gas pump, and did not realize that there was a pothole under my right foot, my turn came and I attempted to put my right foot down, the ground was not where it was supposed to be, and when I did locate it, my foot kept right on moving, thanks to the loose gravel. All in all, it set down "softly" on the highway peg, which promptly got the snot bent out of it. (Oh, and I, Gayle will add, on my lower leg, but that came out fine also.) We set the bike up, no harm, no foul. If that's the worst that happens, we'll be just fine!
OK, now for the canadian roads. Since we left Ft. Nelson, (about 350 miles from the start of the ALCAN) the next 530 miles have been "seal coat". With that process, they put really heavy oil on the road and spread 3/4" rocks on it about 1" to 1 1/2" thick and you ride on it until it turns into the canadian version of "asphalt". When you ride on it at 65 mph, it feels like a really hard, packed, stone road that is a little "tracky", not smooth at all, just coarse and tracky. That's the best I can do to explain it.We have had about 20 miles of the fresh sealcoat, and let me tell you, it is an interesting experience riding on an inch of gravel/rocks.
Average today was 42.4 mpg. Not bad with a full load and 65 to 70 mph. Last night we stayed at the Airforce Lodge in Watson Lake, it literally was built in 1942 to house US Airforce personnel when they built the road. It has 16 rooms and last night 14 of them were occupied with motorcyle riders, I counted 2 Goldwings, 5 Harleys and 7 BMW's. The majority of bikes we saw today were BMW's.
That's it for today, 400 miles tomorrow, with "frost heaves" in the permafrost for the last 150 miles! Yippee!
Another day almost identical to yesterday - I thought we were through the mountains yesterday, but shazam, there we were back in the midst of snow-capped mountains, forests, and just gorgeous scenery. The only difference today would be more water - lots of mountain-top lakes (one of them was 52 miles long, and we only drove next to it for half the distance) and pools of water surrounded by marshes where the moose like to hang out. It was beautiful. Got skunked today in the wildlife watching department, though - but, with such amazing surroundings, it didn't matter that much.
Slept great last night - had a clean, "normal" hotel - so didn't have to keep one eye open all night and my nose could take in the sweet smell of nothing (as opposed to musty/smelly) all night long. Could actually put the TV on this morning and watch the weather - WOW, technology is great!
I'll let Duane go into detail about the ride/road itself - I'll talk about the food! The prices for food in restaurants in Canada is ridiculously expensive. At Subway, we ordered a 6" turkey sub, a 6" cold cut sub, a package of chips and two drinks and the price was $17.50 Canadian money ($17.00 US). For breakfast Duane had two pancakes and two eggs, I had a bowl of oatmeal, 2 coffees and one orange juice and it was $21.00 Canadian. Ouch! I guess they have to pay for all their social programs somehow. All the food is that expensive. It's crazy. As long as we're talking about food, I'll tell you where we went for dinner tonight. We went to Klondike Rib & Salmon Barbecue. Duane had Musk Ox Stroganoff and I had Wild Caribou Stew. Both were absolutely delicious. I was surprised that the caribou was actually gamier than the musk ox, but neither was really overly gamey tasting. As I said, both were great!
Short blog today (don't you all send me a comment how thankful you are that it's shorter). I'll let Duane take over. We are just thankful for this experience, for all of you checking in and for your prayers.
Gayle - BOTB
OK FOTB's turn,
Now for an update on the bike, (OK Eric?) the beemer is running great, one small problem with an incompetent driver, (me) a REALLY bad parking lot, lots of potholes and loose gravel. Anyway, I was patiently waiting for my "spot" at the gas pump, and did not realize that there was a pothole under my right foot, my turn came and I attempted to put my right foot down, the ground was not where it was supposed to be, and when I did locate it, my foot kept right on moving, thanks to the loose gravel. All in all, it set down "softly" on the highway peg, which promptly got the snot bent out of it. (Oh, and I, Gayle will add, on my lower leg, but that came out fine also.) We set the bike up, no harm, no foul. If that's the worst that happens, we'll be just fine!
OK, now for the canadian roads. Since we left Ft. Nelson, (about 350 miles from the start of the ALCAN) the next 530 miles have been "seal coat". With that process, they put really heavy oil on the road and spread 3/4" rocks on it about 1" to 1 1/2" thick and you ride on it until it turns into the canadian version of "asphalt". When you ride on it at 65 mph, it feels like a really hard, packed, stone road that is a little "tracky", not smooth at all, just coarse and tracky. That's the best I can do to explain it.We have had about 20 miles of the fresh sealcoat, and let me tell you, it is an interesting experience riding on an inch of gravel/rocks.
Average today was 42.4 mpg. Not bad with a full load and 65 to 70 mph. Last night we stayed at the Airforce Lodge in Watson Lake, it literally was built in 1942 to house US Airforce personnel when they built the road. It has 16 rooms and last night 14 of them were occupied with motorcyle riders, I counted 2 Goldwings, 5 Harleys and 7 BMW's. The majority of bikes we saw today were BMW's.
That's it for today, 400 miles tomorrow, with "frost heaves" in the permafrost for the last 150 miles! Yippee!
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Thursday, June 17
My mom's 80th birthday today - and we have no cell phone service; however, I did organize flowers to be sent to her before we left. Hope she got them.
I thought yesterday was a great ride - it was nothing compared to this. The weather is gorgeous (started at 46 degrees and ended at 72 degrees). No wind (love those trees) and absolutely the most beautiful scenery you can imagine. When we sing "how great is our God" in church - that's a fact! Such a creator that can make such unimaginable wonder is truly great. We spent 2-1/2 hours actually in the rocky mountains with snow-capped mountains all around, lovely trees and landscape and you never knew when a creature would come upon the scene. Nice winding curves, some steep grades, over many rivers (lovely in themselves) and just surrounded by beauty! Amazing.
We took a break from riding and took a dip in Liard Hot Springs - literally a hot spring. Of course, it smells like sulfur, but other than that, it was lovely. Some places in the pool were hot, hot, hot and others were just nicely hot. It was great! We also took a break for breakfast this a.m. at one of those roadsite restaurants (just a hole in the middle of nowhere) - best pancakes Duane or I have ever tasted (Duane shared a bite with me). The kids in that community come from 50 miles away and get to school by horse, snowmobile, car or whatever they can find. If the weather is too bad, they simply don't have school for as long as it takes. They have a total of 25 kids in K-12 and 2 teachers.
