July 3 St. Augustine, FL to Chattanooga, TN 504 miles -- slightly less than eight hours Leave St. Augustine at 7 a.m; at First Coast Honda on State Road 16. They are planning a sending-away reception for us. Route: I-75 North or US 441 North to Athens, then Georgia 11/53 to rejoin I-75 north of Atlanta Hotel at Chattanooga: Days Inn Monteagle, 742 Dixie Lee Ave., I-24 Exit 135, Monteagle, TN Phone 931 924-2900 3 rooms reserved confirmed ... just $53.40 with tax included per room ... if you take the bed, can be as low as $18.69, if you take a sleeping bag, as low as $8.01, contiguent on 4 in a room.
July 4 Chattanooga, TN to Kingdom City, MO 543 miles -- slightly less than nine hours Leave Chattanooga at 7 a.m. Days Inn Route: I-24, I-57, I-64, I-70 Hotel at Kingdom City: Days Inn, 3392 County Road 211, I-70 & Highway 45, Kingdom City, MO 65262. Take I 70 exit 148 then south on US 54 to 1st stoplight past 70. turn rigt then left on Frontage Road. 3 rooms reserved confirmed -- $58.98 per room with tax included .. (This is $30 cheaper than Best Western) .. if you take the bed, can be as low as $20.64, if you take a sleeping bag, as low as $8.85, contiguent on 4 in a room.
There may be a reception for us sponsored by the parent group from the Missouri School for the Deaf. Plans are tentative at this point but I suggested a 7 p.m. event with refreshments and possibly media coverage.
July 5 Kingdom City MO to Sioux Falls, SD 523 miles (designated laundry/bike service day) -- slightly over 7 hours Leave Kingtom City at 7 a.m. at Days Inn Route: I-70, I-29 or US 75 where it parallels the main route. We will stop in St. Joseph MO and Dave Stufflebeam will hook up with us. Hotel at Sioux Falls: (FYI the best rate for Best Western was $149.99 per room so I got Days Inn at $80.71 per room!) Days Inn Sioux Falls, 3401 Gateway Blvd., I-29 & 41st Street, exit 77, Sioux Falls, SD 57106 Phone 605 361 9240 3 rooms reserved confirmed .. $87.91 with taxes included .. if you take the bed, can be as low as $30.77, if you take a sleeping bag, as low as $13.19, contiguent on 4 in a room.
July 6 Sioux Falls, SD to Winnipeg, MB 461 miles -- slightly under seven hours Leave Sioux Falls at 7 a.m. from Days Inn Route: I-29 or US 75, Canada Route 42 (Don't forget your passport and Canada insurance card) Hotel at Winnipeg, MB: Super 8, 101 Bypass & Portage West; 3760 Portage Avenue; Winnipeg, MB R3K 1A1 Phone 204 831 9800 3 rooms reserved confirmed . $87.37 Canadian with taxes included .. if you take the bed, can be as low as $30.58, if you take a sleeping bag, as low as $13.11, contiguent on 4 in a room.
July 7 Winnipeg, MB to Saskatoon, SK 486 miles (designated laundry/bike service day) -- nine hours Leave Winnipeg at 6 a.m. from Pembina Inn & Suites Route: Yellowhead Highway West (Canada 16). This is a nice and flat terrain with majestic grain elevators gliding to you from the horizon. Hotel at Saskatoon: Super 8, 706 Circle Drive East, 1st Ave North & Circle Drive, Saskatoon, SK S7K 3T7 phone 306 384 8989 3 rooms reserved confirmed $117.53 .. if you take the bed, can be as low as $41.14, if you take a sleeping bag, as low as $17.63, contiguent on 4 in a room.
July 8 Saskatoon to Valleyview, AB 538 miles in slightly over nine hours Leave Super 8 Saskatoon at 6 a.m. Route: Yellowhead West, then Provincal Route 43 West We will begin to be in hilly terrain as we approach the Rocky Mountains Hotel at Valleyview: Raven Motor Inn, 4716 50th Street P.O. Box 816 Valleyview Alberta T0H 3N0 phone 1 780 524-3383 Reservation of three rooms confirmed at $80 per room.
July 9 Valleyview,AB to Ft. Nelson, BC 433 miles in less than eight hours Leave Raven Motor Inn at Valleyview at 6 a.m. Route: Provincal Route 43 West to Dawson Creek, then the Alaska Highway!!! We may want to take the exit at milepost 17 to take the loop road to Kiskatinaw Provincial Park and drive the original Alaska Highway and cross the historic curved wooden Kiskatinaw River Bridge. This 531 foot long original timber bridge is the only wooden bridge still in use today. Awe inspiring! Hotel at Ft. Nelson: Super 8, 4003 50th Avenue South, Fort Nelson BC V0C 1R0 Canada 250-233-5025 Confirmed reservation of three rooms .. $139 Canadian plus tax .. if you take the bed, can be as low as $48.65, if you take a sleeping bag, as low as $20.85, contiguent on 4 in a room.
