Monday June 28

It poured hard all night and into the morning. Haggard old lady at a gas stop said she was building an ark and asked if I wanted to join her. I guess it had been raining there for a while. Blue skies ahead said the buck at the visitors center. 190 miles to Fairbanks.

New fad...the Long Way Round style bikes like the one in the photo.....they are everywhere.

Arrived in Fairbanks around 4. Got talking to these two employees at Sportsman's Warehouse. Together we came up with a workable fishing game plan for the rest of the summer. In Alaska most of the bigger fish are migratory so you need to position yourself in the right place at the right time to succeed. Those two were interesting, Rob in particular told some great stories, and will most likely prove to be an invaluable source of info. For what it's worth, I plan to follow the plan they helped me formulate as close as I can.

(Aside.....as I'm typing this, it's 1:46am and it's still broad daylight. This guy just came past painting all the parking lot lines...he just circumnavigated my truck with the paint machine. Nutty.)

Every one's got a plug hanging out of the front grill of their car so that they can plug in and heat the block of their cars in winter. The outlets are everywhere. Every spot in the student parking lot at the local high school has one. One guy told me that when people go in stores for an hour or two they just leave their cars unlocked and running...and nobody swipes anything.

Cruised around Fairbanks for a while....pretty much a dump, but does have all the amenities. I happened upon the Monday night co-ed smoking and drinking league...oh and softball too. How can I say this tactfully.......well, it was a rough crowd. Cheesey tattoos were in abundance. At one particular moment every player on the batting team had beer cracked sitting in the dugout...women (and I use that term loosely) too. People hawkin' loogies and cursing up a storm. It quite reminded me of the lawless glory days down at the Leominster Dek-hockey rinks.

That's all for today!!! Glad I finally made it here.....nice to be able to chill a little and get out from behind the wheel.

Sunday June 27

Lots of fishing! A welcome break after so much driving. It was a nice sunny day. I stopped at every clear water stream for a while and landed fish after fish...all grayling. It was tons of fun.

You know, most people probably wouldn't willingly plan to go on vacation for a week or so to the Yukon.....but if you're driving to Alaska, you have no choice. You are in the Yukon for 3 days either side Alaska. I can say I am really enjoying it. There are NO people. The roads are empty. The fishing is fantastic. What more could one ask for? I'm wondering if the Alaska portion of the trip lives up to this part in the Yukon.

At about 4pm I packed up my rod and put the hammer down. I stopped in Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon, for a burger (I'm becoming fond of the Mama Burger at A&W) and passed through the checkpoint back into the USA and Alaska around 11:30pm......I finally made it.

Nancy navigator ran out of info for me....no more navigation. Also no more satellite radio. The last 100 miles before the border the road was absolutely terrible. It had these giant frost heaves...they were so big that if you were moving at any speed at all, you'd get airborne. No thanks. There were also tons of pot holes, dirt, mud, and giant cracks. It was slow going. I actually had to slow down to 10mph at times.

Rained all night.....there's something nice about hearing it on the roof all night.

Saturday June 26

Managed to watch the USA soccer game in this dive rest stop. Too bad for them.....wish they could have done more. Ghana looked great. Still can't swallow all the diving. Also had a $10 plate of the worst chicken fingers and fries I've ever had.

Got a late start driving because of the game. After a while I started passing these rivers that looked so prime for fishing.....so I tried it. Caught 2 of the biggest grayling I've ever caught....on dry flies too. You know, the grayling is the optimal fish. They rise to pretty much any dry fly easily, they fight and jump like crazy, and they are a beautiful fish with the large long dorsal fin.

Then the stupidity began....

I fuel up and hit the road again. At the next gas stop I can't find my credit card. The nice lady at the store lets me use her phone and I call the guy from the last stop thinking I left it there. Yes indeed I did. So what do I have to do...you got it, drive back and get it. .....75 miles....each way. 5 million miles driven...what’s 150 more......good times.

Also, I'm always amazed and the places that you can get wireless internet. You would think that there is no possible way.......but son of a gun, there's the signal.

Also fun is the state of semi-lawlessness in these little villages... cars that would NEVER pass inspection...scurvy looking dudes driving their 4 wheelers around.

