Day 13: Denali to Anchorage

It's been so interesting to have the long days in Alaska: 20+ hours of daylight everyday. We've used eye masks so that we can go to sleep while it's still light out, but we wake up frequently during the night. This morning we were both awake by 4 am, but stayed in bed until 5. We got dressed for riding and were packed up by 6; after a quick breakfast we started riding at 6:30 am. The day was cloudy but dry. We jumped on the bike trail and headed towards Denali. By 8:45 we'd made it to the gravel road, the place where all cars have to stop and only buses, bikes or vehicles going into campgrounds can continue. Pete had gotten used to captaining the tandem on gravel, so we were able to ride much faster, and I was able to take photos while we rode. We cruised out about 20 miles before we needed to turn around.

Once we were back on pavement, Patty and Bill came along in the van. They had spent the morning hiking. Mom got this picture of Pete and me in action. As you can see it was cloudy, but the temperatures were in the high 60's so it was very pleasant riding. Since we'd been able to ride an extra day today, our total mileage for the trip increased to just over 550 miles.




After showering and driving back to Anchorage, we enjoyed our final meal at a wonderful seafood restaurant called Kincaid Grill. We started with champagne, crabcakes and salads. For dinner Patty had troll caught salmon that was cooked perfectly and served with sweet potatoes, green beans and topped with fried onions. I enjoyed blackened salmon, which was moist and flavorful. Pete had scallops a la Nicoise which had a delicious and not-too-salty sauce that coated the green beans and preserved tomatoes. Bill had halibut that was also very tasty. For dessert we shared a chocolate hazelnut bread pudding that was flavored with frangelico which Pete has promised to try to make at home. It was an exceptional meal and a perfect way to end our fantastic vacation!

This is our last post for our Alaskan adventure. We hope you've enjoyed reading it. Thanks to everyone who posted comments!

All the best,
Pete and Kristina
June 25th, 2010

Day 12: Fairbanks to Denali

Our hotel in Fairbanks had a white board in the lobby that showed sunset was at 12:28 am and sunrise was at 3:24 am - it really never gets dark here this time of year. We had planned to spend 2 nights in Fairbanks, then drive straight back to Anchorage on Friday. Patty and Bill suggested that we change our plans and go back to Denali, so that we'd break up the 8 hour drive. We jumped at the chance to get back to Denali, as we wanted another opportunity to ride in the beautiful national park!

But there were several things we wanted to see in Fairbanks. After breakfast we set out for the Creamers Bird Refuge, hoping to see some sandhill cranes. We arrived just in time for the guided nature walk, and spent the next two hours learning about all the different birds that nest there in the summer. We saw a few "teenager" sandhill cranes and learned that the mature birds were nesting so weren't visible. The landscape was beautiful and filled with blooming irises.

Next we headed to lunch, based on the suggestion of our nature walk guide. We were not disappointed with the Pumphouse Restaurant. We sat outside on the deck overlooking the river, and relished our bbq ribs with coleslaw, elk burgers and salad.

After lunch we went to the University of Alaska Museum of the North to check out the building and exhibits. It is a beautiful building, which is described as a whale's tale as it deep dives, a curvy facade in white that is very attractive. We enjoyed the natural history exhibits that explained the dinosaurs of Alaska, displayed bones and tusks of wooly mammoths and mastedons, and included an amazing mummified blue ox. We also saw a movie on the aurora borealis, northern lights, which explained how they occur and was also beautiful.


I really liked some of the contemporary art; this one is a pleasing mix of older Eskimo imagery and new convoluted shapes. It was carved out of cedar and then painted.

Since we'd agreed we wanted to go back to Denali for the night, we piled in the van and drove for two and a half hours. When we arrived, Patty worked some magic and got our rooms upgraded to have a river view; the sound of the water was wonderful so we kept the windows open all night. Pete and I were eager to ride the next day, so we went to bed early.