July 10 Ft. Nelson, BC to Whitehorse, YT 591 miles in eleven hours Leave Super 8 Ft. Nelson at 6 a.m. Route: Alaska Highway -- it is around this area that we most likely will encounter buffalo on the highway. Last time was a herd of 50 or so majestic animals taking their sweet time. My word of advice ... anytime on this trip, when you see critters, DON'T STOP until you pass them. That way, you can take pictures and if they charge you, just drive away. Imagine if you stop before them, if they charge you, you won't have time to turn around! Hotel at Whitehorse YT: River View Hotel, 102 Wood Street, Whitehorse, YT Y1A 2E3 Phone (867) 667-7801 Reservation of three rooms confirmed $130.20 Canadian including tax .. if you take the bed, can be as low as $45.57, if you take a sleeping bag, as low as $19.53, contiguent on 4 in a room.
July 11 Whitehorse, YT to Tok, AK 387 miles in 8 hours (designated laundry day) I can't believe the drivers in Tok! In my 46 years of motorcycle driving, a car pulled out in front of me from a side road only twice AND BOTH TIMES IT WAS HERE two separate years!!!! Leave Whitehorse YT at 6 a.m. Route: Alaska Highway Hotel at Tok, Alaska: Caribou Cabins ... 2 cabins reservation confirmed $155 each cabin AND one room with 3 single beds at WestMark Hotel $116. You got to see the pixs! http://www.cariboucabins.info/ phone 907 883-8080
Today you will see lots of ice and snow in Haines Junction! There is also a glacier tour via plane. You can stop at the airport's charter service (google this to find the phone number) for a flight over the glacier on our return stop July 20. The website for the village and its services is http://www.hainesjunctionyukon.com/ If you have the time and energy, there is a nice highway to take you to Haines, Alaska. It is noted for its grand views of glaciated mountains and the variety of scenery from coastal forests to alpine tundra. The main attraction is th Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve. We simply have to stop at this salmon bake! I stopped here two years ago and you will appreciate it after you endure a nerve wracking crossing on Teslin River Bridge! As written by one post: Mukluk Annie's place on the Alaska Highway was the highlight of our trip. This was one of the only places on the highway that we felt we actually got a bang for our buck. This link has a lot of photos, including Mukluk Annie's. By the way, there is a free houseboat ride if we eat there, so I heard.
July 12. Tok, AK to Fairbanks, AK 202 miles (bike service time) Lodging: All Seasons Bed & Breakfast Inn, 763 7th Avenue, Fairbanks, AK 99701 A bed and breakfast ... four separate rooms ... one room with a queen and two singles (4 people), two rooms with a queen and one single (total of six people), and one room with two twins (two people) The base rate on the rooms is $159 for two people plus $35 for each additional person. Room is already paid for! Will be nice to relax there as we ponder over out schedule for the next few days. If the weather report is good, I am thinking of Deadhorse. If the weather isn't so good, then to Homer. -- on your own until we meet again July 19 in Fairbanks.
July 13-18 -- Alaska -- six days!
One group can do Prudhoe Bay, another group Homer, or do Alaska "on your own" One idea is to have us rent a car and drive up to Prudhoe Bay and back in three days. As of now, Chuck Claybaugh, Robb Drellich, Mike Tuccelli and Jerry Brehany plan to go for it on our bikes! Two cabins has been reserved at Coldfoot Camp for July 13 (going up to Prudhoe Bay) and July 15 (returning from Prudhoe Bay) and are paid for.
As of July 12 ... only Jerry will go to Prudhoe Bay and perhaps Robb and I will go along as far as the Arctic Circle ... I told Robb that we can try the highway for four or five miles to see if we can handle it. If not, we will turn around. If OK, then Arctic Circle for a photo shoot.
Caribou Inn at Prudhoe Bay is reserved for July 14.
My thoughts for this are that we will have had such a short day July 12 and should be well rested July 13. On July 14, we will continue North to Prudhoe Bay. No services for 240 miles between here and there but we plan to drive at 40 MPH so the gas mileage should be around 45 so a full tank is enough (we will have a spare gas can regardless).
