Day 15 - June 29th
Fact: Chuck can add to the lost list.... he can't find the bag of vitamins. Fact: This is not a small bag; they fill a medium size Zip-lok bag. Il'll bet they are right next to the curling iron.

Chuck rifling though the abyss of the rear trunk

Chuck can say the darndest things.....We stopped at the Fred Meyer gas station yesterday to finally get Chuck a full tank of gas. After I filled my bike, I made a circle around the little attendant booth to see there was no restroom. I could see Chuck was very anxious to find a restroom too and I told him of my discovery.
After a slight pause to evaluate the situation he said, "would you guys happen to have a clothes pin?"

It would have been a sweet ride!

Today we had to take the bad for some good. When we awoke we still had hopes we would be able to go up to fly arounf Mt McKinley and land on one of it's glaciers. It was still gray outside as we went across the street to eat breakfast. We called ahead and K2 Aviation said come over to check in. When we arrived they said the mountain was clear but clouds around it made it unapproachable. They won't take chances and fly through clouds in a mountainous terrain. They said if we could hang around town and there was a chance that later in the day the weather could clear. Sadly, we put our gear back on and headed down through Anchorage and on to the Kenai Pennisula and Seward. A good point of not flying was that we did not have to get on the scale at K2 as they need to know the weight of their freight. All we have done is eat with our exercise routine of climbing on/off of the bikes!

Kenai Peninsula

Check it out....sunshine!

I did not imagine the penninsula to have the tall mountains, wow! Bodies of water everywhere with snow capped green mountains towing above. What a beautiful ride to Seward. The good was the sunshine we had today about a half hour below Anchorage! We hadn't seen any for four days. We passed the road to the Whittier Tunnel that we will return to on Monday evening. No worries about getting anywhere before dark....
what dark?

We checked in at the amazing Falls Inn, a B&B in Seward and chilled for an hour before walking down to the waterfront for some local seafood. Ray's Restuarant was recommended and he didn't dissapoint .

The Fall's Inn B&B

Tomorrow.... our first day of rest and a Fjords National Park 9 hour boat tour. I think the girls are excited.

More thoughts from Barbara:
Because mosquitos have always enjoyed feasting on my flesh, long before coming to the land where some claim it's the state bird, I researched natural repellants. The internet is full of accolades for vitamin B, suggesting doses three times a day, and claiming any excess will be "naturally eliminated." Two weeks before embarking on this adventure I began saturating my body with the orange tablet, and I have continued to date. My bite count is now into the double digits and my "natural elimination" fluid is a shocking neon orange.

A fellow motorcyclist we met recently was explaining the various remedies he'd tried, and then explained, "There are two sizes of mosquitos here in the Great Northwest; those so small they bite through mosquito nets, and others so large they open motel room doors."

Map By Land or By Sea

Day 14 - June 28

Day 14 - June 28th

Barbara wanted to stay another day!

We didn't want to leave the comfort, the setting, and the hospitality of Sheep Mountain Lodge. We almost had to do a complete repack of all our gear. We brought into our rooms everything that was wet or could get wet overnight. We had things all over the room hanging on every possible hook, hanger, and on the floor in front of the heater. It rained steady all night and we didn't cover the bikes. The thought was why put a cover or a wet and dirty motorcycle?

Chuck getting ready for another hard day of work.

Chuck had rolled into the lodge last night with the fuel light on and said it had been on for quite a while. So, the agenda was to stop at the first gas pump. The host at the lodge said there was gas15 miles down the road. We passed a lodge that said they had gas at 12 miles so we figured there was another......big mistake. At 20 miles we pulled into a turnout to come up with a plan and Chuck's Honda died.

Scott filling his 8 gal tank to go rescue Chuck and Barbara

Fuel transfer in progress

Mission accomplished, ready to roll

Fortunatly I had bought a siphon kit from Aerostich Rider Catalog a week or so before we left. I had hoped we wouldn't have to use it. My BMW's fuel capacity is 8.8 gals but I was getting down low too. Our plan was for Shawn and I to go back 6 miles to see if the Lodge we passed had gas, to fill up, and return to our stranded partners and do a fuel transfer. The plan worked....kind of. The siphon hose worked great and was very easy to do. We got some great laughs out of the morning event. Here is a quote from Chuck as we were refueling his bike, "Drive and repeat as needed." My GPS said 27 miles to next gas so that influenced our decision how much to transfer to Chuck's motorcycle. We rode the 27 miles and the gas station was not closed - it was abandoned, with tarps over the pumps. Can you guess what happened? Yes, Chuck's words came true....he ran out of gas again 11.7 miles short of an open gas station. Yes, "Drive and repeat as needed"!

Repeating as needed

Handy dandy siphon kit

We arrived in Talkeetna an hour before our K2 Flightseeing tour over Denali National Park with a loop around Mt McKinely and a glacier landing. The weather did not cooperate and our tour was canceled. We will try again in the morning.

Talkeetna is a cute and funky little touristy town as we had heard from our friends Henry and Sharon. We had decided to make this place a stop and book the flight tour since it was a short riding day from Sheep Mountain.

Another great day with lots of unexpected fun to make it interesting.
Thanks to my brother Brad for posting the maps.
Down to the Kenai Pennisula tomorrow, hopefully after our rescheduled trip over Denali.

