Alaska Ride, Day 11

Highway 3 is also known as Parks Highway, but why I'm not sure. Although it does seem to take us past a bunch of state and national parks, with Denali National Park being the big one.

We continued to push even further north today, rolling into Fairbanks around 8:00pm or thereabouts. It never got dark here, with the darkest being only twilight at around 4:00am. Fairbanks looked like a desolate city in broad daylight because it's basically a work night/school night.

Downtown Fairbanks, 9:31pm

I first hit up a place called "The Big I". It's a divey, grungy, kind of bar in downtown. They actually don't have any decent beer, with an Alaska Amber being their best. But after a long day of riding today, it tasted pretty good.

We found a place stay, checking into a motel. And after that, I wanted to find a place to eat. But it was 10:30pm by then, and many places were closed. Except the sun was still up in the sky. For me, I've always made the association that when the sun is up, it's still the afternoon. I guess for Fairbanks locals, they have to rely on their watches, and not the sun.

The Big I in Fairbanks, at 9:30pm it's just starting to get busy

Earlier this morning, we left our camp at Willow Creek State Recreation Area, and headed north along Highway 3. Highway 3 is not a very fun road as far as roads go. It's mostly another straight road with very wide turns. It does offer some good scenery, but around these parts, good scenery gets to be "ho hum". But thus far the weather has been awesome.

Just north of Willow, you'll come to the town of Trapper Creek, and there you'll find Wal-Mike's. It's perhaps best described as a junkyard disguised as an antique shop. It's run by a 65 year old guy named Mike, who's been running stores since he was 17 years old. This particular store in Trapper Creek has only been around for 18 years.

Wal-Mike's, Trapper Creek, AK

But he has everything in it. He has a wide selection antlers for sale, as well as martin skulls, old circular saws, license plates, tires, nuts and bolts, and several copies of Sarah Palin's book, "Going Rogue". He sells clothes, he has a pharmacy, a hardware section, and even sells sex stuff too. All of this is either used or overstock that he's collected in his 48 years of business. You could spend hours in this place and never get tired.

All you have to do is tell Mike what you need, and he'll have it for you. He even has glass jar containing a pickled human hand.

Later on, we turned down Petersville Road, heading into the town Petersville. Back in Anchorage, I remembered a guy telling me that I absolutely had to check out Petersville. He said it was the best place to view Mount McKinley, and they also had a great bar called "The Forks Road House".

The Forks Road House, Petersville, AK

The first 10 miles of the road is paved, but the next 10 miles is dirt. And after that last 10 miles we finally came to The Forks Road House. Except, it was closed, being open only Friday through Sunday, and today was Thursday. But we never got any good views of Mount McKinley at all. We turned around and continued up the Highway 3.

Further up the road, we pulled into Denali National Park. I wanted to get that awesome view of Mount McKinley, the tallest peak in North America. But what sucks is that you can't see Mount McKinley from within the park, even though it's snack dab in the middle of the park.

And then they won't even let you ride all the way through the park. You can only ride for about 15 miles, and then they stop you from going any further. Instead, you have to buy a bus pass, and then let the bus take you deep into the park. I guess it keeps bus drivers employed , but it seemed stupid to me. So, we didn't spend much time in Denali.

Entrance to Denali National Park, AK

So after checking into my room in Fairbanks, I set out to look for a place to eat and found one close by called "Pike's Landing". It sits right on the Tanana River and they have an outdoor patio where you can dine on its banks.

But I stayed inside the bar, not wanting to deal with mosquitoes.

Pike's Landing is more of a "trendy" place, a place where you can take your family, or a blind date, or even your mother. I walked in and ordered a beer hoping to find someone to chat with. Except the only people I sat next to were couples who had no interest in talking to me. So, after the first beer and a dinner, I move to another section of the bar.

My dinner and beer at Pike's Landing, Fairbanks, AK

That's where I met Todd.

