Thursday, July 9, 2009

Land of Extremes

Day 12/13 - Wednesday/Thursday, July 8/9

The Alcan continues north from Tok into Fairbanks but we take a turn south towards Anchorage. We have tires waiting for us in Anchorage - knobby tires which will be better suited for the terrain further north. We've had plenty of fellow motorcycle travelers so far, but few will head as far north as we will and the road will get lonelier.

We left Tok and headed for Anchorage. The road is lined with fireweed, a purplish wild flower. Behind that rows of aspen, their silver and green leaves trembling in the wind like coins on a belly dancer's skirt. As we approach the St. Elias mountain range the forests look like they've been illustrated by Dr. Suess - spindly black spruce trees shoot up, some taking random turns and then heading up again. The ride, and most of the scenery in the distance is obscured by smoke from wildfires in the surrounding areas.

Through the mountain range we encounter the first glacier I've ever seen. Long and wide I can see it from the road as it carves its way between the mountain. A milky river flows from it later down the road. I imagine it would be quite beautiful, but I can barely see it because of the smoke and all attempts at taking pictures of it are dissappointing. Small homes and resorts along the highway have single or double engine planes in the driveways and strips of grass along the highway get a windsock and become landing strips.

Arriving in Anchorage we head for the Air Force base since we'll be staying at then inn there. Rolling through the gate, the guard, thinking we were here to stay, says, "Welcome to Alaska. It will be the best posting you've ever had." I'm immediately taken with Anchorage - a culturally rich port town that seems small enough to be lovable but still have everything you need. Alaska's most metropolitan city, it's set against a backdrop of beautiful mountain ranges on one side and sea on the other.

We headed to Alaska Leather - our tire change staging point. We only had time to do one bike and we headed of to the Moose's Tooth, a local institution that makes their own beer and a pretty mean pizza.

Today (Thursday), I got a special treat thanks to my friend Jennie who insisted that I needed a massage. Not one to argue with good sound advice, I took off for a massage while James went to finish his tires. My message therapist, Athena, was the bohemian sort. Curious about what brings people to this part of the world I ask her if she's from here. She came along with her family when she was ten. She loves it here, and describes Alaska as a land of extremes.

The early part of the day was spent swapping and shipping tires. Before we knew it, it was 2:00 and we still had to grab breakfast for lunch at Gwennie's, a greasy spoon kind of place that's another local must-try. Full on reindeer sausage and scrambled eggs I got to thinking that hopping back on the bikes at 3:00 to high-tail it to Fairbanks sounded like a raw deal. We were on vacation after all. Maybe the massage had gotten to me, but I suggested staying another night and exploring a bit more of Anchorage. It didn't take much to convince James and we vowed to start early tomorrow and make up the time.

We'll start off early tomorrow and press through Fairbanks. The rougher parts of the road will start there and services will get fewer and far between - I'll try to update as possible.

From Pics - day 11-13

From Pics - day 11-13

From Pics - day 11-13

Bombing about town with my new tires and the old ones strapped to the back:
From Pics - day 11-13

From Pics - day 11-13

From Pics - day 11-13

From Pics - day 11-13

From Pics - day 11-13

From Pics - day 11-13

Breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next three days - lol... the ridiculous portions at Gwennie's.
From Pics - day 11-13

From Pics - day 11-13

6 comments:

  1. The pics from day 11-13 are breathtaking! Good job! I printed the blog - sans pics - and took it to Pa, per his request....ummmm....more like demand! He wanted me to print all of the pics! He just doesn't get it....I told him we will steal Karen's lap top and take it over there and load them up on the digi-frame so he can watch them to his hearts content...his response....When???

    ReplyDelete
  2. First glacier you've ever seen??? Umm, what about your last trip
    to glacier national park? :P. Jared and I can't wait to see you two! We miss you like crazy! Great job on taking lots of pics! Keep it up! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey Katie - I forgot about that! I forgot that even though the big glacier wasn't accessible we were able to see the little one - was it Many Glacier or Mini Glacier - I can never remember. Well, I'll have to edit the post then - so it says the biggest glacier I've ever seen - because it was 4 miles wide!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. You should be a write Shana, your descriptions of the scenery are awesome. Seeing that breakfast caused me to gain 5 lbs...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow, sounds like a beautiful and fun place. I think I'd like to visit Anchorage after reading your post. Your new tires look great; ready for the tough road ahead.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AH yes, I agree with you, massge and explore- you ARE on vacation and it's not just about getting there and back :)Oh how your box has expanded!! Next time I'm buying a side car and hitching it to you!

    ReplyDelete