Hey everyone!
Sorry it's been so long. I would put some excuse here, but I don't really have one. So here you go!
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Day 13: Alcan 5000 Day 8
Fairbanks, AK to Valdez, AK
Man, this was one spectacular ride.
There was a TSD in the morning, I wish I remembered more about it. I don't remember us doing very well, but that's alright. c:
This was a pretty long day, I don't remember the mileage, but it seemed really long. Daddio and I went up someplace in the mountains (surprise, surprise). Million dollar view at the gas station we stopped at. I wish I knew the name of the place we stopped at. There, we checked in for an extreme control (basically free points) and went off on a dirt road adventure.
Wow, that was a long road. Looked like it might rain in a few spots, I'm pretty glad it didn't, although it did rain in a few places before we got there. As seems to be the usual up north, we ran into road construction. This stuff was probably the worst we encountered on the rally. Large rocks, loose dirt and gravel make for a very bumpy ride. We made it through, good thing too, because once we passed that, a tour bus was prepping to drive over that mess that might have once been a dirt road some time ago.
There were some amazing views along the way. Reminded me of the high desert back in Oregon with UM & AJ. Miss you!
We stopped at a view point, so I could walk around and stretch and NOT fall asleep. Oh, and to view 4 or 5 glaciers at one time. That was awesome.
A little ways after that, the dirt road ended and we pulled up to a gas station, fueled up, and continued to Valdez.
After that, the road was much smoother, and, instead of high desert, we drove through more pine forest. It was a nice change, but nothing I hadn't seen before. It ended up raining on us anyway, luckily, I already had my rainsuit on. Hooray!
Although, as nice as they are, it doesn't do much good against the feeling of hail. Sort of felt like getting shot with an airsoft rifle. Annoying, but I made it through okay. =]
We drove through the forest a while and then needed to drive through a mountain pass to get to Valdez. It's a one-way-in-one-way-out place. So, the only way in was through that pass. Not a big deal.
I was right, for the most part. The road was in good condition, a bit of construction where it had been washed out, but nothing major.
Did I mention the pass reminded me of New Zealand? I've never been there, but have you seen Lord of the Rings? It was like that. Amazing. This was probably my favorite day, on the whole trip. Just for this pass.
There were two construction sites in the pass, got through the first one, no problem. We stopped at the second one because the guy we were riding with wanted to take pictures, and rightfully so, it was spectacular.
When we stopped, Daddio got out to take some photos of the rig. He got out, and turned around, and there was a rainbow. So, naturally, I had to get out and look, because I can't turn around in the sidecar to get a good enough look at the stuff behind me.
That was no ordinary rainbow. It was a double rainbow. That was probably one of the coolest parts of the whole trip. Man, I can't get over how amazing that was. Makes me giddy. c:
Sadly, we had to press on, otherwise we wouldn't be there until later, and that did not sit well with us, as we were both fairly hungry. The good news was that Valdez was no more than 30 minutes away from where we had stopped
About 20 miles before we got there, we drove through the deepest part of the pass. There was a river along with a hand full of water falls. Lovely. =]
We finally arrived in Valdez around, um, sometime late I think. Maybe 8. Daddio and I checked into our rooms, then went out with a few other Alcan dudes in search of food. We meandered around for a bit before deciding on this tiny seafood place.
The man in charge reminded me of a cross between Bootstrap Bill from Pirates of the Carribean and Snape from Harry Potter, but with less hair. Very interesting man, I believe he was Italian. Anyway, at the little restaurant, I discovered that I like mussels, dislike oysters, and still love calamari.
I ordered the shrimp scampi. The shrimp was fantastic, the pasta, not so much. It was far too lemony for my taste. I did eat quite a bit of it though, being as hungry as I was.
After dinner, we headed back to the hotel. I took a shower, brushed my teeth and went promptly to bed. What a day.
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Day 14: Alcan 5000 Day 9
Valdez, AK to Anchorage, AK
Ah, the last day of the Alcan, not a terribly difficult one, but there were three TSD sections. I remember one was at the very beginning, pretty confusing to navigate. They Alcan staff ended up throwing that one out because so many people got confused. Good for us I suppose.
The trip through the mountain pass was easily as spectacular going the other way, except for the sun. You know when you go somewhere earlier in the morning or early evening and the sun is in just the right spot to annoy you no matter where you turn? It was like that. Ick.
There really wasn't much to this day to make it all that memorable, and the only reason I say that is because I don't remember much about it. Oh! I do remember that the biscuits and gravy in the free continental breakfast were better tasting than the stuff I got in Fairbanks, at the other fancy schmancy buffet.
What I do remember is that we missed the turn to the hotel and needed to backtrack a little, but that was no problem. I also remember the family-style dinner setting, and the dessert bar. There were ribs, corn fritters, baked chicken, fries, and iced tea. Man, that was really tasty.
After we ate both dinner and dessert, it was time to announce the awards. I didn't think I was going to get anything, but what a lovely surprise I got! I received an "award" for the first person to ever complete the Alcan 5000 in a sidecar. That was really cool, stood up in front of everyone and they took pictures. I'm pretty sure I was as red as my sweatshirt., if not more so.
Once all the awards were handed out, Daddio and I, along with a bunch of other people, headed back to the hotel for some rest.
Took a shower (as usual) and headed to sleep early, since I needed to be up really early to catch my flight the next day.
..........
Day 15: The Trip Home
Anchorage, AK to Paso Robles, CA
Okay, THIS was a long day.