He mentioned to me about his days working for Hitachi, a japanese manufacturer of electronic products. He described the "philosophy of the moment" to me, saying the Japanese recognize an importance in memorializing the moment, recognizing that there are certain points in time when everything seems to converge and creates a very special feeling.

He talked about a time when he was at a bar in Japan with several other employees of Hitachi, and they ordered a bottle of whiskey. They took shots from the bottle and had a really good time that night. And then somehow, everything seemed to converge. The fact that they were there, the music playing, the good times they were having, the lighting, all came together and he realized that it doesn't get any better than that.

Pike's Landing, Fairbanks, AK, around 11:15pm

And the bartender realized it too. He actually took the bottle of whiskey, and wrote Todd's name on it, as well as the names of his co-workers, and the date and time, and stood it on a special shelf in the bar as a permanent memorial to that good time these guys had on that night.

I realized I had several of those moments in these first 11 days into the trip, but I don't really have anything tangible to memorialize this trip, except for a couple of t-shirts I bought. So, I probably I ought to look for something.

Tomorrow, I'm going to spend the day in Fairbanks and the outer lying areas. I'm not sure what Mike and Paul are going to do. I should probably get the oil changed on the ST. I've already racked up around 4,700 miles.

The inside of Wal-Mike's

The guard dog at Wal-Mike's

From inside Denali National Park

Waiting for the train inside Denali National Park

Mount McKinley is actually behind these mountains, and hidden by clouds

Wildflowers inside Denali National Park

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Alaska Ride, Day 10

Starbucks seems to be getting too boring for me. Every Starbucks store is the same, the same decor, the same menu, it's all too homogenized. And I understand the marketing value in creating something we're all familiar with from one store to another. But I just don't like going there anymore.

So this morning, still here in Anchorage, I sought to find a different coffee shop, something that I can only find in Anchorage and nowhere else. I found "Snow City Cafe".

And wow, what a coffee shop!

Snow City Cafe, downtown Anchorage, AK

This place is actually a restaurant than a coffee shop, but it seemed to have started out as a coffee shop and grew from there. In it's 13th year of operation, this place is jam packed from morning to evening.

I bellied up to the bar, and squeezed myself in. I ordered the "Americano", a strong flavored coffee. They serve it up in glass glasses. I introduced myself to the guy sitting next to me, who was a FedEx worker here in Anchorage on a temporary basis. I talked it up with him over coffee and breakfast.

And for breakfast? Well what else do they have in Anchorage but reindeer sausage? Actually it was the "Tundra Scramble", made with ground reindeer meat. Honestly, I couldn't tell the difference between that and regular old pork sausage. However, you simply cannot pass up the opportunity to have reindeer for breakfast.

Having the "Tundra Scramble" for breakfast, made with ground reindeer

Mike and Paul, the two guys I rode in with, were in Homer, AK that morning, having spent a couple days there. But this morning, they were to ride into Anchorage and meet up with me. I thought they'd only be a couple hours. But they much longer than that. I had to pump quarters into the parking meter waiting for those guys.

Finally, I left Snow City Cafe in search of some other place to hang out. I found "Chilkoot Charlie's".

I had listened to a couple of other people in town tell me about this place. I told I wanted to find a bar where people loved to talk to each other and have a good time. I mentioned how much fun I had at the Peanut Farm Bar & Grill, and so they mentioned Chilkoot Charlie's.

"The Koot" as locals call it, is a cool place. It's huge. You can walk through the place from one barroom to another and get lost. This is one of those places with posters, stickers, dollar bills, and photographs plasted all over the walls and ceiling like it's been there for decades. This is one of those places where the locals go to drink Budweiser, Coors, Miller, and all the other watered down crap, except for some reason they also have a few local microbrews, enough to keep me happy.

Chilkoot Charlie's, Anchorage, AK

I arrived there around 12:00pm, at the start of the afternoon and hardly anyone was in there. I guess it's a place known for its night life and the onslaught of weekend bikers. So I didn't get to chat with any of the locals.

