Badge of Honor

As a follow-on to our adventure I've compiled a few photos and notes on equipment performance and mementos left on the bikes:
Both of the new LED driving lights on the BMW had lenses and plastic protective covers broken from flying rocks and gravel on roads under construction (destruction). We shipped replacement parts to Brookings, but really needed the lights for the dark mountain road between Grant's Pass and Brookings following the blowout on the Drifter. This was the only real "night" operation for the trip, as Alaska was enjoying 22 hours of daylight during our time there. The designed placement of the Lexan cover directly onto the glass lens seems to contribute to the breakage by preventing the cover from flexing while absorbing impacts.
Still working with Pirate's Lair to get another rain cover for the Bags Connection tank bag damaged by the hailstorm on day one. No rush... The clear packing tape I applied to both sides seemed to work through some fairly heavy rains over the remaining 21 days of the trip.
The Lexan headlight protector from Cee Bailey absorbed a ton of bug and rock damage and kept the $500 headlight lens intact. Good investment, but now unnecessary for normal roads.
The Fenda Extenda did a great job of keeping rocks from damaging the radiator on the BMW, but was eventually chewed away by gravel and road debris.
This is the front of the right pannier on the BMW. Most of the forward-facing components on both bikes took a few chips and nicks from the gravel sections of road. Interestingly the Dalton Highway, which was my biggest concern going into the trip, was mostly asphalt or dirt and has relatively few sections of loose gravel.
The is the front-right side of the Drifter's fuel tank.
The left fork-slider on the front of the Drifter took at least one hit from a rock large enough to bend the upper cover. The resulting dent left a stripe where the two parts now scrape against each other as the suspension flexes.
My normal reaction to chips and scrapes on the bikes would be to start ordering replacement parts for the damaged components, but at this point I'm more inclined to take a few weekends to clean the bikes up, repair the Drifter's fork slider, remove the fender extension on the BMW and view the remaining dings as a Badge of Honor from our adventure.

Thank you Christopher for taking three weeks out to join me on this adventure. I truly enjoyed your company, your sense of humor, and your writing!

Thank you Kaytie, for lending me your husband even though it placed you thousands of miles apart on your second anniversary.

Thank you Rick for assembling all of the research and reservations along the way.

Thank you FC, Scott, and Biju for flying up to Alaska and joining us for the final miles to Arctic Circle. Good friends are hard to come by, and you are some of the very best.

Thank you Nita, for fostering the dream of this trip and encouraging me to "find a way" when plans changed and and success looked unlikely. Your love and support make each day a treasure.

Home again, home again!

We arrived safely back in Mustang, OK just before 6:00 this evening. Kaytie and her family were tracking us on SPOT and met us in the driveway with sparkling cider. We completed the trip at 7,274 miles across 22 days. What an adventure!


The last block...


Parked in the driveway.


Kaytie and Christopher reunited.


Cheers! (thanks for taking the picture Jenna!)

Safe and sound in Pueblo

We managed to skirt rain most of the day while we enjoyed the beauty of the Rockies and some great twisties, but eventually spent an hour in steady rain before breaking out and pulling into Pueblo. Now for an evening with Don & Arleen, the Boyz and their families.


The crest of Monarch Pass, at the Continental Divide, 11,312' ASL.


The view from Monarch Pass.


Bikes wet, riders dry @ Pueblo.

Oregon, California, Nevada, & Utah

We left Brookings yesterday morning, driving out through the redwood and pine forests and mountains. We eventually climbed to the high desert and spent the night at Winnemucca, NV. A stark contrast as the tallest vegetation in Nevada was primarily juniper and sagebrush.


Today we continued southeast into Utah, passing the Bonneville Salt Flats, the Great Salt Lake, Salt Lake City, and stopping on I-70 near the Colorado border at Green River. Like many of the northern tributaries, the river is bank full...


More white than we saw in Alaska at the Bonneville Salt Flats, but still in the upper 90's today.


Between Salt Lake City and Green River.


Green River, bank to bank.


We're off to Pueblo tomorrow, then home on Friday. Great trip, but looking forward to seeing friends and family in Mustang!