I had to wake up somewhere around 4:30 in the morning to catch the shuttle to the airport at 5:20 to catch my flight at 7. Ick. Oh, I might have forgotten to mention that it is an hour earlier in Alaska than where I live, so when Mom called around 5 something Alaska time, she thought it was 6 something because she didn't know there was a time change. Don't panic Mom!
Once I got my first boarding pass and checked my suitcase, Daddio walked with me through security until I found my gate. Then we sat and waited for my flight. Being my first time flying by myself, I was a bit nervous, but I made it on the plane, found my seat, and broke out the music. I tried to fall asleep, but couldn't get comfortable. My head was too far from the window to rest in it, and too far from the raised parts between the windows to rest on one of those. Grumble grumble. So I ended up not sleeping, and instead listened to my music and watched the scenery. Wow, that was a lot of cloud cover. We landed without incident and exited the plane.
Upon arriving, I called Mom to ask her where my next gate was, because I didn't have my boarding passes. I had an hour or so to kill before my flight, so I waited at the gate for someone to show up. An airport staff member showed up about 30 minutes before the flight, I got my boarding passes and got on the plane. Hooray! This was a fairly short flight, two Hawaiian women sat next to me and began talking to each other. The older of the two apparently has something like 17 grandchildren. Wow.
After getting to San Fransisco, Mom and I met up and we wandered around the airport for a while. We had around 4 hours to kill because of our layover. Woo.
We had lunch, walked around, bought some stuff, got some dessert, then meandered over to our gate.
Our flight was supposed to be around 6 something I believe. The flight was late. Fantastic.
So, we finally boarded the plane at 7:45 or so, and landed at about 8:30. It took about a half hour to get luggage, not bad, but not great. Threw stuff in the car and headed home.
We arrived home about 9:30. Mom had made macaroni and cheese with sausage, and Shirley Temples. Yum yum.
Then, I promptly went to bed.
Aaaand that's it! I'm sorry about not having this up sooner, but here you go. =]
It's been a fun journey, and I'd definitely do it again, but not right away. I'll miss every single one of those wonderful people I met on this trip. If you're reading this, I hope you're well!
Thanks for sticking with me as long as you have, hopefully I'll have more adventures in the future. I'll be sure to record them here!
Thanks for reading!
That's all! (For now, of course. ;) )
Kit
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Day 12: Alcan 5000 Day 7
This was actually typed up on Day 12, but I didn't post it until today because I had no internet.
Here you go!
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Whitehorse, YT to Fairbanks, AK
Or, as an alternate title, "I Don't Feel Very Smart"
Man, I'm tired, understandable, I hope, since I woke up at 5AM and travelled 600 miles to get here. Sleeepy
No! I have to type this! I must press onward!
So, as you know already, I woke up at 5AM. I quickly shut off my alarm so as not to wake my roomie (ended up waking her anyway, oopsies, sorry!), then jumped out of bed to get ready for the day. Daddio had bought brownies the night before to have for breakfast, since we didn't have much time.
I was ready a little earier than planned and walked over to Daddio's room. Poor thing, he didn't get much sleep because his roommate snored really loud. :c
He made some coffee, had a brownie, as did I, and off we went.
It was really cold this morning, so I had the heated jacket and gloves, because Daddio is awesome. He had a vest and fleece pullover. I have no idea how he stays so warm.
Once we got clear of Whitehorse, the road was really uneven and bumpy. It was actually kinda fun. Sort of like a roller coaster. :]
I saw another bear. Bigger than the last one, but that might have just been because it was right next to the road, instead of off to the side.
Anyway, I started to get extremely cold. More so than before. I figured I was getting sick and kept going.
About a hour later, I told Daddio I couldn't feel my feet and that I wanted to ride in the car. He said that was just fine, and when we pulled into a gas station a little ways before the border, I hopped out of my riding suit and into the car. I had to take off my shoes and socks and then sit cross legged so my feet would warm up. I was not feeling well.
We passed through the border, and went on our way to Tok, which is where the TSD was. Somewhere along the ride, I took a nap that was cut short by a sudden burst of hard rain. Uh oh.
Good news is, it was short lived, hooray!
We arrived in Tok, and went in the only restaurant there to have lunch. When I got inside and sat down, I was still shivering, like I had been drenched in water. I also noticed that my hads and feet had started to go numb. Turns out, I was having a hypoglycemic fit. Not a huge deal, just meant that I really needed to eat. That was reasonable, since I didn't have dinner, and only had a small brownie for breakfast.
We got our food fairly quickly. Good thing too, as a tour bus had just pulled up and let out a bunch of people. Daddio and I had patty melts. Yum yum.
Once lunch was over, it was time for the TSD. I programed the computer correctly this time. Hooray!
The TSD was on a dirt road that has pot holes and muddy puddles. It was great because once I told Daddio that we were going too slow, e plowed through a big puddle and splashed me with muddy water. It was awesome! He kept apologizing, but I was so happy my suit had finally gotten legitimately dirty that is wasn't a big deal. =]
After the TSD, we set out to Fairbanks. Not much happened at this time, except we almost ran out of gas. Luckily, one of the other Alcan people had some in a spare can that they gave to us. Yay!
We fuelled up a while after that, and rolled into the hotel parking lot. Now we're checked in and here I am, typing this blog.
That's all for today, I'm off to bed.
Thanks for reading!
Kit
Here you go!