Day 11: Denali to Fairbanks

Another gorgeous morning in Alaska: little to no clouds, no wind, and the temperature around 55 degrees but warming up. We fueled up with some oatmeal, bananas, and tea for breakfast, packed our bags, donned our bikes clothes, and got ready to head off down to the park for a ride.

Hitting the road around 7:30am was great as the traffic was really quite light. We got to the visitor center by 8:15, topped off our water bottles, and planned how far we would try to ride. The road is about 90 miles long. The first 16 miles are paved and it's hard-pack gravel the rest of the way. Along the road are a few campground sites, some of which have potable water. We decided we would try to get as far as the Teklanika Campground at mile 29 as it had water. We had to be back by 2:30 to meet up with Patty & Bill before heading off to Fairbanks.

The road climbs up the first 10 miles or so by about 1000 feet in a rolling fashion. The sides of the road were covered in wildflowers, blues, pinks, yellows, and some whites. We aren't sure of all the names, but they were gorgeous nonetheless. To the left is Fireweed, not quite blooming yet but frequently found alongside the roads. The traffic was light and one thing that we noticed right away was how much we could hear the birds chirping and singing that we didn't hear yesterday over the roar of the bus engine. The other thing that was also so apparent was just how vast was the landscape as seen from the seat of a bicycle. The cloud cover was heavier today and we didn't get a view of Denali, but the landscape we did see was awesome!

At the point where the paved road ends, the Park Service has a ranger check point to turn around any private cars that don't have special use permits to continue down the gravel portion of the road. He looked at our bike and said, "Wow, those sure are skinny tires, have fun!" We headed up the road and the first couple of miles were great as it was really hard packed dirt with very little gravel. In fact, most of the road was in very good shape. The worst sections were where crews had recently regraded the road and used larger gravel that was somewhat loose. At one point Kristina said, "It feels like we are fishtailing." I responded, "That's because we are!" It made the downhills in those sections challenging and kept our overall speed lower. We also hit a patch of washboard road that almost caused my glasses to shake off! It was so incredibly gorgeous being out there on the bike, though, that we were very accepting of the road conditions.

We didn't make it all the way to the Teklanika Campground, since we opted to stop along the way to take pictures or put on jackets since it was less stable to while riding. We turned around at mile 26 or so and headed back. Once back at the van we used the Park Service showers at the Riley Creek Mercantile, then piled back into the van for a 2.5 hour drive to Fairbanks.

Since this was our last day to ride, Kristina wanted me to include our overall riding statistics for the trip. We rode the tandem 6 days, for a total of 483 miles with 17,500 feet of climbing. Fastest speed was logged during our ride from Homer to Kenai: 47 mph. We are so glad we made this a riding vacation!

Tomorrow we plan on doing a bit of sightseeing in a Fairbanks with a visit to a migratory bird habitat and a visit to the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska.

Day 10: Denali

It was beautiful when we woke up this morning, with not a cloud in the sky. After a quick breakfast, we all headed off in the van for the day's adventures. Denali is a huge national park that includes more that 6 million square acres. There is a gravel road that covers about 90 miles of the park. They don't allow private cars into the park, and your choices of transport are hiking, biking and taking a bus. We opted for bus tours. Our first stop was a deli so we could get sandwiches for lunch, then we dropped off Patty and Bill for their Tundra Wilderness Tour. Pete and I had opted for a cheaper tour without narration that would take us to the Eieslen Nature Center which was 50 miles into the park

