Here is a rebuttal from my comments preceding Bill's blog post:

When Lou said that he had requested that I contribute to his blog, I think a better word would be hounded.

And I certainly opened pandora station box when I casually mentioned that he was an accomplished rider. One day we are travelling at a comfy 140 kph and after my blog, he brought it up to 200 kph. Fortunately (Agnes also reads this blog) I can honestly say that I did not go 200 kph but my little legs were pumping as fast as they would go!

Last night we checked into our motel in Anchorage and I get the distinct impression that it might be in a rougher section of town. I assumed that when I noticed that the check-in person was ensconced behind a wall of glass, just like a bank teller.

Thank god Lou is a foot taller than me and I can run faster!

And lastly, to my one fan Thank You!

And thank you to the outpouring of support for Bill's blogging efforts, it is very appreciated and is going a long way towards getting some daily input from him, although it is still like pulling teef!

I will take this opportunity to say some nice things about Bill in return!

I long ago came to the realization that I only liked travelling alone on my bike trips, or with very specific people. Riding partners in the past often had different agendas and wanted to ride 1200+ km a day, when I wanna go half that. Also I always felt like either I was holding them up or waiting on them.

I did find travelling by motorcycle with my wife BuBu was very enjoyable, I think it makes a big difference when 2 people have the kind of connection husband and wife do. BTW I miss you terribly BabyGirl, I will be home in 8 or 9 days! Love You Sweet Pea!

I was a little leery to be travelling with Bill, the first time being last year when he joined me for a few days on my way to New Orleans (See NOLA Blog!) but he completely made all concerns moot points by being about the (second) kewlest wingman ever! He explained it in brief like this: "I am just along for the ride, it is your adventure, I am just happy to be participating!"

Here is a very short video of Bill & I in Wyoming just outside of Yellowstone Park.



To that end, I have never heard a single word of complaint from him about me being late for departures, or changing plans at the last minute, or holding him up. He doesn't complain about my selection of accomms, restaurant choices, frequency or lack thereof of rest stops. He doesn't complain about my numerous navigational errors, or the routes I choose, nothing.

Zero complaints about anything. Honestly, I am spoiled by that behaviour. Just this morning I had to delay our departure by 90 minutes at the last minute because of some business I am taking care of in Toronto, he just took it in stride! So for being the (second) kewlest wingman ever I would like to say a Big Thank You Bill!

It doesn't hurt that he is not too tough to look at either!



While I am thanking people I should thank my job that generously gives me 5 weeks of holidays plus Christmas break every year! We work hard the rest of the year, but a guy's gotta play hard too!

The person though that makes this trip possible is Eryn, my beautiful bride. Every year as August approaches I worry about paying for the trip, or whether I should leave her alone to run the house, the dogs, the cat, the kids, and it is always her encouraging me to do so. She knows I have been doing these trips since the late '80's and how much they mean to me. Eryn feels so strongly about this topic she included it in her wedding vows.

(I included a pledge to ensure there was always chocolate in the house for her in my vows!)

So a Big Thank You BuBu BabyGirl SweetPea for putting my needs ahead of your own every summer. I hope I do an adequate job of making it up to you the rest of the year! 4E4A!

So, Bill & I met in the lobby at 1100 and I called Taxi Joe from the night before to come and pick us up. Should have called sooner as he took about 15 minutes, but he was worth the wait. Our first order of business was to go to a concentration of motorcycle shops I had found in Google Maps to find me a new pair of riding gloves to replace the ones I had melted. We first went to Anchorage Suzuki but they had very limited selection. The local Harley Davidson dealership was right around the corner but I have no interest in endorsing their products nor paying for their logo.

Instead, we went to Anchorage Leathers where I found a very nice pair of gauntlet gloves for around my price range. The added benefit I found out later is the gauntlets come off with zippers so they could be light winter gloves too. I'd prolly lose them so I won't do that. These gloves will need to last 20+ years, like my last pair, in order for me to get my ROI.

Next stop was a Walgreens for some Dramamine, I am preparing for our upcoming 32 hours long bus ride. The pharmacist asked if I wanted to be sedated for the whole time, just groggy or use a drowse free solution. I went with groggy! I hope you weren't expecting any deep conversations Bill? Bill stayed behind in the cab and I guess he didn't get a dozen words in edge-wise in the 10 minutes I was gone. This would become a re-occurring theme when I would leave Bill alone with drivers.