We left the primitive cabin (no kidding!) at 6:30 a.m. and arrived here in Watson Lake at 2:00 p.m. That gave us time to find a laundromat and do a couple loads of clothes (when you motorcyle, you can't take a lot along). Found a place to eat (Duane had a buffalo burger - yum) and checked into our "hotel." I finally got us a good place to stay. It's actually an old Air Force officers quarters that has been completely renovated. They have some collectibles from the 30s and 40s in the entry and play music from that era, but I don't believe I've ever been in a cleaner place. Thank goodness - the last two made me feel like Shrek. We even have a TV in our room - amazing.
Couple notes about this town called Watson Lake. All of the electricity for the entire community is supplied by generators than run on diesel. At 4 a.m., they shut the generators off for 2 hours - one side of town one night and the other side the next - all year. So, like at our hotel, you cannot take a shower or flush the toilet (or any lights or anything) between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. tomorrow morning because it's their side of town's turn to be shut off. It definitely is the wild blue yonder out here. The other notes is a good news/bad news thing (Jesse loves good news/bad news things). The good news is I got hit on by a guy while waiting for the laundry to get done. The bad next is he had no front teeth, was way overweight, had grease stains all over his clothes and I'm not sure the last time he showered. Guess I just don't have "it" anymore.
Wildlife we saw today: black bear, red fox, many bison, moose and elk. Only disappointment was we didn't see any mountain sheep. Also, didn't see any caribou, but I wasn't surprised about that.
Well, thanks again for checking in and for your prayers. We appreciate all of you.
Gayle - BOTB
Once again, here's news from the front of the bike. As previously stated by Gayle, "what a day!". God made these mountains, but it took the Army Corps of Engineers to tame them (at least a little bit). We had a solid 100 miles of hills, curves and changing grade elevations. At one point, I counted the amount of times I shifted the bike, it was a total of 22 times in 5 miles, that's shifting about once every quarter mile. High speed was 60, low around 25. There was a stretch where we were about 10 feet above the water next to a LONG lake, and the other side was a straight up granite wall, just the tiny road in between for miles, absolutely gorgeous!
All in all, the last three tanks of fuel ran between 46.3 and 47.5 mpg. Not bad! This bike sure does love that mid range/higher torque thing with lots of curves! Of course I hated it (haha).
Any way, I am going to try and post a few pictures after we post this. Thanks for checking and praying!
I thought yesterday was a great ride - it was nothing compared to this. The weather is gorgeous (started at 46 degrees and ended at 72 degrees). No wind (love those trees) and absolutely the most beautiful scenery you can imagine. When we sing "how great is our God" in church - that's a fact! Such a creator that can make such unimaginable wonder is truly great. We spent 2-1/2 hours actually in the rocky mountains with snow-capped mountains all around, lovely trees and landscape and you never knew when a creature would come upon the scene. Nice winding curves, some steep grades, over many rivers (lovely in themselves) and just surrounded by beauty! Amazing.
We took a break from riding and took a dip in Liard Hot Springs - literally a hot spring. Of course, it smells like sulfur, but other than that, it was lovely. Some places in the pool were hot, hot, hot and others were just nicely hot. It was great! We also took a break for breakfast this a.m. at one of those roadsite restaurants (just a hole in the middle of nowhere) - best pancakes Duane or I have ever tasted (Duane shared a bite with me). The kids in that community come from 50 miles away and get to school by horse, snowmobile, car or whatever they can find. If the weather is too bad, they simply don't have school for as long as it takes. They have a total of 25 kids in K-12 and 2 teachers.
We left the primitive cabin (no kidding!) at 6:30 a.m. and arrived here in Watson Lake at 2:00 p.m. That gave us time to find a laundromat and do a couple loads of clothes (when you motorcyle, you can't take a lot along). Found a place to eat (Duane had a buffalo burger - yum) and checked into our "hotel." I finally got us a good place to stay. It's actually an old Air Force officers quarters that has been completely renovated. They have some collectibles from the 30s and 40s in the entry and play music from that era, but I don't believe I've ever been in a cleaner place. Thank goodness - the last two made me feel like Shrek. We even have a TV in our room - amazing.
Couple notes about this town called Watson Lake. All of the electricity for the entire community is supplied by generators than run on diesel. At 4 a.m., they shut the generators off for 2 hours - one side of town one night and the other side the next - all year. So, like at our hotel, you cannot take a shower or flush the toilet (or any lights or anything) between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. tomorrow morning because it's their side of town's turn to be shut off. It definitely is the wild blue yonder out here. The other notes is a good news/bad news thing (Jesse loves good news/bad news things). The good news is I got hit on by a guy while waiting for the laundry to get done. The bad next is he had no front teeth, was way overweight, had grease stains all over his clothes and I'm not sure the last time he showered. Guess I just don't have "it" anymore.
Wildlife we saw today: black bear, red fox, many bison, moose and elk. Only disappointment was we didn't see any mountain sheep. Also, didn't see any caribou, but I wasn't surprised about that.
Well, thanks again for checking in and for your prayers. We appreciate all of you.
Gayle - BOTB
Once again, here's news from the front of the bike. As previously stated by Gayle, "what a day!". God made these mountains, but it took the Army Corps of Engineers to tame them (at least a little bit). We had a solid 100 miles of hills, curves and changing grade elevations. At one point, I counted the amount of times I shifted the bike, it was a total of 22 times in 5 miles, that's shifting about once every quarter mile. High speed was 60, low around 25. There was a stretch where we were about 10 feet above the water next to a LONG lake, and the other side was a straight up granite wall, just the tiny road in between for miles, absolutely gorgeous!
All in all, the last three tanks of fuel ran between 46.3 and 47.5 mpg. Not bad! This bike sure does love that mid range/higher torque thing with lots of curves! Of course I hated it (haha).
Any way, I am going to try and post a few pictures after we post this. Thanks for checking and praying!