We were on the bus with 35 other eager sightseers at 8:30 am. First order of business was our driver telling us how to behave when we see wildlife. Our driver was a 20 year veteran, and had seen all the imbecilic behavior known to humans and told us what not to do: don't yell at the bear, don't bark at a wolf, don't make a lot of noise or the animal will run away, etc. Pretty common sense stuff, except that most of these behaviors were exhibited by our bus mates when we actually saw animals. And we did see a lot of animals! First we saw caribou down on the river plain, one was cooling himself in the snow bank, and another was drinking and trotting through the water. Next we saw grizzlies, but they were far away and sleeping, so it was not very interesting. We saw dall sheep quite close up, there were 8 of them and they all looked pretty young judging by the size of the horns. The highlight of the wildlife sightings for me was seeing a wolf - he came out of the underbrush toward the side of the bus where I was sitting so I shouted out, "wolf, 3 o'clock" which was the code to tell the driver to stop and the passengers where to look. He was incredible looking with golden eyes that stared right at us and his coat was very full. He quickly got spooked by all the commotion on the bus and took off into the underbrush, but luckily for us came back out on the road in front of the bus. We followed him for about a mile and watched him catch a mouse before he finally left the road. We also saw a golden eagle from above; I didn't realize how large this raptor is - we got a great look of him perched on a rock in Polychrome Pass and then he took off.


The weather is so changeable in Alaska. Our first view of Mt McKinley was clear, but within 30 minutes the mountain was covered by clouds. As we made our way out toward our turnaround point, the clouds kept gathering. As we were headed back to the bus after our break, the clouds opened up and it started to hail. It quickly turned to rain, but fortunately didn't last too long.

After our tour ended we picked up Patty and Bill, and then grabbed beverages at a nearby liquor store. Diane, we finally bought Bill a beer for Father's Day! We enjoyed exchanging stories of what we had seen and learned together at our cabins. It had been an amazing experience!

Dinner was within walking distance at a restaurant called Parks 229. It's named after its address, which is mile marker 229 on the Parks Highway (Alaska State Route 3). The restaurant features as much locally procured produce as possible and could fit in down in the Bay Area. We enjoyed fresh local oysters, crab cakes, and champagne to start. Bill and I had the salmon ala salade nicoise: with red potatoes and hericot vert, topped with basil, grated hard cooked egg, and black olives. Patty had the vegetable lasagne cooked with housemade pasta that featured chevre, spinach, and asparagus. Pete had the bouillabaise that was served with local Alaskan halibut, clams, scallops, shrimp, and saffron aioli. For dessert, we had chocolate pot de creme and fresh berries (blue, black, and strawberries) served with cassis.

Tomorrow we will try and ride the Denali park road and see how far we can make it with the tandem on that gravel road.

Day 9: Talkeetna to Denali

We woke up this morning at 5:25 am to the sound of a passing train. I'm pretty sure that the tracks were no more than 100 yards from our little spruce cabin we spent the night in. It was really loud. . . we were really awake. So we decided that we had enough time to get up and ride the bike before breakfast! The sky was clear with no sign of rain, but it was still cold. Our bike computer registered 39 degrees F as we started the ride. Brrr!

We made it about 13 miles down the bike path towards the highway when we rounded a corner through some loose gravel and immediately heard the unmistakable pop, immediately followed by the rhythmic hissing of a flat tire. I fixed the flat we headed back to town. It was all justification for what was to follow: breakfast.

This time it was at the Talkeetna Roundhouse: a funky converted, summer-lake style cabin-cum-communal breakfast joint. Their claim to fame was GIGANTIC portions. I ordered the full, standard breakfast. Apparently this meant, and I am not kidding: 8 scrambled eggs, 4 slices of bacon, 1 lb skillet potatoes (aka homefries), and two 2" thick slices of homemade doughy toast. I ate. Bill was restrained and had the half standard breakfast (see above, divided by two). Kristina and Patty split the "Black-and-Blue" pancakes: 2 plate-sized (12") sourdough hotcakes with fresh blackberries blueberries. We also sampled a raspberry danish and pecan sticky bun called "the nutty'.

After gorging, we got back in the van to drive 150 miles to Denali National Park for hiking. It seems that we really lucked out with toay's clear weather. On our route north on the Alaska Parks Highway, the sun was shining and we could see Mt McKinley clearly. The landscape along the drive was spectacular: huge craggy mountains with valleys of spruce trees that go on seemingly forever.