.....
Whitehorse, YT to Fairbanks, AK
Or, as an alternate title, "I Don't Feel Very Smart"
Man, I'm tired, understandable, I hope, since I woke up at 5AM and travelled 600 miles to get here. Sleeepy
No! I have to type this! I must press onward!
So, as you know already, I woke up at 5AM. I quickly shut off my alarm so as not to wake my roomie (ended up waking her anyway, oopsies, sorry!), then jumped out of bed to get ready for the day. Daddio had bought brownies the night before to have for breakfast, since we didn't have much time.
I was ready a little earier than planned and walked over to Daddio's room. Poor thing, he didn't get much sleep because his roommate snored really loud. :c
He made some coffee, had a brownie, as did I, and off we went.
It was really cold this morning, so I had the heated jacket and gloves, because Daddio is awesome. He had a vest and fleece pullover. I have no idea how he stays so warm.
Once we got clear of Whitehorse, the road was really uneven and bumpy. It was actually kinda fun. Sort of like a roller coaster. :]
I saw another bear. Bigger than the last one, but that might have just been because it was right next to the road, instead of off to the side.
Anyway, I started to get extremely cold. More so than before. I figured I was getting sick and kept going.
About a hour later, I told Daddio I couldn't feel my feet and that I wanted to ride in the car. He said that was just fine, and when we pulled into a gas station a little ways before the border, I hopped out of my riding suit and into the car. I had to take off my shoes and socks and then sit cross legged so my feet would warm up. I was not feeling well.
We passed through the border, and went on our way to Tok, which is where the TSD was. Somewhere along the ride, I took a nap that was cut short by a sudden burst of hard rain. Uh oh.
Good news is, it was short lived, hooray!
We arrived in Tok, and went in the only restaurant there to have lunch. When I got inside and sat down, I was still shivering, like I had been drenched in water. I also noticed that my hads and feet had started to go numb. Turns out, I was having a hypoglycemic fit. Not a huge deal, just meant that I really needed to eat. That was reasonable, since I didn't have dinner, and only had a small brownie for breakfast.
We got our food fairly quickly. Good thing too, as a tour bus had just pulled up and let out a bunch of people. Daddio and I had patty melts. Yum yum.
Once lunch was over, it was time for the TSD. I programed the computer correctly this time. Hooray!
The TSD was on a dirt road that has pot holes and muddy puddles. It was great because once I told Daddio that we were going too slow, e plowed through a big puddle and splashed me with muddy water. It was awesome! He kept apologizing, but I was so happy my suit had finally gotten legitimately dirty that is wasn't a big deal. =]
After the TSD, we set out to Fairbanks. Not much happened at this time, except we almost ran out of gas. Luckily, one of the other Alcan people had some in a spare can that they gave to us. Yay!
We fuelled up a while after that, and rolled into the hotel parking lot. Now we're checked in and here I am, typing this blog.
That's all for today, I'm off to bed.
Thanks for reading!
Kit
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Days 10 and 11: Alcan 5000 Days 5 and 6
Well hi there. I would have posted a blog yesterday, but the internet at the hotel I was at was on the fritz. :c
I think I might be getting sick. Anyway, onto the blog!
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Day 10: Alcan 5000 Day 5
Whitehorse, YT to Dawson City, YT
Got up at 6AM, put on all my gear and went outside. It was raining, so Daddio and I put on our rain suits. He was complaining that his was difficult to put on, and that it was really tight. Mine, on the other hand, was dragging on the ground. I noticed that his suit had a silver buckle on it instead of dark grey. Turns out we had the wrong suits on. That was pretty hilarious. We went on the only TSD for that day, it was really fun. Mostly narrow dirt roads that were pretty muddy because it had been raining a while. However, we programed the computer incorrectly and picked up a bunch of points, oh well. Stillforfunstillforfunstillforfun.
This was a pretty easy day, around 300 or so miles.
There wasn't all that much to see, where I could see. (Daddio blocks the left side of the road.) We stopped for fuel a few places t make sure we made it to Dawson City. Oh, I forgot to mention that in Canada, you pay in cents per liter. It took me forever to figure that out. Gas is expensive here.
I took a nap on the way there, and Daddio put a towel around my neck so my head wouldn't bob around and hurt my neck. Isn't he great? c:
Once we made it to Dawson City, Daddio and I stopped at a little restaurant by the river (I believe it's the Yukon) and I had the best fish and chips I've ever had. Alaskan salmon and chips. Yeah baby.
After that, we checked into the hotel. I got a room to myself because my roomie pulled the pregnant lady rule and stayed in Whitehorse an extra day, since we were coming back.
We placed our stuff in the rooms and got settled, and then Daddio and I went and got ice cream. Butterscotch ripple for the win. We meandered around a little bit. Dawson City is an old west type town. The streets are all dirt and the buildings are all old.
Later, we got back to our rooms and I took a shower and headed to bed. There was a bar across the street that was really noisy, but I guess I was tired enough to fall asleep at 10. I woke up at 2ish and looked over at the window. There was the same amount of light at when I went to sleep. That weirded me out a little but I went back to sleep.
Day 11: Alcan 5000 Day 6
Dawson City, YT to Whitehorse, YT
This is basically the same trip as before, but I got to see the other side of the road. That was fantastic. Daddio got some pictures that I'll post once I get home. Pictures take a long time on this thing.
