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.

Alaska Day 36

This morning we said our goodbyes to Sindy and Luck and headed out. We made a stop at the site of General Custer's last stand at the Little Big Horn National Monument. We enjoyed a park ranger's presentation on the events that led up to that fateful day then walked up the hill to see the monument and grave markers up close. It was very interesting and you can really image what it must have been like back in 1876. After Little Big Horn we headed to Broadus, MT to visit John's grandson, McQ and his uncle Quinn they were participating in a team roping competition. It was good to meet them and enjoy some rodeo action too. We then headed to Miles City, MT for the night. 257 miles today.

Alaska Day 35

This was a relaxed day of completing a fix for the fuel inlet on my auxiliary tank.  I had noticed a small drip and the smell of gas a couple of days before and while we had down time in Billings we diagnosed the problem and repaired it.  It was also a time for John and the rest of us to meet some more of his family.  They welcomed us with open arms and said for us to just make it like our own home, so we did.  We also took this opportunity to give the bike the 2nd bath of the trip and they really needed it.  John grilled steaks for the group this night as well as making potato salad.  All who had dinner could barely move after eating.  John had the steaks special cut for dinner.  We really enjoyed our down time in Billings. 

Alaska Day 34

This morning we planned to have breakfast in town before heading out on the road. We walked down to a cafe and had breakfast when we walked back to the motel we found that road crews had completely tour up the road and we had a short wait as they made the road passable for us to leave. We headed for the famed Beartooth pass which is a great high mountain pass that connects Cooke City to the town of Red Lodge. It was a great ride up and up the pass to its 11,000ft summit where it was cool but not too cold. There was lots of other bikes enjoying the pass. You can see in the pictures the winding road that takes you over the pass. As we descended the temperatures quickly rose and when we stopped in Red Lodge for lunch we quickly changed riding gear. After lunch we continued to Billings to visit John daughter Sindy and granddaughter Lee Ann and much to John's surprise her boyfriend, Luck. 125 miles today.

Alaska Day 33 part 1

We left Helena and took some nice secondary roads down to Yellowstone National Park. When we reached Yellowstone we first went to the visitor center so John could get his National Park Passport book stamped. I had always heard that this was a busy Park and I could now see for myself that it was indeed. John and Don had previously toured the park and didn't wish to do it this time. So they took the direct route through the park to our destination of Cooke City, MT and Dave and I took the long way around the park. We had good luck with the traffic and enjoyed riding the loop through the park stopping to see the sights, including Old Faithfull of course. We reached the southern end of the park and decided to make a run down to the Grand Tetons National Park, which was only about 30 miles. Well those 30 miles took longer than expected due to road construction and more gravel road. Once there we got our pins and patches, took a few pictures then mounted up for the 130 mile ride to Cooke City. After the first 40 miles the sun had set and we very carefully traveled through the park in the dark watching for wildlife in the road. We can attest to the fact that buffalo are nearly invisible to headlights your lucky to catch a little light reflecting from there little eyes. As we neared the end of our ride the temperatures were getting low reaching 39 degrees. We were cold and very happy to get to the motel and crank up the heat. 430 miles of great riding today

Alaska Day 33 Part 2

Up and out of Helena to a little town called Townsend some 40 miles away where we ate breakfast. Then off to Yellowstone we went. Bruce and Dave took the loop in Yellowstone and visited the Grand Tetons on a side trip. John and I headed for Cooke City. On our short journey to Cooke City I learned a lot about trails. While traveling leisurely through Yellowstone John decides to pull into this dirt and gravel road that had a sign read "Hellroaring". I followed and we parked in a gravel potholed parking area about .1 mile farther. John explained this was a trailhead where he used to pack out and take the horses down this trail and across the bridge. The sign at the beginning of the trail said the suspension bridge, swinging bridge, was a mile away. It looked straight down hill to me. Guess what, it looks straight up hill from the bridge. John wanted some pictures and I was curious so off I went. Now I first called this a path and John corrected me with "its a trail". The difference is a path is a path and a trail is a path with horse poo all over it. This was a trail. Made it to the bridge with a little sore knee caps. Took some really nice pictures nice pictures of the bridge and river and talked a little with the people there. Here comes the part I didn't see, the trek back up the mountain. Ihad left my rain pants and leather jacket on. After 4 or 5 much needed stops I arrived back at the top. John had just woke from his NAP and said " It only took you 2 hours. Thats 1 mile an hour pace. For somebody napping he has a lot of nerve. Being winded with sore legs now, I still think it was a great adventure to take that trail and visualize taking horses and traveling down that trail and across that bridge. It was back on the bikes then off again to Cooke City. We arrived about 4:30 got 2 rooms because we knew Dave and Bruce would be in late. I left my bike at the entrance of the motel so they would know where we were. John and I checked out the local character of the town. About 11:30 we had seen enough of the town and headed for the rooms. We looked down the road and there were "no vacancy" signs everywhere and Dave and Bruce were pulling in to our motel. Dave and Bruce had about a 16 hour day while John and I had an 8 hour day. But glad we did because we had a room waiting for them.    