Map Day 15, to Seward

Map Day 14

 Day 13 – June 27th

We met all kinds along the way. Couple eating out of an ice chest on the back of their trailer which was pulled by their Gold Wing trike

Today was one of those days you wished you remembered what sweating was like. Now don’t get us wrong, Chuck and I are not complaining….. 

Our very wet, great day! 

Gas station parking are in Tok, AK

There are way more positives than negatives.

Positives: 1) Not at work (Chuck is retired so he doesn’t get to count this one).               2) With our wives (can’t forget this or we would be dead men). 3) With great friends (still speaking to each other after 13days together) 4) haven’t run out of money yet. 5) Riding motorcycles. 6) Riding bikes with ABS brakes (comes in handy on wet roads). 7) Finally, in Alaska for good!

Negatives: 1) 310 miles of freaking wet and cold weather today! 2) The weather hampered our scenic views.

Shawn in Canada's Yukon Territory

Shawn in Alaska!

We have arrived in Alaska, 4350 miles!

Of course, when we got to the US/Canada Border we stopped and took pictures and celebrated our accomplishment. The weather cooperated for that moment in time. It was a very well done border stop/monument and we cherished the time.

That's Barbara, half of her in Canada, half in US

It's hard to see, but you can see a cut through the forest is the International Border

Our lodging for the night is really nice, Sheep Mountain Lodge .http://www.sheepmountain.com/

Quaint cabins, a great little lodge & restaurant, with real friendly staff. Shawn and I jumped in the Jacuzzi once we arrived to thaw the bone-chill we sustained from the day’s ride. For dinner a local treat was in order. Maybe the best piece of salmon ever; caught fresh down the road in the Copper River. Desert was in order too when they said they had home made strawberry-rhubarb pie. The rhubarb was harvested on-site from their garden, which included many other menu ingredients. It was a great evening sitting at our window table all cozy, dry, and warm watching it be cold and raining outside. Even with the cloud cover it still never got dark. Crazy!

Another great day, with just a few little quirks. Life is very good!

Can you see the mountains?

Scott and Shawn's Cabin in the trees, Sheep Mountain Lodge

Chuck and Barbara's home away from home

We are a little anxious that the weather won’t be good for our flight over Denali and around Mt McKinley. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s big adventure.

Map Day 13

Day 12 - June 26

Day 12- June 25^th

We are at the half way point of our trip, not to Alaska, but in entirety. We have seen and talked to so many other riders fulfilling their dream of riding the Alaskan Hwy, to go to the Arctic Circle, or the big fish - Prudhoe Bay, the furthest you can go north on a road. People do it alone, two up, with a side car, and even pulling a trailer.

I am surprised how quiet the highway is. It would be interesting to know what the most popular mode of transportation is. I believe it is motorcycles.

Looks cold...is cold

Beautiful black and white

 Shawn called today a black and white day. It was overcast; the top half of the mountains were blanketed by a cloud, the lakes and rivers had no sparkle. She also called it her least favorite day. My instrument panel seemed to be stuck on 50 degrees. It got down to 42 for awhile going over some mountains between Haines and Haines Junction. This was supposed to be the most scenic road of the trip. We have to take the good with the not so good. Let’s say it had a different kind of beauty. We were so fortunate to be there to imagine what it would have looked like on a sunny day. The cold, windy, cloudy, and rainy day today…..I will call it, one of the more adventurous days.

A little fun along the road side at the Honeymoon hotel

Scott didn't quite make it in time..10 second drill

Scott and Shawn...second honeymoon?

We did have a real treat today. On Hwy 3, the Haines Hwy, we got to see another grizzly bear. Chuck and Barbara were leading and they passed by him without noticing. Imagine not having the protection of a couple of layers of sheet metal and glass between you and this powerful beast. Shawn got the camera as I rolled to a stop, of course leaving the bike in gear and clutch in case we needed to get away quickly. I would say the bear was 100 ft away busy eating grass and flowers. The pictures are good but don’t do it the justice of being there, all alone, just the three of us. As we rolled away he stood up to check us out. He was a giant! Chuck and Barbara turned around and we met a few miles down the road. We went back only to see him stand up again as he heard us approach. He then ran into the woods. Seeing how fast he ran, it was frightening to think how fast he could have coved the 100 feet that separated us. 

Do bears poop in the woods? Apparently not all the time.

We joined back up with Hwy 1, the Alaska Hwy, today and rode to Beaver Creek, Yukon. They call it the farthest west town in Canada or “301 miles from Nowhere”. It is 301 miles north of Whitehorse and 308 miles south of Fairbanks. 

Electric gear controls

Warm wife...happy life!

Scott getting a performance award.

We stayed at the Westmark Hotel, a chain owned by Holland America. We were treated to one of the best dinner shows we have ever seen. We were pleasantly surprised and a colorful end to our black and white day. We are the four luckiest people in the world! 

A splash of color on our black and white day.

Having a hard time seeing the dirt? My fender is actually black!

Cute quansut hut church at Haines Jct.

 And that's all we have to say about another great day exploring the northwest.Glad you have joined us!

Scott, Shawn, Chuck, and Barabara

Map Day 12