50 States, Day 46

 

Day 46, Standing Down in Marysville 0 Miles!

 

"Habits are like train tracks. They take a long time to put in place, but once you do, they will take you anywhere you want to go."

~Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE

 

We stayed at the in-laws' place today, both for the family and catching up on loose ends. For instance, the trailer needed the bearings greased. Instead of just disassembling and lubing them, I installed (PP!)Bearing Buddies. These work excellent for small trailers. I bought a pair for my bike trailer in 1993 and have never had an issue with bearings. Just squirt a few gobs of grease into them every once in awhile with a grease gun and the bearings perform squeak (or failure) free.

 

Alaska Planning

 

We originally planned to ride to Bellingham, ferry to Alaska, tour a bit then ride back the Alcan Highway. After checking the mileage and the ferry fare of $1,600, we decided on plan B.

First, QG blanched at the ferry fare as I did, and she looked into a cruise. Much cheaper and they treat you like a king, not like a car. However, I pointed out it lost the intent of the trip. She pointed to the sign on the trailer '50 States in 50 Weeks' and said it did. We'll skip some parts of the negotiation process but anyway, this is the plan:

QG stays with her folks. Her uncle passed away recently and she felt it would be good to spend time with them.

I fly to Anchorage tomorrow and rent a bike, a (PP!) BMW GS650. More of a dual sport, great for the wild- with my humblest apologies to the (PP!) Gold Wing.

(PP!) Alaska Motorcycle Rentals hooked me up with the bike and an awesome itinerary.www.rentalaska.com. The trip includes Wasilla, Talkeetna, Fairbanks, Delta Junction, Denali, Thompson Pass, Keystone Canyon and Valdez. This should be a very good trip.

With apologies to my Canadian friends, this trip will be more Alaska and less Canada.

QG and I are still speaking and even more than cordially, and have learned to be flexible.

Actually, I think she'll be doing a lot of sewing.

Tonight we're heading to my granddaughter’s concert, a very special event for us, as we don't get up here enough. And bonus, it's our oldest son Paul's birthday! Woo hoo! Pass the cake.

 


2 comments:

Mel Nason said...

I looked on 'Alaska Motorcycle Adventures' website. The last of their 'Requirements to Ride' is listed as 'Common Sense.'

Isn't that when two people have the same particular odor?

Mel Nason said...

Actually, common sense, uh, scents is that moment at the end of a long days ride when you realize that you have taken on the same smell as your bike. You still have enough sense, however, to take a shower to (hopefully) change your scents. If it's another coin-op shower, be prepared to lose some cents. Now... does that all make sense?