Gmail - Compose Mail - spiritdancin@gmail.com

Gmail - Compose Mail - spiritdancin@gmail.com

The Big Loop

Well the wheels have stopped rolling for awhile after 13,577 miles for me. Time to clean up, put up, and catch up. Its been quite an adventure for all of us.

Three generations of control freaks living and working together on the road for 62-65 days made for interesting dynamics. We all learned a lot. Most of all, we learned to enjoy and cherish our time together.

There are several thousand photographs and multiple composition books filled with journal entries - not to mention several hours of Monique's audio journal. We're working together to make several documents from our material. Over the next few months we'll share these from our website.

In the meantime we hope you'll do the things that move you - we sure did!

The last leg of an epic adventure

After we left Redding, California, we drove south toward Yosemite. We passed through a really cool National Park none us us knew about, Lassiter Volcano Park. We were riding through snowpacks in the summer in central California! We also went by Lake Tahoe and then camped in the brownish mountains south of there. Ironically, the day after posting the tribute to my bike, it had trouble running. It got so bad that I had to get towed to Reno, Nevada. The people at Big Valley Honda were so helpful, but found nothing wrong. It just started running correctly again. ?? Anyway, I spent a couple of days by myself in Reno, tested my bike out and rode around looking at things - the famous "Biggest, Little Town" sign, a great view of Lake Tahoe from the Mt. Rose pass, and the city from afar. The next day, I drove due west and met up with Monique and Jim who came up from Yosemite. We met up at a cool little gas station/cafe in the middle of the Nevada desert and caught a breeze on the porch for a while. This afternoon ride was pretty spectaculer because of the wide expanse of space surrounded by the huge, red Sierra mountains. The road would disappear into infinity. We got to the the eastern side of Nevada and stayed in Ely.

The next day we rode into Utah and got to see more spectacular desert mountains, but also started seeing canyon rock formations. We made it to Bicknell, Utah, just outside the Capitol Reef National Park and stayed in a super nice, cheap hotel. We watched the movie Ray, which is excellent by the way, and I went on a long walk to enjoy the desert night sky.

Starting out the next morning was one of my favorite rides of the trip. We rode right down through the canyons and the morning sun was giving outstanding lighting. We basically got the see the upper part of the Grand Canyon. It continued on this way into Colorado and we stopped by Mesa Verde National Park. Then we started getting into the Colorado mountains and more green. We camped out in a National Forest Park in the San Juan mountains. Although it was at 7000 ft, unfortunately it was overcast and we didn't get to see the stars that well.

Next morning we got treated to the fir tree forest mountains of Colorado and escaped the spotty rain storms. The eastern 1/3 of Colorado flattened out and I got my last glimpse of mountains on this trip in my rear view mirror. It was scraggly brush until the Kansas border where grass started to appear. We stayed a night in Garden City and then made it to Monique's the next day. When we started out the trip, Kansas seemed boring because it was flat and green out forever. On my way back through, I really enjoyed the space and soft green compared to what we have seen on the whole trip. It was a sense of freedom. We got to Monique's and relaxed, did laundry, and had a trip toast at the local pizzaria.
Jim and I set out for our return home and just rode. We took the most direct route possible and stopped very little. We were both ready to be back and unfazed by the scenery of the south. I noticed drivers in the South are more inconsiderate to motorcyclists than anywhere else we've been. And the people do talk slower. The humidity began to pick up and we kept moving to stay as cool as possible. We arrived in Huntsville after 2 days of riding and finally got to see John safe and sound. We all caught back up on what had happened, took a swim, and had a relaxing steak dinner. I'll spend the next few days unpacking, cleaning up, and letting the weight of the trip sink in.

Toto...we're back in Kansas!

Unbelievable. Back in my apartment with a cup of coffee and lots of work ahead of me, I am trying to "wrap up" the trip by adding all photos (a total of 23 films at approximately 25 pics each!) to the website, copying the mini-disc tapes (my 'journal') to regular size tapes for transcription, handing out small presents to friends, hanging my new posters, magnets, and pins, wearing my new T-shirts, giving my bike a serious cleansing with Simple Green and lots of Pledge... and receiving updates from Jim and Matt on their progress to Alabama. They've made it to Huntsville, Alabama yesterday around 3 pm and Jim should be home in Wetumpka tonight, so they'll be starting to adjust to "standing still" soon too... A strange sensation, indeed. I'm glad not to have to get up, pack and get on the bike every morning, but I already miss the constant adventure, new sceneries, and hanging out with a group of really awesome people every day. (Yeah, we had our little bouts every once in a while, but all in all we had a great time with each other).

The last part of the trip was incredibly fascinating as well. After riding through the northern part of California with wonderful twisties through the hills and big sweepers - a paradise for motorcyclists - we passed Lake Tahoe and all of its thousands of tourists with the plan to meet Ami and Byron at Yosemite Park. Unfortunately, Matt's bike was acting up. I headed out from our campsite South of Tahoe to try to get a "first come, first served" campsite at Yosemite on a Friday morning, while the guys were trying to troubleshoot the problem with Matt's bike. When I arrived at Yosemite around 9:40 am I was told that is was "very unlikely" that I would find a site. Well, I found one at "Porcupine Flats" and was super-proud of it. Then I headed out of the park again (30 miles from the campsite), left a message for the guys with the park rangers at the park entrance explaining where our campsite was and when to expect me back. I bought food for five people for two days, firewood and a sack of ice and headed back. My message for the guys was still at the park entrance. However, Jim arrived about twenty minutes later at the campsite, explaining that Matt had his bike towed to Reno and was going to spend the next nights there while we were at Yosemite. What a bummer!

Anyway, I had contacted Ami and told her about the site, so the two of them were going to try to make it to Yosemite that night, which they did! Jim and I had just let the fire go down and were nodding off in our tent, when I heard Ami's voice. What a great reunion! We spent the next day hanging out at Yosemite and admiring its amazing beauty with another swarm of tourists.
Here is Byron at Yosemite Falls, protecting himself from the sun’s rays. That night we had hot dogs, baked beans, buns, and Marshmallows over the campfire for dinner, while Ami was slowly talking me towards the realities of grad school and soon being home for some more “academic fun.”


The next day (Sunday) we met up with Matt on Highway 50, “the loneliest road in America,” and headed through Nevada. I kept taking pictures of this landscape that was so different than what we had been seeing for the last weeks. Luckily, we were always a minimum of 4,000 feet above sea level, which meant that it wasn’t nearly as hot as anticipated. Thanks to John’s suggestion over the phone a few days earlier we had also acquired some “camel backs” from our favorite store (nope, I will not advertise here…) and therefore had a constant supply of cool water, which turned out to pose only one tiny problem: We had to use the restroom quite frequently…

In Delta, Utah, I had an “American Studies-on-the-road” moment and dragged the guys to a museum that displayed a barrack and some items of the Topaz Japanese internment camp that had been situated about 15 miles up the road from Delta. The reaction of locals to our questions about the museum’s exact location and the comments of the museum’s guide were quite intriguing. Locals didn’t seem to think anyone should be interested in the museum, giving us very vague directions, and, not surprisingly, the guide tried her best to downplay the internment of Japanese and Japanese American citizens during World War II.

The next part of the trip was breathtaking. I had never before seen anything like the Capitol Reefs in Utah. After Nevada’s landscape that reminded me of images of Northern Africa, this area made me feel like I was on another planet.
The many shades of reddish brown and beige combined with the rock formations that seemed chiseled out of the stone was so impressive that I couldn’t stop taking pictures. So, if you check out our website you will see a lot of pictures of that area in the “on the road” area and my last set of pics (West Coast to Kansas).

Crossing Colorado and then entering Kansas was almost a relief after all of those intense impressions of the trip. Matt and I both felt that the spaciousness of West Kansas was a much needed contrast and enjoyed being able to see for miles with just a tree or a house interrupting the horizon every once in a while. On our last stop before Lawrence I asked the gas station attendant to take our picture – an epic trip was coming to an end – at least for me. Wow, what a tour de force! I am unbelievably grateful for having decided to make this trip, for Sigi and Jim contributing heavily by paying for gas and lodging, for Granny giving me her car, which paid for my bike and the trip, for Matt and John deciding to come along, for John having basically walked away from a very dangerous accident, for none of us having become seriously ill or being stopped by the police for any reason, and for having met so many people with similar and sometimes even “wilder” dreams than ours. It seems the universe had aligned itself for us. Yes, life is definitely good! :-)

Paradise...after everyone has moved there

Coming into California met my expectations. The coast treated us to some beautiful ocean views and the people became friendlier and different. While the north isn't all that crowded, I believe it's mostly because there's so many National Parks and Forests. I can only imagine how packed southern Cali is if it's even only partly as beautiful as this. Riding through the redwood forests was a fantasy straight out of the speederbike scene in Star Wars, Return of the Jedi. We went for an hour hike through one of the forests and it felt magical being amongst the towering giants. After that, we turned east and went through some beautiful, dry, lumpy mountains with rivers threading throughout. The sun was at our back, but once we turned away from the coast, the heat became oppresive. If I opened my visor it seemed like someone was holding a blowdryer in my face.