Over the Divide

Fog is a constant in Brookings, at least when I've been there. Most mornings in the spring and summer it rolls in off the ocean and leaves the coast socked in for miles. Sticks around till noon too. We rolled out into the hazy early and headed south towards the Smith River pass, Redwood Highway. It was a cool 55 degrees, really not bad considering what we'd gone through up north. The road runs over the mountains towards Grant's Pass, and it's all kinds of madcap fun. The cliffs over the river are steep and the road hugs all the curves, so it's awesome on a bike. Except when you get stuck behind a minivan with the creeping horrors of going over 35 on a corner. God bless turnouts and passing lanes, and CDoT for keeping the road in good shape

It was hot over the mountains, and it rolled down the pass. We started in full gear, but once we got into Grant's Pass it was too hot for any of it.

We opted to take a less direct route back to Oklahoma, we're trying to keep out of the southern desert as much as we can. Nonetheless, we still kept a pretty straight path east, one mountain after another. The forests of pine shrank like a film in reverse, the climate growing dryer as we approached the high plains.

There was a pause there at the end of the Cascades. The mountains dropped away behind us and a wall of rock out to either horizon before us, distant at the end of a long valley. For long miles we raced toward the wall but at the last second we turned to the south and climbed along the cliffside, ascending hundreds of feet over the scrubland. We had reached the high desert.

It was like riding through a Western, all mesa, scrub, and rock spires. The air smells like spearmint up there. I don't know which plant it was, maybe some kind of sage, but it was great. Eventually even a sweet-smelling desert begins to drag, and I was happy to call it a day in Winnemucca.

A few photos from the Fourth

Fireworks still pending, but some great sights from the beach house in Brookings already today.


Nita, Howard, and Ginger.


Christopher collected some interesting sea glass.


Flowers in the backyard at the beach house.


More flowers from the backyard.


A deer and two fawns that walked through the backyard this morning.


Great view of the jetty where the fireworks will be launched tonight!

A note from Nita

Need an extra quiet getaway? Feel as if technology is taking over your life and family? Have I got a vacation idea for you!!

My favorite members of the motorcycle gang invited me on one leg of their journey. Really, they invited me on the whole trip but I was too wimpy to take them up on it! Anyway I joined them on their first leg homeward. We departed last Monday at 11:45 pm from the port at Whittier, Alaska on a 435 foot ocean going ferry called the M/V Kennicott. We sailed on the Marine Highway from Whittier across the Alaska Gulf into the inside passage arriving at our destination Bellingham, Washington at 8:00 am the following Saturday.

Why a Ferry you ask? Well, it was a somewhat economical way to portage the bikes back to the lower 48 for their journey back to Oklahoma. There are 11 Alaskan Marine Highway ferries and each is configured in a different way. Ours had 109 sleeping rooms, several sun decks for sleeping baggers and tents, plus space for 80 cars or cycles (and pets). Their were numerous common areas for sitting, visiting, playing games, and watching the breathtaking scenery. They also had a full cafeteria which served remarkably good food.

What stands out about this particular getaway more than any other vacation is the complete rest, relaxation, and comradery we experienced. People had time to enjoy each other, make new acquaintances, and view spectacular scenery at about 16 knots. No one was a stranger and you enjoyed tales of their travels and life. The same could be said for the 48 crew members who seemed like family by the end of the week.

I thank God and my sweet family for allowing me to experience such a delightful journey through one of the most beautiful places on earth.

--Nita

A bump in the road

As we headed south from the ferry at Bellingham, WA to join Nita's family in Brookings, OR we experienced our first "in flight failure." Christopher's rear tire, just installed in Fairbanks about 600 miles and a ferry ride before, failed catastrophically at around 70 mph. Thankfully, he was able to manage it to a safe stop, but we ended up on the inside shoulder of I-5 in heavy traffic. AAA sent a wrecker which took us to the nearest Kawasaki dealer (Taylor Motorcycles at Woodburn, OR, about 20 miles south of the flat).


It's ALWAYS a bit of a low-rider, but not this low...


A sad but welcome sight, the Drifter is safely aboard the wrecker.


Our thanks to Dale, Lee, and Cody of Taylor Motorcycles who took excellent care of us late on the Saturday afternoon before a holiday weekend. We would have been sunk without your help!

