It is 3:15 a.m. and the sun is coming up. A clear and beautiful day for us to get to the Yukon Territory! If internet is available, will complete this tonight. It is a brisk and exhilirating 46 degrees outside right now. We all agree it is easier to dress in layers and be comfortable in cool weather than have to put up with the humidity and heat of the Southeast.
Some of the guys in our group already look shell shocked! Just one week and already some are feeling the effects (I wonder how my precious daughter Katie would be doing right now <g>. She and her sweetheart Nick want to come on this trip and I believe my other two sons, Mark and Paul have a yearning to do so).
Imagine I did this trip getting to Fargo, North Dakota in just two days and the Alaska Highway in just four a few years ago. C'mon guys, this is an ADVENTURE and what is an adventure without hardships? Remember our ancestors who WALKED to Alaska carrying provisions, battling mosquitoes, mud, cold, heat to find gold? Let's have some enthusiasm!
My Gold Wing now has 99,300 miles. (update ... 100,100 now) David's Silver Wing has over 50,000 miles (my Silver Wing's new owner now has almost 140,000 on his) so this should encourage more Silver Wing owners to join us next year!
2nd update at 11:15 p.m. at Whitehorse, Yukon Territory ... the sun is still shining!
I stopped atTesta River Outfitters at mile 375 of the Alaska Highway and talked with a man named Archie. He showed me the cabins. Wood burning stoves, kitchens, bunks, regular beds, etc. The several cabins can sleep up to 30 total.
Here is Testa Rivers Outfitters where David is getting gas.
Archie said he can arrange for a BBQ at the gazebo so I am going to schedule this for a stop on next years' trip because I figured out why see Super 8 or Days Inn in Yukon when you can have an authentic and comfortable cabin. Archie told me of Watson Peaks ... about 400 miles Northwest so I am thinking of getting this place too. So, the 8th Annual trip should be stunning! I am going to shorten the days for more rest and relaxation. For the 9th trip, it should be a bed and breakfast one with a passage on a ferry taking the Inside Passage for the return trip home.
I will be checking out bed and breakfasts and will limit the 9th trip in 2010 to perhaps five to six couples. Having this plus a cruise from Anchorage to Seattle will make this the best yet!
We met Didler and Caroline Mesure from Halluin, France on their magnificent Gold Wing they had shipped to Montreal.
Mr. and Mrs. Mesure from France cruising down the Alaska Highway on a three week trip from Montreal to points Northwest. They waved to us as we passed them. We met them at a rest stop. I told them France is the "birth place" of American Sign Language via Clerc.
Here is a picture I forgot to post yesterday of Milepost Zero (the Alaska Highway alone is about 1,500 miles).
We covered 615 miles going through British Columbia and Yukon Territory. What a drive! Absolutely magnificent scenery (flora and fauna)!! Even though it rained most of the day, since we all had appropriate rain gear, we all were dry.
Here's Jerry B and David S. entering Yukon
It was 37 degrees on the road and it gradually warmed up to 65 degrees by the end of the trip.
We saw so many bears that after the sixth one, we ignored them. We didn't ignore the mountain sheep and the bison. Those huge beasts take their sweet time crossing the highway and even if a vehicle is coming, the bison won't give right of way.
This was right on the edge of the Alaska Highway.
This is just one of three herds we encountered. These magnificent animals are on the highway itself and on the shoulders.
When we arrived in Whitehorse, friendly locals steered us to Coasters Bistro. At 10:30 p.m. we saw a magnificent rainbow. I had the soup du jour (cream of tomato and spinach) and the Caesar Mediterranean salad. AWESOME!
I seriously doubt any more updates for a week or so. My plans are this: Arrive Fairbanks Saturday, get bike serviced. Sunday morning, if the weather is good, stay at Coldfoot on Dalton Highway Sunday night, then Prudhoe Bay on Monday ... swim in the Arctic Ocean, then back in Anchorage Wednesday, go to church in Wasilla, then Thursday visit Homer and perhaps Mt. McKinley. If the weather north of Fairbanks is bad, then will go to Wasilla and use that as a base camp.
I stopped atTesta River Outfitters at mile 375 of the Alaska Highway and talked with a man named Archie. He showed me the cabins. Wood burning stoves, kitchens, bunks, regular beds, etc. The several cabins can sleep up to 30 total. 
We met Didler and Caroline Mesure from Halluin, France on their magnificent Gold Wing they had shipped to Montreal.
We covered 615 miles going through British Columbia and Yukon Territory. What a drive! Absolutely magnificent scenery (flora and fauna)!! Even though it rained most of the day, since we all had appropriate rain gear, we all were dry.
We saw so many bears that after the sixth one, we ignored them. We didn't ignore the mountain sheep and the bison. Those huge beasts take their sweet time crossing the highway and even if a vehicle is coming, the bison won't give right of way.
