I crossed back into the US Sunday morning and spent the night in Cascade, Montana. They have a town park where travelers can stay for free. There is also a dump station on site. I found it on the way up to Canada three months ago and knew I wanted to stay again. The park

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The Icefields Parkway through the Canadian Rockies between Jasper and Banff National Parks was beautiful. The National Parks in Canada are free this year because it is the 150 year celebration of the park service. With the parks being free this year, and then get a weekend of gorgeous weather, everyone in Canada was headed

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I had a great time in Hyder. The last night there I saw two more large grizzly bears come out and catch fish in the river. Before the grizzlies arrived, a small, cute, little black bear tip-toed out and scavaged scraps left along the bank. When the little black saw the first grizzly, he hightailed

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Hyder is a little town on the southern tip of Alaska. Mining kept the town alive back in the early 1900’s, but the few businesses along the run-down main street have all closed, and junk is piled in front and between the delapitated buildings. About the only businesses in town are an RV park, a

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I was in for a pleasant surprise when I turned off the Alaskan Highway at Watson Lake and headed down the Cassiar Highway. In Richard’s blog, he tells about the terrible condition of the road, filled with frost heaves and dips so bad that he was only able to drive 35 mph a lot of

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I have been scooting south quicker than I originally intended. I decided to put in a couple of good driving days and maybe save a little time for the Cassiar Highway and the Icefields Parkway between Banff and Jasper. I’m back in Whitehorse tonight after driving the Tok Cutoff and Alaskan Highway that I missed

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My visit to Valdez Alaska turned out to be one of the most amazing experiences I have had so far on my trip. On the Stan Stevens Glacier and Wildlife Cruise, we witnessed the greatest calving event that anyone on our boat had ever seen. Crew members on our boat who have been coming to

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Alaskans love their weekend toys! If you live up here for any length of time, you probably have some combination of the following adventure vehicles: airplane, RV, fishing boat, ATV, snowmobile, mountain bike, and maybe a lesser chance because of the weather, a dirt bike. It was quite evident to me as I left Anchorage

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On Friday, Kleenex and I traveled an hour south of Anchorage to hike a trail to Portage Glacier and visit the town of Whittier. The weather was cloudy and misting for much of the day, but the skies cleared and the rain held for most of our hike. It was a fun day. Because it

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I left Fred Meyer in Soldotna and drove northeast until I reached the turn to Hope, Alaska. The highway to Hope runs along the south side of Turnagain Arm, crossing many rivers that feed into the tidal basin. It was a pretty drive with views of Turnagain Arm in several pullouts along the road. The

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I packed up this morning and headed Minnie back towards Anchorage. It was almost 1pm before I left the campground on the Spit, and I will truly miss the wonderful time I spent, walking the beach, riding Honda to town and along the East Road, watching eagles feast on morsels brought in by the surf,

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One of the best parts of hiking the AT was the people you meet. This trip to see Alaska has been like that in some ways. In campgrounds, tourist attractions, beautiful scenic places, and all along the highway, you run into people with the same pilgrimage – to explore this great and beautiful land of

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After several days of rain and gloom, Friday dawned bright and clear. I was camped in the same parking area as last night and enjoyed a very restful night. One other camper pulled in late and was gone early this morning before I even got up. With the promise of clear, sunny skies, I packed

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The weather turned rainy and chilly two days after I arrived in Anchorage. I was reaching for a jacket most of the time but the residents up here didn’t seem to mind and continued their activities in t-shirts and shorts. Even the two days when it didn’t rain were socked in with low clouds and

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After enjoying a relaxing week along the Susitna River near Talkeetna, I decided to drive to Anchorage to start my exploration of the coastal area. The morning was a little drizzly but I managed to get everything loaded without taking too much of the wet river sand with me. It was only 120 miles south

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I rode into Talkeetna this morning with the idea of checking on the price of an airplane ride to a glacier below Denali. I parked Honda and walked to one of the buildings selling air tours and talked with the guy about a flight. I really wasn’t prepared to take a flight today. The weather

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I had some excitement driving south on Alaska Rt. 3 this morning. I left my campsite about 9:00 am and stopped at Denali National Park to dump and take on water. I was following a Class C pulling a toad about an hour later when I noticed smoke coming from the tow car. All of

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This note is just to continue the chronicle of my time in Alaska. I have taken three days to do little of nothing other than to hide from the rain, wind, and cold. I’m still 10 miles north of Denali at the little spot of BLM I found on the web. It looks like tomorrow

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Rain is predicted to settle in for the next few days so I rode to the park for one last activity. Denali is known for its generous stance as a wilderness area. In a wilderness area, man is a visitor that does not remain, no mechanical vehicles can be used, and nature is left pretty

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Yesterday I rode to Denali and purchased a ticket to ride into the wilderness area of Denali. The bus trip I purchased, 53 miles to the Toklat River, was the shortest excursion they offered into the heart of the park. Some of the tours were over 90 miles and lasted all day. I figured that

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The George Parks Highway that runs between Anchorage and Fairbanks is by far the best road I’ve been on here in Alaska. There were very few dips and potholes. It is probably maintained well because it is such a major highway. I retrieved my mail at the post office, dumped and filled my water for

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I parked at Walmart yesterday afternoon with intentions of staying 48 hours. My mail should be here tomorrow and then I can move down towards Denali National Park. This morning I was relaxing in my pajamas when I got a knock on the door. Two guys were going around and telling everyone that the stay

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For the last week or so I have heard a slight grinding in my front brakes. I knew they were getting worn when I last bought tires in Mesa. I should have replaced the pads then, but I am a good one to procrastinate. I made an appointment here in Fairbanks to get the brakes

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For the last two days I have been staying at Pioneer Park in Fairbanks. The park was built in 1967 to celebrate the centennial of the Alaskan purchase. There are several museums, shows, displays, activities, and gift shops. There is a salmon or cod, all you can eat dinner, a railroad ride around the park,

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While in Fairbanks I read about a tour bus trip to the Arctic Circle. I figured it would be a good way to save some wear and tear on Minnie and enjoy a comfortable trip to a place where in summer the sun never sets. So on Thursday, June 29, I road Honda at 6

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I unloaded Honda this morning and took a ride around town. I wanted to see where Pioneer Park is so I would know where to go next. I don’t like to stay in a Walmart parking lot more than a couple days; it just feels wrong. I guess there is no problem with parking here,

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I left Clearwater Recreation Area near Delta Junction and drove ten miles north to Delta State Historical Park. I had read there was a campground there that was only $10 and had a dump station and potable water. The campground was nothing more than a parking lot and the dump cost extra. There was, however,

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It was an exciting day today. I walked my garbage down to the dumpster.

It rained all night and for most of the morning. The gravel parking area where I stayed overnight had puddles filled with water when I got up, so I hung out and waited for the rain to let up before pulling out. I could have stayed right where I was but I decided to find

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The campground north of Chicken was completely full by dinner time. I guess it was because I left Dawson so early is why I beat everyone there. Just as I was eating dinner two pickups came in, one pulling the other. I later found out that a young couple had broken the universal joint on

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