Alaska Day 32

You know, people are weird. The night of the 31st when we arrived in Cranbrook, got our rooms and headed for dinner a man wanted me to come back to the motel and move my bike so he could park there and see his bike from his room. Didn't happen. Anyway the 32nd was relatively uneventful. We woke ate a continental breakfast at the motel and were on our way by 8 am, 10 your time. We stopped and ate lunch in Seeley Lake where the waitress happened to be a former bartender. She might have been the bouncer too so we didn't give her too much, but just a little, lip. John while asking about this place met a lady that knew about the Newbauers although she didn't arrive at Seeley Lake until 5 years after John had left. I think John has reputation if she is correct. Most the day was very nice until we approached Helena on route 12. We put on our rain gear just before the the mountain about 12 miles out from Helena. Good thing, it became windy and rainy. We checked into our motel and and hour or so later the rain stopped. The day was a little short of average but was what was needed at 341 miles. Nice comfortable day. 

Alaska Day 31

It was another great day for riding as we departed Grande Cache and headed out toward Jasper park.  We did about 100 miles and the guys stopped for breakfast in Hinton.  The last couple of days gas has been in short supply around Alberta and one clerk said that a storm had knocked out 2 refineries in Edmonton and that was why.  We have not had a problem so far acquiring fuel.  The guys had breakfast at Smitty's and none of them cleaned their plate - no lolli-pop for them today.  We left Hinton behind and continued toward Jasper.  We entered the park and stopped in the actual town of Jasper so that John could get his park passport stamped.  We then continued on through the park and through the area know as the ice fields for the glaciers there.  It was a beautiful ride seeing the glaciers and moving through the curves and passes.  We stopped in a roadside park for lunch and then headed on out to our final detination for the day of Cranbrook BC.  We arrived just in time to have dinner and cover the bikes before a big thunderstorm came through the area.  Tomorrow back to the USA and on to Helena Montana.  Todays ride covered 456 miles.

Alaska Day 30

Well, day 30 finds us up and ready for breakfast at 6:30 am in Fort Nelson. The first news of the day came from Dave as he whispered so John could not hear "I am no longer the BIG BOY on this trip". That means John is the NEW BIG BOY. Bruce and I announced to John, at breakfast, that we new he was the NEW BIG GUY. John gave us his "I understand wave" and went on eating. Now, Dave at 228 and me at 220 and Dave loosing at 4 a week means its going to be close by the time we get home. We left Fort Nelson about 7:45, the weather and roads were great. We passed through Fort St. John then all the way down to Dawson Creek where we stopped to take pictures of the mile "0" post. You know, I've been to Fort Nelson, Fort "oh my God" Liard, Fort St. John and haven't seen a fort yet. We also stopped by the visitor center bought some goodies and read a little about the man Dawson Creek and Dawson City were named after. Then off to Grand Prarrie for dinner. After dinner a little light left so Grand Cache was our next and final stop. After a 487 mile leg today Grand Cache was a welcome sight.

Alaska Day 29

We started the day in Toad River BC and were headed to Route 77 to take us to the Northwest Territory to pick up another province.  On the way we were suppose to stop about 50 miles out for gas but we seemed to have missed it.  We had to go on into Fort Nelson for gas and our 2 riders with trailers were running on fumes.  After fueling we went back about 18 miles to route 77.  The first 30 miles were great brand new blacktop smooth as a baby's bottom.  Next we were onto old blacktop not smooth but not too bad.  We knew going in that the last 20 to 25 miles would be gravel but it seems that due to road construction the last 43 miles were gravel and dusty.  We arrived in Fort Liard in the Northwest Territory and had a tough time finding the gas station until John asked a local resident.  When we fueled up the lady at the counter asked me where we were going and I said back to civilization.  It was a rough ride but we managed to cover another province.  Tomorrow on the the start of the ALCAN at Dawson Creek and a little further.  Today's mileage 386

Alaska Day 27 and 28

Thursday was a day of waiting and hoping the alternator would arrive as promised.  Don, Dave and I took advantage of the down time to clean the haul road mud off of our bikes.  We went to the local car wash and cleaned about 10lbs of mud and dirt off of the each bike.  John preferred to keep his badge of honor awhile longer.  Dave went to Yukon Honda at closing time to check on his alternator and as luck would have it, it didn't arrive.  