But anyways, Paul called me to say that he made it into Anchorage and was getting a new front tire put on at the local Honda dealer. So I rode over there and joined him. Mike called to say that he was going to ride further north to Wasilla to visit the Iditarod National Headquarters to see the poochies. So Paul and I rode to Wasilla to join him.

I guess if you're really into sled dogs, this place is for you. But otherwise, it was mostly a small place, with a gift shop, a little movie theater, and they offered sled dog rides, except the sled had wheels on it and the dogs pulled you around a short loop for $10.00 a rider. At that price, I wasn't interested.

For $10.00 these dogs will pull you around the Iditarod National Headquarters

We were going to get a room in Wasilla, but no one offered anything at a price under $100.00 a night. So we decided to ride further north and now we're at a campground inside Willow Creek State Recreation Area. They call it recreation area because there's Willow Creek runs next to it and you can go rafting or fishing. In fact, I was trying to get some photos of a beautiful Alaskan sunset and witnessed salmon jumping out of the water every 5 to 15 seconds.

Willow is just a tiny little town.

The popular hangout is a place called "The Trading Post", but it's not on the main road. You have to go into the forest down a few other roads and then you'll find it. But everyone was in there drinking beer and eating dinner, shooting pool and watching "Mythbusters" on the television. If you're not careful, the locals here could cut you and kill you and the police would never know about it.

The Trading Post Bar & Grill, Willow, AK

I'm typing this in camp but I don't have internet access here. I'll have to upload this when we pull in somewhere that does.

As for Anchorage, I had a good time. There actually isn't a whole lot to do there, but they do have a lot of great bars to hang out at, and I like to hang out at good bars and drink good beer. Now it's on to Denali National Park and then Fairbanks

Snow City Cafe, Anchorage, AK, this place stays packed!

Just one of the many barrooms inside Chilkoot Charlie's

The Peanut Farm Bar & Grill, Anchorage, AK, where everyone knows each other

Iditarod National Headquarters, Wasilla, AK

Our camp spot at Willow Creek State Recreation Area

Susitna River, Willow Creek State Recreation Area

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Alaska Ride, Day 9

Seward, Alaska is one of those quaint little tourist towns that you could spend a whole day in with its curio shops, seafood restaurants, aquarium, hiking trails, and tour boats.

The town only boasts about 4,000 residents, but when you thrown in the tourists it swells to 25,000 during the summer months. And today I was one of them.

I left Anchorage, AK this morning heading south into Seward to spend a day seeing the ocean life that makes up the southern Alaska coast. Yesterday, some locals I was having beers with recommended I do a boat tour. So, I got back to my motel room and did a Google search, and discovered that Resurrection Bay, served by the city of Seward, is a great place to do that.

Chugach Mountains behind the muddy Turnagain Arm, Highway 1

The ride into Seward is very scenic like much of Alaska. Highway 1 takes you into that area, and provides some great views of the Turnagain Arm and the Chugach Mountain Range. Then you take Highway 9 into Seward, which become a little more twisty, and a little more fun to ride.

And Seward is one of those towns where tourists tend to concentrate, buying up souvenirs that will only end up getting lost somewhere in the house, and later discovered 20 years down the line. Seward seems to boast more seafood restaurants than hotels. And the city fathers were smart, choosing to put all the touristy stuff at one end of the town, and keeping rest of the of town separate for themselves.

So I did my part as a tourist, opting for the 4 1/2 tour of Resurrection Bay. And it didn't disappoint. We saw lots of marine life, including an otter floating on its back cracking open some kind of shell fish. I saw several Bald Eagles soaring in the sky, I saw Harbor Seals and Stellar Sea Lions. I also saw mountain goats traversing the rocky cliffs of islands.

Town of Seward, AK way off in the distance

The tour took us to Fox Island located in the middle of Resurrection Bay. The beach head was covered in flat rocks perfectly shaped for rock-skipping. If you are a rock skipper, this was your Heaven. And they fed us all-you-can-eat Salmon, and you can rest assured I ate as much salmon as I could eat.

