Day 27 Saturday, July 26, 2014



Day 27  Saturday, July 26, 2014

While reading a local newspaper at breakfast on Friday, I found out that this very weekend an annual “Big Deal” local event was to take place- the “Arctic Thunder” open house shindig at Anchorage’s own Elmendorf Joint Air Force Base.  I asked around and found three fellow diners at Gwinne’s Restaurant, all enthusiastically approving of the event as more than worthwhile.

The Bev and I overcame some early traffic jamming and found another way into the base and the fun began.  We were thrilled to wander around and in some of the enormous planes on display- a bright yellow 4-engine Canadian Air rescue plane, a Sleath bomber, a mini red helicopter, a gigantic C-5 cargo jet, a hurricane-hunting weather jet for starters.  We tanked up on fish tacos (The Bev) and burgers (Howard) as we watched the stunt pilots utilize the fabulous (again!) weather, firing off endless photos and videos of the action.  The finale was the precision flying of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds jet fighters, showing off the best that branch of the service has to offer. 

We left a bit early to avoid the crush of traffic exiting Elmendorf Joint Air Base, and made a return trip to the nearby fish hatchery to try for a few more action shots of the fish leaping upstream.  To finish our visit, we visited the Ulu Factory Store, the Anchorage Alaska Railroad Terminal, the Alaska Statehood Monument, and finally a walk to pay homage to the downtown Balto statue.   Balto was the famous lead dog in the team that made the heroic run to Nome, Alaska in 1925, and has an impressive statue in his honor along with a Disney movie to his credit.  Nice.

We headed to a supermarket to buy sandwich provisions and fruit for the Anchorage to Houston and Houston to Philadelphia legs of our journey home on United Airlines.

We drove to the Anchorage Airport to drop off our trusty Alamo rental car and fly home on two pleasant and uneventful 6-hour and 3-hour flights, arriving in Philadelphia mid-afternoon on Sunday.

It was the best month of my life..................

Day 26 Friday, July 25, 2014



Day 26  Friday, July 25, 2014

Well, it finally happened- shitty weather.  A day long damp day of on and off rain was forecast.  No matter- we had planned a day of museum fun away, so Ha-hah!

We headed out for a much anticipated breakfast at a hallmark Anchorage restaurant, Gwinne’s.  Reading the reviews of this placed, it seemed that either diners leaving Gwinne’s either really loved it or really, really hated it.  Well, we loved it!  We found it super charming and our experienced waitress to be lovely.  The portions were wildly generous with my pancakes giant-sized and Beverly’s crab omelet absolutely stuffed with delicious chunky hunks of crab, much to her delight. 

We wandered across the street from the restaurant to visit the Harley dealership (where I had planned on selling the K 75 S on consignment) and serendipity struck yet again- there was Sean, my deaf friend riding the Victory motorcycle that I had stopped to assist near Whitehorse in the Yukon a week earlier.  Go figure!  Another fond, yet brief reunion.

We navigated into downtown Anchorage and after a spin through the J.C. Penny and several local souveneir shops we braved a cloudburst to enter the Anchorage Museum.  We educated ourselves, with fascinating informational exhibits about the struggles of the native Alaskan citizens over the centuries as well as a wonderful exhibit about the scourge of plastic and general trash in our oceans.

After a nap back at our room, we found a lovely restaurant, watching the 11:00 P.M. sunset as we enjoyed a late dinner in the downtown area to savor our very last night in Anchorage.

Day 25 Thursday, July 24, 2014



Day 25  Thursday, July 24, 2014

The Bev and I awoke fresh and daisies, had the in house breakfast offered by the Valdez Best Western and set out for the ride back to our final destination in Alaska, Anchorage.

Remembering some wonderful photos of bears showed to me by a fellow tourist at the Gulch Fish Hatchery just outside of Valdez, we detoured off of the Richardson Highway (Route 4) to check thing out.  We dead-ended at the highly controlled and secured Valdez Marine Terminal, end point of the Alyeska Oil Pipeline before doubling back to explore the nearby Solomon Gulch Fish Hatchery.  We did not come across any opportunistic bears at the hatchery, but we did marvel at the ancestral and irreversible battle waged by the swarming, densely-packed hordes of surging salmon as they tirelessly threw themselves against the current of the rushing water flowing into the Prince Williams Sound as well as the adjacent waters of the fish ladder.

Continuing back on the virtually empty Richardson Highway en route to Anchorage, we were awestruck by some of the most magnificent mountain/glacial scenery of the entire trip in the Chugash National Forest and the Wrangel-Saiant Elias National Park and Preserve.  Thoughts of romance filled the air near Glennallen as we turned westbound onto Alaska Route 1 for the final run into back into Anchorage.

We detoured into Wasilla at Beverly’s request for a photo of the “Welcome to Wasilla” sign, however we ran afoul of the law while momentarily occupying the center turn lane of a major four-lane roadway to take a picture of the sign.  The burly Wassila policeman who harvested my driver’s license, insurance, and rental car paperwork was unamused by our photographic endeavors, and after allowing me to uncomfortably stew at the prospect of receiving my second violation of the trip for far longer than I had taken to shoot the stupid photo, he asked if we were tourists, and let us go.  This enabled us to leave Wassila and not think even worse of Sarah Palin than we already do.   Good job, officer!

