Home Sweet Home- Pa. to Alaska

I am finally home-six weeks and almost 14,000 miles. It was an adventure of a lifetime-one that will give fond memories for years to come. We had a motel twice and stayed indoors about ll times-the remainder we tented and sometimes went, "tentless in Montana". There is something peaceful and serene about sleeping under the stars-it's something you have to do-as it cannot be described.
We saw many beautiful sights, but better yet, we met hundreds of wonderful people. Traveling around North America renews your faith in people. Watching the evening news on TV gives a negative view. We saw no TV or heard no radio. In fact, we just learned that Michael Jackson died.

I love Nike's Slogan-JUST DO IT! If you hope or dream of doing an adventure-climb A mountain, canoe a river, hike the Appalachian Trail, or take a road trip-JUST DO IT! You'll never regret the decision.

Beat Up-Pa. to Alaska

Not me- my BMW R100GS. I though the bike should have held up better than it did. I bought it new in 1992 and it had 26,000 miles before starting the trip.
I replaced the drive shaft and the seal, plus the alternator. Both front shocks have blown their seals spraying oil on the engine. The front fender vibrated three of the four bolts free- I am lucky to have seen the flopping fender. Both saddle bags are destroyed and my tires are bald.
Bruce's R1200GS needing nothing and ran flawless. It was really loaded as he had an entire workshop in the saddlebags-air compressor, tools,electrical testing equipment, jumper cables battery charger plus two tires on top and a breathing machine with a 100 foot extension cord.
Looks like I will be spending some money at Hermey's BMW. I will also be on the market for a newer bike.
Bottom line- bikes are expendable-especially for memories. My best friend Dave died from cancer a few years ago. At his memorial service a card was given to everyone. It reads: Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely and in a pretty well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, breathless, thoroughly used up, totally worn our and loudy proclaiming, WOW_WHAT A RIDE! ( I wrote a book about my friend Dave-you can read a portion of it in this blog-see "Book of David"- it is at the beginning-the second posting)
That's my philosophy-when I finally reach the rest home, I can say with no regrets, "It's good to sit a spell"!

Sturgis, South Dakota

Sturgis is not for me. There are too many T shirt stands and too many people. I think we had the dirtiest bikes in town

Leaving Conrad-with sadness

"We're Back In The Saddle Again" - I can still hear Roy or Gene singing that song in the 50's. Yes-we are riding again-thanks to the wonderful folks at Bliss Motors. If any of you riders need MC repairs, oil change, or anything, this is the place to go. Paul, the mechanic even called BMW to get the correct torque requirements. The price was great and the work was excellent-thanks so much.

I find this fact amazing-the parts I needed were shipped from Virginia at two in the afternoon and they arrived in Conrad around two the next afternoon. I haven't received the shipping bill yet-but I am prepared.

I want to thank the people in Conrad--you are the greatest The day we were leaving we stopped in the super market to get some fruit ( What are the symptoms of beri beri?). The check out lady asked if our bikes were fixed yet. We said how did you know She said, "Small Town".

I Love Marge! The night before we left I asked her to go out drinking with me-as a date. She said I was 40 years too late She is a feisty character and if you read this blog-you know I am a "Character Magnet". Marge is a good example of not judging a book by the cover. She told me she had a 10,000 acre ranch outside of town. She gave me one of her ram's heads as a souvenir.and I put it on the back of my bike. We are headed for Sturgis so I should fit in (not really-with a BMW).

Goodbye to Barbie of the Chamber, Harold of the Historical Soc and Helen of the Art Soc, to the wonderful folks at the Moose, and especially Paul, Kurt, Larry and all at Bliss Motors. As MacArthur said. "I shall return"!