Daddio and I went to have breakfast at the hotel restaurant. He got some sort of omlette, and I got french toast. I've had nothing but bacon and eggs the past few days, so I started to get sick of it. Variety is the spice of life, is it not? I'm glad I had that.
A little while later, there was a TSD. I programed the computer, but we must be doing something wrong, it was way off again. I'm not sure how any points we've picked up yet, but it's still not a big deal. Good news though! We're not last. =]
There was a pause in the middle of the TSD to admire the view from where we were, it was amazing. We were above the fog, which was patchy, and the sun was just rising over the hill. Daddio got a picture, of course.
We had left our stuff in my hotel room so we wouldn't have to worry about any of it while we did the TSD. That was a good idea. We cruised back there, gathered our gear and headed back to Whitehorse.
We would have gone straight to Fairbanks from there the day after, but the Top of The World Highway is closed. :c
I didn't fall asleep this time! Instead I enjoyed the scenery I didn't get to see on the way there. Fantastic.
There's a few pictures, not to worry. =]
Other than that, today was pretty uneventful, but tomorrow, we're going to Fairbanks. That's around 600 miles. We also have to leave really early, about 6, which means I need to be up at 4:30 or something. I'm gonna crash out early tonight. Oh, and just so you know, there probably won't be a blog tomorrow, 600 miles is a long day, for anyone. I'll probably arrive, jump in the shower and fall asleep in it, maybe.
Also, sunburn on top of unburn. Owie. =[
That's all for now, thanks for reading!
Kit
I think I might be getting sick. Anyway, onto the blog!
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Day 10: Alcan 5000 Day 5
Whitehorse, YT to Dawson City, YT
Got up at 6AM, put on all my gear and went outside. It was raining, so Daddio and I put on our rain suits. He was complaining that his was difficult to put on, and that it was really tight. Mine, on the other hand, was dragging on the ground. I noticed that his suit had a silver buckle on it instead of dark grey. Turns out we had the wrong suits on. That was pretty hilarious. We went on the only TSD for that day, it was really fun. Mostly narrow dirt roads that were pretty muddy because it had been raining a while. However, we programed the computer incorrectly and picked up a bunch of points, oh well. Stillforfunstillforfunstillforfun.
This was a pretty easy day, around 300 or so miles.
There wasn't all that much to see, where I could see. (Daddio blocks the left side of the road.) We stopped for fuel a few places t make sure we made it to Dawson City. Oh, I forgot to mention that in Canada, you pay in cents per liter. It took me forever to figure that out. Gas is expensive here.
I took a nap on the way there, and Daddio put a towel around my neck so my head wouldn't bob around and hurt my neck. Isn't he great? c:
Once we made it to Dawson City, Daddio and I stopped at a little restaurant by the river (I believe it's the Yukon) and I had the best fish and chips I've ever had. Alaskan salmon and chips. Yeah baby.
After that, we checked into the hotel. I got a room to myself because my roomie pulled the pregnant lady rule and stayed in Whitehorse an extra day, since we were coming back.
We placed our stuff in the rooms and got settled, and then Daddio and I went and got ice cream. Butterscotch ripple for the win. We meandered around a little bit. Dawson City is an old west type town. The streets are all dirt and the buildings are all old.
Later, we got back to our rooms and I took a shower and headed to bed. There was a bar across the street that was really noisy, but I guess I was tired enough to fall asleep at 10. I woke up at 2ish and looked over at the window. There was the same amount of light at when I went to sleep. That weirded me out a little but I went back to sleep.
Day 11: Alcan 5000 Day 6
Dawson City, YT to Whitehorse, YT
This is basically the same trip as before, but I got to see the other side of the road. That was fantastic. Daddio got some pictures that I'll post once I get home. Pictures take a long time on this thing.
Daddio and I went to have breakfast at the hotel restaurant. He got some sort of omlette, and I got french toast. I've had nothing but bacon and eggs the past few days, so I started to get sick of it. Variety is the spice of life, is it not? I'm glad I had that.
A little while later, there was a TSD. I programed the computer, but we must be doing something wrong, it was way off again. I'm not sure how any points we've picked up yet, but it's still not a big deal. Good news though! We're not last. =]
There was a pause in the middle of the TSD to admire the view from where we were, it was amazing. We were above the fog, which was patchy, and the sun was just rising over the hill. Daddio got a picture, of course.
We had left our stuff in my hotel room so we wouldn't have to worry about any of it while we did the TSD. That was a good idea. We cruised back there, gathered our gear and headed back to Whitehorse.
We would have gone straight to Fairbanks from there the day after, but the Top of The World Highway is closed. :c
I didn't fall asleep this time! Instead I enjoyed the scenery I didn't get to see on the way there. Fantastic.
There's a few pictures, not to worry. =]
Other than that, today was pretty uneventful, but tomorrow, we're going to Fairbanks. That's around 600 miles. We also have to leave really early, about 6, which means I need to be up at 4:30 or something. I'm gonna crash out early tonight. Oh, and just so you know, there probably won't be a blog tomorrow, 600 miles is a long day, for anyone. I'll probably arrive, jump in the shower and fall asleep in it, maybe.
Also, sunburn on top of unburn. Owie. =[
That's all for now, thanks for reading!
Kit
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Days 6-9: Alcan 5000 Days 1-4
Wow, it's been a while, sorry about that. Every time we arrived somewhere, I was always too tired to post anything. So, this is going to be a compilation of the past several days, to get it out of the way.