After a series of directional mis-steps, we arrived at our goal for the afternoon’s destination- the Alaska Jewish Museum at  35^th Avenue.  We received a personal tour of the $4 million Museum by curator Leslie Fried and their impressive featured exhibit explaining “Operation Maginc Carpet” the story of how Alaska Airline pilot flew 420 flights to bring 49,000 members of the persecuted and impoverished Jewish Yemenite Community to Israel.  Not a single casualty resulted during the Operation, but “six babies were board on board the flights!”  We also were treated to a personal audience with the Chabad Rabbi of Anchorage’s “Chosen Frozen”, Yosef Greenberg, who offered Beverly a job at the Anchorage Chabad on the spot when he learned that she was lovely and the office manager of the Chabad of the Main Line in Merion.  Sorry, Yosef.

After a lovely dinner at a Mediterranean-style restaurant suggested by Johnny Pappas via the internet, we rolled east on Northern Lights Boulevard to attend the Friday night service at Congregation Beth Sholom led by Rabbi Michael Oblath.  We were glad to have the chance to attend the service in such a far-flung Jewish environment, but we found the experience un-inspiring.  After the service, we sought out the famous rough and tumble bar/nightclub “Chillicoot Charlie’s” but the limited bar food offering were not the dinner experience we sought that night and we fled Charlie’s without fulfillment of our hunger.

Day 24 Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Bev and I awoke to cloudy skies(!) and a bit of a shower (!!) as we packed up and said

 good bye to our second night in Portage RV Park’s Cabin #4.  We loaded up our new, 

maroon Nissan Sentra Alamo rental car and headed for our final journey of this trip 

along the gorgeous Turnagain Arm Highway to have a grand breakfast at the Alyeska 

Hotel, back in Girdwood.

The cloudy drizzle abated somewhat as we were seated in a dining room at the great 

hotel, with a fine view of the mountain,  up-side-down hanging flower pots, and the 

frog-stocked pond.  We both enjoyed the $20 per person buffet and filled up big 

time.   If fortune shines on us ever again and allows us to return to Alaska, I want to 

make a stay at the Alyeska Hotel a definite part of that revisit.

From Girdwood, we drove through the one-way-only tunnel to reach the coastal town 

of Whittier, site of the Alaska Inland Marine Highway Ferry Terminal.  The town 

of Whittier exists only to accept, process, and transfer freight and cruise ship 

passengers.  There is absolutely nothing to see or do of any interest there, and I spent 

the hour that we languished there before we could check in for our ferry journey to 

Valdez aimlessly wandering around the outskirts of the rail yard and looking out at the 

drizzly harbor. 

It wasn’t until 1 o’clock that the Ferry Terminal Office began accepting check-ins for 

the 1:45 P.M. ferry.  We properly registered ourselves and our car and drove onto the 

ship and settled into our comfortable seats for the 6-hour crossing of Prince William 

Sound to Valdez.  Beautiful views of the mountains, floating glacial ice in the Sound, 

and the many wooded islands throughout the voyage made for some good but challenging 

photographic opportunities during the windy, cloudy, and rainy trip aboard the .

We arrived in Valdez, relaxed but hungry and we came upon a wonder Mexican 

restaurant with a super gracious waitress and owner/chef.  We complimented them 

on one of the best and most memorable meals in recent memory, commenting that 

we wished they would open a similar restaurant in Philadelphia.  They beamed 

with pleasure at receiving such praise for their good and tasty work. 

We settled into our comfortable Best Western Hotel for a comfy overnight rest.

Day 22 Monday, July 21, 2014

Impossible!  Astounding!  Unbelievable! Yet another crystal clear blue sky day in Alaska during what is reputed to be the rainy month- July!

We drove back to Girdwood for breakfast and to be ready to catch the morning bus transportation that I had arranged and pre-paid months ago with Manny, owner of the Seward Bus Lines, for the 80 miles from Girdwood to Seward.  I screwed up and failed to print out the e-mailed confirmation that I had received from Manny, so I was unsure of the time that the bus was to pick us up at the Girdwood, Alaska Tesoro Gas Station on the Turnagain Arm Highway.  With sketchy wi-fi and Internet connections, looking up e mails was challenging.  I managed to connect to the restaurant’s wi-fi and looked up the months old e mail from Manny and discovered that we weren’t scheduled to be picked up at the Tesoro Gas Station until 2:45 P.M.!  We had 4 extra hours to enjoy that we didn’t think we originally had!

We drove back to Portage and headed to the Chugach National Forrest Glacier Visitor Center and hiked in the sunshine to the Byron Glacier.  On the hike, a fun and amazing chance encounter- as we hiked towards the glacier, coming in the opposite way on the path I recognized and embraced none other than Sean, the Victory motorcycle rider with the flat tire 50 miles outside of Whitehorse in the far-off Yukon!  Truly a chance encounter on the way to the Byron Glacier!

To walk on a glacier- What an experience!  To actually walk several stories in height up and around on the glacier, feeling the cold and ice and massiveness of the thing, is to get a true perspective on what we had been marveling at only from afar.  The way the light refracts blueishly, the size of the crevasses created by the movements of this active structure, the shapes of the chunks of broken-off ice, and the roar of the river of run-off water from the melting glacier right at our feet were truly memorable sights to behold up close and personal.  A real wow experience to treasure.

Then………… the wheels started to come off.

We drove back to the Tesoro Gas Station and were ready and waiting for the 2:45 P.M. bus to Seward by 2:30.  We waited at the gas station for an entire hour and no bus came.  I called Manny, and asked if the bus was coming at all.  There was a screw up- his records showed that we were supposed to be picked up at the nearby Girdwood Train Station at 10:30 A.M.  He told me that his driver waited there for us this morning for twenty minutes and then left.  He said he would refund at least part of our $80 in bus tickets and apologized for the mix up, but I think it must have been my fault- I think I read an old e mail which didn’t have the finalized correct information. 