Wednesday, June 16
What a ride! What a ride! Gorgeous. Absolutely beautiful - everything about it. When we left the coffee shop it was 38 degrees but kept warming up nicely. Keeping warm is no problem. Immediately drove into rolling hills that turned into foothills. A few steep grades (couple were three miles long at 10% incline). Beautiful scenery. Went through miles and miles of forest mainly comprised of white birch trees (one of my favorites - and they were unbelievably tall), poplars and some evergreens. They also have lots and lots of wild roses - and they are fully in bloom. Lovely!
We saw two more bears (I managed to get a picture of one), a bobcat (he was too fast for a picture), a moose and her calf, lots and lots of deer and lots of beaver dams (and we're assuming that's the beaver we see swimming in the water). It is so fun when we get to see the wildlife. What a gift!
We were driving along today and Duane says to me, "Gayle, we left in such a hurry from the Alfred Hitchcock place, guess what we forgot to do?" Well, I didn't know - he informed me that we both left in such a hurry we forgot to even brush our teeth. Well, at least we left alive and in one piece. Another thing happened while going down the road today - Duane got hit by a bug in his face (thank goodness for full face mask). It hit so hard that I heard it hit his helmet and it turned on our intercom system (which is voice activated). Boy, would that have left a bruise (and a yucky, slimy mess) if you didn't have a face helmet.
One item I was not a fan of today was a bridge. Now, I'm not a fan of bridges anyway, but this one was made of mesh decking (like metal grate stuff) that you had to ride over. It kind of pulled the bike all over. Not a fan, but we just have to take our time on those kind of bridges.
I tried to blog last night at our campground, but if you literally moved one inch, you would be out of service, so I gave up. Right now we're in a local restaurant that has service. Thank goodness for these people. Our accommodations last night left a little to be desired. I was so excited about this place - it got rave reviews. Well, it was gorgeous on the outside. Sitting right next to a river in the middle of the mountains; however, the cabin we stayed in was "primitive." Oh, good grief - not again. Well, at least we didn't have crazy people to deal with, but the cabin's carpet I'm sure hasn't been vacuumed in months (maybe years - do they even own a vacuum?). At least it had a stool and sink inside the cabin, but had to use the shared showers. It wasn't busy, so that worked out pretty well. Thank goodness for flip flops and a clean bed.
We're on the road again now. Thanks for checking and thanks for the prayers. We are learning out hear that it really is all in God's hands - so your prayers mean everything
Gayle - BOTB
Short update from the front, headed to Watson Lake today, short day only 250 miles . Weather beautiful again, I'll write more about the "curves" we had this morning. Day 6 started and looking good! Later!
We saw two more bears (I managed to get a picture of one), a bobcat (he was too fast for a picture), a moose and her calf, lots and lots of deer and lots of beaver dams (and we're assuming that's the beaver we see swimming in the water). It is so fun when we get to see the wildlife. What a gift!
We were driving along today and Duane says to me, "Gayle, we left in such a hurry from the Alfred Hitchcock place, guess what we forgot to do?" Well, I didn't know - he informed me that we both left in such a hurry we forgot to even brush our teeth. Well, at least we left alive and in one piece. Another thing happened while going down the road today - Duane got hit by a bug in his face (thank goodness for full face mask). It hit so hard that I heard it hit his helmet and it turned on our intercom system (which is voice activated). Boy, would that have left a bruise (and a yucky, slimy mess) if you didn't have a face helmet.
One item I was not a fan of today was a bridge. Now, I'm not a fan of bridges anyway, but this one was made of mesh decking (like metal grate stuff) that you had to ride over. It kind of pulled the bike all over. Not a fan, but we just have to take our time on those kind of bridges.
I tried to blog last night at our campground, but if you literally moved one inch, you would be out of service, so I gave up. Right now we're in a local restaurant that has service. Thank goodness for these people. Our accommodations last night left a little to be desired. I was so excited about this place - it got rave reviews. Well, it was gorgeous on the outside. Sitting right next to a river in the middle of the mountains; however, the cabin we stayed in was "primitive." Oh, good grief - not again. Well, at least we didn't have crazy people to deal with, but the cabin's carpet I'm sure hasn't been vacuumed in months (maybe years - do they even own a vacuum?). At least it had a stool and sink inside the cabin, but had to use the shared showers. It wasn't busy, so that worked out pretty well. Thank goodness for flip flops and a clean bed.
We're on the road again now. Thanks for checking and thanks for the prayers. We are learning out hear that it really is all in God's hands - so your prayers mean everything
Gayle - BOTB
Short update from the front, headed to Watson Lake today, short day only 250 miles . Weather beautiful again, I'll write more about the "curves" we had this morning. Day 6 started and looking good! Later!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Wednesday, June 16
Well, the adventure has begun in earnest! Last night, on our way to our bed and breakfast, we saw a bear running onto the road. He went back into the ditch and Duane asked if we should get a picture - I said no, I was scared he'd get us. However, in retrospect, a picture probably would have been a good idea - after all, he wasn't a full-grown one. Oh, well.
Then, we got to our bed and breakfast - a horse ranch (the horses were gorgeous). The whole set-up outside was beautiful - lovely flowers and trees. So, we "check in." Now, let me tell you the characters involved in this episode - it starts with the 3-legged cat, the huge St. Bernard dog who wants to drool on you all the time, the eccentric hostess and the host who works outside and I'm not sure takes very good care of himself. The setting involved is a basement bedroom with two "secret doors" (that's what they look like) that had some water thing that goes on and off whenever someone uses water, a hole just cut into the floor of the bedroom with some tubes and a bucket in it (was it some kind of sump pump thing?) and wires just stapled to the tops of walls. Our bathroom was down there also - apparently used by the host and hostess as well (their bathroom upstairs had a claw foot tub that I wouldn't want to use). They weren't overly friendly when we arrived, but Duane managed to get them to a point where they sat down for quite a while and spoke with us. I told Duane we're sleeping and getting up and getting out of here! We did. We left there at 5:30 a.m. and we're sitting in the same coffee shop where I blogged yesterday. It was 34 degrees when we left - frost on everything (motorcycle, ditches). We're having a cup of coffee, some croissants and waiting a few minutes to let the sun do its thing and then we'll hit the road.