A Ray of Sunshine-Conrad, Montana

Yup-we're real cowboys-or homeless. I feel we are qualified after spending the night in a drainage ditch along the interstate. Three guys stopped to see the "wreck". They said they saw us lying along the interstate-figured we had an accident as few folks would choose to camp there.
Now, to the Ray of Sunshine-Conrad Montana. When we awoke the next morning, we had to get the bike to a dealer and the closest was in Conrad. We hooked jumper cables from Bruce's bike to mine-charged the battery-unhooked all the lights to save "juice"-and limped into Bliss Motors.
Conrad is absolutely delightful-a small prairie town with the friendliest people you could ever find. The dealer agreed to repair the bike but we had to furnish the parts(he was a Honda Dealer). Bruce called a friend in Virginia and he agreed to ship the parts -next day delivery. We had 1-3 days in Conrad-and we had the best time. For starters , I got a "store bought" haircut for $7 (locals said it went up from five) It was so good and the price was right-I thought about getting another one.. Then off to the library for blogging. I asked the librarian if the computers had a card reader-she said no but I could use the one is her office. I then went to the local historical society's museum and had a great private tour. My guide said her grandparents homesteaded here and showed me pictures of sod houses. It was "Little House on the Prairie". The finale-off to the local Moose for a super time. We met the locals and they were great. People started buying rounds-tall stories and drinks were "flying" There was a great mix of farmers, cattle and sheep ranchers. Stories of the latter are unprintable in this blog. We closed the place. I think everyone in town knows of the two guys from Pa. who broke down in Conrad.

Talking Tumbleweed-I-15-Montana

I've rolled along a lot of prairie in my time, but this is the strangest critter I ever seen.

Could thngs get worse?-BMW -Alberta

We spent the night in our "blacktop suite"- I don't know why our freebie camps are always next to a train. The next day we checked to see if our much needed parts had come in. BAD NEWS! The seal came but the valuable universal joint and shaft were back ordered-16 days-I'm stuck!
What are my options? I could sell the bike and fly home or I could wait a week or two or I could buy a new bike-they had loads of them in stock. More bad news-Canadian BMW Bikes can't be brought into the states, nor can many makes.
We took the damaged part to a commercial bearing and universal joint company. They jury-rigged it to get me at least 1000 miles-maybe. Back to the dealership-had the part installed-and we were on our way. We were determined to not stop riding until we reached the US in Montana-at least I can buy a bike there. At the border crossing around midnight, the guards were quite serious. Bruce went first, then they motioned me to come forward. After they gave me the 3rd degree (maybe 2 nd) they said I could pass. I asked them where I could buy gasoline and they said they had given all that info to my partner. I said, He is not my partner-just my riding buddy. They cracked up!
Things get worse! At two in the morning, my bike stops in the middle of nowhere-along a four lane highway (15) south of the border. We have no choice-we sleep in the grassy ditch along the road. We didn't even pitch a tent. Check or my "partner's veil". As dawn broke a pick up truck pulled alongside by bike with three guys inside. They said they stopped to see the wreck. They saw one bike in the ditch and stuff scattered arouns-so we must have wrecked.

This morning we charged the battery using Bruce's Bike.and limped into Conrad Montana. We are camping awaiting parts for the alternator and a new universal shaft (the one I had repaired is vibrating like........)

West Edmonton Mall, Alberta

Cowboys don't go t malls, but this one is different. It is the biggest in Canada and probably second to the one in Minneapolis. Do you want to skate on a regulation Ice Skating rink.... or maybe ride in a submarine....... or how would like to surf some waves in a large indoor wave pool the size of a football field? Every day at 2 and 4 p.m. you can watch sea lions perform. It is a "hoot".

Argyll BMW Edmonton, Alberta

I "limped" into Argyll and Colin the service manager kindly took care of us immediately. They really go out of their way to help "adventure riders" that are passing through. I went into the shop and Andrew the technician showed me the bad news. The front universal joint on the drive shaft was toast. Now for the really bad news, the whole drive shaft has to be replaced to the tune of $1,220 plus labor.... it is hopefully being shipped in the next day. Since our mobility is reduced to one bike the question became how far do I want to ride behind Bruce. How about if set up camp in the dealership parking lot on the black-top? It is a win-win.. the price is right and we are close.