Bev was rightfully pissed at me for causing us to wait around for an hour in a gas station parking lot for a bus that wasn’t ever coming.  I somehow convinced her to come up onto the shoulder of the Turnagain Arm Highway, dragging our large, wheeled suitcase to try hitch-hiking the 80 miles to Seward.  No luck.  Feeling like a complete jackass, I drove the rental car to Seward, knowing that, due to my goof up, only one of us would be able to ride the Alaska Railroad back as planned from Seward to Girdwood tomorrow and the other one of us would have to drive the rental car back to Girdwood- alone.  Feeling like a complete putz for my mistake, I volunteered to drive the car and let Bev take the rail journey but she refused, saying that taking the train was a really big deal to me and she didn’t want to take that experience off of my plate.  Pretty good wife, huh?  Thanks so much, honey.

We arrived in Seward early in the evening and checked in to the Breeze Inn.  Some months earlier, I had read an on-line article in Traveler Magazine that sang the unqualified praises of a little known gem of a Seward restaurant that, in gest billed itself as serving “Warm beer and lousy food” called the Exit Glacier Salmon Bake.  We found it two miles out of town and were warmly greeted by our waitress, the smiling Nicole.  The food and drink were wonderful and memorable, as was Nicole’s service.

After dinner we drove about 7 miles to the Exit Glacier Visitor Center, and after donning our mosquito netting, set out on the trailer to go to visit up-close our second glacier of the day.  This glacial visit was not as impressive as the Byron Glacier visited in the morning- much longer hike, couldn’t walk on the Exit Glacier (closed off due to instability of the ground at the edge of Exit Glacier), colder and windier, but we did get to see clearly the recession of where this glacier extended to, compared with the greatly shrunken size it is today.  Still an impressive and worthwhile visit.

Day 23 Tuesday, July 22, 2014



How boring!  ANOTHER fabulous weather day in the supposedly rainy month of July in Alaska.  My cup has truly run over as far as weather goes on this trip- thanks, God!

The day's magic started early- we decided to eat breakfast at our hotel's restaurant before purchasing our excursion tickets for a day out on the sea, viewing the abundant wildlife of Resurrection Bay.  We were led to our table and no sooner sat down than we were shocked to see that our server was none other than Nicole, the same wonderful waitress that served us our great meal last night at the Exit Glacier Salmon Bake Restaurant!  What are the chances of that?  We'll she did another fine job and despite working at two different restaurants and handling back to back meal service duties, she displayed the same delightful, smiling, informative, personality that she displayed last night.  You go girl!

After breakfast, The Bev went to the gift shop to browse while I walked across the street to buy our $69 excursion tickets for the 3 1/2 hour noon boat tour of Kenai Fjords National Park.  Disaster!  At 11:05 the sympathetic gal at the ticket counter told me that there was only 1 ticket avaiable for the noon departure!  Ah, crap! 

Our only alternative was to grab the 6-hour, much better and more extensive tour leaving at 11:30 A.M., in only 25 minutes!  New cost?  How's about $149 per person, plus tax?   Argghhhhh.  But what could we do?  When ever would we have another shot at seeing such wonders?  I ran to Bev to update her to the change and time crunch and ran off to buy the tickets for the 11:30 sailing and I hurriedly dragged our packed up luggage to the rental car, grabbed the necessaries for the voyage, and met her at the dock for boarding with just a few minutes to spare.

The good people at Kenai Fjords Tours took great care of us during our 100+ mile catamaran-based tour of  Resurrection Bay's bald eagles, colorful puffins, seals, sea lions, porposes, Humpback whales, and rare Orca whales.  We shot some wonderful video, especially of the playful and speedy porposes, just a few feet from my feet at the front of the catarman.  For me, the high point of the day's marine tour was the time opposite Aialik Glacier, hearing the crashes as chunks of the cliff-like edge of the glacier broke off and fell into the water.  The low point of the day for Beverly was the significant bouncing of the ship as it attained its 40 MPH top speed causing her severe sea sickness and a lengthy purging session in the ship's restroom.  Yech.

There was a bit of drama on the way back to the dock.  We were on track to return to Seward at our scheduled 5:30 P.M. docking time, when inexplicably the ship did a complete 180 degree turn and accelerated hard, heading away from Seward!  We could see a plume of smoke rising from something ahead of us on our new course.  Our female ship captain told us that we were heading to help out a "marine incident" that was reported over the ship's radio.  My heart sank, thinking that I would now miss the 6:00 P.M. Alaska Railroad departure due to this emergency situation.  After a few minutes of full throttle, the captain cut the speed and swung around, executing yet another 180 degree turn back towards Seward.  She told us that there was a boat fire in progress, with three individuals in the water, but they had been fished out of the water and were safe, with at least 10 boats on site, with at least one with large scale fire-fighting equipment on scene, so we weren't  needed on site.  Whew!

We ended up docking virtually on time and I quickly found a shuttle bus to deliver me to the nearby Seward Train Station for a long-awaited 3-hour train ride to Girdwood on the Alaska Railroad.  The Bev was scheduled to walk around Seward a bit, then drive our rental car to Girdwood ahead of the slow-moving train, and pick me up at 08:50 P.M. at the tiny Girdwood Train Station.

I had carried with me during the ride to Alaska, a cool photo torn out of a brochure, showing a conductor of the Alaska Railroad standing up on the railing at the front of a locomotive.  I was determined to ask if I could be similarly photographed in the same pose, on a locomotive, wearing the conductor's hat.  Crazy, no?