Prudhoe Bay is 239 more miles ... lots of things to look forwward ... in fact, just 5 miles north of Coldfoot, there is good berry picking (blueberries, lowbush cranberries)! We can tour Wiseman also. In 50 miles, we will see the last spruce tree ... and when we are 172 miles south of Prudhoe, we will have an adventure on a 12 percent winding uphill grade. We should see a lot of Dall sheep as we go over the mountain crest. When we are just 87 miles from our destination, we may run into grizzly bears. We should then hit pretty good chip sealed road from this point on. I saw some photos of motorcyclists stopped for a huge herd of animals crossing the road ... oh, won't we have a great time!!!
There is cell phone service in Prudhoe Bay.
We should have already booked a tour to the Arctic Ocean -- hopefully at 3 p.m. The tour guide will have towels and if you go into the Arctic Ocean, you will get a certificate! I plan to shoot videos and still pictures of those of us who will take the plunge!
We will stay overnight in Prudhoe Bay. Originally, I was planning on going back to Coldfoot, getting there around midnight (it will still be bright daylight!) and sleep in the next morning and head back to Fairbanks. Based on some emails with the group, a point was well made that we may be too tired to go back 240 miles to Coldfoot. Also, if the weather is wet, we will need to go slower on the gravel road. Will be nice to socialize with other bikers up there and enjoy some real North Alaska food, not to mention seeing bears! I will call Coldfoot and see if I change my reservations to the next day and will email Robb and Chuck to see if they will make the change too.
If you go south to Anchorage, you can stay/visit Denali National Park and Mountain McKinley there. From Anchorage to Homer, it is such a lovely view of water and mountains. Homer Spit reminds me a bit of driving on the Florida Keys. The last time I was there, a mother moose and her two babies crossed the Sterling Highway right in front of me and stopped. Of all the times without a camera handy!
That is why I now travel with a tank bag with a camera ready!
Here are some comments from Darryl Petrack --- couple tips for the Arctic Circle / Deadhorse / Prudhoe Bay. (here is aphoto blog which was publshed in part by Rider Magazine) The Arctic Circle is on the better section of the James Dalton Highway (officially AK 11, also known as "The Haul Road." It is a decent gravel road, and is do-able even when wet. DO CHECK for construction though. On that road, the rock is hauled in WITHOUT being crushed and is crushed on-site with a portable crusher. Some of the uncrushed items are as large as a person's head, and these are VERY UNKIND to motorcycle crankcases, and riders as well if you hit one wrong and get pitched! You may want to consider a fuel can for the Arctic Circle run. Fairbanks to Yukon Bridge is easily within range, but Fairbanks to Arctic Circle and back to Yukon Bridge is not, and I know for a fact that sometimes Yukon Bridge is out of fuel! There is a fuel stop on the north edge of Fairbanks. Fill up there on general principles (good practice EVERYWHERE north of the U.S. border -- there are a lot of closed-out-of-business fuel stops, and with no pay-at-the-pump, if you get to fuel after business hours, . . .) (Mike's comments ... so true! Last year, there was a sign that next fuel stop was 212 miles and when I got there, they were closed and the next one was 50 more miles! I plan to bring a gas can with us. You can always wait until we get to British Columbia to buy a nice two gallon can) For those interested in going all the way up the furthest north highway in North America: The portion north of Coldfoot is much muddier in wet weather. The mud is not deep, and has a solid bottom, so it is not too bad if you ride slowly and carefully, but it does a real number on radiators (clogging). I plan to verify this with the Postmaster (a letter to the Chamber of Commerce, which has a web site, but no "Contact Me" or address, was returned), but it appears that one cannot put water on the surface there, and cleaning a radiator is kaput! AFTERWARDS, I realized that there HAS TO BE TIMES when the trucking companies MUST clean their trucks, and thus it is likely that they have INDOOR wash facilities that would flush the water down the sewers rather than putting it on the ground. I was more tired than I realized and rather lost my composure. In dry weather (rainy season starts mid to late July, precisely when I was there, and when you will be there), this is not important. (Mike's comments ... why not have plan A and plan B so when we arrive at Fairbanks, we can check the 5-day weather forecast for that section? If rainy, there is absolutely plenty else to see and do. I am very open to the idea of four or five of us renting a gravel-ready car and drive up there and back.) Consider Prudhoe Bay / Deadhorse a three or four day ride. A room at the Arctic Caribou is $235, and I do not know the rates at the other place, but Coldfoot is less costly. There is no access to the Arctic Ocean except by commercial bus tour. You MUST give them driver's license number 24 hours in advance for security checks. You need to be there roughly 9am to 3pm to catch a tour, and they do have reservations, and they do fill some of the tours. Some people take a dip in the Ocean, some wade, some watch. Will tell you when I confirm / de-confirm the water on the ground and truck wash facilities and the like.
See the bottom of this page (What to Bring) Darryl's suggestions for places to stay in Prudhoe Bay.