We pulled into Redding late in the day and got a taste of the seedy side of Cally. After wandering around town some, we finally found a suitable Motel6. We've stopped for a day to catch up on laundry and computers. Next destination is Yosemite via Lake Tahoe.

Thank you!

When our fourth member had his accident, there were many people who helped us.



To remind the reader, we were on the Cassiar Highway many miles over rough roads from medical help. There are no land line telephones in the area and certainly no cell phone towers. You must plan your gas stops carefully since it can easily be 100 miles between available gas pumps. There are no houses visible from the road.

When we got to John we all thought that one of us would have to ride for help – which direction and how long would it take?

We each had first aid training and Matt was carrying our main first aid kit. We did our best to assess John’s injuries while keeping his spine stabilized. We anticipated shock.

A couple headed north in a small blue car stopped and climbed down the embankment to us. The man said there was a private airstrip just beyond the rise behind us and he ran back to his car. He returned shortly with Todd who works security for the airfield. Todd had a satellite phone. He had already called for emergency transport – either ambulance or helicopter. He sent for help to protect the scene and called the RMCP for us.

There is not much traffic on the Cassiar Highway, but almost everyone stopped to offer help.

A paramedic from Vancouver stopped and took over the scene for awhile. He performed a pretty through assessment including directing us in maintaining John’s spine protection while he examined his spine. We were reassured after his exam.

A nurse, who works in the clinic in Dease Lake, north of the scene, arrived with know-how and materials. Sam quickly conducted her own assessment and placed a cervical collar on John and carefully removed his helmet.

Nola and Peter had arrived earlier. Nola later helped Sam with the spine stabilization and helmet removal. Nola and Peter offered to take John’s gear to secure storage at Peter’s maintenance shop to the south.

The chopper arrived with paramedic and pilot. We all worked together to get him on the rigid stretcher and strapped on the chopper platform. There was no room for Matt to accompany John but Sam said they would take John to the Dease Lake clinic for evaluation and then send him on to Terrace or Vancouver depending on what he needed. The paramedic and Sam said we should head south since John was sure to be sent one of the two places.



The chopper lifted off and we thanked all that we could. We loaded most of John’s gear into Peter’s truck for transport south.

To the many people who helped us or offered help, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Thanks to Bob, Todd, Nola, Peter, and Sam for your help.
We pledge to do the same for others anytime we can.

And to John: We all miss you and look forward to being together agin soon. In the meantime, heal quickly.

Firefly

I want to introduce Firefly, my bike. She has performed brilliantly and become a great friend on this trip. When we are out on the road, man and machine become one. An absolute pleasure to ride, she has taken me through an incredible amount of beauty as we've crossed the continent. I know her name because she told me as we were riding across Montana. The odometer had just turned over 22,000 miles and I congratulated her and asked what her name was. A couple of miles down the road, Firefly popped into my head out of nowhere. Wierd, but true.

I am a design enthusiast and this VFR 750 has set my standard for a well engineered machine. It has acheived a perfect balance between power and handling. It is very reliable and the styling is classic. Honda got everything right when they created her.

On the road again

After John's wreck, we went to a cool little corner of the world in Hyder, AK to hole up for a couple of days and get our bearings. Hyder is the most southern town in Alaska that can be reached by road. It's so small and isolated that it doesn't even have a US customs checkpoint. All of the roads are dirt, it's surrounded by towering green mountains, and has travelers from all over. We were walking to lunch one of the days and looked up to see a full-grown black bear crossing the road 50 yards in front of us. Amazingly, a medium sized dog aggresively chased it off. We asked a watching local if it was alright to go on and he said,"Oh yeah, just stay on the road." We ate the best fish of the trip at a cafe that served out of an old school bus. We stayed at the SeaLaska Lodge and it was great. I met a group of bikers from Australia and another from Seattle. We stayed up late in the bar telling stories. The road in and out of Hyder was 40 miles of astounding mountains, glaciers, and hanging glaciers!

We continued on down through British Columbia on the most westernly route we could take and had a fantastic ride through the canyon above Whistler, BC. After Whistler, the population really picked up and it was tense traffic riding until we got out of Seattle. The coast around Vancouver looked like alot of fun. After we got new tires in Seattle, we went South through the National Parks and Forests of central Washington. It was cool to finally see Mt. Ranier and Mt St Helens. There was a really fun, twisty road up to St Helens, but the landscape is still so devastated that I felt uneasy there. We got to the very northwest corner of Oregon that night and got to catch a Pacific Ocean sunset! Very cool.

The next day we started out on Hwy 101 down the coast. We got through the top half of Oregon in a day and were pretty disappointed because the road was so crowded and only occasionally followed the coast. However, we got to camp on the coast again in a neat forest. The next day we did the bottom half of Oregon and were delighted. The road was less crowded, closer to the coast, and more scenic. It was sweet to see the ocean fade out and merge with the sky. The water was crashing into the rocks, creating a white spray and salty smell.

From Redding, CA

A lot of miles have rolled by since my last entry here. My bike has rolled over 10,000 miles since leaving Alabama. We're in Redding, CA for a one day layover to wash clothes and update these pages.
All three of us have been physically tired for the last two or three days. We began to run into lots of traffic and increasing heat from Whistler, BC south through Vancouver. Motorcycle riding in heavy traffic requires lots of concentration particularly in multi lane traffic at speed.
We got tires put on at Cycle Barn in Lynnwood. We had ordered the tires a week before so Carl and Adam got us in and out Saturday morning. Thanks guys!
We "moteled" it the night before and the night after. Saturday afternoon we tried to use the public library branch in Lynnwood for Internet but their policies limited non-resident use to 15 minutes and they did not allow USB connections. So no pictures were uploaded and only a brief note was added by Monique.
By 8 am Sunday morning we were rolling south in light traffic on I 405. I don't like interstates but this was the quickest way out of the congestion of Seattle. We made our way south to Mt. Rainer National Park and from there to Mt. St. Helen.
I began thinking that this trip was a lot about big rocks: rocks with snow, rocks with trees, rocks with holes in them, and big rocks in the water.
Our goal for Sunday was to get to the coast of Oregon. We found a state park at the furtherest NW corner of Oregon and headed for it.

Sunset was near as we registered at Ft Stephens State Park. We made a dash for the beach to catch the last rays of sunset over the Pacific. We discussed whether or not we had already been at the Pacific coast when we were in Stewart, BC and Hyder, Alaska. But the Oregon coast counts as a new place for us so we shout and congratulate each other as if we discovered the new world.
We broke camp early and after a quick breakfast of yogurt, granola, fruit and hot coffee and tea, were on the road by 8am Monday morning. Down the Oregon coast we rode. Most of the time the coast was not visible from the road but we enjoyed occasional glimpses of large sand dunes, crashing waves, and massive rocks in the water. Lots of twisties, fast uphill passing lanes with long sweepers and plenty of heat made for another good but tiring day. We had hoped to make California but fatigue made us pull into a state park in late afternoon. Cape Blanco park included a working lighthouse. We took another opportunity to walk down to the seaside and watch a Pacific sunset. The winds were really strong but our campsite was among tall fir trees that provided a break. The wind howled through them all night long.
For the last couple of days as we traveled the coast line, we encountered a low hanging fog that usually dissipated by midday. It is unusual in that it was not so thick as to obscure vision nearby but made the landscape seem to be seen through a portrait filter removing all harsh lines and softening the scene.
We woke early Tuesday morning and headed for the nearest town for coffee and breakfast. We were lucky again. We stopped at a small motel that looked to be built in the 1950's. There was a cafe that advertised esspresso. I hoped that meant good coffee - IT DID! Very nice people and good food.
As we rode the last 40 or 50 miles of the Oregon coast we saw the coasline that we had been imagining. Rugged rocky coast with wind blown whitecaps and flocks of birds fishing the churning waters.

Tuesday we made California and the Redwood National Park, While on a hike at the Ladybird Johnson Grove in the park, we met Allen and Debbie both from Cleveland Ohio. We spent a couple of hours in conversation while we shared the walk through the grove of towering Redwoods.



Around the Redwood National Park and all the way to Redding we found wonderful motorcycling roads through beautiful scenery. Winding, rising and falling, running alog rivers and beside lakes, these roads are perfect and we all enjoy them.
As day slid into evening, I began to tire and lose concentration. When you lose concentration you have to slow down to avoid making mistakes, so we slowed the pace.
By the time we reached Redding it was dark and we were all ready to get off the road. Boy, did Motel 6 look good to us with A/C and a hot shower!

Hello West Coast - here we come!