I got to the Seward Train Station by 5:15 P.M. for the 6 P.M. departure and I picked up my boarding pass at the ticket office and headed for the "C" car.  When I asked the female attendent for car "C" how I might go about having my photo taken while up on the front ladder of the locomotive, she told me that wasn't allowed.  Sadly, I boarded the car and found my seat.  Dumping my stuff on the seat I decided to give my photo dream one last shot.  I hopped down off of car "C" and told the attendent that I wanted to take a picture of the front of the train.  Who should be on the platform heading towards the rear of the train as I was walking towards the front?  You guessed it- Vern the Conductor!  I showed him the photo and told him of my dream photo.  He told me absolutely not, that it wasn't allowed for me to climb up on the front of the train, but I could stand in front of the train and have myself photographed.  I thanked him and started walking toward the front of the train and asked him who I might ask up there to take my photograph- he volunteered to walk up front with me and take the photo himself!

What a character he turned out to be!  When we got to the front of the locomotive, he said to me, "You are not permitted to get up on the train ladder- okay, get up on the train ladder."  (????)   So I climbed up one rung on the ladder.  And he said to me, "DON'T CLIMB  UP THE LADDER;  okay, climb up the ladder."  (?????????)  So I climbed up all the way up on the ladder.  I then asked him if I could borrow and wear his hat for the photo, and he said to me, "No, you cannot wear my Conductor Hat"; he then took off and handed me his Conductor Hat and told  me, "put it on" and he took my picture while I was standing on the deck at the front of the locomotive- my dream photo had come true thanks to Vern!

The train ride was great fun and I ordered and thoroughly enjoyed the highly-touted, super-tender pot roast for a very reasonable $16.  I moved around from the dining car to the gondola car and finally on to the domed observation car to take in the superb scenery.   The 2 hour and 50 minute train trip was just the right length and although I missed having Bev along to enjoy the ride as well, I hoped that she enjoyed her time in Seward and the 87-mile drive from Seward to Girdwood.

Then came the absolute worst moment of the entire trip.  I got off the train in Girdwood and watched my fellow passengers leave the train station until I was the only one standing around with no Beverly in sight.  I became increasingly concerned as I stood there waiting with no way to contact her- my Verizon cell telephone service did not work at all in Alaska and my e-mail/text messaging system was extremely spotty at best.  I waited for a half an hour wondering what on earth I was going to do to find my wife and what had happended to her.  An older woman named Pat was walking her dog near by and asked if I needed help.  I told her of my situation and she volunteered to drive me the 1/2 mile to the Tesoro Gas Station so I could make contact with the Alaska State Police at their office in the adjacent shopping center.  In the convenience mart of the gas station I tried to send an e mail Bev while I still had 18% of battery power left, telling her that "I am waiting for you at the Tesoro Gas Station in Girdwood- are you coming?"  I had no earthly idea what I should or could do next, thinking that I would spend the entire night in the mart of the gas station trying somehow to discover what had happened to my wife,  and then........

There she was, finally driving into the gas station fueling area, arriving at 9:40 P.M., a full 50 minutes after she was supposed to pick me up.  She had gotten confused and drove past the gas station for 10 minutes before realizing her mistake, u-turning and going back to Girdwood to the train station.  When she saw that no one was at the station, she drove to the Tesoro Station and got us back on track together.  Double whew.

We drove back to the Portage RV Park and familiar cabin #4, glad that things had worked out, thank God.

Day 21 Sunday, July 20, 2014

Day 21  Sunday, July 20, 2014

We awoke to yet another (!) sunny day in the Bidarka/Best Western Hotel in Homer, Alaska, “Halibut Fishing Capital of the World.”  Honestly, I expected very little from this hotel in such an out of the way location, but I was pleasantly surprised at the hotel’s very tasteful décor, large and luxurious room and bed, and especially the included hot and very extensive breakfast offering in a huge, well-appointed breakfast room with a set of picture windows overlooking Kachemac Bay.  Great way to start a great day.

While reading the local newspaper during breakfast, my eye fell upon a small notice that a walking tour of the Beluga Slough Trail leading down to the Kachemac Bay was leaving from the nearby Islands and Ocean Visitor Center in Homer, starting at 11 o’clock that very morning.  We quickly agreed to accelerate our preparations to include the walking tour into our day’s activities.

Our guide was something of a surprise- short, and black in an area with few blacks, and a native of Alabama.  Caylon Likely was a volunteer student and was personable and knowledgeable of Homer’s indigenous plants and animals, especially the rare Sandhill Cranes that reside in the grasslands of the Bay, in a unique area where both fresh water and salt water feed the eco system depending upon the tides.

The educational one-hour trail and boardwalk tour over, we thanked Caylon for his efforts, explored the museum in the visitor center, and headed to the famous Homer Spit, a narrow, three-mile long protrusion out into Kachemac Bay, surrounded by magnificent mountains, the Bay, blue skies, and glaciers in every direction.  The Bev and I selected a quiet spot near the very tip of the windy Spit, and set up our high-tech folding chairs on the beach, Bev reading “The Pilot’s Wife” and me flying the kite that I had brought along for this very occasion.  We watched seals fishing for their lunch before the wind and cool temps got the best of us.  We packed up and toured the numerous and kitschy shops on the Spit as well as the extensive dock area with hundreds of boats of all sizes and purposes. 

By 3 o’clock we were overdue to leave for the 200-mile drive around the Kenai Peninsula to Portage, Alaska for a night in one-room Cabin #4 at the Portage RV Park run by owners Scott and Tammy and manager, Tim.  They directed us into Girdwood, an 11-mile drive, for a fine dining location.