Friday June 25

Lots of driving......

Drove to Dawson Creek, Mile 0 of the Alaskan Highway. Weird that I need to drive 2000 miles to get to the beginning of the Alaskan Highway, but whatever.....maybe we make the road a little longer and make mile 0 in Sterling.

Gassed up, checked the tire pressures as well as the air pressures in the airbags that stabilize the camper and truck bed. Amazingly the readings did not waiver from my first checks back home.

Some cool things about the Alaskan Highway so far?

-The woods has been cut back from both sides of the road for about 50 yards along the entire route. This seems to increase opportunities to see roadside animals. It sort of increases the area where animals may be visible. It also helps in that you can see mile down the road much easier. Less surprises if you will.

-The daylight......doesn't get dark now until after 11. The dusk, again the best time to see animals, seems to last forever. You can get a ton of driving done late in the day. This has become my favorite time to drive. Get up early, 6ish, drive for 4 or so hours, nap, and keep driving until 10:30ish.

-The road is well paved and simple to drive on....pleasurable actually. Gas stops are pretty abundant so that's not a problem either.

I guess the best way to describe it is to imagine a road that's like route 12 that runs the same distance from Sterling to Miami, Florida.....through nothing but woods, fields, rivers, and an occasional gas station. Surprisingly enough, I'm really enjoying it. The traffic is light and really nonexistent. I've driven for stretches of 8 hours with no one in front or behind me.

I've seen loads of animals. .....moose, coyote, bison, elk, many black bear (one strolled across the street about 10 feet in front of my bumper),some kind of badger looking beast, and a million deer.

The larger pullouts aresprinkled with trucks and campers at night. You've got to love the guy that pulls his 18 wheeler in at about 1am......then proceeds to practice his reversing skills.....beep, beep, beep......very tactful.

Video below shows one gas stations interesting hat collection.

Thursday June 24

Got down to 40 degrees last night.....actually turned on the heat for a bit.

Driving in to the campground last night I noticed that they had it surrounded with an electric fence......bears? Really?

Well....I walk out of the shower this morning and there's a grizzly and 2 cubs 150 yards away on the other side of the fence. Unreal.......by the time I left there were wardens and mobs of people snapping pics. People will just leave their RV running in the middle of the road with their door wide open, they are so desperate to get a photo. The ranger's got to tell them to get back in and move the thing, and they still snap pics wildly as they walk back to the drivers seat.

If you click on the photo of the bear above, you'll see the cub a bit better.

Tried a few spots fishing but I think the rivers are too blown out....meaning too much water from melting.....they were raging. Too many rules in Canada for fishing also. Made it tough.

Decided to possibly extend my trip by 100 miles by driving whats called the icefields parkway. It was excellent.....3 hours of nothing but the most scenic views I've ever seen. After a while you get numb to it all....

At the end of the Parkway was the village of Jasper......tourists everywhere, by the bus load....bought some gas and blew out of there....headed for Mile 0 of the Alaskan Highway at Dawson Creek. 1200 to Fairbanks......good to go.

Wednesday June 23

The USA hangs on with a thrilling last minute goal. Whose goal was bigger Donovan's or Parise's for team USA hockey in the Olympics....you be the judge. Watched it on the computer at McDonalds.

Ironically, the England game was the one on the TV in McDoo's. I think Canadians could care less about the world cup. I saw a Team Canada Hockey Bookmark in Wal-Mart yesterday for $4. A paper bookmark, nothing special.....$4. There were only 3 left.

Magpies like cinnamon life cereal........more than you would think.

Headed to Banff National Park next. The town of Banff itself reminded me of the uppity little down town of Acadia in Maine. Lots of overpriced shops and tourists with cameras everywhere. Got a little info on fishing Banff, but decided to try the gondola ride first. Afraid of heights, this thing was no picnic. It was a small 4 man job which I rode alone, giving me plenty of alone time to ponder how horrible a death it would be if the thing fell from the sky. It was WAY up. Views from the top were stunning........snow capped mountains in all directions. It was pretty great.