After a day of recuperating and regrouping in Hyder, Alaska, Jim, Matt and I headed South and crossed the border to the U.S. yesterday midday in the blazing sun. Hyder is worth a separate entry and maybe some pictures later... The strangest part about the last few days of the trip - besides not having John along with us - is the sudden change in population density. When we started seeing cows and farmed lands again it felt like we had entered another world, or rather left the one we had spent the last four weeks in. After some beautiful roads through canyons along rivers and lakes, the Vancouver and Seattle areas gave us a taste of "reality" again, but at least we now have new tires (yuhu!) and feel comfortable making the rest of the trip back home.
Tomorrow we leave for the coast, i.e., we'll be crossing trough Washington, possibly passing Mt. Rainier, then over to Oregon's coast. Hopefully it won't be too crowded on the coast road, since we are travelling during the week. Ami and Byron (two friends from Lawrence who moved to Sacramento last year) are expecting us sometime by the end of this coming week and might join us for a trip to Yosemite Park!
It's really strange to be riding on without John - we miss you, man! Ok, I have to get off now... Library restrictions... Ciao, Monique

4 Days Ago...

7/16/06 - 4 days ago...a ridilicious motorcycle accident happened in northern British Columbia, Canada and now, things are looking bright back in Bama. Injury report is as follows: broken left collar bone, concussion, road rash on left side, torn ligaments in my left foot, O and a dislocated right wrist bone that happened before the trip even started. Sunday Afternoon: Riding down the Cassier highway we stopped to get a snack and some gas and we noticed a pole that had "Atlanta ~5800 miles" and we got to talking about how far that was and how far it is around the earth and if one were to finish this trip they would be traveling around half the planet. Wow, that is crazy. Keep going guys and be safe! I woke up from the daze half way down a 10ft ditch after a turkey wrap, chocolate milk, and some slow ridin. One tends to become sleepy anyways, first memory after blacking out immediately after waking up from the daze, was a off-duty EMT from vancouver checking me out. He found no broken neck or back and other major things were fine. Then he took off my helmet and then proceeded to contemplate cutting off my alpinestars jacket and I was going to take it off for him. There was no cutting my baby off. so they slipped me out of it and then cut off my shirts. Of course I had to be wearing my "The best things in life are DANGEROUS" t-shirt. Notice the pic on my bro's post. Yea earlier that day. So I got a heli ride to Dease Lake, BC. I wanted to look out but the people said no. so i had to stare at the roof. I got to the hospital and was taken off the board and O'!!! did I have to go #2. I said hurry up doc, I got to save my undies, these are all I got. SO he realized I was doing OK and he took me in a wheelchair to the washroom(as they say in Canada). I was taking a while, he got worried, and asked if i was ok. HA yea so then he made sure he couldn't find anything wrong with me so, then called in the X ray tech. dude had to drive in from who knows where. Buddy looked like he had just put down his 8th beer and cig at the local pub. anyway he took some x rays and I was right, my left collar bone was indeed broken. Then they sent me home with minimal pills and a plastic bag for my jacket and o yea no shoes. So I got to the local motel just behind the place we had eaten lunch earlier that day. People were exceptionally nice and gave me a room half off. And helped me with everything. The 40 year old female EMT that drove me to the hotel came back with a manson shirt and size 8 boots. but me feet are size ten I say don't you ahve sandals. but she said it will help the swelling. I bought into the bull, I was easy to persuade at that point. I made and received some calls and then after an attempted bath, and two perocet's just to lay down. I drifted off for an hour. Only to wake up in pain.I could only reposition slightly then back to bed for an hour. More days will come indidivually as I can find the time and strength to type. Peace for now.

To Ride or Not to Ride

On Sunday, July 16th, at 4:30pm, John wrecked his motorcycle when he fell asleep while we were driving down the Cassier Highway. Thank you great spirit, he is alright. He has a broken left collarbone, suffered a mild concussion, and has a really sore body. He drove off the right side of the road, down a 10 foot embankment, and he luckily tumbled in grass and gravel. I was leading and noticed nobody behind me so I turned around and saw Jim and Monique stopped, hurrying to get to him and John unconscious down by his wrecked bike. Going down to check on John was one of the scariest moments of my life. I made sure he was breathing and then ran to get my 1st aid kit. John got himself on his back and then we all encouraged him to be still until he was checked out. Lucky again, people started stopping to help us and there was an airstrip with a satellite phone right nearby. And to set the scene, we were really in the middle of nowhere in the Canadian Pacific coastal mountains. It was 35 miles north to a gas station and 4 hours to the nearest town. We had just been driving from a break at that nearest gas station through about 20 miles of gravel. We figure John just got too relaxed on the smooth pavement after the tenseness of gravel. The 1st person to check John out was a paramedic on vacation from Vancouver. He checked everything major and we managed to safely get John's leather jacket off. John was already joking around at this point although he was in a good bit of pain. More paramedics showed up in trucks and finally the helicopter arrived. We loaded him on a board stretcher and onto the copter. There wasn't any room for me to accompany him and we were uncomfortable not being with him, but it's what had to be done. They took off for Deese Lake, 4 hours north, but told us he would be triaged there and then taken south to a bigger city with more facilities, either Terrace or Vancouver. Since we were exhausted, a little shocked, and unsure where they would finally take John, we drove to the nearest lodge, an hour south, and got a room at a heliskiing resort lodge, Bell 2. When we arrived, we called on a $5 a minute satellite phone to check on John and see were he had been taken further south. To our amazement and relief, he had already been discharged and taken to a local hotel. I called John and he was in good spirits, considering the situation. The plan was for him to get on the plane the next day from Deese Lake to Smithers, Smithers to Vancouver, Vancouver to Seattle, Seattle to Charlotte, Charlotte to Huntsville. Right now he should be getting on the plane in Vancouver.

All the people around us at the accident were so nice and helpful. It's really moving to see such compassion from people you've never met. I thank them all from the bottom of my heart for helping us out on that difficult day.

Of course, Jim, Monique, and I have been asking ourselves is there anything more we could have been doing to prevent this and the answer is no, short of not making the trip at all. I was leading and we were going 60-65 mph. We had been on the road for 250 miles this day and had been averaging 300 miles a day. We take breaks at least every hour to stretch our legs and get a drink and snack. We had just stopped 35 miles earlier. The previous night, we stayed in a cabin with beds and gotten a full night's sleep. Regardless, sometimes you get drowsy cruising down the road and I think everyone has experienced that in a car. We knew this was a issue for John and have encouraged everyone to just pull over and rest if you're getting tired. We had done so for Monique 2 days earlier when she had a slow spell. I just figure it snuck up on John before he knew what happened. A big factor in John being alright was him wearing good protective gear. We've been on the road 42 days and 8000 miles - making it that far over the roads we've been is a testament to our commitment to safety.

Other questions are should we be making this trip and should we ride motorcycles. Well, this trip is an epic, exhilarating experience. It makes life sweet and you carry it with you for the rest of your life. With the reward comes the risk and that is where opinions differ as to an acceptable level of risk. John, Jim, Monique, and I all know the risks we are taking and have made the choice to accept them. I'm sorry that it is tough on our family and friends, but you enjoy us because of who we are and this is who we are. A little bit riskier than normal, but really interesting and a lot of fun. Will I ride after this trip? I don't know. It will be a question I will ask myself many times.

Although we are sad John will not be able to make the rest of the trip with us, we are so happy he will be alright. We've decided to finish the trip as planned because we don't really have many other options and because John asked us to. We sure miss you John! We're really having a tough time getting used to you not being with us. Get well soon! We love you!

*I've also just posted some previous entries and pictures from our great time in Alaska. Check them out below.

Denali

Wow. Rugged, majestic beauty. We were lucky enough to see the mountain too. Pictures can't do it justice and neither can my words. Being at Wonder Lake with perfect weather and my family was one of those lifetime moments.

The Iagullis are supreme!

The Iagulli family made our time in Alaska really outstanding. First, we met Kelly at her house in Palmer, met her sister Tara and friend Jill, and then went golfing almost immediately. Golfing with Alaskan mountain views! We stayed at her house for the next 7 days and it felt like home. World Cup matches, bike maintenance, computer use, laundry, and daytrips were all made easy. Thurs, June 29, we went to the Iagulli parents' house and Jim fixed us Alaskan sized steaks. We finally got to properly thank him and Kelly for their help 5 years before. Kristen and her boyfriend Matt also showed up and it was great to see them as well. Friday, June 30, we went with all the Iagulli sisters and their friends to Seward and checked out Sealand and Exit glacier. We actually got to hike up to the glacier and touch it! Incredible! During the daytrip, Kristen invited John and me to go with them on a backpacking trip and we were overjoyed with the opportunity to go hiking in Alaska. So Sunday, July 2, we met up with James I., Kristen, and her supercool friends Amy, Amanda, and Matt. The hike was a dream for me because the people were so much fun and the scenery unbelievably beautiful. We are all pictured with Eagle River glacier in the background. When we came out of the woods, we all cleaned up and then went off to James' friend's house to enjoy a July 3rd festival with live music and midnight, daylight fireworks. The next night, we picked up my mom and aunt at the airport and headed straight over to James' place in downtown Anchorage to all meet up again and enjoy the July 4th fireworks. James has a sweet deck on the top of the building, perfect for a cookout. I took Amy for her first motorcycle ride and we got lost in Anchorage with the lazy setting sun. Amanda's son Parker was a ball of life who kept us all going with lightsaber battles. It was a memorable 4th of July.