Once we got to the park, we went to see the sled dog demonstration. The sled dogs are all hanging out tethered to rustic dog cabins. For the most part, they were just laying around in the sun dozing, completely ignoring the 200 or so tourists milling around. The ranger gave an overview to dog sledding (history, techniques, characteristics of the dogs) and then gave a demo with a 5-dog team on a short gravel track. I was surprised to learn that machines are not allowed in the park, so the dog sleds are an essential means for transporting supplies during the winter.

After the sled dog demo, we walked along the beautiful trails to the visitor center and back to the van. Dinner was fish and chips: fried halibut with sweet-potato fries, and a couple of pitchers Alaska IPA.

During this vacation we are in the land of the midnight sun. Sunset is at 11:40 pm. It's an amazing experience to see the sun high in the sky, then look at your watch to see it is 10 pm. We are sleeping less but not feeling tired.

Tomorrow we take the bus into the heart of Denali.

Day 8: Girdwood to Talkeetna

Today we had a lot of variety in our activities. We started at The Bake Shop for a hearty breakfast of sourdough pancakes, bacon, sweet roll (as big as Pete's head), oatmeal and eggs. Next we went to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. We parked and walked around all their animal enclosures so we could see the moose, elk, carribou, wood bison, musk ox and bears. All the animals are either orphans or injured, so the Center takes care of these animals for the rest of their lives since they would not be able to survive in the wild. The highlight for me was the bears. They were very active and playful. The black bears were tackling each other, then running off and finding a tree to scratch their back on. There were 3 grizzlies, 2 were litter mates and this is the female named Patron - she was the most active including interacting with the Center worker who was giving out food.

We then headed up to Beluga Point on the Turnagain Arm, with the hope of catching a glimpse of the bore tide. Since we had spent so much time at the Wildlife Center we missed seeing the 6 foot wave. But we did get a nice look at the bay, and the sun was shining. Next we found a spot for lunch: the Sourdough Mining Company hit the spot.

Once we had driven north of Wasila, we got on the bike to ride the last 70 miles to Talkeetna. The route started out great with a nice bike path that continued for about 15 miles, and the weather was perfect for just shorts and jerseys. We cruised past the usual Alaskan stores like Tundra Tanning and Taxidermy, and the Burger Bus which was a converted school bus with a polar bear on top who had a frosty cone in each hand. Then we were in forest with birch trees and some evergreens, and the cottonwood blooms were floating around. Next we were on our own on the highway, and there was too much traffic and not enough shoulder; it was a white-knuckled 40 miles or so including a stretch on gravel that seemed to go on forever. Finally we reached the Talkeetna Spur where we got another bike path and had a beautiful ride in for the last 15 miles. We rode past streams, lakes, forests and businesses like the Flying Squirrel Bakery.

Bill and Patty greeted us at the Chinock Winds Cabins with a bottle of beer. We quickly showered, then headed out to dinner together. After too much food, we took a shake-down stroll through the Talkeetna downtown, about 1 block long with shops offering airplane tours of Mt McKinley. We walked down to the Big Su, the Susitna River which runs through Talkeetna. It was 10 pm, and the sun was still high in the sky.

A few years ago San Francisco sponsored artists creating public works of art in a heart design that appear all over town; Chicago did a similar project with cows (a cow painted like a Matisse or a Picasso or a Renoir, perhaps). Well in Talkeetna they have a similar project but they use an icon of a moose. In front of businesses throughout town are these moose made of plywood that have been painted or decorated. For example, in front of a brewpub that a Rasta moose, a "Mooseafarian." This moose was in front of a sewing & tailoring shop named So Sew Sowing. The moose was called "Buttonwinkle."

We've already selected tomorrow's breakfast place! Then we'll head to Denali for some hiking.

