Day Ten 10 - July 16
Big day today. I am celebrating my 16th wedding anniversary from the road. I again have to say THANKS for one of the coolest girls on the planet. Who else gladly sends their husband out with his buddy for three weeks over their wedding anniversary. My wife, Cheryl that's who. As we travel I am grateful for what a wonderful mom she is to my two kids. I am appreciative of her loving spirit. For all the people she touches and cares for at her job, where she is a physical education teacher. She is rock a rock star, and we cannot go anywhere without the kids from her school coming up to her and hugging her and lovin on her. As I mentioned she spent quite a bit of time helping me get ready to leave town and always takes cares of others first. I am most appreciative that she has tolerated me for over eighteen years and stayed married to me for sixteen of them. Much love to her and I hope she had a great day today!
The Worst Road To Date.
Cold and rain and the worst road we have been on made for an interesting day. We departed Whitehorse this morning bound for the Alaska border. Total miles we need to travel in order to kick this trips ass, 410. We knew we had a big day so we got up at 5:30 this morning and were on the road by 7am. Final destination Tok Alaska. That is pronounced Toke. We have learned a valuable lesson, that it is never super warm so the mornings are very cold. Add some rain to the 40 degree weather and now you feel the pain. It was so cold and wet early on that I stopped and bummed an extra pair of socks and Tommys gear was more accessible so I wore his socks, clean socks by the way.
Everything was soaked, all the gravel was sloppy and all the dirt roads were mud, and the skies were dark and the attitudes....were GREAT. It could be worse, we could be at work.
We just hunkered down and prayed for some sun or at least no rain.
Everything was soaked, all the gravel was sloppy and all the dirt roads were mud, and the skies were dark and the attitudes....were GREAT. It could be worse, we could be at work.
We just hunkered down and prayed for some sun or at least no rain.
Military Man
These two didn't seem to mind the weather and their spirits were great. Matt and Tia are from Anchorage where Matt is serving our country Thank you Matt! They were on their way back home and had been camping. We had inquired about what they suggested to do and where to eat. They directed us to the Mooses Tooth for some great food and spirits, and we plan on calling them when we get to town. They gave us their number and figured it would be cool to meet some new friends for dinner.
Next Stop - The Border
First we had to sneak through customs. We are citizens, we are carrying no contraband and we were still nervous. That was until we waited in line for about one hour. They only had one lane open and as the guy and gal customs agents motioned us to the front of the line, the first words out of their mouth's were, "We have been waiting for you!" They had smiles, that was good. They said that a dozen people or so in the last several hours, mostly truck drivers were commenting on our female passenger. The customs agents said, "You are famous in the Yukon and you did not even know it" The one gal agent said to us, "I am serious, I think the one trucker was in love with the blonde."
Welcome!!
We did a little high five just before we took this one. The weather broke nice about an hour before we arrived and it was if God were saying, welcome to Alaska gents. Enjoy! We cannot tell you what an awesome feeling it was to pull around the bend and see this. We are off to anchorage tomorrow and there we plan on unwinding for a few days. Maybe some fishing, service our bikes, and take in the sights. Tom and I both said the same thing, we have had a superb time and enjoyed every second.
Look What We Found!
As everyone knows Tommy lives in Spring Grove Illinois. Guess what, so does Mark Bianchini They were at Alaska border the same time as us. Tom Dolan on the left is from Chigao and Joe Warshol on the right is from Burr Ridge. We told you earlier, the older we get the smaller the world gets. Looks like he is our winner until we find someone we know.
Their wives are flying in tomorrow to Anchorage to meet them. Take Care gents!
Their wives are flying in tomorrow to Anchorage to meet them. Take Care gents!
Take a Look
More shots and stories. Click on the images for an enlarged view and to read the captions.