Friday morning we went back to see if the alternator arrived on the morning truck.  Oh our lucky day, it was there!  Dave had it installed by 11:30 and we were on our way.   We saw lots of buffalo (40-50), some black bear, and 1 moose.  One herd of buffalo was settling down for the night on both sides of the road.  There was one who couldn't decide which side he wanted to be on so he just stood there in the middle of the road.  We just politely eased on by and resisted the urge to play "slap the bull"!  We arrived at our motel in Toad River at about 9pm.  miles today = 477.

Alaska Day 25 and 26

Tuesday morning Don and I went back to the Honda dealer because I wanted to pick up some new brake pads for the rear of my bike as they were thin when I changed the tire and they bugged me over night. Luckily they had them in stock! While I was inside, Don met a member of the local GWRRA chapter and he told us they were having a meeting that evening and invited us to join them. The day was spend doing maintenance on the bikes, brake pads and oil changes. Later we went to the chapter meeting and had a great time meeting new friend and sharing stories from the road. We asked if they had any chapter pins they didn't, but they told us they would bring to by our hotel Wednesday. They did and we really appreciated it. The pins will be prized additions to our vests.

Wednesday we took the time to rewire John's trailer. The wire harness on his trailer was a mess with many shorts. We thought it would make the job easier to tip the trailer up on its rear bumper to give us full access to the frame and wiring. As we were tipping it the front of the trailer body moved away from the frame. Surprise! The nuts had shaken loose from the front bolts and one of the rear bolts was loose. So we decided to just remove the body for the rewiring then reinstall with new complete hardware. All went well and John's trailer is whole and fully functional for the rest of the trip. Dave's new alternator will arrive tomorrow and we should be on our way again either tomorrow afternoon or Friday morning.

Alaska Day 24

Wow! what a day. With three battery changes to Pelly Crossing, where we spent the night, we woke about 5:00am with expectation of a few more changes to cover the next 186 miles to Whitehorse. We departed Pelly at 6:00am and the quest was on. Dave and I are thinking about applying for a job as part of the Penske racing pit crew. The four more battery changes went flawlessly. We roled into Whitehorse and Yukon Honda about 10:30am. Then the real fun began. Bruce tore his bike down to get his tire off to have it changed while Dave started the process to remove the alternater. I watched for a while as I just found out a new tire was $368. We couldn't get the alternator off so we waited for the honda mechanic to return. While waiting I decided to put an auto tire on the rear like Dave was doing at $180. Bruce had his new tire on by then and Dave and I were finishing up. The mechanic showed us an easy way to remove that third bolt in the alternator by doing it himself (free). Bruce tested the alternator it was bad but the brushes were grest. Dave made his order we went to the motel to check in. The Honda shop allowed us to work on our bikes in their lot. How's that for hospitality. It was a great day with all challenges met and put to bed.

Alaska Day 23

While waiting on our laundry to finish in Tok, we took some time to check over the bikes. Much to my surprise my new rear tire, that I just put on for the trip, was nearly worn out, its a good thing I brought another tire with me. Don's is also nearly shot so we are planning on swapping them out in Whitehorse, Yukon. Today we went though Chicken, Ak which is an old, small gold mining town and continued to Whitehorse by way of the Top of the World highway. This highway was nearly all gravel and quite rough for about 75 miles. We were all happy to put it behind us. Sometime after Dawson City, Dave's alternator died so we began swapping batteries to keep everyone moving toward Whitehorse. We stopped for the night about 200 miles from Whitehorse in Pelly Crossing, Yukon. Its a typical small town, the only motel and gas station had closed 15 minutes before we arrived but luckily we were able to get the owner to reopen so we could gas up and get a room for the night. Tomorrow we will continue the battery swaps on the way to Whitehorse were the only Honda dealer in the Yukon territory resides. today miles = 347 long miles.

Alaska Day 22

This morning started out with a trip to Hog Brother's for breakfast. But much like the infamous 'closed restaurant ride' Hog Brother's was closed and gone a new business in the location. So we pressed on and found another restaurant that looked good. When we turned onto the side street much to our surprise there were drivers beeping there horns and waving at us. We quickly realized they weren't being friendly, we were going the wrong way on a one way street. Oops! That's what happens when you stay away from city streets long enough. We got straightened out and had a good breakfast after which we hightailed it out of town, we had enough of the big city of Anchorage. The rest of the day was uneventful, we just enjoyed the road and the scenery on the way to Tok, AK. Total miles for the day = 334.