Day 7: Seward to Girdwood

We've decided to stay off the bike today because the road out of Seward is exceedingly narrow at points with no room for error. And it's raining. So we started the day at the Alaska Center for Sea Life. It was wonderful. They have a fantastic exhibit with sea birds, one with harbor seals, a huge stellar sea lion, jelly fish, crabs, salmon, and numerous exhibits on the wildlife throughout Alaska. We were told that this puffin on the left in the photo is 23 years old, which is pretty old for a puffin. He and his lifelong partner have an egg that she is sitting on. The joke was that the puffins at the center have better health care than those in the wild, so this is why they live longer.

After the Sea Life center, we headed for lunch at the Smoke Shack to enjoy some barbeque in an old train car. I had the pulled pork sandwich on doughy ciabatta roll, with beans and coleslaw on the side - delicious! They served 3 types of housemade bbq sauces. Bill chose the super-spicy pulled pork sandwich with carmelized onions, red & green peppers, and tons of jalapenos. Kristina got a bbq ancho-lime chicken sandwich. Patty opted for the special: halibut smoked fish tacos, which were also pretty spicy.

After chowing down on lunch, we headed to the Exit Glacier. It was on the way out of town, which made it easily to get to. In the parking lot and on the way to the trailhead, the Park Service has placed signs with dates indicating the location of the glacier at that time. It's amazing to see how far and how fast the glacier has receded. The rope in this picture is about the location where the edge of the glacier was located in 1998. As we were walking up to the glacier, we spotted two faraway bears that were crossing the glacier.

After our visit with the ice, we headed off to Girdwood. We stayed at the Hotel Alyeska in Girdwood and had an early birthday celebration for Patty at the resort's restaurant, Seven Glaciers, atop the mountain. We took a tram to the top. Before dinner Kristina and I took the opportunity to sit in the salt water hot tub at the health spa. It was delicious to sit in the warm water, looking out at the snow-capped mountain through the rain.



We took the tram up through the rain and fog for dinner. Once seated by the window, we started our celebration with champagne and appetizers of crab cakes with asian seasonings (peanut sauce, daikon); white truffle beef toast (garlic crostini, arugula); halibut two ways (hoisin sauce, cheeks with black sesame). Dinner featured elk for me and Bill, which had a smokey, beef-jerfy flavor plus cherries, with gnocchi and white asparagus) which was complemented by a Ridge Lytton Springs Zin. Patty had salmon served with pickled blueberries, potatoes and braised cabbage. Kristina had crab legs wth plenty of butter, potato puree, chard and orzo with a Duckhorn Sauvignon Blanc. For dessert we shared baked alaska and a trio of apricot delights: beignets, apricot cardamon ice cream, and apricot crostini. It was a delicious meal!

Tomorrow we are going to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center where the treat orphaned or injured wild animals; we will also try to see the bore tide as it crests through Turnagain Arm.

Day 6: Seward and Kenai Fjords boat tour

Kenai Fjords National Park is spectacular! We spent the day on a boat touring through the bays and inlets, seeing all kinds of wildlife. The boat tour started at 11:30, but we actually didn't get motoring until noon because the train from Anchorage with half of the passengers was delayed after hitting a moose. This is the boat we toured with.









Some of the highlights included the marine animals we saw, including: sea otters, orcas, sea lions, seals and hump back whales. These orcas were in a matrilineal pod of about 7 who were cruising along and occasionally breaching!








We also saw lots of different birds: puffins, black legged kittiwakes, bald eagles, loons, cormorants and others that we weren't sure of their names. While at the Holgate glacier we saw Dahl sheep too. The day was overall wet and cold, with some rain and continuously shifting fog. We were happy to duck inside the boat whenever the boat speed picked up, but then quickly rushed outside whenever there were animals to see! This picture shows the amazing views of the coastal mountains which were lush and green.














