Late update 3:30 p.m. Alaska time or 8:30 p.m. Eastern time at bottom of page
Robb, Dean, David and Travis are on the Arctic Circle Tour today and will be relaxing well tonight at the lovely 7 Gables Inn. I told them to sleep in the morning and enjoy their scrumptuous breakfast. Here is an example of the accommodatins they are staying in tonight (picture below)!
I feel bad that a few bikers decided to go home already because they are truly missing out on an adventure and the special accommodations I've lined up for them such as All Seasons Inn and 7 Gables Inn. Can you imagine a visit in Alaska beginning and concluding with accommodations such as these? Quite a few other bikers decided not to rendevous at 7 Gables but instead will be meeting us tomorrow night at Alacan Motor Inn at Haines Junction. Hopefully, by tomorrow night, the ten remaining bikers will be together having a great time sharing pictures and stories of their adventures!
Here is a sample of the breakfast Robb, David, Dean and Travis will enjoy tomorrow morning:
Breakfast is an event! A full, gourmet breakfast is served daily, featuring international themes. Here are some sample menus:
English breakfast Bridgeford Eggs Baked Beans Chips Lemon Curd Tarts Pumpkin and Orange Scones Berry Trifle Gourmet coffee, herbal teas, orange juice
Italian breakfast Eggs Florentine Cappucchino Chip Muffins with Espresso Spread Almond Biscotti Banana Tiramisu Italian Sausage Red and Green Grapes and Oranges Gourmet coffee, herbal teas, orange juice
Indian breakfast Three Pepper Curried Eggs Sweet Potato Crisp Tropical Muffins Coconut Bread Peanut Butter Bread Tropical Fruit Mix Gourmet coffee, herbal teas, orange juice
Mexican breakfast Sausage Tortilla Quiche Flan topped with berries Apple Corn Muffins Banana and Pineapple Crisp Churros Tropical Fruit Mix Gourmet coffee, herbal teas, orange juice
I am sure if you've been reading the updates up to this point, you are aware of snafus and of some changes that will be made beginning in 2009.
1. It will be emphasized again to participants that this is a very flexible tour in that as you meet other bikers, you naturally form riding groups and room sharing groups and set your own speed, rest stops, fuel stops, etc. For instance, at one stop, four bikers stayed until noon to do laundry and caught up with the rest of us while some of us did our laundry the night before. Quite a few bikers find it very convenient to ride in groups of twos.
2. You can sleep in and catch up with the group that night.
3. You are encouraged to obtain brochures, catalogs, solicit advice from travel agents, surf the internet and develop your own itinery while in Alaska. Looking back, I realize that a full week in Alaska is a bit too much for some so in 2009, it will be three full days which will still allow you time to tour Denali, take the Arctic Circle tour, do some fishing, etc. I will have websites of various venues as suggestions. There are books on Alaska such as Mile Post which have several hundred pages of information. Actually, it makes a full week very short!
4. I will no longer make room reservations. Instead, on the 2009 schedule page (coming this Fall), there will be a "headquarter" lodging and alternate lodgings listing with phone numbers, web link, etc. to simplify each participant making his/her own reservations. In fact, I will attempt to have each place hold a block of rooms a a special rate up to a certain date to make this as simple and fast as possible.
For bikers wanting to save serious money, I will post a list of all bikers wanting to share rooms and it is up to them to link up with each other and decide how to split the room costs. For example, if a cabin is $120, and we have three bikers (two taking each bed and one using an air mattress/sleeping bag) it would be split 40/40/20 so the one taking the sleeping bag option would only have to pay $24.00.
This why I have two other pages (vote and guest book) on this website to solicit suggestions from you so I can try to make modifications so future trips will be very special for you!
BREAKING NEWS -- from Rona (David's wife) -- Just spoke with David. He, Lee & Bob are at the Caribou Cabins in Tok. David will try to catch up with you along the way to Haines Junction. If not he will meet you there for the night. Lee & Bob are on their own tomorrow.
So, when I leave Wasilla at 3 a.m. I should be going thru Tok shortly after 8 a.m. and hope to catch Dave there!
I feel bad that a few bikers decided to go home already because they are truly missing out on an adventure and the special accommodations I've lined up for them such as All Seasons Inn and 7 Gables Inn. Can you imagine a visit in Alaska beginning and concluding with accommodations such as these? Quite a few other bikers decided not to rendevous at 7 Gables but instead will be meeting us tomorrow night at Alacan Motor Inn at Haines Junction. Hopefully, by tomorrow night, the ten remaining bikers will be together having a great time sharing pictures and stories of their adventures!
