June 21, 2022 - Valdez, AK - 170 miles

The weather in Alaska can change in 5 minutes. When we went.to bed last night it was partly cloudy and just a couple of hours later there was a major storm with lightening. We have also had the temperature drop 15 degrees in 5 miles when riding the bike.

Soon after we left Lake Louise we came to road construction across the entire road. They directed traffic off the road bed to a muddy two track path. We made it through in one piece but it took 3 construction guys to push us after we got stuck in the mud. Susie did a great job hanging on, counter-leaning to keep us from falling over and taking it all in stride. 

Once we got through that fun and excitement we visited our new friends Tom and Kim owners of the Old Town Copper Center Inn who I first met about 2 weeks ago.

We then continued on to Valdez. There was low cloud cover so we didn't get the full impact of Thompson Pass but it was still a nice ride. Maybe it will be clear and sunny when we leave in 2 days so we can get a better view.

Welcome to Valdez

Fierce watchdog on duty

Bridal Veil Falls on road to Valdez

On road to Valdez taken by Susie

Self explanatory 

June 20, 2022 - Glennallen, AK - 200 miles

Alaska's weather caught up with us today. Temps on our ride to Glennallen dropped to 45 with lots of rain and some wind. We bundled up and had all electric heating on including rear seat, vest, jacket liner, gloves and hand grips. It really helped.

When we stopped to put on our heated gear we noticed one of the yellow dry bags had almost fallen off. I used some extra tie-downs I brought to strap it down good.

Long stretches of the Richardson Highway was under construction with miles of dirt sections. One of the guys who stop traffic told us they are using more rock gravel on top of tar which does better in the frozen tundra. However sections of it was really difficult to ride on. Several sections has a lot of the loose rock in fairly deep layers which makes it a little dicey riding a big bike with 2 people and  fully loaded with baggage. We did okay and made it through in one piece.

We stay here in the Lake Louise Lodge one night and head down to Valdez tomorrow. We will ride through Thompson Pass on our way to Valdez which is supposed to be beautiful. 

Strapping down the loose bag in the rain

It's hard to tell in this picture but the road is under construction with mud and gravel and rain. Congratulate Susie for taking this picture while riding.

A muddy motorcycle and fully geared-up Susie happy to be through the rough road section

Gearing up in the middle of nowhere 

Lake Louise Lodge taken from our dinner table 

June 19, 2022 - Delta Junctiin, AK - 100 miles

A light day today of 100 miles beginning our turn to the south. Not a lot to report so I'll copy a brief Wikipedia blurb about Delta Junction. 

Delta Junction (Ukrainian: Делта-Джанкшен) is a city in the Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 958, up from 840 in 2000. The 2018 estimate was down to 931. The city is located a short distance south of the confluence of the Delta River with the Tanana River, which is at Big Delta. It is about 160 km (99 mi) south of Fairbanks. Native inhabitants are Tanana Athabaskans

It is also at the intersection of the Richardson Highway and the Alaska Highway, or Alcan.

Only one picture today. I took this from a picnic table where we were eating bison burgers and ice cream cones for dinner. This picture shows why we have had pretty good cell service in Alaska. It's very common to see these cellphone towers in the most remote locations. 

June 18, 2022 - Fairbanks, AK

After such a busy day yesterday we took it easy today. Rolled out of our cabin around 11 am, rode around Fairbanks a little and then visited the Museum of the North. It's a beautiful, modern building completed in 2012 on the University of Alaska campus. It has a big collection of old and new historic and modern pieces of art from the Native Alaskan population. It was pretty impressive. 

Of course we then had to have another meal, this time at a middle eastern restaurant. It was located in an industrial area of Fairbanks and was very good. 

Sooz and I have been surprised at the variety of food in the cities and towns. There are lots of Thai, Mexican, sushi, Japanese and Indian restaurants as well as American family style. However, once you get into the hinterlands the variety mostly disappears and you find local, solid meals of meat and potatoes. There has also been lots of ice cream and small, drive through coffee huts on almost every corner.

The Alaskan mosquitoes have come out big time. We can't sit outside our cabin for more than 30 seconds without being attacked by mosquitoes. They are very annoying so we have to go inside and trust the window screens.

Tomorrow we ride 100 miles to Delta Junctiin. This begins our southbound travels. We still have lots more of Alaska to explore but Fairbanks is the furthest north we will go on this trip. That means today's nearly 22 hours of sunshine is the longest daylight on this trip.

There is virtually no darkness here this time of year 

Moose racks at the Museum of the North 

Walrus mask at Museum of the North 

Art

Masks

Mr. Griz real size

Our cabin for 2 nights in Fairbanks 

June 17, 2022 - Fairbanks, AK - 276 miles by motorcycle and 176 miles by airplane

We started riding at 7:30 am with 50 degree temperature. Susie was nice and warm in her electric heated jacket liner, gloves and seat. I was not. Macho man Terry decided to not use his electric heated vest and was pretty well frozen by the time we stopped in the town of Denali. 