After getting to hang out with the Iagullis for the 1st time in 17 years, it is clear why we kept in touch. While the years have changed us all, they are still the same great people from my memories in Germany. Thank you all for showing us such a wonderful time!

Wee-Wee sisters on Tour

Sigi and Heidi made it to Denali and saw the "Great One" - Mt McKinley or Denali as it is known locally. Long flight, long train ride, longer bus ride - 85 miles on a dirt road at 25-30MPH then days of rain and "biblical hordes" of mosquitoes. Boy were we having fun! Then the second afternoon the sun began to break up the rain clouds and the summit was visible. The mountain was Isabel to us for the next 24 hours. This was the first time in 23 days that the mountain was to be seen. How lucky we were!
With the sun came higher spirits and soon the camper bus back to the entrance of the park. Along with that came hot showers, a real bed, and a restaurant meal. Made all that seem like such a luxury.
Thanks Sigi and Heidi from all of the rest of the Cola Crew for stickin' it out with us at Wonder Lake.
BTW Happy birthday to both the Wee-Wee sisters!

O' Denali... "The High One"

So we made it. This was our destination and we all managed to make it to Denali NP safe and in good spirits. But first, the adventure from Palmer. The ride to Denali was pretty uneventful. To put in short several thousand RVs and a slow speed limit so I was trying not to fall asleep and kill my self on the way up. Especially cuz we are so close now I got to make it. On the way up we stop in at Mary Cary's Lodge. A woman who moved to the back country on the south side of Denali (Mt. Mckinley as it will be referred to as Denali the rest of this blog and forever more. I say this because this is the original name the natives gave this magnificent mountain) Anyways, we eat a great lunch right in front of the supposed best view of Denali but unfortunately it was cloudy but as we sat there and ate it began to clear up o just a little. It cleared up only enough to see a slight glimpse of the south side and I had a feeling it would be the last chance we had to gaze upon this grand mountain. We continued on to "glitter gulch" (as the locals refer to it) and stopped in for a bit of lunch as we were all a little pekkish. Glitter Gulch is the tourist area that has sprung up just outside the entrance to Denali NP. After Lunch we continued on to the Lakeview Lodge just a few minutes north in a town called Healy. Here we stayed 2 nights and got to do some fishing and had a breath-taking view of the lake w/ mountains behind it. In the middle of our stay here, my Mom and Aunt arrived from Anchorage. O it was great to see them. We were all tired so the rest of the gang hit the hay early while I jumped in the hottub. Hey how often to get to get in a hottub and especially one in Alaska next to a lake and mountains. Needless to say I was in heaven for a while. The next morning we headed to the park to catch our 8:30 bus ride to wonder lake. We waited in the rain but it was well worth it. Our bus driver couldn't have been any cooler. Chuck is a native alaskan and has climbed Denali 3 times, summiting twice. We got numerous stories and jokes from him. He made me forget about the rain the whole 5.5 hour ride until we got the weather report of rain for the next 3 days. That got us all bummed but we finally made it to wonder lake, then the shock factor hit. Rain, Biblical hoards of mosquitoes, and in the middle of the food chain. Who could ask for a better time? Well we set up camp and cooked dinner and rigged up our tents to be slightly less leaky. My bro and I had to sleep with garbage bags on our feet due to the door on the tent was no better than a sieve. But we were there and it was beginning to seem like we were going to have to spend our time in Denali NP with the rain and become part of the 70% of people who come to Denali NP and never see the mountain. Well the bad luck ran out and my feeling of seeing the mountain came true. On the second night around 9:45 it was a slow unveiling of the mountain from top to bottom. O what a site it was. The next day Mo, Matt, and I took a bus ride to a trail head and went o a little hike. There are no specific trails in Denali NP, you just walk where ever you want to go. So we did. After a few mountains and several miles with no bathroom in site we decided to head back to the road and get on the bus back to wonder lake. We spent one more night at the lake and left the following morning with clear blue skies. We got to see a wolf on the way out which was way awesome. So then we headed up to our perch overlooking glitter gulch. Uncle Spirit Dancin booked us some sweet cabins at the crow's nest and here again I stumbled upon a hot tub half way up this mountain. Wow things just couldn't be any better. But this was after we had dinner at a fine Pizza joint. Here we got to see a new friend we had met at wonder lake and he was playing standup bass while his buddy was groovin on the alto sax. We had a great time listening to them jam. The next morning we had to watch me Mum and Aunt board the train back to Anchorage and head on to Fairbanks. Denail could let up leave without one more shower. So after a few miles of rain it was smooth sailing all the way to Fairbanks. And this is where we are right now at the Fairbanks Public Library. Earlier today I had to send my bike in to get a new chain and sprockets. And the guys at Northern Power Sports were backed up for a week but somehow managed to get me in and I had my bike back by 3. Thanks NPS. I Have never met so many genuine and just plain nice people in an area. Alaskans are great people and have made me want to move here. Maybe not soon but definitely considering it. And I want to give a shout out to my cousins back in LA trying to somehow manage with the hellacious heat down there. LA means Lower Alabama just to clarify. but Thanks for reading Kevin and Kim. Please let other people know because this is the feedback we love to get. It just makes us want to write more. Well my fingers are all typed out and It is probably way to much to read but There are a few new pics at the end of my July 3rd pics update. (Some Really Sweet ones ... Yall should really check them out) . This is all and Peace.

So much to tell...So little time

"So tell me, after traveling the world for over a year, have you learned anything important?", I asked the New Zealander across the plank picnik table from me. We're sitting in a hostel in Fairbanks eating a breakfast we cooked on a community stove in a community kitchen.
"Yes. The news is crap. 99.5% of all the people I've met are friendly and want to help no matter where I am. Politics are screwing the world up, but people are helpful and caring all over the world."
Wow! Is that good to hear. Since I live on a diet of CNN and a picture of disaster and mayhem everywhere, this is such a refreshing thought. I remain incredulous but more hopeful.
We talk about South America and he tells us stories of the people and the hospitality he has been show throughout Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Chile. He says he didn't get into Columbia since the border was closed when he was there.
Outside I run ito another traveler that's riding his bicycle from the Artic Circle to Terra del Fuego (pls excuse spelling...). He reinforces the stories I've just heard. Great experiences in Mexico and further south in prior trips to that area.
We are seeing so much and there is so little time to write about it. But this was a must tell side of our trip.

Quick hello from Fairbanks!

Wow - time really flies when you are having too much fun! We are having some trouble accessing the website to upload pictures at the Fairbanks library (a ton of security on these machines), so not only do I have to load pictures one at a time, but we also have time constraints. So, I’ll do what I can. Hope everyone can enjoy the pictures without labels for the time being! I have six rolls of film, but I will have to load most of them later.
As the others are probably describing in their blog entries right now (we are all super focused, hacking away at the keyboards, trying to get as much info on-line as possible! And I need to go check my bank account…), we had an amazing experience in Denali Park. I’ll leave it at that for now – hopefully the others were able to add more description. More next time!

Alaska road crew girls are hot

We came into Alaska with stormy weather and 2 flat tires. Luckily, some guys from Junea helped us patch up the tires and the weather improved as we went on. The border crossing was pretty easy, mostly because the customs official didn't want to stand out in the cold rain with us. Believe it or not, we encountered the worst roads yet when we came into Alaska; hence the flat tires and the cute road crew girls. I don't understand how it works, but I am surprised again and again at the girls that are standing out in the middle of nowhere holding a stop sign. Our first night in Alaska, we stayed in a cool little cabin in Glen Allenn where John, Monique, and I slept in the loft. The next day we set out for Kelly's place in Palmer and took plenty of pics of the mountains, bikes, rainbows, and glaciers on the way.

John Collier is...Way 2 Tired (in Movie Preview voice)

With absolutley no pure darkness, sleep becomes somewhat of an afterthought up here. But we have been having the time of our lives. I feel privileged to have met so many wonderful alaskans and an indianaian. People talk about southern hospitality well they need to take a trip up north to see what life really should be like. The longer I stay here the harder it is becoming to leave. O and another thing, don't be bashful or shy please feel free to leave us your comments good or bad(we make sre they are appropriate before they go up but we have a lax control board so it will be all good) Well we are heading for Denali in the morning or rather in just a few hours now it is only a handful of minutes til 3 and we are still up. suprise suprise. But something that might keep you occupied while we camp out at Wonderlake for the next few days are the 269 pics I just loaded up to the website John's Photos to July 3rd. Hopefully that link will work but if not go to the Wetumpka Iron Works link on the right side just under our main photo. I would like to give some detail but time says no at the moment so for now we shall let the pics do the talking. And I must say they do a damn good job. Peace for now.

