Day 11 and 12 - Dry Ground

Finally made it off of the boat around 3 pm. It felt good to get back on the bike and ride again. There were several others riding motorcycles also. One older couple was from Sweden and are taking a year traveling around the USA. This is there 4th time to Alaska and they pull a little trailer with their camping and fishing gear in it. Another couple was traveling up from Mexico on a Harley Road King. They were very friendly but his wife spoke very little English and he had to interpret for her. Two other guys flew into Seattle and rented some bikes. They seem to like leaving their wives at home and traveling all around the world on cycles. It was interesting talking with all of them at different times and hearing their views of America and other issues.

I didn't have too much trouble crossing into the Yukon. I had to open up the side compartments and play the 20 question game but I made it. I thought of topping off the tank when I crossed into Canada but the next service area was 188 miles away. I already had about 40 miles since the last fill up and it would be close making it. I did pick up a 2.5 gallon spare can back in North Dakota so I wasn't worried. I pushed it for a total of 221 miles on that tank full and it took 5.1 gallons. Hmmm, I only have a 5 gallon tank?? My calculator converted it from liters to gallons but might have lost something in the translation. The gas is very expensive in Canada and averaged around 4 bucks a gallon. When I filled up the full 5 gallons the bill came to $27 plus change which turned into about $19.60 in real money. It didn't get any better the next time either but what are you going to do and where else do you get it? You are happy to find somewhere open and top off whenever you can.

It took about 6 hours to ride through the Yukon. The roads were ok in some places and down right treacherous in others. Lots of road construction and driving over mud and gravel. To make it more interesting it also started to rain. Mud, gravel and rain, not a good mixture for riding over on two wheels. Then there are the dips. They put little orange flags on the road side and when you see one you slow down as fast as you can. If you hit the dip too fast you get thrown out of your seat and you better hope you are holding on with both hands. It's not bad when you know they are coming, it's the one you don't know about that gets you.

Made it to the Alaska boarder around midnight and played the 20 question game again and then it was off toward Fairbanks. There really wasn't much of a sunset and the sky just turned to dusk. Around 3 am the sun came back up and I took a little break to watch it.

I was getting a little tired since I was up since 6:30 the previous morning and couldn't find any place the was open for the night and they wouldn't answer the door bells. Oh well, just drive on. I arrived in Fairbanks around 6 am Tuesday and drove around it for a little while and stopped for breakfast. After breakfast I pulled in and washed the mud and bugs off the bike. Then it started to rain again but at least my bike was clean!

I took a ride into the mountains and saw the oil pipe display. I also saw the real pipeline going in and out of the hills. Along the way I saw 3 moose but no bears. I thought about stopping and trying to get a picture of one moose since it was just standing by the road. I slowed down and he lifted his head and looked at me. Time to make a decision.. stop or run. I elected to ride past and the moose elected to run into the bush. They are pretty big and I don't know about stopping to take a picture.

Well around 3:30 pm I was starting to get really tired and pulled off in the mountains at some lodge for a rest. It's in the middle of nowhere and I keep listening for banjos in the background. There is no phone service here and my cell just stays in roam or no service. One of these days I'll be able to update the web page again. Maybe tomorrow I'll find somewhere to eat again. Must sleeeeep...

Total miles for day 11 - 717
Total miles for day 12 - 244
Total hours awake while riding - About 24
Total times almost fell asleep - too many..