At one point last night, in the middle of the night, I said to Duane, "I feel like I'm in an Alfred Hitchcock movie or something." He told me it would be fine and go back to sleep. Well, at least he didn't lie about that. He might be lying this morning, though - we left so fast I didn't even look at my face this morning. I have no idea what my make-up even looks like - he says it's fine. Well, I'll never know I guess.
Well, that's all for now. We'll see how the rest of today goes.
Gayle - BOTB
OK, a few words from the front. This section may be a little techical, so if you want to skip it, feel free. The BMW is running great, the gas mileage varies a lot according to weather conditions. On a calm day running 110kph (roughly 70 mph) i've been getting 43 to 44 mpg. Now on one of those windy stretches, with a side or quartering to you wind, it's been as low as 36 mpg. Still not bad, but with gas up here running $1 a liter (I didn't do the conversion, but that's about $3.80 US I think.)
We should be getting into some hills today, so we'll see how it likes 9% grades, up and down and lots of shifting and curves. Sounds like a fun day to me!
Then, we got to our bed and breakfast - a horse ranch (the horses were gorgeous). The whole set-up outside was beautiful - lovely flowers and trees. So, we "check in." Now, let me tell you the characters involved in this episode - it starts with the 3-legged cat, the huge St. Bernard dog who wants to drool on you all the time, the eccentric hostess and the host who works outside and I'm not sure takes very good care of himself. The setting involved is a basement bedroom with two "secret doors" (that's what they look like) that had some water thing that goes on and off whenever someone uses water, a hole just cut into the floor of the bedroom with some tubes and a bucket in it (was it some kind of sump pump thing?) and wires just stapled to the tops of walls. Our bathroom was down there also - apparently used by the host and hostess as well (their bathroom upstairs had a claw foot tub that I wouldn't want to use). They weren't overly friendly when we arrived, but Duane managed to get them to a point where they sat down for quite a while and spoke with us. I told Duane we're sleeping and getting up and getting out of here! We did. We left there at 5:30 a.m. and we're sitting in the same coffee shop where I blogged yesterday. It was 34 degrees when we left - frost on everything (motorcycle, ditches). We're having a cup of coffee, some croissants and waiting a few minutes to let the sun do its thing and then we'll hit the road.
At one point last night, in the middle of the night, I said to Duane, "I feel like I'm in an Alfred Hitchcock movie or something." He told me it would be fine and go back to sleep. Well, at least he didn't lie about that. He might be lying this morning, though - we left so fast I didn't even look at my face this morning. I have no idea what my make-up even looks like - he says it's fine. Well, I'll never know I guess.
Well, that's all for now. We'll see how the rest of today goes.
Gayle - BOTB
OK, a few words from the front. This section may be a little techical, so if you want to skip it, feel free. The BMW is running great, the gas mileage varies a lot according to weather conditions. On a calm day running 110kph (roughly 70 mph) i've been getting 43 to 44 mpg. Now on one of those windy stretches, with a side or quartering to you wind, it's been as low as 36 mpg. Still not bad, but with gas up here running $1 a liter (I didn't do the conversion, but that's about $3.80 US I think.)
We should be getting into some hills today, so we'll see how it likes 9% grades, up and down and lots of shifting and curves. Sounds like a fun day to me!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Tuesday, June 16
You are all lucky you're getting this - we had a heck of a time finding a wireless service. I spoke with several people and they said that they're not fond of giving things away in Canada - they rather make money and charge (for example, McDonalds and Starbucks in the US have free wireless internet - not so much here). So, we finally found a spot - a coffee shop in downtown Dawson Creek that a gal at the supermarket told me about. Thanks goodness for her (and the people being so friendly and helpful).
We stayed last night at Motel 6 in Edmonton. I was a little worried about Motel 6, but was pleasantly surprised. A new motel and very nice and very clean. Room was maybe a little small, but who cares. I was glad we didn't have to pay full price for the Motel 6 room, though (Duane got a discount through work). If you'd have to pay full price, the room would have been $185. Yup, $185 for a Motel 6 - I told many of you that the motels in Canada are expensive. I wasn't kidding. Not much of a fan of Edmonton, though. We had to drive through the whole town to get to our motel - the interstates in Canada go right through the middle of the big cities, complete with stop lights and all. I just don't like being in that much heavy traffic on a motorcycle - thank goodness Duane is so good at his FOTB ("front of the bike").
What a great, beautiful day for a ride!. I would not have done that part of the trip in any other way! No wind (I love trees). The temperature ranged from 46 degrees to 66 degrees, most of which was right around 50. Good thing we have the right gear for driving in cool weather. We also finally got to enjoy a little more scenery. Right outside of Edmonton, we immediately went into more rolling hills and trees and then added a little water here and there - it eventually reminded us of Northern Minnesota. Beautiful! We got outside of Grand Prairie and looked to our left, and there were the mountains way in the distance all iced with snow. So pretty! Right before Dawson Creek (where we're staying for the night), it changed into foothills. I think we'll be seeing the mountains up close and personal soon. Yeah!
We saw a lot of deer today - many of them right next to the forrest, which is right next to the road. Good thing they have very wide ditches next to the road. We also saw antelope, buffalo and elk (the buffalo and elk were cheating, though - they were being raised by ranchers). No moose, although we saw tons of signs warning us to be aware of moose crossing. Didn't see a one, which is fine with me if he's going to be on the road in front of us. A lot of ranching going on during this stretch - they just let the cattle run among the trees and grass. Also saw some llamas again. Duane got a little frustrated with the whole moose warning thing and then seeing none - so we had to take a picture of him standing next to a moose sign and, just as I snapped the picture, he pointed at his butt (meaning - moose my a__). Naughty!
We left Edmonton at 7 a.m. (I know, that's quite early) and arrived in Dawson Creek at 1:30 p.m. (time here). We were actually on the road 6-1/2 hours. It was an easy, lovely day. We went through the 0 Mile Marker of the Alaska Highway museum (the Alaska highway started in Dawson Creek), spoke with a lot of nice people traveling from all over and then chased around trying to find a place where I could blog. We did manage to grab a bite to eat at a pub here in Dawson Creek - they served gravy with their french fries (no kidding - just real beef gravy, and thick, to dip your fries in). We weren't so crazy about that. Also, for breakfast, Duane had biscuits and gravy - they serve you biscuits with hashbrowns and pork sausage (their sausage was great) and a side of heavy, thick pork gravy. Different. They had on the menu "poutin." We asked what it was - it's french fries covered with gravy and cheese and then baked. I'm sure there are no calories in that at all. We did not try it. I just haveto tell you, I did have a cup of tea here in the coffee shop called a "London Fog." Fabulous! Earl grey tea with vanilla with steamed milk. Awesome. However, no one in Canada knows how to make a marguerite - I'll keep trying.