Grand Prairie, Alberta

"Oh bury me not on the lone Prairie" and the song almost came true. The Beemer broke down, well started breaking down. We had ridden hard from Dawson Creek and coming into Grand Prairie the sky turned blue-black. We donned rain gear and said "what the hell, we are cowboys, let's ride". Four hours later the rain was coming down so hard we could hardly see, we were soaked and cold with temps in the low 40"s. We saw a sign...... Motel Rooms $59. We thought maybe we would be cowboys tomorrow instead. The non- American host said no rooms for $59..... all $99. Both of the cheap rooms were filled. What a come-on. I gave Bruce the "look" and he said in his best Clint Eastwood voice, "let's ride". Forest Gump said, "stupid is as stupid does". We are both "is and does"and so we rode into the night in heavy rain. We finally found a provincial park and set up camp. If you have ever set up camp in a driving rain with ferocious mosquito's.... it is the pits. By the time you get the tent up and the rain fly on, everything inside and out is wet. You get into a wet tent with wet clothes and the worst part is yet to come....... packing up the next day with everything wet.... yuck.... and many pounds heavier.. that is as bad as it gets in motorcycle camping. The rain and heavy cross winds followed us the next day all the way to Edmonton, Alberta. It made us made us break our vow of "no motels". We had not been in one since Indiana but we broke and got one here.
My bike was making "unhappy" noises for the last hundred miles and was getting worse. It is a good thing that it broke down here, as this is the farthest north-west BMW dealership in Canada and is 2,036 miles from the Arctic circle. We were in some extremely remote places since the Arctic circle and any breakdown there would have been disasterous with a long tow job before any work could be done.

Dawson City, Yukon

You reach Dawson City form the north, by driving the Taylor Highway-known as the Top of the World Highway. From, Tok it is 68 miles to Chicken, Alaska- and then another 106 to Dawson-all dirt.
They have a free ferry so you can cross the Yukon River into town. Dawson is neat-it was here that gold was discovered and this was the destination for thousand of hopeful souls. Very few of them struck it rich.
Dawson hasn't change much since the gold rush. The streets are dirt and the sidewalks are boards. Almost all the building are original-zoning has done a good job.
We visited Dredge # 4-a monster mining machine that scoops buckets of gravel from the creek bed-then dumps it into a revolving steel drum perforated with holes-allowing small particles and gold to fall into the collecting boards. All debris (tailings) are pushed out the back. We hit the jackpot on our visit-a man named Bil German was on out tour-he worked on this dredge in 1957-1959. It was great as he explained so much- the tour guide was taking notes.
Later, Alex tried his hand at panning gold-it didn't pan out (groan).

Sourtoe Cocktail-Dawson City, Yukon

It's a real human toe-severed by a prospector because it was so badly frostbitten. He preserved it in a jar and....
This gruesome affair started when a bragging sea captain -new to the area- was set up by the local river captains. They told him that you aren't a real Riverboat Captain until you drink sourtoe cocktail. He did it and that's how it all began.
You get a shot of Yukon Jack and then take it to the corner of the Saloon-Captain Dick reads the rules: the toe must touch your lips; no chewing biting or swallowing of the toe-if you do you must replace it with one of yours. He then places the real toe in your shot of whiskey and the rest is up to you. What kind of fool would do a dumb thing like this?

Chena Hot Springs, Alaska

Located 60 miles from Fairbanks the Hot Springs became famous for curing crippled prospectors of thier aches and pains. Here you can see an old sourdough smooth talking a "sweetdough". I asked Alex to be the lifeguard for Bruce-he said no-he wanted to learn how to meet girls. I placed him on the rock between them and said, "Listen and learn, Grasshopper-on what NOT to say to pick up girls.