Highlight of the day was the next stop. I try to keep a list of the most amazing things I've seen in my life with my own two eyes. Before today the leader was the view of Half dome at Yosemite from that high lookout point. Taking it's place on top of the list is the view from the back porch of the hotel at Lake Louise. If I tried to describe it here, words and photos don't do it justice..... it was spectacular.....in fact, the most spectacular thing I've ever seen.

It was so spectacular that I decided to buck up and fork out the $26 for a campsite nearby. It was against all my principles to pay the dough, but it meant that I could go back again tomorrow.....and get a hot shower out of the deal too. So I sat on the back porch of the hotel 'til it got dark and I was glad I did.

Got back and made some pasta, you heard me right, made my own dinner....gourmet style with butter and cheese no less.

Tuesday June 22

Woke and drove for a while with my friend Howard. Resupplied a few items and took a nap at Wal-mart in who knows where. Pickup trucks in Montana are so classic….20 years old, beat to death, but still kicking. There’s something special about an old truck.

Crossed the boarder to Canada flawlessly and cruised up to Calgary. Before bed I took a ride passed the Saddledome, home of the Calgary Flames and the Olympics. They were prepping for the Calgary Stampede which starts in a week or two.

No much fun today…..hanging around Banff and not driving so far will be nice tomorrow.

Monday June 21

The days are so long…by evening, what happened in the morning seems like it happened last week.

Shower and shave at the “J”…. refreshing as always. Then took a ride through Fargo, ND. Wanted to hear people talking to see if they sounded like the movie…they didn’t. Bought some weather stripping tape to fasten the vent visor thingy on the passenger side window that had been vibrating for the last 1000 miles. It worked like a charm.

Drove, drove, drove to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. It was impressive…. the views and buffalos, groundhogs, and birds were spectacular. On a tip from a ranger I checked out this one particular viewpoint where I was advised to “get out and walk” for best results. It was a short trail that led to this outcropping where you could see strait down and out on virtually all sides accept where the trail lie behind you. It was incredible.

I ran an idea I had by the same ranger as above. I wanted to bypass all the cities in Montana and stay to the north on Rt 2…he said it was a great idea. Again I was not disappointed. With full tornado warning in affect I headed down this lonely highway where the sunset was combined with the spectacular colors of the storm clouds all around. At dusk ,where everything earthly seems black against the sun setting background I saw the silhouette of two giant sets of elk antlers on this knoll beside the road. Although there was lightning all around I never felt scared…the photos are spectacular. Big Sky lived up to her name today.

Exhausted…I needed a place to sleep. At times driving at night in Montana seems like a video game. There are so many animals up an about that you have to be on high alert to dip and dodge them all. I finally reached a town where it looked like I might be able to rest; however, it appeared that I was the only person in town not a member of the tribe. There were Native American teens all over the place drinking and racing all over in their muffler-less pick-up trucks. It was so sketchy I had to keep driving. Eventually I found a hotel parking lot that did the trick.

Sunday June 20

Drove like a banshee......thru Indiana (stop at Cabela's), Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.....

Highlight of the day? The two Oscar Meyer Wienermobiles I saw on the other side of the highway.....they were so shiney.

Continuing the soccer rant...The guy pretending Kaka from Brasil hit him in the face and Kaka gets tossed??...... so lame. What a sport, we can pretend to get hurt and the other team is penalized (severely in this case). Ref's should never call things they are not looking at. That Ivory coast dude should be ashamed of himself......man, what's up with soccer......

Saturday June 19

Left home at 7:30 am…Springfield….Albany… Buffalo… Cleveland…Holy Toledo, Ohio. 703 miles driven today.

Stopped for a cheeseburger at a mall near Buffalo. Was that the highlight of the day?

Decent book on tape keeping my interest……..that helps a ton.

Launch Delayed

Launch delayed due to extreme sleepiness........and frustration from the USA's robbery of victory by the ref's phantom call . Bottom line.....the world cup is booring and cheesy......I can't take any more........ whining from the players, hands raised helping the refs make calls and the phantom falls and elaborate tumbles by untouched players. It's lame.

Another thing......it's gotten kind of booring too......The secret ploy of the South African government was to introduce the vuvuzellas horn to keep fans awake...........I don't know what happened, I used to love watching soccer.

Gonna hit it in the am tomorrow. Whattaya gonna do.......I'm on vacation......it's my call.