Notes from an Ocean Journey

I feel like I should condense the ferry posts a bit, the days where we didn't stop in port tend to blur together. My morning usually with the announcement for the morning car check. They let the passengers down there three times a day to check on things, and, more importantly, walk your dog if you brought one. I feel pretty sorry for most of these animals, cooped up in cars or crates for most of the day. At least they get some exercise at port.

The cafeteria serves some pretty solid food. You hear the word cafeteria and your mind immediately travels back to school and the comestible horrors therein, but the cooks on the Kennikott actually care about what they serve.

The first day on the ship, before lunch, we got our first glimpse of whales. A pod of orcas passed by our port side, half a dozen including a mother and young. A few hours later a small group of porpoises played alongside our boat.

That evening we pulled into Yakutat, a tiny village three-quarters to nowhere. No roads run to it, the only way to get there is by boat or plane. We had a few hours to kill, so we disembarked to stretch our legs and hopefully find a restaurant. We never did find a place to eat, but we did find a really well-equipped general store, which would have been great if we had a kitchen, but alas.

A few of the other passengers went looking for a liquor store for some cheap hooch, but it was a savings of something like fifty cents, so they said forget it. Life is hard when everything comes into town the same way you did.

Dad got some good photos of bald eagle, at least, before we had to get back on board. We wound up getting dinner in the cafeteria again, sweet and sour pork ribs!

We traveled through fog and rain through most of the journey. Slate-grey water below, grey sky above, and green mountainous islands looming out of the mist on either side. Several times we came out of a channel into the open sea and the wild seas would roll across the ship. Never enough to cause alarm, it was more entertaining than anything.

The next day opened grey, but we stopped that morning in Juneau, the capital of Alaska. The port was several miles outside of town, so we took a taxi into the town center for lunch at the Sandpiper. It's existed in one form or another for decades, and the food was awesome. A chicken salad that blew my parents away and a quality corned beef sandwich with au jus for me.

We had a full day before our next stop, but things didn't get too boring. One of the mothers hosted a pirate treasure hunt to entertain the younger passengers, they spent most of the day on a scavenger hunt figuring out clues leading from one part of the ship to the next.

At lunch the next day we pulled into Ketchikan. It's been many things over the last hundred years, fishing, logging, and now tourism each taking the fore in the city's history. We took a tour bus into town, regaled by tales by the local driver. He took us past the river that runs through the middle of town, pointing out the salmon ladder that let's the fish get upstream to spawn. He also pointed out the ex- red light district built out over the tidelands, now converted into jewelry stores and tourist stops for the cruise folk. It was a short stop, so after we bolted some fish (some of the poorer cod I've had this trip) it was back on the bus then back on the ship.

Sights along the way

We had a day and a half "at sea" between Ketchikan and Bellingham. Most protected by the inland waterways, but some areas exposed to the open ocean and a bit bumpy. Mostly another rainy day, as this area gets 160+ inches of rain and parts get over 200 inches of snow as well. Lots of ship traffic and narrowing waterways between the islands on both sides.


A rainbow over the water.


Another lighthouse.


A grain freighter.


Nice break in the clouds.


A barge filled with containers, boats, trucks, and a front-loader. It's amazing what ends up on top of the stacked containers.


The tug pulling the barge. Two heavy chains separate the tug from the barge by what appears to be ~1,000 feet.

Stopover in Ketchikan

We spent a few hours in Ketchikan, our last stop prior to riding south at Bellingham, WA on Saturday and home to the $400M Bridge to Nowhere project. Interesting to hear the other side of the story: the bridge would have connected Ketchikan with a neighboring island where their airport is located, replacing the current ferry system. The high cost was greatly due to the tall spans required to allow cruise ships to pass underneath.

Here's some of the beauty we saw...


Home on a private island.


Ketchikan is known for its' totem poles, we saw several great carvings.


A fish ladder to help the Salmon get upstream to spawn.


Nita downloaded a copy of Camera+, nice effects!


The harbor at Ketchikan. Busy place!


Lots of seaplane traffic. Almost all deHavilland Beavers.


And lovely flowers.


Poppies.