Road To Anchorage
Well, to our tens of fans we are back. On the road to Anchorage from Tok Alaska we encountered some stellar views. We are in desperate need of some down time but the road leading to rest is paved with some of the finest scenery known to man
I Love You Carly!
Happy Birthday to My Fairy Princess!! July 21st is the anniversary of one of the best days of my life. My daughter Carly turned 13 today and my wife Cheryl surprised her at camp. Cheryl was waiting after Car's three day canoe trip (this pic is from today) Carly and Alex have been at camp since the end of June and they come home this weekend. Cheryl is going to take the long way home from Ontario and bring them through Niagra Falls. I cannot wait to get big hug and a "Hey Daddy" from her. I loved hearing your voice today. Take care baby and I will see you at home. Oh my God are they cute together!
Full Service Hotel
After four thousand miles our bikes were screaming for an oil change and some clean air filters. Once we landed for a few days at our hotel in Anchorage, we found the Harley dealer in town where we picked up all the fluids we needed. Master mechanic Tom made it all look easy. We did take our time and went over the entire bike before we left town. Also we did spend way too much money at the dealership. I knew we were not going to get out of their cheap. By the way I anticipated this, but the gravel roads did a number on my rear tire so a few days before our arrival I had a tire delivered and had the dealership put it on. Tom's tire is little wider and newer and looks good.
While we waited we had lunch at a place across the street called Gwennies. The portions were huge and we noticed all portions of food in Alaska are huge. We frequently find ourselves not finishing our heaping mounds of goodness. And speaking of over sized goodness, how does an english muffin piled with crab meat, garnished with cheesy cream sauce, surrounded all around by tomoto wedges in an oval shaped dish and topped with a stalk of asparagus and half a hard boiled egg as a garnish,... well it was great!
While we waited we had lunch at a place across the street called Gwennies. The portions were huge and we noticed all portions of food in Alaska are huge. We frequently find ourselves not finishing our heaping mounds of goodness. And speaking of over sized goodness, how does an english muffin piled with crab meat, garnished with cheesy cream sauce, surrounded all around by tomoto wedges in an oval shaped dish and topped with a stalk of asparagus and half a hard boiled egg as a garnish,... well it was great!
I Now Pronounce You Luke and Michelle
In Anchorage at a place called Humpy's we met the Luke and Michelle. They were in Alaska on their honeymoon. What a novel idea, they rented an RV and hit the road. We did not want to know everything they did but they did share their fishing stories. They made it to Homer and Seward Alaska for some storytelling type halibut fishing. If you are not familiar with Halibut, check out how big they get. The site listed is not Luke and Michelle, just an idea of the world class fishing in Alaska. We met people from Germany and all over the world there JUST for fishing. Too bad the weather sucked for our whole visit.
Luke runs a group home in Minnesota for highly functional disabled adults. He assured us he was employed there and not a client :) Michelle works in the finance arena and she refused to loan us any money. When we asked them how they met, I would have never guessed, E-Harmony, maybe they too will be famous in a commercial but you can say you saw them here first!! Luke and Michelle were a great time. Best of luck to our favorite honeymooners.
Luke runs a group home in Minnesota for highly functional disabled adults. He assured us he was employed there and not a client :) Michelle works in the finance arena and she refused to loan us any money. When we asked them how they met, I would have never guessed, E-Harmony, maybe they too will be famous in a commercial but you can say you saw them here first!! Luke and Michelle were a great time. Best of luck to our favorite honeymooners.
Mush!
You might recognize the people in the picture, that's right. Matt and Tia from one of our gas stops! Matt is in the Army and stationed in Anchorage. He and his bride met us for dinner at the Snow Goose for dinner. Snow Goose in another micro-brew place near the Port of Alaska. Micro brew places are huge here.
Tia works a local vet clinic as a tech and they are fellow dog lovers. We were glad to hear that our dogs were not the only ones eating socks and underwear. After dinner, they took us to this spot where the Iditarod kicks off. Neat to think when the ground is full of snow this area is packed with mushers and dogs setting off for one of the most grueling races known to mankind.
Tia works a local vet clinic as a tech and they are fellow dog lovers. We were glad to hear that our dogs were not the only ones eating socks and underwear. After dinner, they took us to this spot where the Iditarod kicks off. Neat to think when the ground is full of snow this area is packed with mushers and dogs setting off for one of the most grueling races known to mankind.
Turning For Home
We have officially started for home now (21st) The weather in Anchorage was rough to say the least. As we started for home today we were leap frogging with a fellow biker. We struck up a conversation and determined our new friend, also Tom, was riding alone. His riding partner had an accident in Canada on the way up and had to be flown out. The person Tom's friend hit....Tom himself! Tom had literally duct taped his bike back together and made the ride alone. He is gonna ride with us again tomorrow and head south toward Tuscon on Friday. Welcome Tom number 2. Our prayers are with his friend.
We knew it was likely to happen, in Alaska it is mandatory for all passengers to wear a helmet. We cannot post any pictures to protect the identity of the very nice officer, but officer Dan from Anchorage Police Department, cut Helen a break. Those pictures are part of our private album. Remind me next time we get together and we will show you. We had a GREAT time on this traffic stop, probably more fun than most people getting pulled over. Thanks Officer Dan for serving and protecting. Also Thanks for 20 years of military service!
Also check out a few more random pics. Hopefully we will be able to update daily from now until home. We just had to take sabbatical from our journalistic efforts.
We knew it was likely to happen, in Alaska it is mandatory for all passengers to wear a helmet. We cannot post any pictures to protect the identity of the very nice officer, but officer Dan from Anchorage Police Department, cut Helen a break. Those pictures are part of our private album. Remind me next time we get together and we will show you. We had a GREAT time on this traffic stop, probably more fun than most people getting pulled over. Thanks Officer Dan for serving and protecting. Also Thanks for 20 years of military service!
Also check out a few more random pics. Hopefully we will be able to update daily from now until home. We just had to take sabbatical from our journalistic efforts.