Headed East

Ron and I headed out in drizzle and the low 50's this morning. We found his best friend's house and were met by his great family. Following breakfast, Ron and I split ways after 23 days and more than 8,000 miles together! Because of my deployments in the Navy and work in aerospace, we never had so much time together. My son is someone I'm very proud of.

I Headed east up the Columbia River Valley following my trusty GPS, missing Ron's presence in my mirror immediately. Almost felt like when he left for college again. He still has over 2,000 miles to get home to Austin, solo. I passed the 12,000 mile point for this trip.

I made it about 450 miles for the day and chickened out from the storm I was running from and grabbed a room in Spokane. Tomorrow evening, I link up with my buddies Ernie and Grady from home to ride the Yellowstone area for a few days.

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Seattle area

Spent hours today going nowhere due to traffic. Went into downtown, then rode the ferry to Orchard Park, then rode along Puget sound, Bremerton, Tacoma, then crawled south towards Portland, Visit Kip tomorrow, then on to Yellowstone.

Sky to Sea (Updated)

Rode another stunning highway yesterday. Our ride started out with our bikes covered in ash and the temperature in the 60's in heavy smoke from four forest fires. Critters were confused as well, had a deer the size of a horse with a big rack meet me in the road. My brakes slowed me down and caused him to change directions.

We headed west on the BC Route 99, The Sea to Sky Highway. Incredible curvy road with glacier rivers, snow capped mountains, mountain lakes, deserts and huge valleys that we wound through about 190 miles with just a few first nation villages (kinda like American Indians) which are economically in better shape than our Indian villages. We noticed Canada has different prices for the native Americans, nine cents a liter ($.45/gallon) cheaper for fuel.
The last 40 miles of the ride to Vancouver picked up speed and traffic on a road that is mostly bridges along the side of the mountain, looking at Victoria, Ocean going ships, fishermen and private boats. We hit Vancouver and exited without a map in 4 PM traffic which wasn't fun. We headed to the border and made the first exit to a campground on Puget Sound. (I'll Add pictures later).
We are looking at plans for the next couple of days, I was thinking of an Iron butt ride to get home to my honey for our 43 anniversary Monday, but probably will stick to the plan and head for Yellowstone. Betty told to ensure I had plenty of food in my tent in Yellowstone, what's that about?

Sign means Hang on and brake hard!

Bears

Actually got a video of a couple of Bears. Yesterday morning we saw a head poke out of the grass in front of us, followed by a big bear who looked both ways, then crossed behind us. I'm heading out to load up and head towards Vancover.

British Columbia

Did you know BC is longer than a drive from the Mexican Border in San Diego to the Canadian Border in Seattle! All on two lane roads with construction and massive log trucks. We went through four forest fires yesterday, one close to the road, some bigger ones to hit today. We plan on a tour of Vancover, slipping through Seattle off traffic hours, then down to Ron's best friend from high school's house for a short visit.

next we head for Yellowstone where our great neighbors from the 80's are as well.

The video below is from the Alaska highway on a good section of the gravel road. The second video is a couple of bears we stopped for. they are closer than they look. Sorry for the camera work, trying to keep the bike going.

Going south and West

Spent yesterday morning in White Horse, Capital of the Yukon Territory. Visited a large paddle wheel Steamer that provided access to the Yukon, delivered supplies and shipped out gold during the gold rush. We headed down the Alaska Highway after lunch and turned off on to a great secondary road, the Cassairs Highway. Dirt, gravel and a beautiful ride yesterday and today with the roads improving as we got further south. We went up a huge lake, 78 miles long, totally undeveloped. We passed through a lot of small native villages, obviously very poor folks. Had some near misses with Big Horned Sheep and black bears today. Primitive camped on a gorgeous lake last night and looking at a dirty glacier tonight.

Headin' North to get South

We hit the road this morning headed north to Tok, then south to the Yukon Territory. We took the Tok cutoff, which is a road that will challenge your suspension. If you have ever ridden a motorcross track, where you fight it for control every moment, you know what the 120 miles is like from the Alaska border to Destruction Lake. Glad that part is over, again!

Today was our first day in the sun all day, even if it started in the 40's. Great day with over 500 miles, nearly half of it challenging surfaces. The Yukon must be financially challenged, Plywood Royal Mounted Police cars.

Pretty calm day, one moose wander infront of Ron causing a breaking event, and later we avoided a herd of horses in the road. We had hoped to hit the top of the world highway from Chicken and Eagle Alaska, but is was wiped out for a second time this month. Tomorrow, south to Watson Lake then off to the Cassairs Highway towards Washington State (in about four days).

New Plans

After riding the Catamaran Ferry powered by four jet engines (over 45 MPH) from Whittier to Valdez, we rode (in the cold rain) up Copper Canyon to Glenallen. Lots of water/waterfalls but the only critter I saw was a big Wolf. We saw Icebergs in Prince William Sound and what we believe was a Baluga Whale.

Because I was wet, we grabbed a hotel. A fellow in the lobby said he rode the Taylor Highway from Tok to Chicken AK and Dawson City, Yukon Territory. Our goal was to ride there so we will give it a shot, even though it apparently had another washout yesterday. Then we are taking the Alcan highway to the Cassairs Highway which runs down to Washington State.






White stuff in July!

Ride to the left (West) most side of Alaska

Ron and I left our luggage at my brother in laws home and headed the few miles up Turnagain Arm to the Kenai Peninsula Thursday22 July. My brother in law Bill said it was about a three hour ride to Homer, so off we rode in the cold and rain. Maybe in his trooper vehicle he can make it in that time, not us. It was a nice ride along glacier streams and the Kenai and Russian Rivers. We did not see combat fishing, i.e. where you are elbow to elbow, but it was pretty busy. Rode through Homer to the split and looked out at the first of the Aleutian Islands. Nice ride, long day.

Gone Fishin'

Ron and I flew out to the Yelta River, about 75 miles north West from Anchorage. Great ride with bush pilots and a great day fishing.