Carlo Creek Alaska, Aug 22nd
Carlo Creek Alaska at the Panorama Pizza Pub, mile marker 224.17563 of the George Parks highway…you know, hwy 3 so I’m not lost. Well, it’s about 14 miles south of the Denali National park which I hope to tour tomorrow, but can only ride the bike 15 miles into the park, and than have to be on bus, by foot or bicycle…ok, so it’s a motorbike, does that count? Today was a day spent at a Harley shop, remember Indianapolis where I spent 8 hours there for my 20,000 mile maintenance, well about 7 hours at Fairbanks and not for normal maintenance…more on that later. Ok the hostel wasn’t the greatest place to stay, not very clean, but the sleeping arrangement wasn’t bad at all…wish I would’ve known when I crawled into bed last night that I was the only guy in a room for 4, but didn’t find that out until woke up this morning and found 3 other women in the room. An older lady that’s traveling on her own, but a couple of young ones, Aussie’s and apparently they didn’t sleep very well last night cuz someone was snoring…hey, I got a good night sleep. I told them the same as others, just throw a pillow at me and one of them said she tried rocking the bed, but it didn’t make any difference….just as long as it doesn’t catch up to me that people start warning other hostels about me, but hey, I’m not the only one who might be snoring – remember the Jasper Hostel? Well, they were saying a lot of the women would rather sleep in the coed dorm because the snoring isn’t as bad as the female only dorm…we all know that’s probably the case.
Got up early to get to the Harley shop to see what Shane had to say and either get the bike fixed or be on my way to Denali Park. Well, he had nothing but bad news for me, cuz according to Harley my regulator is out and needs to be replaced and it’s not a good idea for me to take a chance and ride because it could strand me in the middle of no where. Ok, well, just put a new regulator on and I’m ready to go, but another problem, the regulators for these new bikes are on back order and no shop in the states have one that it could be a week before they get one…just what I need to do with the cold weather coming, spend a week in Fairbanks. That had me thinking that’s why so many people come to Alaska and end up staying here to work; they get stranded and have no choice but to get a job before they can get outta here. Well, time for me to work the service manager Jerry and suggested taking a regulator from another bike so I can get on the road, Indianapolis did the same thing with a stereo for me, that they must have a bike they can hock a regulator from…just sell it later – the bike without a regulator. He had to run it by the powers to be and thankfully they agreed, with some convincing from Jerry that’d it be the thing to do to get me on the road. Ok, should be outta here in an hour until problem 3 had to come up - the wires to the stator are worn thru with all the dirt and riding I’ve been doing that that needs to be replaced too, the good news is they ordered one a few weeks ago and it’s in UPS’s hands so should be delivered today, the bad news is, they don’t make their delivery until the afternoon that right now Jerry hopes to get me on the road by 3:00 at the earliest.
Well, guess where I’ll be hanging today and spent more time talking with Kathy and Jessica and got to know pretty much everyone before the day was over. Some would ask me if they were getting me on the road soon, so they must be waiting for me to go away…not really, but Kathy was a big help with more info on the roads to Anchorage, the weather and how to do the Denali park tour. It also gave me some time to get caught up on some things so clipped my nails, which I’m sure your happy to hear, but made a number of phone calls to some I haven’t talked to in a while…one because I have the time and the other is haven’t talked to many because of the lack of phone service in Canada. Oh, and forgot to say the other day just how old it gets listening to the same cd over and over again when going thru a desolate part of the country, it wasn’t until I got close to Fairbanks that I actually started getting a radio single…great more country music. Hey check out the mileage and how far home I have, only 3476 miles, but I’m taking the long way home. Oh, and today is TC’s birthday, he’s the one with all his sisters pictures hanging on the wall…good thing they don’t have a problem with sexual harassment around here or being politically correct, but maybe they realize at 61, he deserves to look at pictures like that while working.
Ok, something that every one from Alaska has been telling me and that none of us from the states realize is July and August are the rainiest months in Alaska and not necessarily the time to be visiting. Before July is good and September, but most places, especially the roads and parks close by September 15th, hey a day before my birthday, incase anyone needs to be reminded and that’s not too far away that I need to get on the road, and soon. Made a call to the Denali hostel so I have a bed for tonight, so the sooner my bike gets done the better that once I saw the UPS truck leaving, did get a picture and had to check whether my part was in or not and look what Jerry and Shane have, great I’ll be on the road in no time. Shane got the bike put back together in record time and it even got a bath, Austin came after school and did a great job washing it for me. Yep, school just started this week in these parts and he came from school to do a few washes and apologized for not polishing it, but like we told him, no need to detail it since I have to get on the road to Denali.
You can see it was a wet ride again today that it was a good thing I packed my rain gear at the shop only to make a stop and put it on a few miles down the road. Oh, before I forget, my Fairbanks connection fell thru because my friend said his brother wasn’t too interested in a guest, someone he doesn’t know, but did hear him on the radio since he’s a DJ and tried calling the station, but you know how they are, a busy signal all the time. Made it to the Mt McKinley Harley-Davidson shop to buy a t-shirt, but they didn’t have any left with the good logo on the back and although I wanted one from the ‘Mother Load’, they don’t sell those individually, only in the ‘Mother Load’ bag. There are 5 Outpost shops, so you can get a bag with a t-shirt from each for $150 or $90 for last years shirts, but like I told them in Fairbanks, that’s cheating that unless someone buys you a shirt, you can’t buy one from someplace you haven’t been, so I’ll only be able to buy that ‘Mother Load’ bag after I visit the rest…ok, two down and 3 to go which are going to be the toughest of the 5.
