AK49

I took my time this morning, still hung over from a late and long day yesterday (my laundry was done before midnight)! After packing and checking out I pulled the bike up to the pump. Oops, not diesel. (Move to next pump) Oops not unleaded regular. ( move to next pump) Oops. Out of Premium? I had a ride of 65 miles to Haines Jct. and had enough gas to make it that far, and them some. If I filled up here I could possibly cover the 165 miles to White Horse. But without premium my mileage drops drastically. The most I can hope to get on a tankful is 240 miles (with a tail wind and steady speed) but the last time I used unleaded regular I only got down the road about 160 miles. So I refueled, figuring to top off in Haines Jct. I also took the time to chat with a biker from Tennessee who works as an independent contractor for Jim Beam. (He makes doll clothes for sample bottles?) He was talking to a young lady who said she was from everywhere. It turned out that she had lost her husband ...

After a four day lay-over I picked up my bike last night, packed this morning and hit the road, BIG TIME! I stopped for breakfast at the northern most Denny's in the world, then went a couple lights down the road and jumped on the highway toward Tok, where I had made, then cancelled, my reservation at a spend your B&B for last night/this morning. Having already done my bit to support the local economy at the North Pole, I breezed through the tiny burg and kept rolling southeast.  While cruising down the highway I caught a very brief glimpse of this sign I had to do a U-Turn to go back and read it. My Grandfather was quite an adventurer in his day and I thought he may have wandered up to these parts and bought some land that no one ever knew about. His name was Harry Luce - close, but no deed. Continuing on my way I soon saw the white topped Alaska Mountain range, although from this angle, Denali is apparently not visible.   I also stopped a little further down at a scenic ...

Eddie commented to not use a pressure washer to clean my bike. It gets hand washed, and really needed it, as shown in these pictures: If you look at the chrome, like the exhaust pipes, you can compare it to this: Then there is this, before: and after: Then, my protest because the bike wasn't done when promised, this "No customers beyond this point" sign: Always the rebel!

but it isn't supposed to fall off! It is now 4 p.m. The mechanic finally got my bike up on the lift (it was supposed to be done by noon), pulled the front wheel off and one of the two front forks fell off! Now some of you may not know much about motorcycles so let me put it this way - that ain't good! Thinking all along that the problem was a seal leak, when they pulled the chrome cover off around the top of the forks they found that the pinch bolt that was intended to hold the right fork stationary at the top had broken. This allowed the fork tube to vibrate around and unthread itself, thereby creating a gap that allowed the oil to leak out. Had both done the same thing the front wheel would have fallen off. When you only have two wheels to begin with... I'll repeat, that ain't good! They promised me they could get a bolt and have it done before quitting time so I thanked them and came back to my room again. I had already cancelled my reservation that I had m...

I had only a couple of things to accomplish today: Breakfast at the northern most Denny's in the world A riverboat cruise Return the rental car and drop off my very dirty bike There isn't a whole lot to share in today's drama except the Riverboat Discovery, which has been operating on the Chena River in Fairbanks by the Binkley family, since 1950. Our Captain today is a fourth generation licensed pilot, the Great Granddaughter of Jim Binkley, the original Captain.  This tour has been rated the top riverboat tour in the country, but it isn't exactly my genre. It is a well assembled, fully scripted, tourist attraction, frequented by cruise ship and tour bus operations as a point of interest on their tours. My problem is that the tours are the reason for the existence of the excursion. It isn't like standing at a scenic overlook, gazing in awe at the ageless grandeur of the Grand Canyon.  The tour starts from a dock and, shortly after launch, twice a day every day, all...

I realize I am still a day behind in my narrative, but today I should be able to catch up. That's because today is D-Day (delivery day). My parts should be in at the H-D store and their mechanics can install them (and do a requested oil change and hand wash)! I should be ready to rock and roll by tomorrow morning. But because my travel options are now bipedular (the bike is sitting at the dealer so I have only my two feet to deliver me to where I want to venture) I am staying close to "home", which for the last couple days has been room 137 at the Golden North Mot l ( the "e" is burned out on the sign). So this is my chance to bring you up to speed on what I've been doing for the last 24 hours. Yesterday I decided to rent a car to take care of one of the items on my list while I was still unable to advance my playing piece about the Alaskan Board. The motel works closely with a local rental company so that they dropped me off yesterday to pick up the car, I ...

Having been effectively abandoned by the travel Gods in Fairbanks I went back to basics. I've stated this before but I need to go back to it: When you lose a loved one who means everything to you, you hope upon hope that you will see signs to let you know that you are still together, if not physically then at least in ethereal ways. It is often described in religious terms, then quickly dismissed by non-believers. Surely, the realist will explain, these "signs" are mere coincidence. That song would have played at exactly that time on the radio, even if you hadn't been tuned in. The beam of light would have shined through the prismatic keyhole in the front door and perfectly illuminated your loved ones face in a photo on the counter. A feather would appear out of nowhere when you were reminiscing with friends about a shared experience from years ago.  I know that Betty would have loved this Alaska trip. In much the same way we had frequently talked about visiting Glaci...