Day Sixteen to Palmer

Today I awoke in Tok. The mini blinds allow more than enough light into the room to wake me up at 5:00 am. By 6:00 am had finished flopping around on the bed pretending to sleep. So I got up and started packing, I somehow feel that not being able to sleep makes me feel old. Somehow the light is forcing me to be less carefree and that pisses me off. I am pissed off like an adult that has to go to work and realizes that all the joy in his life is years behind him. Ok, RANTING, I know. Sometime this stream of thought blathering really sheds light on a bunch of crap I really sure know ones interested in. So back to the story.

As with everyday, I packed up and jumped on the bike. The weather was perfect as I headed out of town. In about two hours that all changed. The mountains are rain magnets. The temperature dropped 25 degree and the rain steady. My speed of travel slowed way down. I realize that animals don’t care if it’s raining so I needed to allow more time to brake. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere I saw a moose running across that road. At first I thought it was Bigfoot. Unfortunately, it was only a scared moose. I stopped and stared at the mouse and really wished it could have been Bigfoot. God that would be cool. I think the moose sensed my disappointment and secretly wished it was Bigfoot also or maybe I’m projecting. So after a moment, the moose that wished it was Bigfoot and I headed our separate ways. It was at that point that the cold was definitely starting to mess with my brain. It was time to stop and get a four dollar cup of coffee. I was really tired of driving and I still had 200 miles to go. So I drank 3 cups of coffee and had a piece of Banana Cream pie. All for the low low price of 14.00 including tip.

On my way back out to the bike I noticed a weird vehicle on a trailer. Looking for any reason not to get back on the bike I grabbed the camera and went to take a look at it. I really couldn’t figure out exactly what it was but I definely looked like it would be fun to drive. Maybe its like a school bus for lumber jack kids. Maybe not, but sure looks cool. If I could drive that and see Bigfoot I could die a happy man.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also saw this doghouse.

The snow gets so deep they have to build it up high. That what's so cool about Alaska, every where I look I see something that looks like one of my ate up projects. These people aren’t worry about what the neighbors think or if its up to code. Hell, they're just trying to stay alive. So back on the road. I turned my seat warmer and grip heaters on high. The road to Anchorage you might think would be a straight 4 lane, but it isn’t. It's actually a pretty fun, twisty road for the last 100 miles. After 300 miles I had lost my mojo for the road. The rain had stopped and the temperature was up in the 60s. I stopped at McDonald's and found a cheap Hotel on the internet for the night. I checked in, called home and went to bed. Anchorage was only 50 miles away