Another milestone today as we crossed into Alaska! After 6 full days of riding through beautiful Canada we are back in the USA and excited to be ever closer to our destination. It reminded me of seeing the Gulf of Mexico for the first time after crossing into Mexico from Guatemala. It’s a wonderful feeling to know we are so close to our destination.
We spent about 80 miles today on gravel roads that were either under construction, being renovated or forgotten. One thing nice about crossing into Alaska; the roads are very nice and a significant improvement over what we experienced for the last several days on the Alaskan Highway.
Besides crossing into to Alaska, the highlight today was seeing a Grizzly. It was big and ferocious looking. It didn’t seem to have too much interest in watching us as some of the other bears had been. As quick as we saw it, it sauntered off into the trees after 30 seconds or so. I think we interrupted its morning snack of berries from some bushes near the road. What an amazing sight to see this beautiful animal in the wild.
Another fun moment (at least for Dave) was when I stopped a little too close to a black bear next to the road. I was looking toward Dave for a picture and the bear was coming at me. Dave failed to be in any hurry to mention to me that I was in harms way. Once he finally brought it to my attention that the bear was headed my way, I couldn’t get my bike started quick enough and also realized that a Harley Davidson doesn’t start off very well in third gear. Lesson learned. I lived to ride another day.
Our first stop in Tok Alaska was at a Thai food truck (or trailer in this case). As we usually do, we rely on Trip Advisor and Yelp for accommodations and eating recommendations. This little Thai restaurant was ranked well and highly recommended. We were glad we stopped. It was delicious.
Each day we try to find time to kick back and rest a bit. And every evening we look forward to a good night of rest in anticipation of a new day. It makes a difference riding with people you really enjoy, and the MWAM riders have all been first class people to travel with. As we all have learned, you’ve gotta have a sense of humor to make it this far. And above all, find time to stop and smell “whatever is growing beside the road”.
We realize the hardest part is still yet ahead of us. On Wednesday we will ride the Dalton Highway up to the Arctic Circle and then back to Fairbanks.
We continue to be amazed at how smooth this trip has gone. We are right on schedule!
As always, we are posting videos and other interesting photos on Instagram and Twitter.
@GeraldSmith
@DavidClouseUS