Updates from Kelly's house in Palmer, Alaska

Ok, it’s time for a recap. Currently we are in Palmer, Alaska, chillin’ at Kelly Iagulli’s house. Kelly is a childhood friend of Matt’s, whom he was “real tight” with at the tender age of eight or so…while their families were stationed in Germany! So, the two had not seen each other in quite a few years. Kelly has more or less left us her house, which she shares with her roommate Jacob. Both are constantly on the go – be it fishing trips, hiking, boating, rugby, ultimate Frisbee or golfing… The only constant inhabitant seems to be “Killer,” a very cute, six-month old kitten, whose name might be a little misleading… After some reluctance he has apparently given into his fate and accepted us as his new roomies.
We’ve been here since Wednesday, June 28 and will be moving on to Denali Park tomorrow, July 5th. Since we got here much earlier than expected, we’ve had the chance to “hang out,” i.e. watch some more World cup soccer and Wimbledon tennis (Agassi played his last match this year! Argh – my generation is retiring already!!!), wash clothes, change oil, check and fix the bikes where needed, prepare for the Denali excursion, cook some meals on a regular stove, meet Kelly’s family, take a day-trip to Seward on an overcast day with the Iagulli sisters and their respective friends, get my back cut open (yeah, I’ll spare all with the details – suffice it to say, it’s healing well and Jim is a terrific nurse) and just watch some our favorite shows… I have not even had time to crack the novel bought in anticipation of some downtime…
So, before we move to the next stage, I figured we needed some updates. I’ve had some more pictures developed, which are posted on the website. Here are just some samples:


Dawson Creek is where the Alaska Highway officially begins, Mile Zero. Jim mentioned it a few entries back. I figured the coolest thing about the town were the murals. Here is where we found out-of-this-world beer prices. A six-pack was about $17, which explained the high prices we kept encountering in restaurants. At dinner that night we had met one of the men working on building new oil rigs – an exploding business these days... The workers put in incredible hours and make extraordinary money, which seems to be another explanation for the high prices we encountered everywhere. The towns are few and far between from here on and the landscape is very gentle after those amazing Rockies. Since it is a mixed forest, the green tones vary in shade across the “waves” of the “forest ocean” which spans as far as the eye can see. As a European I always thought of the US as the land of large, open spaces with few inhabitants, but this part of Canada is even more untouched by man than anything I’ve seen in the US so far. Of course, I hadn’t seen Alaska yet…


Here’s one of the spectacular views we had following the “forest ocean.” This trip gives me such a different perspective on landscapes – now I seem to see each view in context with other places I’ve just been through. Sometimes we seem to suffer from sensory overload and can hardly remember all the beautiful landscapes we’ve seen during the day. It seems that you need the flat and less spectacular areas to appreciate all the contrasts.

Fort Nelson was one of our less exciting camping experiences. Mosquitoes were trying to eat us alive and the site was taken over by RVs mainly, who could probably handle the deep gravel leading to the sites a little better than we did on our bikes. However, it was nice to run into a couple of bikers, Tom and Sue, we had met a few times on the road – coming from Ohio they are headed towards Denali as well, so we may see them again soon!


Ok, I admit, there are plenty of pictures of Muncho lake on the blog already, but I just had to add an illustration of how we sometimes get our fresh water supply and, of course, my frequent silly grins of joy…




Watson Lake was another one of those odd towns that seem to be built just to have a stop for travelers and truckers on the way to Alaska. Hotels with restaurants attached and camp sites for the less reluctant seem to dominate the scene. However, the town tries to distinguish itself with this “sign forest” next to the visitor’s center, where I learned that the many signs from German towns and streets were due to the presumably German trait to plan trips so well that they know well in advance to steal a sign somewhere before they leave and bring it along for this part of their trip. With a bit of sarcasm the lady at the visitor’s center explained that she sometimes asks the German tourists for help when she doesn’t know what’s going on in town…


Oh, yeah, and here we are at our favorite pastime – playing Canasta after dinner with a pitcher of beer… Ahh, life is good… :-)

530 miles for dinner with a view

Sunday July 2nd, we split up into two groups. Matt and John went for an overnight backpack trip into the mountains and Jim and Monique rode 265 miles south to Homer on the Kenai Bay.

Sunday we got on the road with plenty of sunshine and cool temps. Great riding weather. From Palmer there is only one highway south and that leads through Anchorage about 40 miles away. Once south of Anchorage the road returns to two-lane, winding around Cook’s Inlet with the mountains close on one side and the sea on the other.

Traffic is heavy since this is a holiday weekend and everybody who owns a set of wheels is on the road to somewhere else. Passing RVs and towed boats keeps us awake. It’s kind of a game since we pull off for breaks about every 50-60 miles. Then we get back on the ribbon of asphalt to pass some of the same people again and again. There is something exhilarating about accelerating around a huge RV from 50 to 85 (mph) and then slowly rolling back down to 70. We keep this game up most of the day and get to Homer about 17:15 local.


Here we are at a pull off overlooking a fast flowing river (creek?) somewhere in the middle of the peninsular crossing.

Coming into Homer, we watch a bald eagle flying over the sea off to our right. We stop at an overlook and I call the Crane’s Crest B&B where we have a reservation for tonight, I get directions which include 2.2 miles up a dirt road on the crest of a ridge. After a wrong turn and a second call, we arrive at Kate’s place overlooking the bay. WOW!
Here’s a view out of our bedroom window.

Kate is an avid bird watcher and wildlife fan. She shows us pictures of the Sandhill cranes that live here and then the gangly moose calves that arrive each year. As we talk with Kate it is clear that she had a vision of what she wanted for years and that she worked steadily towards its fulfillment. The land, the house, the metal igloo all have a story. All tell of her determination to be in this place.

We ask Kate about dinner and she recommends the Land’s End restaurant at the very tip of the spit of land sticking out into the bay and insists that we take two pair of her binoculars to scan the sea for wildlife. As we ride out the narrow finger of sand and rock, the sheer number of campers and RVs on either side of the road is amazing. There are wood fires burning and the smell mixed with the faint smell of the sea is perfume despite the chaos of the many people on the beaches on either side of the road. At the very end there is the Land’s End Restaurant with a long row of condos off to the right. We find a parking spot for the bikes in the gravel and decide to take our gear in rather than leave it on the bikes. This spit of land seems to have attracted a very wide assortment of humanity and all of them are intent on fishing or wandering around gawking at the mountains. I have the sense that I’m seeing a significant summer ritual of some kind her in the “Land of the Midnight Sun”.

The “Welcome to Homer” sign at the city limits includes the tag line “the halibut fishing capital of the world” and Monique goes for the Halibut on the menu. As she said, “it’s a long way to go for dinner“.

Sunshine on my shoulder

I woke at 6am with sunlight streaming in between the blinds of the little log cabin. Glorious sunshine. Makes the world bright and shiny and puts a grin on my face. With hundreds of miles of rough road and construction coupled with lots of wind and rain, sunshine just wipes it out.
The little cabin has a loft and the other three slept in the loft while I opened the two little windows and put the cotton mattress on the floor and crawled into my sleeping bag. Great night sleep and a gorgeous morning. Off to the showers with plenty of hot water and then to the restaurant next door. I have to wait for them to open the door…
Around 10:30 we’re all up, clean, dressed and fed. Most of us are packed and ready to leave. Here’s Matt putting on the finishing touches for departure.
We’ve only got about 150 mile today to get to Palmer to visit Matt’s childhood friend Kelly so we’re in no hurry. Except me; I’m almost always in a hurry. Matt’s more into the Zen of the experience so we have to negotiate to keep balance. I’m workin’ on chillin’-
The snow capped mountains are wrapped in glaciers and fast flowing rivers. The water is a frothy silvery brown and the snow melt gorges the wide shallow stream beds movng tons of rock and silt as we glance at them in passing. So much power in the cycles of the seasons that it almost looks as if the earth is angry right here. But it’s hard to be angry in this great sunshine. What a beautiful day!
Along the winding back road that is a major highway, we come across a small espresso shop with flags and whirly-gigs. There is a lot of charm about this place with its art work and great coffee. We like it so much that we all buy a logo tee-shirt and take pictures. We stop several more times for photos, looking for that poster shot we’ll treasure in the years ahead. Here is one of the poster candidates:

Alaska... only 20 miles

Today we made it to Beaver Creek, Yukon after 300 miles of the worst road conditions we have seen yet. But things are looking up we have a room here and we are only 20 miles from Alaska. And we heard from the girl at the desk that the road is suppose to be loads better as we head west on into AK. We left Whitehorse this morning a little later than usual but we stayed at one of the most spectacular camp grounds yet. We had a creek that was babbling (well actually roaring) all night and all the firewood we ever wanted. And the mosquitos were suprisingly not that bad. As we were leaving Whitehorse we were riding through a small canyon when out of no where a bald eagle swooped out of the trees and landed on the top of the canyon wall. That has been about the only wildlife we have seen in a few days. My thoughts are they are laid up due to the overcast and slightly rainy weather. But just after a great smoked salmon bagel and steaming soup in Haines Junction, we hit the construction. Our first stretch of offroading was 20k and of course, it had just finished raining so things were a little dirty after that but worst than the gravel and mud was the wavy roads. This is caused by the ground constantly freezing and thawing. This created some very difficult challenges for the bike as well as for us. While we were on another long stretch of gravel we began to notice that the mountain peaks around us seemed unusually white. It was actually snowing on the mountains and raining down in the valley on us. Good thing we made it this far because that kind of riding will really wear one out physically and mentally. Now for a little R and R and World Cup action. Peace for now.