It was a wonderful day. Cool, but fine weather for a ride. Beautiful scenery and great company. We are thankful for this opportunity. Tonight we stay at Walker Ranch Bed and Breakfast. We'll see how that goes.
Again, thanks for checking in and for your prayers.
Gayle - BOTB
We stayed last night at Motel 6 in Edmonton. I was a little worried about Motel 6, but was pleasantly surprised. A new motel and very nice and very clean. Room was maybe a little small, but who cares. I was glad we didn't have to pay full price for the Motel 6 room, though (Duane got a discount through work). If you'd have to pay full price, the room would have been $185. Yup, $185 for a Motel 6 - I told many of you that the motels in Canada are expensive. I wasn't kidding. Not much of a fan of Edmonton, though. We had to drive through the whole town to get to our motel - the interstates in Canada go right through the middle of the big cities, complete with stop lights and all. I just don't like being in that much heavy traffic on a motorcycle - thank goodness Duane is so good at his FOTB ("front of the bike").
What a great, beautiful day for a ride!. I would not have done that part of the trip in any other way! No wind (I love trees). The temperature ranged from 46 degrees to 66 degrees, most of which was right around 50. Good thing we have the right gear for driving in cool weather. We also finally got to enjoy a little more scenery. Right outside of Edmonton, we immediately went into more rolling hills and trees and then added a little water here and there - it eventually reminded us of Northern Minnesota. Beautiful! We got outside of Grand Prairie and looked to our left, and there were the mountains way in the distance all iced with snow. So pretty! Right before Dawson Creek (where we're staying for the night), it changed into foothills. I think we'll be seeing the mountains up close and personal soon. Yeah!
We saw a lot of deer today - many of them right next to the forrest, which is right next to the road. Good thing they have very wide ditches next to the road. We also saw antelope, buffalo and elk (the buffalo and elk were cheating, though - they were being raised by ranchers). No moose, although we saw tons of signs warning us to be aware of moose crossing. Didn't see a one, which is fine with me if he's going to be on the road in front of us. A lot of ranching going on during this stretch - they just let the cattle run among the trees and grass. Also saw some llamas again. Duane got a little frustrated with the whole moose warning thing and then seeing none - so we had to take a picture of him standing next to a moose sign and, just as I snapped the picture, he pointed at his butt (meaning - moose my a__). Naughty!
We left Edmonton at 7 a.m. (I know, that's quite early) and arrived in Dawson Creek at 1:30 p.m. (time here). We were actually on the road 6-1/2 hours. It was an easy, lovely day. We went through the 0 Mile Marker of the Alaska Highway museum (the Alaska highway started in Dawson Creek), spoke with a lot of nice people traveling from all over and then chased around trying to find a place where I could blog. We did manage to grab a bite to eat at a pub here in Dawson Creek - they served gravy with their french fries (no kidding - just real beef gravy, and thick, to dip your fries in). We weren't so crazy about that. Also, for breakfast, Duane had biscuits and gravy - they serve you biscuits with hashbrowns and pork sausage (their sausage was great) and a side of heavy, thick pork gravy. Different. They had on the menu "poutin." We asked what it was - it's french fries covered with gravy and cheese and then baked. I'm sure there are no calories in that at all. We did not try it. I just haveto tell you, I did have a cup of tea here in the coffee shop called a "London Fog." Fabulous! Earl grey tea with vanilla with steamed milk. Awesome. However, no one in Canada knows how to make a marguerite - I'll keep trying.
It was a wonderful day. Cool, but fine weather for a ride. Beautiful scenery and great company. We are thankful for this opportunity. Tonight we stay at Walker Ranch Bed and Breakfast. We'll see how that goes.
Again, thanks for checking in and for your prayers.
Gayle - BOTB
Monday, June 14, 2010
Monday, June 14
I like trees! I really do - and even more so since we began this trip. Jesse told us that he was worried about us going through the Plains of Canada because it blows all the time (like real windy). Well, Jesse used to exaggerate once in a while, so I decided not to worry about it. Well, apparently Jesse has grown up because he definitely did not exaggerate. It's windy in the Plains of Canada. So, the reason I like trees is because it breaks up the wind that blows constantly on the plains. Actually, I shouldn't complain too much. We lucked out for half of the time.
We began the day with a strong south wind which was kind of rough. Then we had three hours of absolutely perfect riding weather. Temperature of around 65 degrees and the wind was perfectly at our back - lovely! It was great! Then, we had 2 hours of a north wind which was nasty! Fortunately, with the last 2 hours with the wind, we finally got into at least a few trees on and off (love those trees). The landscape began the same as the last two days - miles and miles of nothing. Then, it finally began to break up with a valley here and there and then it started to look like Iowa and Minnesota with rolling hills and crops. They also have a lot of ranches with cattle. We also noticed in the last two hours a lot of oil derricks. To me, they looked like little harvestore silos except most of them are black. So, you'd have a big field of wheat or a big ranch with these little silos plunked in the middle of everything. I guess Canada needs oil, too.
For my farming friends and family, as I said they have all kinds of stock cows and calves, but what strikes me is that they are every color under the sun. In one herd you have black, white, cream, red, brown, etc. My favorites are the rusty red ones - they're beautiful. Our bed & breakfast host told us they grow wheat, peas, canola and couple other things - no corn or soybeans. For my friends who like flowers - this country is full of lilacs. They use them as windbreaks on just about every farm or house you see - and they're in full bloom here right now.
Speaking of our bed & breakfast last night - they were great people. Very warm and inviting. Had a nice room and the whole upstairs of the house all to ourselves with a little living area and everything. Really nice. Then, she fed us way too much food for breakfast - omelets, fresh fruit, scones - good grief! We got going about 9 a.m. (late for us - but wanted to wait for breakfast) and arrived in Edmonton at 3:30. We made good time today and had a short, easy day. Yeah! It was a nice day! (It also maybe helped my attitude that I slept 10 hours last night.)
