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.
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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