Canada... We Are Expensive

From Dawson Creek, we have been making a steady pace and the road is suprisingly in great condition. Great being a relative word comparing the condition of the road as I remember it from 5 years ago. Anyway, the first day out was some pretty boring riding mainly flat, long roads with a few high speed sweepers every once in a while but you couldn't go any faster that 75 or so because of the road conditions. So, we putzed along stopping for lunch at BuckingHorse, where we had some good food and met up with a couple from Cleveland whom we have been seeing regularly ever since. We made it 300 miles to Ft. Nelson with ease and some wildlife but nothing really spectacular yet. We camped on the outside of town with about 90 RV's (it felt like) and the mosquitos were in full on attack mode. And the stagnant body of water only feet from our tents did not help the matter. The next morning we broke camp early, it is super easy up here since the sun gets you up at 5 anyway and doesn't set til about 1130 or so. We set our sights on Watson Lake and head out. We stopped for lunch at a gorgeous lake fed by glaciers and snow called Muncho Lake. By now my canadian funds I had withdrawn days earlier are about to run dry. At Muncho Lake, Gas was 1.39/ L and there are 4 Liters in a gallon. You do the math and the exchange rate is pretty darn close to even with the US dollar. We press on to find some Big Horn sheep waiting around a bend. They stand their ground for a minute then all scatter like some frady cats. Soon after this we come to Laird Hot Springs and O what a stop. Probably my most favorite stop on the trip thus far, we swam in hot springs that mix with a cold spring but the water was as hot or hotter in pockets as a really hot bath. Matthew and I conquered the springs by placing a rock on the far side of the springs right where the hot water feeds in. I felt like we were going to be hard boiled when we came out of there. Luckily it was all good and we had a great time relaxing in the springs. After jumping on the motorsicle's we all had trouble staying awake but the patches of gravel help keep us on our toes. We pulled into Watson Lake at 7 or so and got a room. So here we are now and we made it to the Yukon. More travels still to come. Peace.

In the middle of somewhere

We've been having really great weather the last few days and more beautiful scenery. Right now we're in Watson Lake, Yukon; just over the border of British Columbia. It is a convenient town for a layover as the hotel is right across the street from this library and the laundromat a little further down. There are good-sized towns every 300 miles on the Alaska Highway and this is our 2nd stop, the first being Ft. Nelson. There seem to be stops(a gas-station) about every 40 miles, but you can never count on them being open or having gas. In between those 40 miles is absolutely nothing but rough road. Yesterday was particularlary exciting. We started out from a crumby commercial campground, rode through rolling forested mountains, got back into the canadian rockies, gave some New Zealand bikers some assistance, saw amazing mountain lakes, ate a picnic lunch at Muncho Lake, relaxed at Laird natural hot springs, saw several buffalo grazing, some rams, and a few female moose, and met an Iron Butt rider from Vancouver. John and I got to watch some World Cup today so we're satisfied.

*I've gone back to my previous post and added pictures

More pictures on the website!

I just uploaded three films worth of pictures to our website in a painfully slow process, so please do check them out! Just click on: Cola Crew SharePoint Site and choose the link for "Monique's first round of pics" under "Pictures" on the left.
Everyone is taking a lot of pictures, so this is just a "small" selection. I am having them developed on CD as well as one hard copy set. This way I can write the captions on the back of the hard copies and send them home (we just sent a box of stuff back to Kansas - the roads are pretty rough up here in British Columbia and the Yukon Territory - really wearing out our tires, so I am trying to "slim down" as much as possible). I imagine it might become difficult to remember where some pictures were taken after a two-month trip, so this way I hope to stay on top of it....
Thanks to Lindsey's suggestion I am also using a small, handheld microcassette audio recorder to "journal" what's happening on the trip. I highly recommend it! We have already gone back and listened to some recordings and had a blast. I even taped the sound of the train pounding through next to our campsite at Whitefish every half hour (or so it seemed...). Sometimes I just ask the guys what they thought was the most spectacular thing they saw this day or how they would describe something they saw (not very successful when it came to describing the Canadian Rockies - "you just have to see them for yourself!")

Into the Yukon!

We rolled into Watson Lake, Yukon Territory around 19:00 (local). This is the layover point at the end of leg three. We'll do laundry, check bikes, and update this blog.
Wanting a good shower, we stopped at the most appealing of the 4 or 5 motels in this small town - only to learn that the town was booked up. Fortunately we ran into Bill Watt in the parking lot. On his way to dinner, Bill checked and found a room in the motel next door. We gratefully grabbed it.
Bill is an Iron Butt Association member from the Vancouver area. Over dinner he supplied us with details of his travels on the roads in this area. He also made some good recommendations for our west coast route when we return south. Moat of all he intrigued Matt and John with detail of the IBA challenge that includes collecting stamps from national and provincial parks. I think they are hooked!.

Earlier in the day we had stopped at Laird Hot Springs where three of the crew took a dip in the hot springs pool. Everyone was VERY MELLOW for several hours afterwards.
The natural beauty of the mountains is almost overwhelming because it is a constant presence. Nevertheless, a picnic by Muncho lake was a stunner. Towering mountains, large turquoise lake, sunshine and cool breezes made ham sandwich, apple and bottle of water an emperor's feast.

Here is a picture of Monique taking pictures of the Muncho Lake area from the road. I think all of the picnic pictures are in John's camera and it's his and Matt's turn to do laundry. Hope they add some photos too.
- Lunch came from the Northen Rocky Mountain Lodge where float planes and fishing guides are bread and butter.

The Beginning in the middle of our trip

We strolled into Dawson Creek, British Columbia sometime today around early afternoon. And here is where the Alaskan Highway begins. O I can't wait, it was only 5 years ago that we were here in this same town after 3 or 4 days of rain and now the sun is out and we can enjoy it. Now for an update on the trip since Whitefish. We left white fish on a fairly cold morning just to hit rain again only miles from the statepark. Sometime around the late morning hours, we rolled up to the canadian border and were all let through into canada without showing any paperwork what so ever. Apparently, they knew everything about us by our license plate before we even spoke a word to one anonther. Ah, who cares we are in beautiful British Columbia now. From the moment we crossed the border everything seemed to somehow brighten up or get more beautiful if you will. I am not sure if it was the presentation of the scenary or what but I noticed a big difference from the lower forty-eight. We continued on hitting patches of rain and finally stopped for some excellent bacon and swiss burgers in Scookumchuck. After we let yet another shower pass us we continued on to Radium Springs which was the town right outside of Kootenay NP. We got into kootenay and O how fun the roads were super twistys and we were riding inbetween mountains only feet from the edge of the road. Then we came to the Visitors Lodge to get a Pin and relieve ourselves. Pretty Ridilicious, we found out that only weeks after we had come through kootenay 5 years ago the park was set a blaze by lighting and burned a major part of the park. Turns out the park was closed for the rest of the summer and the remains were devestating to say the least. Now it was off to Banff NP and then Lake Louise. We stayed in Lake Louise with a sweet electric Bear fence so we all slept a little easier. The next morning was o so ridilicious, we started out riding through the rest of Banff and witnessed many jagged mountains and frozen glaciers and then made it to Jasper NP. All three of these parks are connected so we had about 250 or 300 miles of undescrible scenary. After Jasper we booked it to Grande Cache where it was the only town for 120 miles in any direction. Talk about isolated. After some world cup action this morning we left Grande Cache and headed for Grande Prairie. Jim mentioned "grande prairie" is a paradox in itself. haha. We had lunch at Burger King our way. Then we made it to Dawson Creek and here we are now at mile marker "0" for the alaskan highway. We are getting in the sticks now so posts are going to be far and few between, but we will try to update when possible. Peace for now.

Canadian Rockies are the bomb, y'all!

Ok - I thought the Alps were amazing - then I thought nothing could top the U.S. Rocky Mountains and Glacier Park, Montana - but now... now I am convinced that the Canadian Rockies are the most beautiful set of mountains I have ever seen! It's like "mountain heaven." Dramatic, magnificent, majestic, oh - what other words could I put here?!? Just imagine rows of mountains to your left and right, most of them snow-capped with glacier plates here and there - the streams are aquamarine, turquoise, and light green. After every turn we made another set of gigantic mountains appeared in front of us. I wanted to take more pictures, but in the end, you really can't capture these things on film. As the guys said, "you just have to come see it for yourself!"