We ate tonight at Boston Pizza - we see them all over this neck of the woods and thought we'd give something native to this area a try. I had cajun rice and Duane had chicken parmesan - great food! Yum.
Well, that's about it for now. Hopefully, one of these days I'll be able to write about something other than flat land! Also, we are getting into an area where we may not have internet service at many of our stops. I'll do my best to keep you updated.
Thanks for checking and thanks for the prayers.
Gayle - BOTB
We began the day with a strong south wind which was kind of rough. Then we had three hours of absolutely perfect riding weather. Temperature of around 65 degrees and the wind was perfectly at our back - lovely! It was great! Then, we had 2 hours of a north wind which was nasty! Fortunately, with the last 2 hours with the wind, we finally got into at least a few trees on and off (love those trees). The landscape began the same as the last two days - miles and miles of nothing. Then, it finally began to break up with a valley here and there and then it started to look like Iowa and Minnesota with rolling hills and crops. They also have a lot of ranches with cattle. We also noticed in the last two hours a lot of oil derricks. To me, they looked like little harvestore silos except most of them are black. So, you'd have a big field of wheat or a big ranch with these little silos plunked in the middle of everything. I guess Canada needs oil, too.
For my farming friends and family, as I said they have all kinds of stock cows and calves, but what strikes me is that they are every color under the sun. In one herd you have black, white, cream, red, brown, etc. My favorites are the rusty red ones - they're beautiful. Our bed & breakfast host told us they grow wheat, peas, canola and couple other things - no corn or soybeans. For my friends who like flowers - this country is full of lilacs. They use them as windbreaks on just about every farm or house you see - and they're in full bloom here right now.
Speaking of our bed & breakfast last night - they were great people. Very warm and inviting. Had a nice room and the whole upstairs of the house all to ourselves with a little living area and everything. Really nice. Then, she fed us way too much food for breakfast - omelets, fresh fruit, scones - good grief! We got going about 9 a.m. (late for us - but wanted to wait for breakfast) and arrived in Edmonton at 3:30. We made good time today and had a short, easy day. Yeah! It was a nice day! (It also maybe helped my attitude that I slept 10 hours last night.)
We ate tonight at Boston Pizza - we see them all over this neck of the woods and thought we'd give something native to this area a try. I had cajun rice and Duane had chicken parmesan - great food! Yum.
Well, that's about it for now. Hopefully, one of these days I'll be able to write about something other than flat land! Also, we are getting into an area where we may not have internet service at many of our stops. I'll do my best to keep you updated.
Thanks for checking and thanks for the prayers.
Gayle - BOTB
Sunday, June 13
What a difference a day makes. Yesterday we drove in rain and 54 degrees and today we drove most of the day in gorgeous 65 to 68 degrees with no wind (with the exception of the last 1-1/2 hours, but we'll talk about that later).
Before I go on to anything else, I must address the picture of me yesterday with all the rain gear on. First of all, yes that is our rain gear -we don't dress that way just to look like crazy people. The difference in the reactions you get from people depending on what you have on is comical. With the rain gear on, they look at you and you can read their minds as they're thinking, "You poor crazy person and what the heck are you wearing that for?" Then, when you have all the leather on (coats, chaps, gloves, black boots, etc.), they look at you and think "Nice." Funny.
So we left Winipeg at 7:15 am after having a quick free breakfast at the hotel. We saw lots of Winipeg - our hotel was downtown and we had to go through basically most of the city to exit the other side of town to connect with our highway. One thing I'll say about the people in Winnipeg, they were very friendly, nice people. So, off we go. As I said, we drove about 6-1/2 hours in absolutely gorgeous weather. Sunny, cool to warm (cool is fine - remember I have the heated jacket) and no wind. However, the last 1-1/2 hours of drive time decided to counteract the nice weather. It was still a great temperature, but the wind was frightening. I have no idea how fast it was blowing, but I figure when the bike is 5 to 10 degrees off of vertical leaning in to the wind to keep it on the road, that means it's pretty windy. Then, in the middle of absolutely nowhere (no trees, no farms, no nothing - there's a lot of that here), we got a gust of wind that took us from one side of our lane to the other. Good thing Duane is an experienced driver - I'd hate to be behind a novice when that happened. And what did I do? Well, I just did my job (and did it quite well may I add) and I just sat!
So, what did we see today? For a while, it was the same as yesterday - that would be miles and miles of land. It's really flat for a lot of the way. Then you have this section of very unusual landscape that's flat with all kinds of little pools of water and marshy stuff all over just plunked right in the middle of the flat. There are ducks, ducks and more ducks. I guess this is a big nesting area - I can see why. Also, they have tons of rocks all over the land they are trying to farm (like the river rock we use to landscape). To me it looked like when God threw all the stars into the sky, He gave the angels a bunch of rocks and they threw them all in this area of Canada. It would drive the farmers in Minnesota and Iowa crazy.
So, we arrived at Chaplin's Country Bed & Breakfast at 5:30 p.m. It's gorgeous and full of antiques - gotta love that! It's out in the country and surrounded by trees and some farm animals and it's just what we needed - peaceful and quiet.
Did you know? We are getting the idea that in Canada they use llamas for protection animals rather than dogs. We have seen lots of llamas on ranches. My dad told me one time they use them to protect the livestock because they are not afraid of coyotes. Anyway, we drove past this one place that manufactured big equipment, and they had all their equipment surrounded by a big fence. What would you expect to see inside such a fence to protect the equipment? A dog? Well, you're wrong - they had a llama.
As far as wildlife, we saw 2 coyotes, a few deer as well, as well as a multitude of other ducks and birds. Oh, and for you "foodies," pretty boring - just had A&W (delicious - I forgot how much I love their onion rings) and Subway.
Well, that's it for today. Thanks for checking and thanks for the prayers.
Gayle - BOTB
Before I go on to anything else, I must address the picture of me yesterday with all the rain gear on. First of all, yes that is our rain gear -we don't dress that way just to look like crazy people. The difference in the reactions you get from people depending on what you have on is comical. With the rain gear on, they look at you and you can read their minds as they're thinking, "You poor crazy person and what the heck are you wearing that for?" Then, when you have all the leather on (coats, chaps, gloves, black boots, etc.), they look at you and think "Nice." Funny.
