Day 8--Friday, July 26, 2002, 45.58 miles
Before I begin the Day 8 account, I must catch you up on a few things that happened last evening.
First, Jess decided that it was too blustery for campground cooking so we walked the bridge across Willow Creek to the Willow Creek Lodge on the other side and had halibut for supper. This restaurant—like nearly all in Alaska was stuffed with stuffed animal heads, including . . . are you ready for this? . . . a giraffe. (These are common above the tree line in Alaska, I'm told.) Not just the head but the long neck and shoulders, too. Cracked us up, and we had to take a photo. Jess nearly had to lie on the floor to get both me and the giraffe in the same frame, and she still couldn’t quite stuff us both in.
While eating, we could look out at Willow Creek and a couple of guys filleting red (sockeye) salmon and throwing the chum to the gulls. After dinner we went over to ask about their catch and to take a photo of them. They insisted that we take a fillet for breakfast.
Got back to our campsite wondering how we would keep the filet cold and the bears away until morning. The problem was solved when Richard and Marianne, from Boulder, CO, and dog Lulu, invited us over to sit around their campfire and have a piece of pecan pie. They had no refrigerator but put the filet in their cooler.
Hundreds of rabbits here. Blackie wasn't using our firepit as a litter box. Turns out he likes to sleep in it.
Signs seen on the road today:
- "Best Little Hair House in Alaska"
- "Road Maintained by The Dog Team Touring Association"
We have fixed up our BOBs with duct tape to hold the fuel bottle and our extra water and mugs on rear platforms near the wheel. With a rail, the BOB people could easily modify these spaces to hold such things.
We had a dangerous situation yesterday: a semi passed me and just missed hitting me with an unsecured load strap that was flying off the side. I came to a screeching halt and radioed Jess, who was ahead, to get off the road. Even so, she reported that it was a close call.
The truck stopped ahead of her and when she caught up to it she told the driver about the flying straps and also about the courtesy of swinging out and around cyclists when possible. Most drivers have been very courteous, and give us plenty of room.
Started to rain shortly after we went to bed and rained all night. Broke for a very short period in which we got up and packed and had breakfast: fresh red salmon and cream cheese rolled into a basil and dried tomato tortilla. Very delicious. Got off in a drizzling rain at 10:20. Now we are sitting in a little roadside cafe having toast and hot chocolate while the proprietor dries our rain jackets. We've pedaled only about 15 miles, 10 of that through construction and long sections of mud and gravel.
Very shortly after we stopped, we found a paved bike trail that took us another 15 or 20 miles to the other side of Wasilla and the Palmer/Wasilla Hwy. This was great as it was still raining steadily and it got us out of the spray thrown by cars and trucks.
We got to the Dan Contini Fire Station in Palmer about 3. We will be staying with Chief Dan and his wife Lalle tonight and then going in to Anchorage to spend two nights at their daughter Danette's house. Dan is our Alaska IFSTA Distributor and he and Lalle are the warmest most hospitable people on earth. Their house is a mecca for many OSU School of Fire Protection & Safety students who come up to work the north slope oil companies. I stayed with Dan & Lalle 10 years ago or so when I was up here on business.
At the station we cleaned our filthy bikes and trailers and spread our tent and fly and ground cloth in the apparatus bay to dry. Then Dan loaded our BOB bags and drove us up to his home at the foot of Lazy Mountain. Two of Dan and Lalle's five children came with their dogs and children to celebrate Dan's birthday, which just happened to coincide with our arrival day.
After we finished eating (demolishing a coconut cream pie daughter, Danette, had brought from Anchorage, plus a sheet cake from the guys at the firehouse) Jess and I were down for the count in our first bed in a week. Deliciously comfy.
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