Guide Likely, Alabama's Finest

Sand Hill Cranes

Homer Spit Harbor

House of Plenty in Homer



Best Western HangingFlowers



Downtown Ninilchik, Alaska

Day 20 Saturday, July 19, 2014

Glad to finally have my wife back with me, I wanted to let her sleep in this morning, her first in Alaska, so at 6:30 A.M. I quietly dressed and filled the room's trash can with water, liberated the toilet brush from the bathroom, and took a collection of liquid soap, Turtle Wax, and wash rags that I had brought along outside to clean the caked-on dirt from the Al-Can Highway off of the motorcycle to get it ready for sale.  Two and one-half hours of hard work later, the bike was essentially clean from the soapy brushing but still in need of a serious final hosing, rinsing, and wiping.    The Bev was ready for her first day in Alaska and after packing, she followed (me on the BMW, her in the rental car) for breakfast and then in search of a car wash to finish cleaning the motorcycle.  We stopped into the Alaska Leather Store on Spennard Street to ask directions to the nearest wand-style self wash car wash to prep the BMW for sale.  Barb, the owner of Alaska Leather asked me what model BMW I had, saying that she might be interested in buying it!!  She came out to the parking lot to check it out.  I offered her the keys to test ride it and she refused, saying that she wanted to buy it for the $1,500 sale price for my machine.  Barb suggested that I go fetch the title while she went to the bank to withdraw the necessary cash! 

We went back to U.A.A., finished packing, dug out the title, and raced back to see Barb at Alaska Leather.  Bev took photos as I signed the title, accepted the 15 $100 bills, smiled side by side with Barbara and the K 75 S, and gave my great and faithful two-wheeled friend a final, tearful kiss on the tank good bye.

We pointed our 2014 Nissan Sentra Alamo rental car south for our tour of the Kenai Peninsula with our first destination Homer Alaska and the Homer "Spit" at the southwestern edge of the peninsula on the edge of the Pacific Ocean.  Leaving the greater Anchorage area, we were stunned by the scenic beauty of Alaska Route 2, known as the "Turnagain Arm" bordering the Cook Inlet, surrounded on all sides by water, mountains, and glaciers.  We stopped on the way in Girdwood, Alaska to check out the famous, grand, and classy Alyeska Hotel and also the Girdwood Train Station (smaller than our bedroom), both for later reference.

The village of Ninilchik, Alaska was on the way to Homer, and we stopped to check out the Russian Orthodox church with its interesting architecture and unique graveyard for pondering and photos.  As we were driving on the half-mile long dirt road from the church back to the main road, suddenly a huge bald eagle with full, open 5' wingspan, flew out of the woods at the edge of the road and appeared right over our windshield, shocking both of us, as the eagle was in pursuit of a smaller bird.  Up close and personal- what a surprise and what a sight!

We arrived in drizzly Homer, checked into a suprprisingly spacious and well-appointed Best Western Inn, had a lovely dinner and hit the hay.

Day 19 Friday, July 18, 2014

 

Day 19    Thursday July 18, 2014

Mindful of the considerable time needed to eat breakfast, and break camp in time to catch the 06:30 A.M. bus leaving for the Visitor’s Center from Wonder Lake Campground, I was up before 5:00 A.M. to boil up water for instant oatmeal and hot tea inside the tent.  Finishing my early morning breakfast, I unzipped the tent to check the morning’s weather.  I was blown away with an absolutely crystal-clear view of the entire south face of Mt. McKinley up to the summit, a very rare occurrence also being enjoyed by many awe-struck fellow tent campers who were out of their tents staring at the sight.

I folded up my tent and poles and deposited them in the camp’s bear-proof trash can, following my original plan to lighten the load (I have a newer tent at home) and headed to my rendezvous with Mona, driver of the 06:30 A.M. bus for the 84-mile drive back to the Denali Visitor Center.  Mona was outside of her bus, staring at view of Mt. McKinley.  She commented, and I quote her exactly, “What a special, perfect morning!  I can’t recall the last time it has been clear here in the morning,” and later at a stop en route to view Mt. McKinley again en route, “I can’t even remember the last time I even had a reason to stop at this location on the 6:30 A.M. bus run back to the Visitor Center!”

Mona told me that, as her Summer job she had worked as a driver for the Aramark Company, subcontracting to the National Park Service (headquartered in Philadelphia) for the past 10 years at Denali National Park as a non-benefited employee.  When I commented that it was unfortunate that she did not qualify to receive benefits, she waved her arm across the magnificent scenery and exclaimed to me, “these are my benefits!” 

I told her my tale of riding the motorcycle to Alaska and the chance meeting with Paul yesterday who promised to buy the motorcycle from me this morning.  Mona was excited to hear my trip stories and as we said good-bye at the drop-off point, she hoped that I would someday return to Denali with my wife, wished me all the best with the sale of the bike, and told me “you have a gentle soul”.  Nice, huh?

I excitedly repacked the bike (again!) and rode back to the town of Healy and to the strip mall with the One-Hour Photo Shop, eager to sell my motorcycle to Paul as planned.  He was standing in front of the shop talking with someone as I dismounted and approached him.  After a moment of small talk, he told me that he had decided to pass on buying the K 75 S from me. I swallowed my intense surprise and disappointment and I said, “O.K.  I’ve got to get going to Anchorage”, and remounted and immediately left to gas up for the 240-mile ride to Anchorage to pick up The Bev tonight at the Airport.  Ah, crap.