After landing in Seward and going back to the hotel for showers, we stayed in the neighborhood for a dinner of Italian inspired foods: Cioppino (Kristina's favorite), Halibut in phyllo with lobster sauce (Pete took this recommendation from the waiter as his favorite dish - it was rich), Salmon Lombardi (Bill selected this after confirming he liked feta cheese), and a veggie pizza (for Patty). We waddled back to the hotel a block away after eating all this rich food.

Day 5: Homer to Seward via Kenai

The distance from Homer to Seward is 170 miles, so we opted to ride in the van for the last part of the distance. Our ride on the bike went from the fantastic house we rented in Homer to the town of Kenai, for a distance of 88 miles (as the tandem rolls). The weather forecast looked good with just the possibility of showers, the doppler radar confirmed it, and the view from the house was of high clouds and mountaintops. The temperature was a brisk 48 degrees.

The house we were in was on a hill with a great view, but it wasn't at the top of the hill. So as we headed out, we had to climb right from the start, up about 600 feet in a less than a mile in the lowest gearing possible. There's really nothing like hitting a 10% hill right off the bat on a ride! The reward was worth it, however, as we could see Homer spit and the mountains ringing the bay. After the climb to the ridge with the views, it was a quick and cold descent back down to the Sterling Highway.

As we rode along it sure felt like there was more headwind and more climbing on the way back north than what we'd experienced on our ride south. I kept wondering if maybe the brakes were rubbing. No, it was just that after a couple of long rides already, some hiking and a day of kayaking, we were tired. So we just ambled along, took frequent stops, and held out hope that it wouldn't start raining. One of our stops was at North America's most westerly highway point in the town of Anchor Point. We had one of our halibut salad sandwiches. Yummy! Another stop we took along the way was at a giftshop that had almost everything imaginable made out of antlers, including cribbage boards, jewelry, and cooking utensils made of walrus tusks, moose antlers, and bones. They even had whole mastodon bones you could buy for around $1,000 and huge moose antlers. The proprietor told us that both carribou and bull moose shed their antlers every year, which is amazing when you see the size of some of the antlers. We read later that a bull moose can grow antlers as fast as 1 lb a day. (Bill asked, somewhat incredulously, "How do you measure such a thing?") Out front of the shop they had this really great totem.

Once back on the road it started to rain around mile 45. It was light at first and I was convinced it wouldn't continue, so as Kristina put on here rain jacket I choose not to. Well, in less than 5 minutes we stopped so I could put on my jacket and we could don our booties! The rain kept on and off for about 25 miles. In the town of Ninilchik it wasn't raining so we stopped for a bowl of halibut chowder at a roadside stand. It really warmed us up and tasted fantastic; it included big chunks of halibut in a thick and creamy broth, with a hint of cayenne.

We continued riding along Kalifornsky Road, it was good to be off the highway and the rain stopped so I was able to take off my rain jacket along the 16 mile stretch of beachfront road; Kalifornsky Road - it must be some kind of Alaskan joke. As we got within about 5 miles of our destination a light rain started and then turned into real rain, so I had to put my jacket on again. By the time we got to the little cafe in Kenai where Patty & Bill were waiting, we were soaked and covered in road grime. The cafe had a tiny but wonderfully heated bathroom where we were able to change into dry clothes. Then we devoured an amazing bread pudding covered in caramel sauce, and hopped back into the van for a ride to Seward. Since we had arrived in Kenai later than expected, we opted for an early dinner in Cooper Landing rather than waiting until we got to Seward. We dined again at Kingfisher restaurant on the Kenai Lake where they do an excellent job in cooking fish. Patty and Kristina had king salmon, Bill and I had rock sole - both were delicious! Then we got back in the van and drove the last hour into Seward.

In Seward we will take a boat tour of the Kenai fjords and glaciers. It'll be nice to just hang out for a day.

Day 4: Homer

Homer is the southern most city on the Kenai Peninsula. We rented a house that had beautiful views of Homer and the rugged, snow-capped surrounding mountains. It was a treat to be able to do laundry, have space for yoga, and to cook our own meals. Pete made a delicious dinner of oven roasted halibut that was moist and flavorful. Patty had been craving baked potatoes, so we enjoyed those and some sauteed vegetables.