After the bay tour, I rode my motorcycle into the downtown area of Seward, hoping to find a good place for a beer. I found the Seward Alehouse. They serve up local brews on tap, and I had the Kassik's Porter, which I thought was an excellent porter, rivaling the best of what microbreweries in my local San Diego has to offer.

Seward Alehouse, Seward, AK, offers local microbrews on tap

After that, I headed out of Seward, and into the direction of Anchorage.

I wasn't sure where I would sleep for the night. Along Highway 1, I found a place called Summit Lake Lodge. They had rooms and a bar. Except the rooms were all filled. But I noticed a campground next door. Except, the campground wanted $18.00 a night. But I figured if I could get Internet access at the lodge's bar, then I could get online and do my web stuff, and then retire to a tent. However, the lodge's bar had shitty Internet access, and I couldn't get online.

So, I hightailed it out, and continued on up the road towards Anchorage.

I ended up in downtown Anchorage, and hit up a pizza joint called "Uncle Joe's Pizzeria". The night before, I drank beers with some folks who told me that Uncle Joe's Pizzeria had the best pizza in all of Anchorage. So, I had to stop there and try it out. The verdict?

Well, it's not bad, but it's not awesome. It has good sauce, though it's very greasy. If that's the best that Anchorage has to offer, then I guess Anchorage is no place to be if you're a pizza freak.

Uncle Joe's Pizzeria, Anchorage, AK, good sauce, not bad, not great

But after that, I hit up Glacier Brewing. Glacier Brewing is similar to a Yardhouse in Southern California. It's ultra-trendy, and ultra-busy. But they do have great beer. I had their Imperial Blonde Ale, which was anything but your standard light ale. It's more hopped than a blonde ale, more malted than a blonde ale, and more alcholic at 9.0%. It tastes very close to a Belgian Ale, except it doesn't quite have that unique Belgian ale flavor.

I also had a cask-conditioned IPA, which tasted more like a light alcohol barley wine.

The bartenders at Glacier Brewing are so busy that they can't find the time to talk to you. And the customers at the bar don't seem at all interested in talking to me. However, I finally found a youth pastor from Portland, OR whom I had a great time talking with over a couple of beers. He told me about the best bars in Portland. He said after spending a long day of dealing with troubled teens, he likes to go to his favorite watering hole and drink some microbrews.

Glacier Brewing Company, Anchorage, AK, 11:30pm at night

He told me about this bar in Portland that specializes in macaroni and cheese, and offers several different flavors and variations. And damn it, I'm sitting here right now and can't remember the name of the place. Oh well.

You know, downtown Anchorage is very much a "progressive city". Funny, just yesterday I was at the Peanut Farm Bar & Grill in Anchorage, a bar located well outside of downtown. The regulars at the Peanut Farm were complaining that liberals were turning Anchorage into another San Francisco. After tonight, having spent time in downtown, I can see what they mean.

I always associated Anchorage with sailors, hunters, lumberjacks, big guys drinking shots of whiskey, driving pickup trucks with shotgun racks on the rear window, and bumper stickers that read, "Live Better Work Union". Instead what I saw were people with dreadlocks, or the kind of people you expect to see hanging out at coffee shops, driving hybrids, smart cars, riding bicycles, or with rainbow-colored emblems on themselves.

Not that any of that stuff is wrong, but there's clearly a different culture in downtown Anchorage versus the outer-lying areas.

Today? I'm going to head north to Denali National Park. I'm told that the town of Petersville actually provides better views of Mt McKinley, so I may check that out.

Wildlife I spotted today: 6 bald eagles, 1 sea otter, 5 harbor seals, several stellar sea lions, 2 mountain goats.

Highway 1, south, Chugach Mountains

Seward Marina with shops and seafood restaurants galore

Sea otter having lunch in Resurrection Bay

Fox Island, Resurrection Bay, AK

Bald Eagle soaring over Resurrection Bay

Bird Island, Resurrection Bay

Cloudy sunset over Turnagain Arm, Highway 1

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