Alaska Day 21

Today's trip was a little different.  We decided to take the Ferry from Valdez to Whittier.  We thought we would take the fast ferry that would leave at 12:15 PM and arrive at 3:00 PM.  There was one problem with this plan there was only 1 space available.  Plan B was to take the slow ferry that would leave at 8:00 AM and arrive at 1:45 PM.  This turned out to be a great decision. The trip was fantastic with some good information from a US Forrest Ranger.  We saw some sea otters, sea lions and even some whales.  The ship traveled at 14 knots a very leisurely pace.  We went by the Columbia glacier and through a bunch of icebergs from it.  We arrived in Whittier on time and then on to the next adventure.  The Whittier tunnel, 2.5 mile long single lane (really a train tunnel) that is used for vehicle traffic alternating each way every 15 minutes.  We arrived and the person directing traffic pulled us out of line and we wondered what has Dudley done now.  The person told us it was for our safety to go last through the tunnel.  We believed it was for car safety so in the event a biker goes down a car won;t run over them also.  It is an interesting ride with the tunnel floor wet and the space between the tracks metal plating.  We then proceeded to Anchorage for the evening.  Not many miles today only 62.  It was a great day in the trip.  Tomorrow on to Tok

Alaska Day 20

After a late return last night we all slept late, say 9:00am. Since all four of the wings slept in the same room, cause only one was available, things were a little cramped. After a nice breakfast a Poorboys it was off to Valdez. About 165 miles later in Glennallen we refueled and took a much needed break. Since it was warm we decided toshed some of our extra clothing which later became a bad idea. Then off to Valdez 115 miles away. After a while we began to climb, the temp. droped. We rode into suspended water vapor. Visability was about 15 mph. John and I put our flashers on and they would not turn off. A little banging on the buttons turned them off. The decent into Valdez was beautiful. The "Bridal" and "Horses Tail" waterfalls were awsome. We rode to the ferry asked about tickets, came back later and picked them up.

Alaska Day 19

We were off early but a little apprehensive as the weather was iffy at best.  Rain was in the area and the road to the Arctic Circle is gravel and dirt.  We headed out with high hopes of better weather down the road.  The weather did get better in spots and worse in spots.  We threw caution to the wind and pressed on.  The first part was OK no rain and the gravel road was in good shape.  About a quarter of the way in the rain really picked up and by the time we reached the Yukon river it was really raining.  We fueled up and went on the the 5 mile camp and had lunch and decided that we were this far and pressing on.  That was a great decision because we had only gone a little farther up the road when it cleared up and the rest of the day was beautiful.  We made it to the Arctic Circle and decided that instead of staying somewhere on the Dalton Highway (haul road) we would press back to Delta Junction for the night.  No problem in Alaska in the summer sunset is not until after midnight.  We got back to the motel about 11:45 PM after a 575 mile day but a ride we will never forget with great friends and once in a lifetime locations.

Alaska Day 18

Not all of us made it up with the sun today but that was OK as we had a shorter travel day than usual.  We went from Destruction Bay Yukon Territory to Delta Junction Alaska.  It was a shorter trip but the first 140 miles were tough.  Lots of frost heaves and gravel road on the ALCAN.  We looked like we were dodging incoming mortar attacks as we moved all over the road to try and find smooth sailing.  We finally crossed back into the USA and gas dropped a little to about $3.50 a gallon.  There is currently a lot of smoke in Alaska from wild fires and it makes it a little hard to get the full picture of the scenery but it is still good.  Tomorrow off to the Arctic Circle.  We traveled 335 miles today.

Alaska Day 17

The weather was great today with partly cloudy skies. We rode the Al-Can Highway to Destruction Bay, YT. The road was completely paved the whole way which made for a very nice ride with great scenery along the way. Along the way you can still see portions of the old gravel highway. I was very glad to be on the new paved road. We only saw one coyote and one elk today.

About 9pm a sea plane was landing in the lake across the road from our motel and tragically it crashed. I don't know why because the weather was great with no wind and calm water. They were able to rescue the pilot, but a passenger was trapped in the plane and didn't make it out.

Tomorrow we are headed to Delta Junction, AK. 440 miles today.

Alaska Day 16

We were again up early to head north to Watson Lake, Yukon Territory the home of the Sign Post Forrest. The only gas station in town wasn't open yet, John said there is a gas station that they used back in 2006 about 40 miles away so off we went. We arrived to find a burned out shell of a gas station. He then said there was another 57 miles farther down the road. Dave and I knew we couldn't make that so we headed back to wait for the station to open. Don followed us until we decided to pull over and wait for him to bring back gas instead of pushing it too far and running out in a bad spot on the road as we knew we couldn't make it the full 40miles back. Don did a great job rescuing us with plenty of gas. John had decided to push on to the other gas station 57 miles away. Well it turn out that John over estimated his range and ran out all by his lonesome. He was forced to wait about an hour before a nice lady with a full 5 gal gas can stopped and offer him help. We met up at the gas station, topped off our tanks and were on our way. We started running into unpaved road today some parts are too bad other are quite rough. Saw about 5 more black bear and one grizzly. 441 miles today