Today we spent the day kayaking in Kachemak Bay. We first were ferried (via a converted Vietnam War Rivercraft boat) from the Homer Spit to Otter Cove landing. While our boat was getting fuel, we saw an otter swim by eating a crab! The boat took us to Otter Cove, where there is a rustic lodge and 30 kayaks with all the gear we needed. We were given instruction on how to rescue if our boat "hoolied" - the Hawaiian term for a kayaking tipping over; Our guide had spent the previous 2 years leading kayak tours in Hawaii but she was quite knowledgeable about the marine life in Alaska too. We got into the boats and paddled off to view the low tide tidepools. It was an unusually low tide, so we were able to see all the levels of life that exist from the mussels to the anenomes - it was amazing and beautiful. Along the way our guide pointed out a pair of bald eagles that were building a nest. We saw many bald eagles through out the day. Next we stopped on "bear beach" but we didn't see any bears. Instead we looked at the shells on the beach, including the "hairy tritans" and some snail shells. Then we paddled up the coast a ways to a quiet beach where we would stop for lunch. We saw a loon and another otter and a seal. The weather was clear and cool, but visibility was great so we could see all the surrounding mountains. We finished the day with tea at the lodge, and then were transported back to Homer landing.

For dinner we went to Homestead, which has been around since 1961. It was 8 miles down East End Road, which the website described as "you'll doubt that a restaurant can be this far out, but we are!" Bill and I started with beer from the Homer Brewery: Broken Birch Bitter, which was a delicious IPA that was both bitter and fruity. We shared a plate of local blue mussels which were probably the freshest mussels I have ever had. They were steamed in cream with herbs and were absolutely amazing! For dinner we had another bottle of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. I had shrimp and scallops with chorizo served over cauliflower puree - the chorizo was a great kicker for the richness of the seafood. Patty had halibut but preferred the broccoli (so we took the fish home and Pete made halibut salad for sandwiches the next day). Pete had a brined duck breast that was moist and tender, served with mashed potatoes and brussel sprout hash (which means thick cut bacon). Bill's pork was overcooked but the yogurt sauce was a nice complement. We shared chocolate cake for dessert.

Day 3: Cooper Landing to Homer

So far on our trip we've been lucky with the weather. The forecast always had a chance of rain, but it never materialized; until today. When we went to bed last night we checked the forecast and it didn't look good. When we woke up in the morning, it was raining lightly. The thought of riding 120 miles in the rain was daunting. We immediately discussed option B: ride in the van to Homer and spend time touring the sites. Their sea life center is quite highly regarded. . . but we checked the weather report and it did seem promising. Doppler radar showed spotty rain coverage and it did stop raining in Cooper Landing. We decided to go for it, knowing we would be riding in some rain, but it wouldn't be all day. So we finished packing, had breakfast, and donned our rain gear.

The ride started pretty well. The rain had stopped and the only real wetness came from the spray off the road. At about 7 miles along the road we spotted a large brown bear ambling across the road. We slowed down and he just looked at us without altering his pace. Within moments a truck came along behind us and the bear took off across the road. I looked in my rearview mirror to see some more, large tractor trailers coming at the same time. Because the shoulder was so narrow, I slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road. Kristina was alarmed and thought that I was interested in stopping and going after the bear! Unfortunately we don't have a picture because it all happened too fast. The picture here is from the deck of the restaurant where we had dinner the night before in Cooper Landing.