July 18 We will rendevouz at a lodging in Fairbanks for July 18: 7 Gables Inn ... a penthouse for six and a unit for two already paid for $356.40 .. leave at 9 a.m.so we can enjoy a nice breakfast
July 19 Fairbanks, AK to Haines Junction, YT 494 miles Lodging in Haines Junction, YT for July 19: New cabins at the RV Park reservation of 2 cabins confirmed vandoug@northwestel.net As of today, July 12, three rooms are reserved at ALCAN MOTOR INN at the major intesection in Haines Junction. You may want to take a charter flight over the glaciers here in Haines Junction (we will go thru here on our way up so this would be a good time for you to arrange this).. http://www.hainesjunctionyukon.com/
July 20 Haines Junction, YT to Toad River, BC 569 miles Lodging: Toad River Lodge http://www.toadriverlodge.com/three rooms/cabins confirmed. $89 plus taxes
July 21 Toad River, BC to Fort St. Johns, BC 349 miles (service time and designated laundry day) Lodging: Super 8, 9500 Alaska Highway, Fort St. Johns, BC V1J 6S7 phone 250 785 7588 3 rooms confirmed $180.79 including tax Canadian .. if you take the bed, can be as low as $63.28 if you take a sleeping bag, as low as $27.12, contiguent on 4 in a room.
What we can do as we head up to Alaska is to scan the vicinity of Toad River and perhaps we can find something else much better and/or reasonable and make new reservations.
July 22 Fort St. Johns, BC to to Red Deer AB 549 miles If you are in need of motorcycle service, there are large dealerships in Dawson Creek so you may want to make an appt. first thing in the morning and leave Ft. St. Johns before the group leaves. I decided not to stay in Calgary as formerly planned. I still have bad memories of the horrendous traffic and hard to find hotels. We will stop about an hour north in Red Deer so we won't have to navigate rush hour traffic. Lodging at Red Deer: Days Inn, 1000-5001 19th Street, At S end of Red Deer on 19th, Red Deer, AB T4R 3R1 CA 403-340-3297 From highway #2, exit at highway 2A to Gaetz Ave, then turn right at the stop sign. Take the first right again into the parking lot. Three rooms confirmed $130.75 Canadian including taxes .. if you take the bed, can be as low as $45.76, if you take a sleeping bag, as low as $19.61, contiguent on 4 in a room.
July 23 Red Deer, AB to Butte, MT 525 miles Lodging in Butte, Montana: Days Inn, 2700 Harrison Avenue, I-90 & I-15 at N.Harrison Exit, Butte, MT 59701 Phone 406-494-7000 Three rooms confirmed $127.33 .. if you take the bed, can be as low as $44,57, if you take a sleeping bag, as low as $19.10, contiguent on 4 in a room.
July 24 Butte, MT to Logan, UT 358 miles -- we will join their festivies and mini-run -- plan to arrive no later than 2 p.m. (designated laundry day)
Lodging for Logan: Super 8 Motel - Logan, 865 So. Main St (South Side of City), Logan, UT 84321 US 435-753-8883 Three rooms reserved $62.86 including tax ... so for the guy/gal taking the bed, it's as low as $22 and the sleeping bag person $9.43 continguent on four per room.
Attention West Coast bikers .... why not plan a ride here? For example, GWRRA's chapters earn points for how many riders complete how many miles so plan a July 24 event! Contact SKIHI to coordinate this!
July 25 Logan, UT to Big Springs, NE 583 miles
Lodging for Big Spirngs, NE: Super 8 Motel, Ogallala, 500 East A St. South (I-80 & Hwy 61 Exit 126) Ogallala, NE 69153-3111 Phone 308-284-2076 3 rooms reserved $90.72 .. bed $31.75, sleeping bag $13.61 continguent on four per room.
July 26 Big Springs, NE to Kansas City, MO 485 miles (designated laundry/bike service day)
Lodging for Kansas City: Super 8 Motel - Riverside/Kansas City Area (I-635 & Hwy 9) 800 NW Argosy Parkway, Riverside, MO 64150 Phone 816-505-2888 3 rooms reserved $88.68 including tax .. bed $31.04, sleeping bag $13.30 continguent on four per room
July 27 Kansas City MO to Nashville, TN 556 miles
Lodging for Nashville, TN: Super 8 Motel - Nashville/ Dntn/ Opryland Area, 3320 Dickerson Pike (I-65, Exit 90 (Dickerson Pike), Nashville, TN 37207-2955 Phone: 615-226-1897 3 rooms reserved $62.78 including tax .. bed $21.97, sleeping bag $9.42 continguent on four per room
July 28 Nashville,TN to St. Augustine, FL 634 miles