Having accomplished my 2 goals, it was time for lunch! Taxi Joe took us to Humpys, a little bar you wouldn't look at twice to walk by, turned out to be a fantastic local watering hole where we had a great lunch and a couple of tasty adult beverages. In addition to a very large assortment of available brewski's the bar also featured branded tap handles from kegs gone by used as decorations.

















I had locally caught clams, well, caught is a strong word, I mean, how hard is it to catch a clam?



Taxi Joe picked us up again after lunch, he had become our unofficial tour guide. Sadly, I never took a picture of him!

I asked him to take us to the ocean and we went to some spot that he raved about being the most beautiful spot in Anchorage. Perhaps it was the gun metal grey sky, but the vista he presented was nothing special. Apparently Mt. Robson(?) was visible on a clear day from there, and naturally the sun against a blue sky would make anything look better, but I wasn't buying it. He then said he was going to take us to see Lake Hood, I was reluctant as I had seen enough water views for one day.

Lake Hood,however, is right next to the local regional airport and functions as the amphibian airplane base. As we drove around the lake there were literally 100's of light planes of every description parked everywhere, and a continuous flow of the overhead. I am an aviation buff in all its forms and I would suggest in the 15 minutes it took to circle the lake I saw more light planes then I had total in my entire life before.

Here are a couple of pictures of the Sea Plane base, they in no way do any justice to the size of this operation, it spans outwards in all directions and has parking for 100's if not 1000's of light planes, repair areas, sales areas and everything else to support amphibious aviation.


















It is the largest sea plane base in the world and supports northern and western Alaska which is about 99% fly in only. Many planes have these huge tires, called Tundra Tires, instead of floats to service areas with improvised or non existent runways. The other picture is of a weed dredger they use to keep the take-off/landing channels clear.





We stop next to a water runway and watch flight operations for 10 minutes, it is the highlight of our day in Anchorage!

From there Taxi Joe took us to, at our request, the Anchorage Museum. The first thing they tell you is that the main exhibit hall is closed for renovations. I see that did not affect your ticket price? There was a Pavilion devoted to science, that would have been interesting if not for the plethora of small carbon-based life forms running amuck underfoot. I get it though, they are the scientists of tomorrow so we chose to leave rather than getting upset about it. How mature of us, eh?

Curiously we met a woman there, with her 2 kids naturally, that we had met in the restaurant in Beaver Creek called Buckshot Betty's (the restaurant, not the woman, we never got her name). Looking back I guess it really isn't that much of a coincidence. When you are in Anchorage, what else are you gonna do, your touristy options are limited?

We left that Pavilion for the Native artifacts display, no children there, it was dimly lit with large glass cases full of goods manufactured by various Tribes in Alaska ranging from the far North to south end of the Aleutians. There were also large video displays featuring various short clips about modern day Aboriginals striving to maintain their heritage. It was pretty amazing, for the first couple of displays, then it started to get repetitious.

It is also possible the lunchtime TAB's (tasty adult beverages) had a bit of a calming effect, maybe too much calming. Luckily Bill was feeling the same way and we both decided to bail on the cultural experience around the same time. We called Taxi Joe but he was busy. I had gone for a lengthy walk the evening we got here and I thought things looked familiar. A quick check with Siri put us within easy walking distance of our hotel so we set off on foot.

Siri was suggesting a rather convoluted route, so we ended up following my nose. Only 1 wrong turn later we ended up back at our mo'tel in about 20 minutes. We made plans for dinner at 1900 and went to our separate rooms.

Anchorage, AK (non riding day)

P.S. It should be noted that as I write this I am in Fairbanks, AK, it is 0330hrs and we leave for Prudhoe Bay and the Arctic Ocean in about 2.5 hours. I still owe you the Anchorage to Fairbanks submission which was todays ride, and then the whole account of the Arctic Ocean adventure. We will be driving (in a tour bus) the James Dalton highway et al, north from Fairbanks, to Prudhoe Bay and back, a round trip distance of about 1600 kms, about half of that a gravel haul road.

If all goes to plan about 0830 MDT Sunday morning I will be dipping a toe, or more, into the Arctic Ocean!

I have no idea what my connectivity will be along that length. We return late Sunday night and will be departing Fairbanks Monday morning so I won't be in the position to write until then, when I will be several days behind. We'll be shooting video of the entire adventure, but prolly won't post that until after I get home.

I will be 'off the grid' both figuratively and literally.