The 240-mile ride through Wassila into Anchorage was without drama.  Asking around, I learned that the local Suzuki and Harley dealerships would be good places to approach about selling my motorcycle on a consignment basis.  After multiple miscues, I bumbled my way to the University of Alaska at Anchorage (U.A.A.) dormitory holding our reservations for a suite for tonight.  Entering the “suite” I found that it consisted of two separate rooms, each with a single dorm-style twin bed, completely inconsistent with romance after a three-week absence from my wife’s considerable charms.  Crap, yet again.

After a laundry session in the sink and another repacking session I left for the airport to pick up The Bev.  I rode underground into the rental car return area and told the Alamo reps that I was a customer renting a vehicle for my wife and must park in this area so she could follow me out of the airport to our hotel to avoid armageddon.  To my amazement, they agreed to allow me to park my motorcycle in an out-of-way corner. 

Beverly arrived, right on time, and after an emotional greeting, I installed her in the rental car and she closely followed me on my K 75 S back to the U.A.A. to our suite of dorm rooms.  Quite the day for us both, but alone no longer.

Day 18 Thursday July 17, 2014

Day 18    Thursday July 17, 2014

Up at 04:30 A.M. to allow time for the arduous task of custom packing to separate just the camping stuff and equipment that I will need to carry along with me for the 84-mile bus trip from the Denali Visitor Center into the heart of Denali National Park for my much-anticipated overnight camping adventure at Wonder Lake Campground.  Everything else that I won’t need for this visit stays on my covered motorcycle in the Visitor Center parking lot while I am in the Park.  I have a reservation on the 11:05 A.M. Camper Bus, a shuttle specifically for campers and back country hiker/campers.

Finally packing everything just so, I left my pleasant room at the Denali R.V. Park and Motel and rode into Healy, Alaska, a small town just north of Denali National Park and found a rustic strip mall with a Subway sandwich shop.  Ordering a breakfast sandwich from the friendly staff, I brought my meal outside and sat down to enjoy it in the warm sunshine and take in the view.  A passing elderly couple from Connecticut engaged me in conversation, saying that bus trips were not for them, because they had to contend with too many older people!  They asked me about my situation and I told them of my adventures to date, and my need to sell my motorcycle.  A fellow off to the side interrupted and asked about the motorcycle for sale- his name was Paul Aielo and he owned several of the stores in the strip mall, including a 1-Hour Photo shop.  He was a rider and was clad in black leather.  I asked him if he would like to take the BMW for a test ride and he agreed to do so.  When he came back to the mall, he agreed to buy the motorcycle from me after my overnight of camping in Denali and research bus transit for me and my belongings from Denali to Anchorage to pick up The Bev on Friday night at the Anchorage Airport!

Elated, I exchanged contact information with Paul, thinking that my super great fortune on this trip was in full force, with a sale of the bike no longer a worrisome hurdle.  Yay! 

I made my way into the Park, covered the motorcycle, and bordered the Camper Bus with 28-year veteran bus driver, Chuck, at the wheel.  In short order, Chuck stopped the bus having spied two caribou with impressive racks resting and chewing their cuds in the tall grass for the eager bus passengers to photograph.  He also spotted far off grizzly bears for us to capture with the help of telephoto lenses.  I successfully begged road workers at a rest stop to allow me to use their truck’s cigarette lighter to power my air pump to inflate my air mattress.  Stowing the now inflated mattress, I told Chuck that I had managed to get a blow job from the National Park Service, but he was unimpressed.

Soaking in the spectacular scenery at every turn, after an enjoyable 5-hour westbound bus ride on the winding dirt road into the heart of the Park, we finally arrived at the Wonder Lake Campground.  I discovered that the mosquitos were in full-swarm mode at the site that I selected as I set up the tent in the sunshine.  I shoved the air mattress and all of my belongings into the tent and dove in myself, killing all of the little invaders that flew into the tent with me.  Breaking every rule in the book, I started boiling water to cook my last remaining freeze-dried meal pouch of pad thai and eat it inside my tent to avoid contending with the mosquito onslaught just outside.  In short order both a curious and hungry chipmunk and a small bird had to be shooed away from the tent as I ate.

After dinner, I wandered down to Wonder Lake and found the very light rain shower there to add to the quiet ambiance of the lake’s shoreline.  I power-walked back to the campground in time to attend the National Park Service Ranger’s topic for this nights’ campground talk- “Mosquitos- To Swat or Not to Swat”, learning much about the enemy.  

Tired from the full day of activity, I prepared to enter my tent, but during a final look around noticed a partial rainbow begging to be photographed. The word “Eureka” emblazoned on the tent fly was captured in my photos of the rainbow.  Dreamland soon ensued.

Day 17 July 16, 2014

Totally frustrated with my inability to connect to the Internet with the University of Alaska at Fairbanks (U.A.F.) directions and password that was provided at check in so I could continue to update the 2014 Alaskan Adventure blog, I went down to the front desk for an assist.  The staff also could not connect with the Internet.  They suggested that I kill two birds with one stone and go to the nearby College Coffee Shop for breakfast and to connect using their free, high-speed Internet connection.  I engaged a bright-eyed bagel worker there named Laura in lively conversation.  Laura, seeing my garb, peppered me with questions about my trip.  When she learned of my BMW ride and rear shock issues, she placed an X on my Fairbanks map and insisted that I immediately go to the Fairbanks Harley/BMW dealership and consult with Justin, her boyfriend and general manager there!