Made it to the Denali Hostel and met Paul, another biker that just rolled in that there is a pizza joint across the road that we can split a pie and tell stories. He’s been traveling thru Alaska and has to head back the way I came that we both have info the other can use. Ok, he’s a vegetarian and I’m a meat eater, but Zara from Bulgaria can make a half and half so we’re in business and that’s what brings me here to Ivan’s families place, the Panorama Pizza Pub. Sounds like its clearing tonight so might be able to see the Northern lights which were something else to see around here last night, but I wasn’t here then. Need a clear day for great viewing of Denali Park and let’s hope we get that tomorrow so you have some pictures to see. Alaska Highway 3 south pictures.
Got up early to get to the Harley shop to see what Shane had to say and either get the bike fixed or be on my way to Denali Park. Well, he had nothing but bad news for me, cuz according to Harley my regulator is out and needs to be replaced and it’s not a good idea for me to take a chance and ride because it could strand me in the middle of no where. Ok, well, just put a new regulator on and I’m ready to go, but another problem, the regulators for these new bikes are on back order and no shop in the states have one that it could be a week before they get one…just what I need to do with the cold weather coming, spend a week in Fairbanks. That had me thinking that’s why so many people come to Alaska and end up staying here to work; they get stranded and have no choice but to get a job before they can get outta here. Well, time for me to work the service manager Jerry and suggested taking a regulator from another bike so I can get on the road, Indianapolis did the same thing with a stereo for me, that they must have a bike they can hock a regulator from…just sell it later – the bike without a regulator. He had to run it by the powers to be and thankfully they agreed, with some convincing from Jerry that’d it be the thing to do to get me on the road. Ok, should be outta here in an hour until problem 3 had to come up - the wires to the stator are worn thru with all the dirt and riding I’ve been doing that that needs to be replaced too, the good news is they ordered one a few weeks ago and it’s in UPS’s hands so should be delivered today, the bad news is, they don’t make their delivery until the afternoon that right now Jerry hopes to get me on the road by 3:00 at the earliest.
Well, guess where I’ll be hanging today and spent more time talking with Kathy and Jessica and got to know pretty much everyone before the day was over. Some would ask me if they were getting me on the road soon, so they must be waiting for me to go away…not really, but Kathy was a big help with more info on the roads to Anchorage, the weather and how to do the Denali park tour. It also gave me some time to get caught up on some things so clipped my nails, which I’m sure your happy to hear, but made a number of phone calls to some I haven’t talked to in a while…one because I have the time and the other is haven’t talked to many because of the lack of phone service in Canada. Oh, and forgot to say the other day just how old it gets listening to the same cd over and over again when going thru a desolate part of the country, it wasn’t until I got close to Fairbanks that I actually started getting a radio single…great more country music. Hey check out the mileage and how far home I have, only 3476 miles, but I’m taking the long way home. Oh, and today is TC’s birthday, he’s the one with all his sisters pictures hanging on the wall…good thing they don’t have a problem with sexual harassment around here or being politically correct, but maybe they realize at 61, he deserves to look at pictures like that while working.
Ok, something that every one from Alaska has been telling me and that none of us from the states realize is July and August are the rainiest months in Alaska and not necessarily the time to be visiting. Before July is good and September, but most places, especially the roads and parks close by September 15th, hey a day before my birthday, incase anyone needs to be reminded and that’s not too far away that I need to get on the road, and soon. Made a call to the Denali hostel so I have a bed for tonight, so the sooner my bike gets done the better that once I saw the UPS truck leaving, did get a picture and had to check whether my part was in or not and look what Jerry and Shane have, great I’ll be on the road in no time. Shane got the bike put back together in record time and it even got a bath, Austin came after school and did a great job washing it for me. Yep, school just started this week in these parts and he came from school to do a few washes and apologized for not polishing it, but like we told him, no need to detail it since I have to get on the road to Denali.
You can see it was a wet ride again today that it was a good thing I packed my rain gear at the shop only to make a stop and put it on a few miles down the road. Oh, before I forget, my Fairbanks connection fell thru because my friend said his brother wasn’t too interested in a guest, someone he doesn’t know, but did hear him on the radio since he’s a DJ and tried calling the station, but you know how they are, a busy signal all the time. Made it to the Mt McKinley Harley-Davidson shop to buy a t-shirt, but they didn’t have any left with the good logo on the back and although I wanted one from the ‘Mother Load’, they don’t sell those individually, only in the ‘Mother Load’ bag. There are 5 Outpost shops, so you can get a bag with a t-shirt from each for $150 or $90 for last years shirts, but like I told them in Fairbanks, that’s cheating that unless someone buys you a shirt, you can’t buy one from someplace you haven’t been, so I’ll only be able to buy that ‘Mother Load’ bag after I visit the rest…ok, two down and 3 to go which are going to be the toughest of the 5.
Made it to the Denali Hostel and met Paul, another biker that just rolled in that there is a pizza joint across the road that we can split a pie and tell stories. He’s been traveling thru Alaska and has to head back the way I came that we both have info the other can use. Ok, he’s a vegetarian and I’m a meat eater, but Zara from Bulgaria can make a half and half so we’re in business and that’s what brings me here to Ivan’s families place, the Panorama Pizza Pub. Sounds like its clearing tonight so might be able to see the Northern lights which were something else to see around here last night, but I wasn’t here then. Need a clear day for great viewing of Denali Park and let’s hope we get that tomorrow so you have some pictures to see. Alaska Highway 3 south pictures.
posted by Dalej Webb at 12:40 AM
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