It's probably not going to be that entertaining. Hopefully that's understandable. :)
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Day 6: Alcan 5000 Day 1
Kirkland, WA to Quesnel, BC, Canada
I don't remember much about this day. Dangit. Although I do remember it was really REALLY long.
Woke up early, as usual. Had breakfast at the cafe restaurant thing with Mom and Daddio. Ate a lot because I needed to be full for the long ride so we wouldn't have to stop for a while.
After breakfast, I suited up and said goodbye to Mom. Off we went on our adventure.
Nothing really happened most of the day. It was a long ride, pretty warm.
We made it to the Canadian border, crossed, and went on our way.
Several miles into British Columbia, we ran into smoke. Apparently BC is on fire, and the part that isn't on fire, is covered with smoke. It was terrible.
Stopped for lunch at a Dairy Queen, it was alright. Really tasty when you're hungry, but then, so is most everything edible.
There was a TSD somewhere in there.
By the time we got to the second TSD, Daddio and I were pretty beat. We had gone about 200 somethingish miles and were getting really tired, not a lot of thinking going on during the transit sections, but the TSD picked us up. We were good to go after that.
We rolled into Quesnel around 8PM. Ate at the Denny's attached to the hotel. I finally met the person I'm currently rooming with. She is very nice. =]
Took a shower soon after that and waited for the laptop to post a blog. Ended up falling asleep about 10PM. No blog.
Day 7: Alcan 5000 Day 2
Quesnel, BC to Dawson Creek, BC
Woke up at 6AM. Hey, this is great prep for school! :D
Had breakfast down at the same Denny's. Had to hurry a little this morning. Not a huge deal, but Daddio really wanted to get going. I don't blame him. There was a TSD early in the beginning of the ride.
I don't remember much about the ride, I was really tired and probably nodded off several times. Otherwise I didn't pay much attention.
I do remember that we finally got out of the smoke. I love a clear/semi cloudy sky. Ahhhh~ Fresh air is a wonderful thing.
The hotel was nice, my roomie and I got a pretty large room (I compared it to Daddio's), lots of space to walk around in. That was nice.
Daddio and I went and had dinner with most of the rally guys. They're a really fun group of people, enjoy their company.
So we ordered a barbecue chicken pizza, and got a pepperoni and mushroom one for $5 (Canadian dollars) to have for breakfast the next day. That was a fantastic idea.
Day 8: Alcan 5000 Day 3
Dawson Creek, BC to Watson Lake,YT
Man, this was a LONG day. 600+ miles
Woke up at the usual time. Went upstairs and had cold pizza with Daddio. Deeelicious.
There were two TSD's at the start of the ride, otherwise we'd probably too tired to do them. We finally figured out how to program the ICO Enduro computer Daddio bought for this. It worked great. We didn't pick up many points that day. (The lower your score, the better. You pick up points based on how early or late you are to the checkpoints. You can Google it. =])
We rode back into the smoke. I wasn't too happy about that, but the good news it, it didn't last very long.
After getting through the smoke, it looked like rain. Daddio decided it would be a good idea to go forward a bit to see if it really was raining. Started sprinkling, so we stopped to put on our rain suits. Lo and behold, a few minutes later, the rain stopped. So we were cruising with our rain gear on, because it's a pain to put on and take off, and pulled into a gas station to fuel up. Some of the other Alcan guys were there too. We took off our rain suits. A few minutes after fueling up, it began raining again, only this time, it lasted. So, we stopped to put our rain gear back on, even though we were wet. It's better to be wet, and not get any wetter, than to be soaked to the bone, like the other Alcan guys from the gas station. We had a pretty good laugh about that when we stopped at a gas station in the mountains to fuel up again.
After the second pit stop in the mountains, we saw a bunch of bison, some mountain goats, and a bear. That was so cool. c:
We finally made it to Watson Lake around 9. I was pretty beat.
We stayed at an interesting hotel. You had to remove your shoes at the door, because most people come in with muddy boots. There are communal showers and restrooms. They're all individual, just in the same room.
I was waay too tired to post a blog, plus it was pretty late when we rolled in, so we didn't have dinner either.
Day 9: Alcan 5000 Day 4
Watson Lake, YT to Whitehorse, YT
Today was a fairly short day. There was one TSD at the very beginning, we didn't do so hot there. Ah well, it's still just for fun!
I got to try taking some pictures with Daddio's camera, but I don't know how well they turned out.
There isn't really much to say about this. We got rained on again but we were much more prepared this time. Hooray, I was still kinda semi-warm when I got here.
This is a pretty standard hotel, although the internet is pretty fast.
Daddio and I went to eat at a place called Boston Pizza. It was delicious. :)
Well, that's about all for now. If I can't update everyday, then I'll make another entry like this when I have time. Now, I really need to go to bed.
Thanks for reading!
Kit
It's probably not going to be that entertaining. Hopefully that's understandable. :)
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Day 6: Alcan 5000 Day 1
Kirkland, WA to Quesnel, BC, Canada
I don't remember much about this day. Dangit. Although I do remember it was really REALLY long.
Woke up early, as usual. Had breakfast at the cafe restaurant thing with Mom and Daddio. Ate a lot because I needed to be full for the long ride so we wouldn't have to stop for a while.
After breakfast, I suited up and said goodbye to Mom. Off we went on our adventure.
Nothing really happened most of the day. It was a long ride, pretty warm.
We made it to the Canadian border, crossed, and went on our way.