It's definitely a different kind of summer here. I am now wearing my turtle-neck underneath the riding jacket most of the time and sometimes the rain suit on top to cut the wind. The rain keeps threatening more than it actually pours, but unfortunately it still does rain more than we would like. Packing up wet tents just ain't that great. I keep looking for sunny patches in the sky while riding - I guess that's one way to keep entertained, besides the slew of odd songs that have been coming to mind, which I haven't heard in ages. My mind has been wandering all over my memory landscape while taking in the beautiful nature around me. I’m having a blast and can definitely see how a trip like this will “replenish my batteries.”
As a side note: When we got to Whitefish, Montana it dawned on me that I'm here for the long haul - no turning back - "Alaska, or bust!" (the guys had to explain that phrase to me...) When I told John, he suggested that I could always take a plane back. I DON’T THINK SO! J The best part is probably that despite some frustrations and difficult moments, our spirits are high and we are continuously joking around. Can’t wait to hit the Alaska Highway tomorrow!Cheers for now.

And the road goes on forever

First, the Canadian Rockies are absolutely astounding! I thought I remembered what they were like from the last Alaska trip, but after driving through them a 2nd time, it became clear that they are a unique experience, tough to capture with words, pictures, or memories. We have been talking about them the last couple days, trying to figure out was makes them so impressive. Some ingredients might be the way the road was built through the valley of 2 mountain ranges; the way the sunlight hit the mountains and cast deep shadows; and probably the sheer uniqueness of the mountains themselves. They are tall and jagged, collect snow, and have water gushing down streams into the valley river. Truly a remarkable experience. The particular section I am talking about is Highway 93 between Banf and Jasper.

Just outside of Jasper National Park, we spotted some Elk and I managed to snap a few shots.

This is our 3rd day in Canada and I'm really enjoying it. We're updating from the Dawson Creek public library. Canada seems to be a hybrid of American and European. Also, I've been thinking about how much land and people are here. Most maps we see in America have us in the middle and Canada seems stuck up on the edge of the world. This country is huge and beautiful. However, I would also need to see it in the winter to have a accurate perspective. It's so wild for me to imagine people living up here year-round. Another thing that has struck me is how many international businesses have set up here. Any of the larger towns are just like any town in America with the new strip malls, hotels, and restaurants with all the familiar brand-names. This is particularly suprising to me because it wasn't like this 5 years ago. Globalization has kicked homogonization up a notch.

My bike fell over last night in the hotel parking lot. The asphalt was so soft that the center stand sunk down into it. That was a bummer because it broke my right footpeg in half, broke my throttlelock, bent my brake lever, and cracked my mirror casing. Oh well, on a trip like this you'll have some extra wear on your vehicle. At least, nothing serious was damaged. I plan on trying to get new parts in Anchorage.

We're starting on the Alaska Highway tomorrow and things are going great. The weather has been good to us the last couple days and we are right on schedule for miles and time. This section of Canada has some seriously desolate stretches, so we'll keep up with gas stations on our guide to make sure we don't run out. There are lots of forests and rolling mountains. We hope to check out a hot springs too. On to Alaska!

Lake Louise, Banff National Park, Alberta

Dawson Creek at last!

We made Dawson Creek today. This is the beginning of the famous Alaska Highway. We are all excited to be here.
There is much to share but this entry from my Palm TX is a slow process.
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Got to the local library and edited this post to add some material. They don't have a USB port available to upload pics but it's great to be able to use a keyboard for this much entry.
BTW, the little Palm TX is great! Since it has Bluetooth and wireless capabilities, it has been very useful to all of us.
We continue to run in and out of the rain but today saw much more sun than in previous days. (I'm beginning to grow moss.) The weather is cool enough that I'm wearing a sweater under my old Aerostitch jacket and swap to the lighter gloves only after lunch. Altogether a beautiful day. We are out of the high mountians and have entered the foothills and rolling plains area. The wind here reminds one of crossing Kansas but a lot less fierce at the moment.
We are making steady progress but not at the rate I had planned. We're all having a good time and we have enough time to get to Denali in time to meet Sigi and Heidi so all is well.
Since our last posts we have traveled from Whitefish, MT across the Canadian border and into Canada's wonderful parks in the Rockies.
The Canadian Rockies are overpowering in their starke beauty. When Monique asked at lunch yesterday, how we would describe them to someone who was not going to see them, we were all tongue tied.
We spent the night of the 19th at the campground in Lake Louise and awoke to the rain. A far cry from the spectacular Chateau on the lake. But we had a good cup of coffee to go with a big hot breakfast and set out for Grand Cache north of the parks in Alberta on highway 40. Matt figured out that we could save 185 miles useing this route rather than through Prince George. THANKS MATT!
Enjoyed a night in a Best Western located in Grand Cache and had some terrific pizza, salad, and beer at Vegas Pizza. Good stuff! We failed to get our thumbs up photo there but believe me, it was good!
Tonight we're in a local motel so we can do the tourist thing here in Dawson Creek. We're walking around and gawking at the historical landmarks.

My Two Cents

Its rained and hailed and blown winds so hard that I think I'm going to be blown off the road - but it's also been beautiful blue skies, cool weather and lots of great folks along the road. We are having a great time enough of the time to off set the bad weather. Take a look at Monique just to see what I mean!

After replacement of the fan thermostat switch in the VFR, we're hoping we've had our stint with repairs for a while. There a just not enough opportunities to keep this account completely uptodate but we'll do the best that we can while doing the other things we're trying to get done. We have just finished the laundry and are in good spirits knowing we have some clean clothes for the next week.

Yes, we are still alive and kicking

Ah yes, it has been a while since I have had a keyboard under my fingers and it is about time. Computers and the internet are not the easiest thing to come across while traveling through the Rockies. But luckily the library in Whitefish, MT is cool enough to have some internet access. Things have been a bit cooler or rather cold since the Oh so HOT post. The day we left Garden City, KS we hit the Rockies and boy was that a relief. You could see the mountains just teasing you from about 80 miles away. But we stayed a a wilderness campground and met a local with some great stories. Then it was off to Rifle Gap, CO where the moon was so bright it was hard to get some shut eye. After that we went on to Rock Springs, WY where we had some sushi and thai food. Then the next day we made it to yuppie paradise Jackson Hole, WY. We camped under the Grand Teton mountains that were spectacular. The next morning after a night of wind and rain, we woke up to partly cloudy skies. After only 5 or 6 miles down the road we ran into a hail storm. Chunks of ice were pelting us and the size of the ice ranged from big marble to pea size. After only 36 miles we stumbled into a canceled room at Signal Mt. Lodge. Here we encountered our first Bear. It was sweet cuz I was on the second level of the rooms and the bear was literally right below me. The bear was running at me so that is why he is a wee bit blurry. After the the rain and hail we had a fantastic ride through Yellowstone NP and eventually made it to the Lewis and Clark SP in MT. This campground was flat with mountains on either side and a river running through it but the wind just seemed to hoan in on our tents. We had at least 30 mile and hour winds with gusts up to 40 or so. The next morning was blue and gorgeous, so it made up for it. But now we are in Whitefish, MT and right now uncle Jim and Monique are probably wondering where we are because we left them with all our dirty clothes while we get to ride around town and update this thing. Sounded like a fair trade to me. Time to get back and help them with folding them clothes. Tomorrow we ride through Glacier NP and then on into EH! country a.k.a. Canada. And here is Matt having some fun in Whitefish and it is the rainy season for two more weeks, we just found out from the locals. Peace for now.

What a trip

Well, I'm finally at a computer after fighting the kids off here at the Whitefish, MT public library. It's been on and off rain for the last 20 hours which has been annoying. Jim and Monique are at the laundromat and we'll swap with them when we're done. We have a tremendous campsite at the Whitefish Lake State Park that is homebase. Started the day out right with a breakfast of eggs, potatoes o'brian, sausage, and yogurt that we cooked at a pavilion right next to the water. We're going to spend the next day in Whitefish as well to take care of other tasks, tour Glacier National Park, and prepare for the haul through Canada. I hope the rain gives us a break. We've been dealing with rain and hail (yes, hail; not fun on the knuckles) for the last week and it would be nice to have some steady sun.

It's so great to be on this trip. Even though I've been on long motorcycle trips before, my memory is not able to capture the exhilaration of being in the middle of the trip. This coutry is so huge and diverse it astounds. The random people you meet are always an adventure. Nature's untouched beauty is incomprable. If I didn't know better, I would often think I was on another planet. Till next time...

