2009 Alaska Motorcycle Trip

Archive for the ‘Day 18’ Category

Dean was able to update the blog by the photos we sent via the phone. It really helps to have Dean handy for those posts during the day. Thanks again.

And again, we really do enjoy reading all the posts even though we hardly responded to much of them, but we get a good laugh and a boost from reading them and it makes doing the blog worthwhile. It is really enjoyable. And that Video Allen, excellent!

I’m over the worst of the crud I caught earlier in the week– seem to last about a good 4 days. I cough up enough green stuff over those four days and left a trail so I can find my way back to Alaska next year.

This morning we got an early start around 7ish after talking to some other bikers from Pennsylvania who were on a 28 day trip for hitting all the lower 49 states. They were on their way for Hyder to get Alaska off their list (Dean and Lisa – you did that in 7 days???). You meet all sorts of other riders while on the road. Most are on vacation and some turn it into both business and pleasure, like these two from Vancouver who were riding their Beamers for both business meetings and then a pleasure ride yesterday.

This morning when we left Prince George there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the forecast did not call for rain.

And we did not hit any showers today. This is the first day we had with absolutely no rain. As the day progress it just got better and warmer.

The border crossing was rather short. Sure beats the TJ border crossing..

And as soon as we crossed, we called the nearest dealer to hook us up for some new rubber. We arrived at the dealership and 4:30, and at 5:30 we were done and ready to roll again. This happen because BS pulled the tires off the bikes, they would swap out the tires, and then BS would put it back on. By the time I paid my bill, the write up clerk said my tire is at the side of the building. I looked outside and told him I think it is already back on my bike – and it was…

We didn’t want to bother with rush hour traffic, so we hit a Sports Bar and Grill nearby and had an early dinner. We planned to ride to the other side of Seattle as to not be bothered by morning rush hour. That meant riding all the way to Olympia.

So it is 12:00 pm – Steve is already sawing logs, and I’ll try and find my ear plugs and get some sleep tonight. We figure we will be home in a couple of days. Not quite sure of our route yet. We may take I-5 through Mount Shasta region, then maybe cut over to Highway 101, or maybe I-5 to highway 101, or maybe I-5 and do a couple of mountain passes over the Sierra’s…. That is the fun part – not knowing yet and not really caring either.

Dean here:

4:30 PM:  The boyz started early and made a run to the border!   They encountered good weather all the way.  Especially loving how the day warmed up as they got closer the the US.  It took all of 15 minutes to cross the Sumas border crossing.

They are at Mt Backer Moto-Sports, Bellingham WA getting new rubber.

This puts them back on I-5 around 5:30 PM.  Peak Seattle rush hour.  Their goal is to spend the night somewhere between south Seattle and Portland.