Several miles into British Columbia, we ran into smoke. Apparently BC is on fire, and the part that isn't on fire, is covered with smoke. It was terrible.
Stopped for lunch at a Dairy Queen, it was alright. Really tasty when you're hungry, but then, so is most everything edible.
There was a TSD somewhere in there.
By the time we got to the second TSD, Daddio and I were pretty beat. We had gone about 200 somethingish miles and were getting really tired, not a lot of thinking going on during the transit sections, but the TSD picked us up. We were good to go after that.
We rolled into Quesnel around 8PM. Ate at the Denny's attached to the hotel. I finally met the person I'm currently rooming with. She is very nice. =]
Took a shower soon after that and waited for the laptop to post a blog. Ended up falling asleep about 10PM. No blog.
Day 7: Alcan 5000 Day 2
Quesnel, BC to Dawson Creek, BC
Woke up at 6AM. Hey, this is great prep for school! :D
Had breakfast down at the same Denny's. Had to hurry a little this morning. Not a huge deal, but Daddio really wanted to get going. I don't blame him. There was a TSD early in the beginning of the ride.
I don't remember much about the ride, I was really tired and probably nodded off several times. Otherwise I didn't pay much attention.
I do remember that we finally got out of the smoke. I love a clear/semi cloudy sky. Ahhhh~ Fresh air is a wonderful thing.
The hotel was nice, my roomie and I got a pretty large room (I compared it to Daddio's), lots of space to walk around in. That was nice.
Daddio and I went and had dinner with most of the rally guys. They're a really fun group of people, enjoy their company.
So we ordered a barbecue chicken pizza, and got a pepperoni and mushroom one for $5 (Canadian dollars) to have for breakfast the next day. That was a fantastic idea.
Day 8: Alcan 5000 Day 3
Dawson Creek, BC to Watson Lake,YT
Man, this was a LONG day. 600+ miles
Woke up at the usual time. Went upstairs and had cold pizza with Daddio. Deeelicious.
There were two TSD's at the start of the ride, otherwise we'd probably too tired to do them. We finally figured out how to program the ICO Enduro computer Daddio bought for this. It worked great. We didn't pick up many points that day. (The lower your score, the better. You pick up points based on how early or late you are to the checkpoints. You can Google it. =])
We rode back into the smoke. I wasn't too happy about that, but the good news it, it didn't last very long.
After getting through the smoke, it looked like rain. Daddio decided it would be a good idea to go forward a bit to see if it really was raining. Started sprinkling, so we stopped to put on our rain suits. Lo and behold, a few minutes later, the rain stopped. So we were cruising with our rain gear on, because it's a pain to put on and take off, and pulled into a gas station to fuel up. Some of the other Alcan guys were there too. We took off our rain suits. A few minutes after fueling up, it began raining again, only this time, it lasted. So, we stopped to put our rain gear back on, even though we were wet. It's better to be wet, and not get any wetter, than to be soaked to the bone, like the other Alcan guys from the gas station. We had a pretty good laugh about that when we stopped at a gas station in the mountains to fuel up again.
After the second pit stop in the mountains, we saw a bunch of bison, some mountain goats, and a bear. That was so cool. c:
We finally made it to Watson Lake around 9. I was pretty beat.
We stayed at an interesting hotel. You had to remove your shoes at the door, because most people come in with muddy boots. There are communal showers and restrooms. They're all individual, just in the same room.
I was waay too tired to post a blog, plus it was pretty late when we rolled in, so we didn't have dinner either.
Day 9: Alcan 5000 Day 4
Watson Lake, YT to Whitehorse, YT
Today was a fairly short day. There was one TSD at the very beginning, we didn't do so hot there. Ah well, it's still just for fun!
I got to try taking some pictures with Daddio's camera, but I don't know how well they turned out.
There isn't really much to say about this. We got rained on again but we were much more prepared this time. Hooray, I was still kinda semi-warm when I got here.
This is a pretty standard hotel, although the internet is pretty fast.
Daddio and I went to eat at a place called Boston Pizza. It was delicious. :)
Well, that's about all for now. If I can't update everyday, then I'll make another entry like this when I have time. Now, I really need to go to bed.
Thanks for reading!
Kit
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Day 5: My Kingdom for a Parking Space
I have a feeling that this is going to turn into a photo blog. That's because these take a while to type and post and all that. So, I'll end up posting photos with a comment or two, unless something exciting happens, of course. c:
However, today is going to just be words, no photos because there wasn't much to see.
Alrighty. Woke up at 6:30ish, had coffee and breakfast, got dressed, and packed up the trailer. The sidecar rig didn't go in the trailer because Daddio wanted to make sure everything was running the way it should. Good news! It does. =D
Once we made it to Kirkland and found the hotel , we begn the rediculous task of parking the truck and trailer. There is no street parking. None. At all. So we meandered, looking for a place to turn around, found one, and got stuck. Sorta. Mom managed to get us out and turned around. Huzzah! Then, we drove back to the hotel.
...woopsies, went outside and forgot my train of thought. Now I have chips.
Oh! So the hotel was nice enough to let us park in an -almost- no parking zone. Success!
Mom was supposed to take my brother to the airport at 1, but his flight got delayed, so we went and had fantastic Italian food with most of the other Alcan participants.
After lunch, I went back to the hotel with Mom and my brother. He picked up his stuff and they left for the airport. I was left alone for about 2.5-3 hours and during that time, I drew and it was wonderful.