So we left Winipeg at 7:15 am after having a quick free breakfast at the hotel. We saw lots of Winipeg - our hotel was downtown and we had to go through basically most of the city to exit the other side of town to connect with our highway. One thing I'll say about the people in Winnipeg, they were very friendly, nice people. So, off we go. As I said, we drove about 6-1/2 hours in absolutely gorgeous weather. Sunny, cool to warm (cool is fine - remember I have the heated jacket) and no wind. However, the last 1-1/2 hours of drive time decided to counteract the nice weather. It was still a great temperature, but the wind was frightening. I have no idea how fast it was blowing, but I figure when the bike is 5 to 10 degrees off of vertical leaning in to the wind to keep it on the road, that means it's pretty windy. Then, in the middle of absolutely nowhere (no trees, no farms, no nothing - there's a lot of that here), we got a gust of wind that took us from one side of our lane to the other. Good thing Duane is an experienced driver - I'd hate to be behind a novice when that happened. And what did I do? Well, I just did my job (and did it quite well may I add) and I just sat!
So, what did we see today? For a while, it was the same as yesterday - that would be miles and miles of land. It's really flat for a lot of the way. Then you have this section of very unusual landscape that's flat with all kinds of little pools of water and marshy stuff all over just plunked right in the middle of the flat. There are ducks, ducks and more ducks. I guess this is a big nesting area - I can see why. Also, they have tons of rocks all over the land they are trying to farm (like the river rock we use to landscape). To me it looked like when God threw all the stars into the sky, He gave the angels a bunch of rocks and they threw them all in this area of Canada. It would drive the farmers in Minnesota and Iowa crazy.
So, we arrived at Chaplin's Country Bed & Breakfast at 5:30 p.m. It's gorgeous and full of antiques - gotta love that! It's out in the country and surrounded by trees and some farm animals and it's just what we needed - peaceful and quiet.
Did you know? We are getting the idea that in Canada they use llamas for protection animals rather than dogs. We have seen lots of llamas on ranches. My dad told me one time they use them to protect the livestock because they are not afraid of coyotes. Anyway, we drove past this one place that manufactured big equipment, and they had all their equipment surrounded by a big fence. What would you expect to see inside such a fence to protect the equipment? A dog? Well, you're wrong - they had a llama.
As far as wildlife, we saw 2 coyotes, a few deer as well, as well as a multitude of other ducks and birds. Oh, and for you "foodies," pretty boring - just had A&W (delicious - I forgot how much I love their onion rings) and Subway.
Well, that's it for today. Thanks for checking and thanks for the prayers.
Gayle - BOTB
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Saturday, June 12
Whew! Well, we made it to Winnipeg! The weather didn't cooperate, we had our first situation with an animal and we didn't get started as early as we wanted, but we did it - day 1. Yeah! We hoped to leave at 6:30 a.m., but didn't actually get going until 7 a.m. (I'm sure you agree with me that you can't leave any laundry dirty, no dishes dirty, the house not exactly as I want it and a stool or two that needed another going through.) So, 7 a.m. we headed to the wild blue yonder - more literally than we wanted.
Made it to Sioux Falls (Tea, SD, actually) and had to make a pit stop already (no it wasn't Duane, it was me). Duane said we'd better hurry because rain was coming in. So, I tried to hurry. That's no easy feat for a girl with rain gear on - let's see, first you need to take the rain coat, the leather jacket and the heated liner off before you can even get to anything. Then you have to somehow get the jeans, leather chaps and rain pants down and then, finally, you can take care of business - and don't forget the little purse that's hanging around your neck because it can't get wet and there's no room for it anywhere else (at least as long as it rains). So, after my "fast" bathroom break, we hit the road in, you guessed it, rain. It rained, and often poured, from Sioux Falls to Grand Forks, North Dakota. Duane tells me we had 320 miles of straight rain today and intermittent the rest of the time. Thank goodness for rain gear, full face helmets and heated liner for me (and a motorcycle we can just plug it into).
All in all, it really was a pretty good day, believe it or not. The rain isn't so bad as long as you don't have dumb wind along with it and we probably only had "bad" wind for about 1-1/2 hours out of an 8-hour day on the bike. I never really got "tired butt" - just kind of didn't know how to sit after about 6-1/2 hours, but then we put in gas, walked around a couple of minutes and were ready to go again.
We arrived in Winnepeg at 5:30 p.m. Staying at a Quality Inn - had a Subway across the street, so, for all my "foodie friends," nothing exciting to report on that right now, unless you call a great bowl of beef barley soup in a casino in Sisseton, SD exciting.
The dude at the border crossing was crabby! I would have laughed out loud at him when he asked us, in as serious a manner as possible, "How many people in your vehicle?" (Let's see, two of us with matching helmets on one motorcycle - I guess that makes 3?) I could tell that laughing at him would not have gone well - it would definitely have delayed our arrival in Winnepeg. What did we see today? Oh, that's easy - flat land that goes on forever. Yup, that's pretty much it - flat land.
The incident with the animal happened already in LeMars. A psychotic squirrel dashed in front of us on the motorcycle, got so ticked off when we got in his way that he chased us down the road a few feet and then, took a wrong turn and almost got under the wheel. That's when he decided we were too big for him. We cheered and laughed - yeah, we had our first incident with an animal and we won!
So, all in all, it went well despite the weather, but, it would be accurate to say, I'm pooped! So, to bed soon and we'll do this all over again tomorrow - except I hope not the rain.
Thanks for all of you who are checking in and saying a prayer for us.
Gayle - from BOTB ("Back of the Bike")
Whew! Well, we made it to Winnipeg! The weather didn't cooperate, we had our first situation with an animal and we didn't get started as early as we wanted, but we did it - day 1. Yeah! We hoped to leave at 6:30 a.m., but didn't actually get going until 7 a.m. (I'm sure you agree with me that you can't leave any laundry dirty, no dishes dirty, the house not exactly as I want it and a stool or two that needed another going through.) So, 7 a.m. we headed to the wild blue yonder - more literally than we wanted.