We were stopping in Denali to meet with the guy I met at the Anchorage motorcycle shop but he couldn't make it so we drank coffee and ate some very good blueberry crumble. 

Our flight to Denali Mountain left at noon. We had a total of 7 passengers plus the pilot. For you motorheads out there the plane was a 1962 DHC-2 T De Havilland Beaver 2 made in Canada with a Pratt Whitney 680 hp gas turbine single propeller engine. It was a beautiful plane. 

It was also pretty tight inside. Susie got to sit in the co-pilot seat and I was right behind her. The other 5 passengers were a family visiting from Queens, NYC. The guy sitting next to me in the plane was 6 feet 4 inches tall and no lightweight. 

The flight was spectacular. We got up to an elevation of 11,000 feet which is 9,000 lower than the peak of Denali. The scale and context of the scenery from the plane is hard to grasp. At one point when I thought we were pretty close to Denali the pilot said we were 4 miles away and 10,000 feet lower than Denali's summit.

I got a little motion sick on takeoff but once the plane and I settled in I felt better.

On the glacier

https://youtube.com/shorts/JnFb4ikEdFc?feature=share

Just another day flying to a glacier 

Our land and air route today

The 1962 De Havilland plane we flew in

Bike, van and plane

Susie flying the plane

Terry aka "Maverick" on the stick

Nearing Denali

Denali in some clouds 

Denali North Peak on right, Denali South Peak to the left

Susie and me on a glacier near Denali at about 5,600 feet elevation 

Susie and me on the same glacier near Denali at about 5,600 feet elevation 

Susie and me on the same glacier near Denali at about 5,600 feet elevation 

The little black speck is a guy snowboarding after hiking to the top of the ridge

A luxury resort with private helicopter access you can rent for $8,000 a night per person

The resort from a distance 

Near Denali 

Blue pools of glacier water

Our runway

June 16, 2022 - Talkeetna, AK

Today we rode from Fishhook to Talkeetna. It was an easy ride of less than 100 miles. Weather and roads were good.

We had heard Talkeetna was a kind of hippy haven and quirky. What we found was a very touristy town with lots of big busses from cruise ships. Nothing against them, Sooz and I have both traveled that way and enjoyed it. It just caught us off guard, we weren't expecting it. 

However, there were a couple of good finds. Sooz had seen some advertisements about a photographer who specializes in Arora Borealus, the northern lights. It turned out that Aurora Dora the photographer is the wife of the man that owns and manages the cabin where we are staying. We visited Dora's shop and were blown away by her photos. They are printed on metal and are impressive. You can checkout her work at auroradora.com.

We also found a nice bakery called the Flying Squirrel Bakery Cafe that you can visit HERE. We enjoyed several goodies.

Tomorrow is a big day. After an early start we ride 2.5 hours to the town of Denali to have coffee with a guy I met while having the bike serviced in Anchorage. His wife might also join us. Then we take an airplane ride around Denali the mountain and land on a Glacier. That should be wild if the weather holds out. After that we ride 1.5 hours to our Airbnb in Fairbanks where we will stay 2 nights. Big day.

Our cabin for the night in Talkeetna 

A very nice piece of strawberry rubarb crumble we forced ourselves to eat

The underwhelming Talkeetna downtown 

Aurora Dora's photo shop

June 15, 2022 - Fishhook, AK

Susie arrived in Anchorage one week ago today. It never seems like we are doing much until we go back and read our blog. Today we eased into the day having picked up some yogurt yesterday we ate breakfast and drank coffee at our cabin until almost noon. Then it was time for lunch. 

We rode into Palmer and had lunch at The Noisy Goose. It was a local place with families inside and big trucks outside. The food was good.

Next we checked out the Palmer Information Center and watched part of a documentary about the history of Palmer. In 1935, the middle of the depression, the US government selected and moved 200 families from the Midwestern US to Palmer. The government paid for their travel, housing and expenses with the understanding the money would be paid back. In return the families were required to farm and live on 40 acres. It was called the Colony Project and participants were called Colonists. This type of program was also implemented in parts of the lower 48. Last week was the annual Colony Day in Palmer.

Tomorrow we are off to Talkeetna which is supposed to be a village of lost hippies.  Should be fun.

You can download the pictures in this blog by clicking on them and then zoom in which makes them easier to read and see.

Information about the Colony Program 

More info

Susie proving context to how big these life size replicas of a record breaking cabbage, carrot, zucchini and beet. This part of Alaska is known for growing record size vegetables due to days having extended hours of sunshine during the summer, rich, young soils that have not been over-farmed and mild summer temperatures. 

Historic house

Wild flowers from the big garden at the Palmer Information Center