Very concerned about the unsafe condition of my motorcycle's blown rear shock seal, I headed to the Fairbanks Harley/BMW dealer.  Justin was as helpful as Laura said he would be.  He discussed my situation in detail and the complications of 1) limited value of the 21-year old motorcycle based on Kelly Blue Book printouts that he provided to me 2) the need to either sell in Anchorage or leave the bike for sale in Alaska before flying back to Philadelphia in only one week's time 3) its present damaged condition with work required on the back shock 4) the end of the motorcycle selling season.  He also checked to see what a new shock would cost- $459 before shipping (one week to get it to Alaska) and installation!  Yikes! 

The total $600 cost was not viable- my hopes for a quick, new seal installation on the shock presently on the bike were wildly optimistic and unrealistic in my present set of circumstances- in other words, I'm in deep doo-doo.  Justin's help was much appreciated and after many thanks I went back out to mount my machine and leave.  Justin came outside to grab me before leaving with a final idea- a fellow named Bob had just come into the dealership.  Bob was the President of the BMW Airhead Motorcycle group of Alaska and had many connections, and perhaps he could help me locate a used shock from one of his club's members.  I took off my helmet and came back inside the dealership and met with Bob.  He escorted me to the shacky, woodsy, and cluttered home of George, who for many years ran the only BMW Motorcycle dealership in the entire state of Alaska.  George had a hodge-podge of motorcycle parts and he managed to locate a brand new, high-tech, self-leveling Nivomat shock in his stash, perfect for my K 75 S, but unfortunately George needed $400 for the high-end factory shock.  The price was totally fair and reasonable but just too much to pay for repairs to a bike to be sold imminently and with limited value.  I thanked him and said good bye.

I visited the Museum of the North, located right on the grounds of the University of Alaska at Fairbanks, enjoying the art work created by native artists and the exhibits of the life style, history, and abundant wildlife of Alaska.  Dancing around with Justin, Bob, and George was a necessary use of my limited time in Fairbanks to try to resolve the shock situation, but it robbed me of time I had hoped to use to explore the high points of Fairbanks and I had to leave to head to Denali National Park area by 3 P.M.  I traveled the 125 miles to the Denali R.V. Park and Motel and checked into my room on the outskirts of the National Park entrance.  I bought a new reversable hooded fleece jacket in the park office to keep me warm and fashionable for the final 10 days of the trip with The Bev.

Day 16 July 15, 2014

Camping only 10 miles from the Yukon/Alaska border, I awoke with the excitement of knowing that today was the day I would finally cross into Alaska.  After my usual battle with the mosquito swarms during breakfast and packing, I rode away from my campsite at Beaver Creek, Yukon and headed for the U.S. - Canada International border. 

There is a lovely roadside station at the international border between the two long-time friendly nations commemorating the good relations between our two countries and noting that the spot is part of the longest unpatroled international border in the world.  I used my tiny folding tripod to good effect to take photos of myself and my wounded 1991 BMW K 75 S motorcycle posed together with the welcome to Alaska sign.  I had the entire area to myself for at least 15 minutes of contemplation and photos, after a 4,000 mile, two-wheeled journey, finally achieving my goal to safely reach Alaska.  More happy, emotional tears.  God, what a sis!

Passing through U.S. Customs without any drama, I was pleased to find immediate improvement in the road conditions back in the U.S. of A.  The slamming on bike and body that the Yukon dished out was largely over now, but the temperature dropped down into the 50s and a petulant, spitty, on again/off again light rain fell from darkened brooding skies.  I reached into my WalMart 40-litre dry bag #1 (of 3) for the antidote to the cold/wet combo- two-piece Frogg Togg rain suit, Eclipse electrically heated jacket, and Gerbing electrically heated gloves.  The rain suit locked in the heat generated by the jacket and I was toasty warm, and happy once more as I settled in for the uneventful, 300 mile ride to reach Fairbanks and my reserved room in the dormatory at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks campus.

Reaching suburban Fairbanks, I saw signs for the town of North Pole, Alaska, and the advertised visitor center aroused my curiousity.  The two lovely ladies manning the information desk absolutely gushed with Christmas spirit even though the excitement of the place was somehow less powerful to this tired, hungry, and wet Jewish boy.  The gals were very helpful in checking the internet for me to help me rule out my planned dining location for tonight as low-quality and overpriced in multiple on-line reviews.  I took a chance on a restaurant directly across the parking lot from the visitor center and enjoyed a fine lasagna meal while watching the MLB Allstar Game in Minneapolis.  The $37 price tag for my one-night-stand in Fairbanks was good for the budget.



Day 15 July 14, 2014

Day 15  July 14, 2014

I was up early and quietly packed up my belongings and left the motel at 7:30 A.M. and gassed up the K 75 S before coming across a true hallmark of the Alaskan Highway experience- the famous Sign Forest in Lake Watson.  This is an impossibly vast and unique collection of address signs of all kinds mounted on poles and boards from all over the world to mark travel’s visits to Lake Watson as personal milestones.  Photos taken.

Determined riding was needed to achieve the 200+ miles to reach Whitehorse, the only town of any size in the Yukon, by lunch time.  I ended up at a Mexican restaurant for the midday meal and enjoying yet another sunny and warm day (!) wandered over to the modest two-story Yukon government building, located next to the 2,000 mile long Yukon River with its delightful River Walk pathway for joggers and bicyclists.  I recorded several vehicles in the parking lot displaying electrical cords extending though their front grilles, allowing folk to plug in heated engine oil dipsticks during the frigid Yukon winters to prevent their vehicle engine lubricants from freezing solid.  A really, really tough place to be during the Wintertime, I’m certain.