Did I update my blog? Of course not! That is always best saved for last because you never know if something exciting is going to happen after posting in the middle of the afternoon.
So that's all for today, I might eat all these chips. Maybe I should get something for dinner.
Thanks for reading!
Kit
However, today is going to just be words, no photos because there wasn't much to see.
Alrighty. Woke up at 6:30ish, had coffee and breakfast, got dressed, and packed up the trailer. The sidecar rig didn't go in the trailer because Daddio wanted to make sure everything was running the way it should. Good news! It does. =D
Once we made it to Kirkland and found the hotel , we begn the rediculous task of parking the truck and trailer. There is no street parking. None. At all. So we meandered, looking for a place to turn around, found one, and got stuck. Sorta. Mom managed to get us out and turned around. Huzzah! Then, we drove back to the hotel.
...woopsies, went outside and forgot my train of thought. Now I have chips.
Oh! So the hotel was nice enough to let us park in an -almost- no parking zone. Success!
Mom was supposed to take my brother to the airport at 1, but his flight got delayed, so we went and had fantastic Italian food with most of the other Alcan participants.
After lunch, I went back to the hotel with Mom and my brother. He picked up his stuff and they left for the airport. I was left alone for about 2.5-3 hours and during that time, I drew and it was wonderful.
Did I update my blog? Of course not! That is always best saved for last because you never know if something exciting is going to happen after posting in the middle of the afternoon.
So that's all for today, I might eat all these chips. Maybe I should get something for dinner.
Thanks for reading!
Kit
Day 4: Oregon to Washington!
I'll put up photos for this post and the previous one (and Day 1, if possible) once we get to the hotel in Kirkland and I have some more time.
........
Ahh, man it’s nice to finally be typing this. It’s been a looong day.
Woke up about 6:30, which seems to be the norm for this trip, had coffee, bid farewell to the lovely people I call Uncle Mark and Aunt Jill (now referred to as UM &AJ), and went on our way at 8AM. That, surprisingly, is earlier than we had planned. Hooray!
Once on the road, we stopped a little ways away from UM & AJ, fuelled up there, and departed for an 8 hour drive to Isaquah, Washington.
During the course of the drive, we passed by Mt. Jefferson
A wind farm. These things are HUGE, and there are a ton of them.
Mt. Hood
And Mt. Adam
A ways after that, we stopped for lunch in Biggs, right next to the Columbia River. Ate and drove over the bridge, and into Washington!
Fantastic view from where we were driving.
Following the state border, quite a while after that actually, we drove by a lake. I don’t know the name, but here’s a few photos.
Later, we drove by a mountain (surprise surprise), and I snapped a photo. This was one of the bigger ones we passed by.
Roughly 20 minutes before arriving at the campgrounds, we passed by a valley. The view was simply breathtaking. This photo doesn’t do nearly enough justice to the spectacle, but it’ll give you a good idea.
Oh! Somewhere in there, we drove by a recent accident where someone had flipped there vehicle. Not a pretty sight. No photos of this one, sorry! (sort of)
Upon arriving at the campgrounds, we set up the trailer, pulled out the sidecar rig, and then went off in search of dinner. We decided that Albertson’s would be a safe bet, since we have one back home. Mom’s GPS, Joy, brought us so where one USED to be, but alas, it was no more. She also tried to take us to a store that turned out to be on a rural twisty road. Also it was a house. Grumble grumble. Okay, so that didn’t work. We decided to fill up the truck, since it was about rush hour time and traffic was horrible. After that, we went in search of a sport supply store in hopes of finding a hose to empty the holding tank of our trailer, no luck. We gave up on that and went in search of a grocery store to (hopefully) find some food, among a few other things. Joy, being the wonderful GPS that she is, led us to where the Safeway was, sort of. It was more like as-far-away-as-possible-but-still-in-the-same-shopping-center-kind-of. Thanks Joy.
Hooray! We found food and the other items we needed and headed back to camp.
Phew! Today has been quite the day. I’m ready for one of the giant cookies we picked up please! :D
That’s all for now. Tomorrow we head up to Seattle to send my brother back home (school starts on Monday for him) and then to Kirkland for Alcan Day 0! (prep day)
Thanks for reading!
Kit
P.S. Let’s see if I can make Sparky a pair of goggles now.
........
Ahh, man it’s nice to finally be typing this. It’s been a looong day.
Woke up about 6:30, which seems to be the norm for this trip, had coffee, bid farewell to the lovely people I call Uncle Mark and Aunt Jill (now referred to as UM &AJ), and went on our way at 8AM. That, surprisingly, is earlier than we had planned. Hooray!
Once on the road, we stopped a little ways away from UM & AJ, fuelled up there, and departed for an 8 hour drive to Isaquah, Washington.
During the course of the drive, we passed by Mt. Jefferson
And Mt. Adam
Following the state border, quite a while after that actually, we drove by a lake. I don’t know the name, but here’s a few photos.
Later, we drove by a mountain (surprise surprise), and I snapped a photo. This was one of the bigger ones we passed by.
Roughly 20 minutes before arriving at the campgrounds, we passed by a valley. The view was simply breathtaking. This photo doesn’t do nearly enough justice to the spectacle, but it’ll give you a good idea.