Made it to Sioux Falls (Tea, SD, actually) and had to make a pit stop already (no it wasn't Duane, it was me). Duane said we'd better hurry because rain was coming in. So, I tried to hurry. That's no easy feat for a girl with rain gear on - let's see, first you need to take the rain coat, the leather jacket and the heated liner off before you can even get to anything. Then you have to somehow get the jeans, leather chaps and rain pants down and then, finally, you can take care of business - and don't forget the little purse that's hanging around your neck because it can't get wet and there's no room for it anywhere else (at least as long as it rains). So, after my "fast" bathroom break, we hit the road in, you guessed it, rain. It rained, and often poured, from Sioux Falls to Grand Forks, North Dakota. Duane tells me we had 320 miles of straight rain today and intermittent the rest of the time. Thank goodness for rain gear, full face helmets and heated liner for me (and a motorcycle we can just plug it into).
All in all, it really was a pretty good day, believe it or not. The rain isn't so bad as long as you don't have dumb wind along with it and we probably only had "bad" wind for about 1-1/2 hours out of an 8-hour day on the bike. I never really got "tired butt" - just kind of didn't know how to sit after about 6-1/2 hours, but then we put in gas, walked around a couple of minutes and were ready to go again.
We arrived in Winnepeg at 5:30 p.m. Staying at a Quality Inn - had a Subway across the street, so, for all my "foodie friends," nothing exciting to report on that right now, unless you call a great bowl of beef barley soup in a casino in Sisseton, SD exciting.
The dude at the border crossing was crabby! I would have laughed out loud at him when he asked us, in as serious a manner as possible, "How many people in your vehicle?" (Let's see, two of us with matching helmets on one motorcycle - I guess that makes 3?) I could tell that laughing at him would not have gone well - it would definitely have delayed our arrival in Winnepeg. What did we see today? Oh, that's easy - flat land that goes on forever. Yup, that's pretty much it - flat land.
The incident with the animal happened already in LeMars. A psychotic squirrel dashed in front of us on the motorcycle, got so ticked off when we got in his way that he chased us down the road a few feet and then, took a wrong turn and almost got under the wheel. That's when he decided we were too big for him. We cheered and laughed - yeah, we had our first incident with an animal and we won!
So, all in all, it went well despite the weather, but, it would be accurate to say, I'm pooped! So, to bed soon and we'll do this all over again tomorrow - except I hope not the rain.
Thanks for all of you who are checking in and saying a prayer for us.
Gayle - from BOTB ("Back of the Bike")
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
OK, another couple of days down, three to go. Time for a short explanation of the title of this blog. It reads a little funny, but there is a story to go with it.
This spring I bought a 2003 BMW K1200LT, that's for those of you who may know the difference. After getting it home I spent several days reading all the manuals and any other info on it that I could find. One of the things that struck my funnybone was under the section for setting the shocks for the load, the manual kept talking about "1 up" or "2 up" or "2 up with load", instead of driver and passenger, etc.
Now I know those Germans talk funny, but how else would you ride a motorcyle "1 up with one sideways?" Therefore the title "2up" to alaska.
Anyway, we are down to watching the weather, buying one or two last minute items, and finishing the "honey do" list that needs to be completed before we leave.
I figured out yesterday how to download/upload photos from the camera to the laptop, so one of the days I will post a photo or two before we hit the road. Hopefully, I will be able to post a couple as we progress "gettin' on down the road!"
Later!
This spring I bought a 2003 BMW K1200LT, that's for those of you who may know the difference. After getting it home I spent several days reading all the manuals and any other info on it that I could find. One of the things that struck my funnybone was under the section for setting the shocks for the load, the manual kept talking about "1 up" or "2 up" or "2 up with load", instead of driver and passenger, etc.
Now I know those Germans talk funny, but how else would you ride a motorcyle "1 up with one sideways?" Therefore the title "2up" to alaska.
Anyway, we are down to watching the weather, buying one or two last minute items, and finishing the "honey do" list that needs to be completed before we leave.
I figured out yesterday how to download/upload photos from the camera to the laptop, so one of the days I will post a photo or two before we hit the road. Hopefully, I will be able to post a couple as we progress "gettin' on down the road!"
Later!
Friday, June 4, 2010
Well, almost another week has passed. I am getting anxious to be on the move! A few last minute items taken care of, the main item was the "practice packing" earlier this week.
For those of you who know Gayle, the "lists" have been made and modified for months now, so it was a matter of seeing how much essential stuff could make it on the bike. I go by the theory of "one to wear and one to wash", and if it ain't dry, hold it for a few miles and it will dry out in a hurry!
Anyway, all the critical items fit, with a few minor changes. This is great news as far as I'm concerned.
The current schedule is departing on June 12th and running 500+ miles to Winnigeg, MB (yes that's Canada). I figure the first couple of days are interstate and I have never seen anything that resembled scenery in North Dakota! I figured, the faster the better. After that the general route is the Trans-Canada hwy, through Saskatoon, Edmonton and then up to Dawson Creek, BC.
At Dawson Creek the Al-Can (Alaska-Canadian Hwy) begins. The Alcan was constructed during WWII in order for the US to have a secure route for troop and equipment movement to Alaska. Over the years it has been improved, we'll see, we'll inform you of the road conditions as we go!
For those of you who know Gayle, the "lists" have been made and modified for months now, so it was a matter of seeing how much essential stuff could make it on the bike. I go by the theory of "one to wear and one to wash", and if it ain't dry, hold it for a few miles and it will dry out in a hurry!
Anyway, all the critical items fit, with a few minor changes. This is great news as far as I'm concerned.
The current schedule is departing on June 12th and running 500+ miles to Winnigeg, MB (yes that's Canada). I figure the first couple of days are interstate and I have never seen anything that resembled scenery in North Dakota! I figured, the faster the better. After that the general route is the Trans-Canada hwy, through Saskatoon, Edmonton and then up to Dawson Creek, BC.
At Dawson Creek the Al-Can (Alaska-Canadian Hwy) begins. The Alcan was constructed during WWII in order for the US to have a secure route for troop and equipment movement to Alaska. Over the years it has been improved, we'll see, we'll inform you of the road conditions as we go!
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