Bessie and Me: Shifting Gears

If Alaskans want to preserve the true Alaska, then they should build a giant fence around Homer. A 160-some miles from Anchorage, it is a minimum 5 hour drive. Situated at the end of the Kenai Peninsula on the southwest side, it is postcard perfect in every way. However, the summer months bring an army of RVs and tourists like the us!  The ride down to Homer is gorgeous. I'm continually astonished by the beauty, diversity and vastness of this state. We stopped at Portage glacier; too early for the visitor center, but there was an absence of people in general, making it a quiet, idyllic spot on Portage Lake. Next we stopped at Cooper Landing, where the shockingly blue, turquoise water of the Kenai River, literally caused us to brake and pull off the highway ( that happens a lot on Alaska roads, much to the chagrin of the locals). We snapped a few photos and continued south, following the river most of the way. The river is dotted with fishing camps, each little town boasts rafting, ...

When I planned the Alaska portion of this trip, I didn't really 'plan' beyond the first week. We opted to fly back to Anchorage after spending a few days in Fairbanks, then rent a car and explore the Kenai Peninsula. We rode out to Seward on the bikes and loved it, then planned to return and explore more in depth. There were a few more things to see in Anchorage, so we headed back to the Hampton Inn after picking up the rental. On Good Friday, 1964, a 9.0-something earthquake hit Alaska, destroying downtown Anchorage, sweeping a huge portion of the neighborhoods near Turnagain Arm, into the sea, and created a tidal wave ( tsunami) into coastal Seward. Many lives were lost, property destroyed. There is a beautiful park - Earthquake Park - built within the woods of that neighborhood that slid into the sea. We spent a few hours walking the trails, reading the informational kiosks, and snapping photos. This area of the Alaskan Range is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, active v...

Boarded the train in Denali bound for Fairbanks before I could spend too much money on the gorgeous gem jewelry found in the area. Paul bought me a beautiful piece of Alaskan black jade, mined and handcrafted by a local artist ( who protected his shop with a Glock 9mm holstered and visible at the back of his waist). I snapped up a piece of sea glass jewelry made by an Anchorage artist. The jade and garnet is mined here along with 'Alaskan ivory' that makes very unique jewelry. The best part of the ride to Fairbanks was the stretch through Healy Canyon north of Denali. The Nenana River slices through tall rock canyons, the train winds around high above the rapidly flowing, glacier fed water. The train was not crowded at all, which made it possible to move from car to car to get the best vantage points on either side. Very quickly the terrain flattened out, leaving the mountains of Denali behind. Anchorage people refer to the Fairbanks area as 'the desert,' as it is warme...

Do you know the difference between a caribou and a reindeer? Reindeer fly! Just a little tour guide humor. The dark green, school bus looking vehicle pulled into the Denali Cabins gravel parking lot at 6am sharp to fetch the adventuresome travelers who were still chugging coffee in the early morning chill. It would be a 13 hour ride through Denali National Park, on the only road that slices through the 6.2 million acre par, and only 1% of tourists who visit each year, choose to do this tour. 1%-ers, that's us. Dave, our bus driver/tour guide seemed laid back and low key, so low key he was willing to wait more than 15 for a couple who were 'still in their room' when we arrived to pick them up. 38 1%-ers were on the bus and we were ready for the backcountry experience. Dave had a ton of history to share with us as we meandered to the park entrance, check it out online if you are interested. We were there to see 'the Mountain,' the highest peak in North America, Denali...

Although Anchorage is not that big of a city, they have a very visible homeless population, mostly Native American. On Tuesday before we left, we went downtown for a rainy walk around and to visit the museum. Two sights that have disturbed me was first, a homeless man outside the enclosed mall area that kept running over to a trash can to vomit. I can only assume that drugs and alcohol are involved. As we left the museum, we rounded a corner and right there on a busy street corner, a man had pulled down his dirty jeans and was taking a crap! I was horrified! My daughter and I visited Haight Ashbury in San Francisco a few years back where large numbers of street people dominate, but never saw anything so humiliating and degrading. As a Mom, all I could think of was this young man was somebody's son; what wicked turns in life bring someone to the corner of a busy street to degrade themselves to the level of an abandoned animal? I am grateful for the opportunities in my life and the f...

After a wet, dreary introduction to Anchorage, we were hoping Monday would offer just a tad bit of sunshine since it was the only day we had the bikes. It dawned overcast, but we could still see the mountains that rim Anchorage, and it is only a 20% chance of rain. Fingers crossed. Motoquest isn't located just a mile from the hotel so we decided to stroll there...exercise has been sporadic since I left home. A possible snafu was pending with rental of the bikes since I lost my drivers license somewhere back towards Missouri. Identification hasn't been a problem since my debit/credit cards have my picture on them and I always travel with my passport. I filled out the paperwork for the bike rental back in March, including my drivers license number...which I assumed was for checking to make sure I was motorcycle endorsed...not so. I had a copy of my paperwork from the order I placed for a replacement license, but the head guy at Motoquest wasn't satisfied that 'I knew how ...