About 50 miles west of Whitehorse, I encountered a fellow rider, Sean from Alaska on a huge Victory motorcycle with a flat rear tire.  I stopped to help if possible and learned that Sean was deaf and needed to communicate by writing down his thoughts and then reading my responses.  We were soon joined by two Harley riders who also stopped to help and a passing Yukon public services worker in a pick up truck who had a satellite mobile phone available to call a motorcycle service shop back in Whitehorse to come and rescue Sean in this completely remote and unpopulated area.

Another burst of hard riding over seriously deteriorating frost-heaved roads landed me in Haines Junction, Yukon by late afternoon.  I treated myself to a Danish and a cookie at a friendly local bakery.  Haines Junction is the gateway to the recreational area of Yukon’s Kluane National Park Reserve (pronounced Klew - An’- Ay, as I learnt at the bakery) and is framed with a gorgeous chain of forested mountains.  My ambitious goal was to reach the tiny community of Beaver Creek, Yukon, located just east of the Yukon/Alaska border by the end of this day. After dealing with several more buckboard  rides through road construction sites, I stopped for a breather in desolate Destruction Bay, still on Yukon Route 1.  Off the bike and during a stretch, I was horrified to see splashed fluid all over the back of my saddlebags!  Looking further into the situation, I discovered the rear shock also coated in fluid as well and the entire rear swing arm/rear drive housing of the motorcycle also dripping wet.  If the fluid was coming from the rear drive housing, I was toast, as the rear drive gears would be destroyed by the heat and friction of running without their required lubricating bath.  After a short ride and rechecking the area in question, I determined that the fluid was instead coming from a blown rear monoshock seal.  I now faced the prospect of having zero dampening for the 1,000+ miles yet to go, and po-going with only the rear spring to support the weight of me, my load, and the top of the motorcycle.  Nice…..

The last 50 miles before reaching Beaver Creek were the worst of the trip.  I bottomed out any number of times and just made it to Beaver Creek before running out of gas due to a number of closed down and boarded up gas stations in that stretch.  I arrived at a campground in Beaver Creek at 10:15 P.M. but feeling strangely fresh and grateful to have arrived in one piece.  I camped next to a fellow BMW rider from Nebraska and fought off a determined squadron of mosquitoes, prepared with a full, upper-body mosquito netting jacket to keep the swarm of little bastards away from my blood.  I cooked up a can of stew and ate it in the tent, noting the sun was still streaming into the tent and had not yet hit the horizon by 11:45 P.M.  Sleep.

Day 14 July 13, 2014

Day 14  July 13, 2014

After a really wonderful night of sleep at the kilometer 80 rest stop I awoke to fire up my tiny sterno-powered stove to boil up water for a breakfast of instant oatmeal and hot tea.  My skills at breaking down the tent and repacking the motorcycle each morning are  improving but to deal with the myriad of tasks that have to be accomplished in the correct order still takes about 1 ½ hours from start to finish before I can drive away from a camping location “taking nothing but memories and leaving nothing but footprints.”

Today’s ride will be another very long one, to make up for the extra day that I spent in Calgary to see the Shania Twain concert. Fortunately, I have a room reserved in the town of Watson Lake in The Yukon, just north of the border with the top of the province of British Columbia.

Today’s ride encompassed heavily wooded regions of northwestern Alberta and northeastern British Columbia, taking me through the small town of Fort Nelson for a pleasant lunch, watching the FICA World Cup Finals game first half (Germany vs Argentina) as about the only population center on today’s route.  I encountered several road construction zones, each with foreboding signage declaring “Loose Gravel,” warning “Motorcyclists Use Extreme Caution,” and the ever-popular “Extreme Dust Conditions Ahead.”  The flagging individual at each site would always wave motorcyclists (me) to the front of the line, allowing me to follow directly behind the pilot truck that would slowly guide the northbound traffic through the construction site after the southbound traffic passed us by to minimize the shower of dirt, stones, and dust kicked up that I had to encounter.  Negotiating the potholes, loose gravel, and wash-board surface conditions was no joke on my street bike with street tires and loaded with a full month of gear plus camping equipment and I bottomed out the rear mono shock on the motorcycle a number of times, but managed to stay upright.

A high point of today’s ride was encountering the gorgeous Lake Muncho, in British Columbia, less than 100 miles from the border with the Yukon.  The outstanding warm, blue-sky weather that I again was super lucky to be experiencing helped to color the waters of Lake Muncho an incredibly beautiful, clear, deep jade color that I have never seen before in my life and times.  Despite my telling myself, “enough photos, no more, keep going,” time after time, I would round another bend and view another vista that forced me to eat my own thoughts and stop for more photos to lock in the memory of this “Wow” place.  What a sin to have to keep moving when every emotion in me said to “stop here; don’t let this place, this moment be rushed” but finally I had to keep to my schedule to reach my room in Lake Watson.

Finally crossing the border into the Yukon Territory was another milestone for the day.  During the final 50 miles into Lake Watson, I encountered numerous bear sightings and three clusters of bison at the side of B.C. Route 97 / Yukon Route 1.  The bison couldn’t have cared less that I had arrived in their personal zip code and required them to pose for my photos. 

I finally arrived at Lake Watson at about 09:30 P.M., still in bright sunshine, and checked in with German-born Mike, proprietor of the Air Force Base Motel in a structure originally built to house military personnel and later converted into his small motel.  He pointed to shoes laid out in the reception area and told me that his motel was a “no-shoes-only” establishment while in the building to keep the dust and dirt of the Al-Can Highway out of his very clean motel.  Mike was pleased that Germany had won the World Cup game this day, having spoken to relatives in Germany earlier and he described for me their wild and joyous celebrations there.  I complied with the “shoes off” policy, unpacked, and was soon asleep.