Alaska Day 43

It was another beautiful day for a ride.  We started in Shamokin Pa this morning and headed out for Hampton Roads.  We took Route 15 to Harrisburg and then I-81 to Winchester.  Route 15 in Virginia used to be country and beautiful but it is all developed and slow moving now.  From Winchester we took route 17 home.  As we neared Fredericksburg Virginia reality started to set in as traffic to get onto I-95 for the short 7 mile run was backed up.  Then after getting onto I-95 it was a little slow.  We stopped at Cracker Barrel to load up our personnel engines for the trip home.  We made a final stop as a group at Short lane for a group Ice cream before we split out for home.  It was a great trip for all of us and I hope to be able to go again someday.  We all look forward to seeing everyone at the meeting tomorrow night.  I put a total of 13,845 miles on my bike over the 43 day trip, 22 States and 7 provinces/territories.  Today covered 366 miles

Alaska Day 42

We woke up this morning in Clayton New York.  It is hard to believe but it was another bright shining morning again.  We headed south on I-81 looking for route 104 west.  We had a little difficulty in finding it but we eventually found it had headed towards Oswego New York where the guys stopped for breakfast.  While the guys had breakfast I headed out to replenish water and ice as I was out of both.  We departed Oswego and next took route 14 south.  A pretty ride down through the finger lakes region.  It just happens to be the weekend for NASCAR in Watkins Glen and we got stuck in a little traffic jam in the village.  We made it through and crossed over into Pennsylvania and stopped for lunch.  After lunch we continued on down route 14 and eventually merged onto route 15 just north of Williamsport.  We were going to try and make it into Harrisburg for the evening but decided to stop in Shamokin instead.  We had a good steak at Hoss's and a final cigar for the trip.  We also did a little retrospect about the trip before turning in for the evening.  Tomorrow it is on in to home and the end of a spectacular trip for the committee.  today we traveled 334 miles.

Alaska Day 41

The night before when we arrived in Blind River Bruce noticed his rear tire needed replacing. Bruce pulled out the gold book and found a shop about 180 miles away in North Bay. Bruce and Dave left at 6am while John and I slept in and were on the road after breakfast about 8. We rolled into North Bay a little after 11, asked for directions and headed for the Honda shop. I was talking to John on the CB. I paused and voice came across the CB "Is that you Don". Now that got me puzzled as to who knew I was in North Bay or maybe it was some other person named Don. Then I realized it was Dave, gee what a puttze. We joined up gassed up and off we went. Everything worked out fine and once again a beautiful day to ride. Not too many people want to be number 3 but Dave is trying. Since last Sunday when Dave weighed on at 223 and I weighed in at 216, Dave has been on a quest to make me number 2 so he can be number 3. He has offered to pay for the desserts if I will eat them. Not sure if John and I will be 1 and 2 but the final weigh in will be this Sunday. So be at the meeting for the results. We crossed the boarder late that day and settled in at Clayton, N.Y. Rode 508 miles today.

Alaska Day 40

We left Munising, Mich. headed for the famous "Mighty Mac" Mackinaw bridge. Since our plan was to head into Ontario at Sault St. Marie we travelled across the bridge stopping on the other side long enough to take some pictures and get pins and patches then we mounted up for another ride across. The bridge gives a great view of Lake Michigan to the west and Lake Huron to the east. The high speed ferries could be seen zipping across the water with a huge roostertail following them. The border crossing was almost laughable, the Canadian customs agent didn't even look at our IDs he just asked "you got any weapons?". We of course said no, to which he said good, have a nice day. We stopped for the night at Blind River, Ontario after travelling 282 miles.

Alaska Day 39

We woke up to a crisp but sunny morning to complete our journey across Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.  As usual I had breakfast in the room and then the boys stopped in Superior Wisconsin for their breakfast.  I'm doing my best to encourage Don to eat well so he can be #2 by the time we get back on Sunday.  We were traveling on Route 2 and most of the day it was 55 MPH limit and through many small towns and construction.  This really slows down the average.  We stopped in a Michigan State Park to have one of our infamous out of the trunk lunches and it was breezy and cool.  Some Michigan folks were in the water and they had to be cold.  We continued and our trail boss got confused in a construction zone and a 'C' turn was required to get back on track.  We finished the day in Munising Michigan on the upper peninsula next to Lake Superior. Tomorrow off the the Mackinaw Bridge and another border crossing into Canada.  We traveled 343 mile today.

Alaska Day 38

It sounds like a broken record but it was once again a great day for riding.  We left Bottineau North Dakota and headed east.  Our first stop for fuel was at Devils Lake North Dakota and Bruce was felling a little apprehensive about his rear tire being able to complete the trip.  We looked up Honda dealers on the route and called one in Grand Forks North Dakota and they had one so they held it so we could pick it up on the way.  Bruce may not need to change it out but if he does we have one.  We had a great tailwind most of the day which really helped us sidecar guys on gas mileage.  I got 38.6 MPG on one tank.  We ended the day in Floodwood Minnesota only about 40 miles out of Duluth.  We stayed at a very nice mom and pop hotel with a restaurant right next door.  Perfect !  We traveled 433 miles today.

Alaska Day 37

This morning we were once again greeted with a great day for a ride. Miles City is one of John's old stomping grounds so he took us to one of his old favorites for breakfast, the 600 Cafe in downtown Miles City. After a good meal we hit the road. Soon the plains winds began, blowing strong from the side and front as the road winded to the north east. After about 3 hours the front causing the winds had pass and we welcomed the break the rest of the day. We crossed the border into Saskatchewan, Canada then took route 18 eastward into Manitoba. That makes a total of 6 Canadian provinces and territories so far! The border crossing have been pretty easy so far when we came out of Manitoba back into North Dakota the customs officials did do a quick check of our stuff this time. But, that's not bad considering what they could do. They have been know to take all of your stuff out and go through it then leave the owner with the cleanup. We stopped for the night in Bottineau, ND. total miles today = 430.