Oh! Somewhere in there, we drove by a recent accident where someone had flipped there vehicle. Not a pretty sight. No photos of this one, sorry! (sort of)
Upon arriving at the campgrounds, we set up the trailer, pulled out the sidecar rig, and then went off in search of dinner. We decided that Albertson’s would be a safe bet, since we have one back home. Mom’s GPS, Joy, brought us so where one USED to be, but alas, it was no more. She also tried to take us to a store that turned out to be on a rural twisty road. Also it was a house. Grumble grumble. Okay, so that didn’t work. We decided to fill up the truck, since it was about rush hour time and traffic was horrible. After that, we went in search of a sport supply store in hopes of finding a hose to empty the holding tank of our trailer, no luck. We gave up on that and went in search of a grocery store to (hopefully) find some food, among a few other things. Joy, being the wonderful GPS that she is, led us to where the Safeway was, sort of. It was more like as-far-away-as-possible-but-still-in-the-same-shopping-center-kind-of. Thanks Joy.
Hooray! We found food and the other items we needed and headed back to camp.
Phew! Today has been quite the day. I’m ready for one of the giant cookies we picked up please! :D
That’s all for now. Tomorrow we head up to Seattle to send my brother back home (school starts on Monday for him) and then to Kirkland for Alcan Day 0! (prep day)
Thanks for reading!
Kit
P.S. Let’s see if I can make Sparky a pair of goggles now.
Day 3: Lazy Day; Good Day
I know this is a day late, but I had it all typed up, but didn't get a chance to upload it. So here it is. No photos yet, slow internet.
Anyway, back to the blog!
......
Alrighty, it’s about 9:30PM that I’m typing this, let’s see how long this takes.
I’ll have to put photos up tomorrow morning, I’m pretty sleepy.
So, today was a lazy, hang out and relax type day here in Burns, Oregon. Lovely weather earlier, but now that the sun has gone down, the wind has started blowing. Ah well.
Let’s start with this morning. At around 5:50AM everyone was up and waiting for a cup of coffee from the stovetop coffee maker because it had exploded (overflowed) a little bit. Once satisfyingly caffeinated, Mom began baconing. Delicious smells ensued.
After breakfast, we all migrated into the house of Uncle Mark and Aunt Jill, whose yard we are currently occupying. Between about 8 and 11, I typed the blog for Day 2 and struggled with the various internet browsers to add photos and whatnot. Annoying, but now it’s done. That’s also why I’m not adding photos for today just yet.
At around noon, we had a lunch of elk burgers, macaroni salad, and barbeque potato chips. Yum yum.
About 3 we shot off the little .22 rifles. The sights for those were waaay off, but Uncle Mark, being the hero that he is, calibrated one of them for us. It’s far more accurate now.
Began watching the second Lord of the Rings movie, then had another fabulous dinner, consisting of smoked chicken, rice, corn, and biscuits. There was also elk liver (emphasis on ELK, because it’s not just any liver), onions, and bacon. I tried a bite for the first time, and now I can proudly say that I never have to have it again.
Following dinner, Uncle Mark, brother, Lacy (their wonderful dog, sorry if I misspelled her name), and I all piled onto an Oregon quad (four-wheeler) for a tour of their property. Uncle Mark drove, brother was in the seat behind him, and Lacy and I sat in the “bed” of the quad. That was pretty fun. Also dusty.
We returned to the house to find that it was time for dessert. Banana splits!
Took shower, finished movie, and here I am at 9:55PM finishing up this entry.
That’s all for today, tomorrow’s a travel day, can you feel the excitement?
Thanks for reading!
Kit
Anyway, back to the blog!
......
Alrighty, it’s about 9:30PM that I’m typing this, let’s see how long this takes.
I’ll have to put photos up tomorrow morning, I’m pretty sleepy.
So, today was a lazy, hang out and relax type day here in Burns, Oregon. Lovely weather earlier, but now that the sun has gone down, the wind has started blowing. Ah well.
Let’s start with this morning. At around 5:50AM everyone was up and waiting for a cup of coffee from the stovetop coffee maker because it had exploded (overflowed) a little bit. Once satisfyingly caffeinated, Mom began baconing. Delicious smells ensued.
After breakfast, we all migrated into the house of Uncle Mark and Aunt Jill, whose yard we are currently occupying. Between about 8 and 11, I typed the blog for Day 2 and struggled with the various internet browsers to add photos and whatnot. Annoying, but now it’s done. That’s also why I’m not adding photos for today just yet.
At around noon, we had a lunch of elk burgers, macaroni salad, and barbeque potato chips. Yum yum.
About 3 we shot off the little .22 rifles. The sights for those were waaay off, but Uncle Mark, being the hero that he is, calibrated one of them for us. It’s far more accurate now.
Began watching the second Lord of the Rings movie, then had another fabulous dinner, consisting of smoked chicken, rice, corn, and biscuits. There was also elk liver (emphasis on ELK, because it’s not just any liver), onions, and bacon. I tried a bite for the first time, and now I can proudly say that I never have to have it again.
Following dinner, Uncle Mark, brother, Lacy (their wonderful dog, sorry if I misspelled her name), and I all piled onto an Oregon quad (four-wheeler) for a tour of their property. Uncle Mark drove, brother was in the seat behind him, and Lacy and I sat in the “bed” of the quad. That was pretty fun. Also dusty.
We returned to the house to find that it was time for dessert. Banana splits!
Took shower, finished movie, and here I am at 9:55PM finishing up this entry.
That’s all for today, tomorrow’s a travel day, can you feel the excitement?
Thanks for reading!
Kit
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