Camp at Hayden Creek, Colorado

Picture from the road in Wyoming

Grand Tetons from our cabin porch

Rain in Yellowstone
Sun in Yellowstone

Garden City, KS

Somehow I'm kinda glad we're still in Kansas - and that I finally got to see the West part of the State everybody seems to dismiss, even Kansans. I really liked it - as Matt said, "a lot of Americana." One town about fifty miles from Lawrence had what I would call "imitation cobble stone" roads in the center. It actually was red brick - really cool. And the streets that went off the main road all seemed to go out to the fields or into the sky. I felt like I was in a Tom Sawyer/Huckleberry Finn story. Another thing that caught my attention was a hut in the field, near the road, that could have been an outhouse. It was painted with the American flag, but artistic. Kind of like folk art, but so cool in the middle of 'nowhere.'
The countryside got extremely flat after we were halfway through Kansas - unbelievable. I felt like I was in Northern Germany. By the way, I'm very proud to say that I managed to stay on the bike (with enthusiasm) for 390 miles on my first day!!!! My butt was sore as could be, but I enjoyed it all the way! Oh, did anyone mention the incredible winds we were dealing with?!? Wow - we were leaning into the wind all day - with no mountains or trees for protection - it was merciless. Add some trucks passing and you can imagine how the bike starts to wobble... Ah, it's all good ;-) Can't wait to move on!

Avoid Mistakes...

The "Oh so HOT" post was from John...Just to keep me out of trouble, I need to make that clear. I logged in and he wrote. Oooops! for me.

He was right tho' - 104 about 2:36 according to the bank sign.
Jim

OH so HOT!!

Yesterday, the day began in Lawrence, KS. We got a later start than expected because someone decided to help themselves to a very important part on Monique's luggage rack. After some genius engineering, we were off to see central and western Kansas. The moment we hit the road, we had the idea we were in for a hot one. And I mean hot. The first part of the day we couldn't even find a cloud to ride behind or anything else to give us some relief from the blazing sun. But while crossing through one small town in central Kansas we stumbled upon a bank that informed us the temperature was 104. Shortly after this rude relization, we found out that a storm was a brewing about an hour west of us. But hey we figured some cold water could only feel good at this point. We made it to Scott City and the storm was only miles from us. There were huge lightning bolts and the rain look torential. So we decided to hear south about 30 miles or so to where the sun was shining. At around 7 or so, we pulled into Garden City, KS after narrowly missing a deer 5 miles outside of town. This crazy bugger just appeared out of thin air it seemed. But fortunaltly we all managed to dodge the deer and make it to the AmericInn. After some sweet talking and a military ID, we ended up with a great rate for 2 queen beds and we even had a 10% discount at the applebee's next door. Shortly after we checked in, applebee's was calling our name so we headed over there. And much to Matt's and my amazement, we stumbled into a plethora of young females. Needless to say our neck's were sore leaving applebee's after all the staring and the food was excellent as well. Ah now it was time for some R & R and after some world cup highlights from day 1, we laid our heads down on the comfy and very firm mattresses. I say firm because the crazy bed almost threw me off when I tried to jump on it with my back down and it sent me flying between the wall and the bed. YES, tomorrow we hit the ROCKIES!

Catchup

On Day 1, Matt, John and I met up in Beaverton, AL about 150 miles nw of where I started at 5:50am. We left Beaverton about 1300 with the idea of getting across the Mississippi River at Greenwood and in into the edge of Arkansas. The weather was warm and sunny making the ride a pleasure. We crossed the river and rode around Lake Village for groceries then on to the state park and set up camp there. As you can see, the sunset over the bean field was a nice finish to the day.

Day 2 we broke camp and got on the road by 8:30am after a big breakfast and clean up. Around 9:30 the threatening clouds shared their bounty of life sustaining moisture with us. They just kept on giving all the way across Arkansas. One of the roads we were looking forward to on this leg was AK 27 running north through the Ozarks. When we turned onto 27, the fog was setting in with the rain and the logging trucks were bunched up ahead of us. It was slow and wet going. At 18:15 we found the Oxford Inn in Ozark, AK. A fine place for a great rate. We went for Mexican food and then crashed. See John sleeping.

Wow, what a geeky crowd... posting from a pda and cell phone!
Since I am still at home, I guess I need to keep the details coming.
The three musketeers (or as I also like to call them, "my entourage") called me from the Ozarks last night. Apparently, Jim 'wimped out' (his words) and opted to get a hotel room after eight hours of riding in the rain... Go figure.
I was in the middle of finally packing my bags (had to get the keys to the bags from the guy who is putting on new tires on my bike, a throttle lock, and checking it out for the trip), Jim called and asked if I would mind if we didn't leave on Thursday, the morning after they arrive in Lawrence. Would I mind?!?!
Ha! I am so relieved! As usual, I tried to cram everything I could possibly think of into the last two days... At some point I had decided to have a little "good-bye" party at my house last night - not the most brilliant of all my ideas ;-) It was great anyway. Everybody brought their favorite drink and I had snacks gallore for those alcohol-induced cravings. Even Luba and Sasha made it to my place!!! I took a photo, but it will have to be posted later - obviously, I'm not the one with the real toys in the family, so we'll have to wait for the film to be developed. :-(

Ok, so today, I am picking up the bike from the shop, taking it to Highway Patrol for a mandatory inspection (check of vin number), then to the Courthouse to get it registered in Kansas ( it's still registered in Alabama). Then I'll notify the insurance, wash the bike and use Jim's sound advice of applying Pledge (yes - that Pledge!) on the plastic parts to make it easier to get the bugs off next time! Of course, there are a million other little things to do, but I won't bore anyone with that. Suffice it to say that I finished writing my paper (long version) and am now editing it down for conference paper length. YEAH! Schoolwise I could probably spend another week "getting things ready" for a two-month absence, but that's just normal... It wouldn't be school, if you ever felt you were done, right?!
Ok, I'm signing off. More updates to follow soon, especially with the guys here for an extra day.
Now I am really, really looking forward to starting the trip - with a little extra time on my hands to get ready!

Picture added: The picture was taken later in the evening, so a few folks are missing. Sorry! But we now have evidence that Luba and Sasha have made it to my place! (According to Luba it's farther to my place from hers than the other way around...)

Wet and Wild...

First connection from pda and cell phone. Rain all day through Arkansas. More tomorrow.

Hard to Sleep Last Night!

At last the trip begins. Kept waking during the night. All is packed and checked and the bike is headed out the garage. Today we travel northwest accross Alabama and then west accross Missippi. If we make good time, we should be accross the Missippi River before making camp tonight.

Firm is Better

Concluded after an hour on the softer stock seat that the firmer, leather covered Corbin is still the best for the road. To develop "monkey butt" in only an hour is a bad sign. I'll put the Corbin back on this afternoon.

Found some zippered cordura nylon bags in the crafts section of Wally world. They will be perfect for organizing documents, including maps, and electronic gadget chargers and cords. They will also work for a tool kit. They come in colors so maybe I can remember which one is which.

Putting my tent back up after treating the fly with Scotchguard, I noticed the anodized and bungied tent poles were hard to separate. I put spray Pledge on a cloth and wiped them down with special attention to the ends that fit into the sockets of the next section. Worked like a charm!

Staying Dry

I installed the new dry cell battery. After nearly disassembling the wole rear end of the bike, I replaced the taillight bulb and put it all back together. Part of the removal is the ABS control box with its heavy cabling.

On my list today is to spray additional waterproofing on my tent fly and my Aerostitch jacket. The jacket is old and a faded red, but I take pride in its age and the miles its traveled. There's something about aging that makes me value the things that last.

Have I thought of everything?

Finished the doors to the equipment shed last night. (See photo attached) All they need now is paint. I'll get that done this weekend.

Today I go to the dentist for annual visit. I will also install my new dry cell battery in my bike and decide about putting the Corbin seat back on or staying with te stock, and softer, seat. A firmer seat is usually better for longer travel. Some would say it is always better.

Yes, one more week - the drum roll begins...

Ha! Packing! A week in advance! Wow... I'm in deep admiration ;-)
Well, I'm packing in my head and throwing things on the living room floor that need to go on the trip as I try to get my paper written for the Canada conference in August... Just made an apointment to get new tires, a throttle lock, and a total bike inspection on Thursday.
Somehow my reputation of being well organized seems to pale in comparison with Jim right now, but I'll be ready - don't you worry! Can't wait to see the trio show up on my doorstep here in Lawrence next Wednesday!

Less Than a Week to Go!

I'm getting excited as the preparations get more serious. I've gone through all of my gear to be sure that I've got all that I must have but nothing that I don't need. The weight of the gear will impact the wear of the tires, particularly through the mountains so I'm trying to reduce weight everywhere. The glaring exception to this is my camp cot. Two months on the road requires good sleep and the cot will insure that I get good sleep.

I've reviewed all of the tools in the crew kit evaluating each item, I've pared down my part of the camp kitchen, been over each piece of electric gear and it's support (camera, phone, radio with cords and chargers) and have started through each article of clothing. I've trial packed to see the location of each piece of gear. I'm hoping this time my bike looks less like a moving van than some trips in the past.

I've also been catching up on all the things I need to get done around the house before I leave. There seems to be a never ending list that grows daily as the trip gets nearer.

Since we are not taking a laptop, we are counting on posting from public facilities as we travel. We'll see how that goes.