As we continued down the road our luck was holding out with the rain and we were even able to stop and remove some of the rain gear. But it wouldn't last, as around mile 40 it started to sprinkle and we had to put it all back on. And it wouldn't stop for the next 80 miles. We made our first stop to get out of the rain at the Moose is Loose Bakery in Soldotna. As the sign says, the apple fritters were good, but the the pecan crusted sweet rolls were even better! After warming up and sort of drying out, we headed back down the road and would stop in Ninilchik (mile 84) for hot & sour soup and General Tsao's chicken. We had one more stop before the end around mile 106 in a warm gas station for water. We took a detour of the main Sterling Highway to ride the Old Sterling Highway for about 8 miles. It turned out to be a great detour as we came across a mother moose and her two twin calfs eating by the side of the road. If you haven't seen on in person, the size of an adult moose is awfully impressive.

The final mile was a 9% climb to the house we are renting in Homer. Sheesh! Tomorrow the forecast is a bit better as we are planning to kayak.

Day 0: Anchorage

By special request, we are backing up to report on our provisioning day in Anchorage. Diane wanted to know if we had had any great meals, so I'm going to write about our Saturday night at Sacks. Pete and I had arrived in Anchorage Friday night, and we spent Saturday day running errands and getting organized. One of our tasks was to pick a place for dinner - we wanted to have a special meal since for the rest of the trip we were expecting to be in small towns where we hoped to eat mostly fresh fish without exceptional preparations. Our online research yielded a few promising places, so we made a couple reservations and planned to decide once our trip mates arrived. We picked Patty and Bill up from the airport around 4:30, while waiting for the luggage to come out we agreed on Sack's as our restaurant for the evening, then drove them to the hotel to freshen up.

Our reservation was for 6 pm, and we were right on time. Pete suggested we start with champagne and oysters, and everyone agreed. Next we shared several salads: pears soaked in kahlua served over greens with candied pecans and gorgonzola, and a spinach salad topped with grilled calamari, olives, capers and carmelized onions. When our entrees arrived I felt my first urge to take a photo while on vacation in Alaska - of my meal! But I held back and instead took this photo of Pete and Bill as they were about to dig into their dinners.
If you look at Pete's plate, you'll see rare Wagyu beef served over polenta with grilled asparagus. The beef was perfectly cooked and extremely tender. The wine we enjoyed was a 2008 Duckhorn Sauvignon Blanc.




Here's a picture of my dinner. Bill ordered the same dish of king crab legs served with clarified butter, gruyere and carmelized onion fritters which were deep fried to perfection, and more of the delicious grilled asparagus.









Our waiter noticed all the photography going on and offered to take a picture of the four of us. We agreed but were really eager to dig into our dinners. Patty had halibut with a toasted fennel seed crust topped with fennel compote and arugula pesto, and grilled asparagus.




For dessert we shared a piece of flourless chocolate cake and a triple berry tart (blackberries, blueberries and raspberries).

Day 2: Cooper Landing

Most people who visit Cooper Landing are here to go fishing. As you drive through the town, there are signs for bait, fishing tours, and how to freeze your fish - everything you need for catching salmon. At breakfast this morning we met one of these visiting fisherman. He was surprised to hear that we were planning a day of hiking!

Here we are at the start of the Resurrection Pass Trail. The weather was dry, cool and windy. We all set off together, but immediately Bill took the lead. Both he and Patty are "eager hikers", I am more of a stroller, and Pete was busy photographing all the different wildflowers so he brought up the rear. It seems like peak time for wildflowers. We saw wild roses with tons of pink blooms, lupine, bluebells, yellow paintbrush and a dozen others that we didn't know the names of. We hiked for a few hours and stopped to have a snack, then we thought we'd head back. But along came a mountain biker who told us we were about a half a mile away from the Juneau Creek Falls, a spectacular view spot. Well, we couldn't miss that! So Bill and Patty bolted off, Pete and I strolled along, and we weren't disappointed when we got to the falls. And then we did head back, because we had made reservations to go kayaking on the Kenai Lake in the afternoon. But we heard from the kayak leader that it was too windy on the lake, and that the swell was high. We opted not to risk getting wet and instead spent the afternoon relaxing. (Weather-permitting we will make up for it in Homer with a kayak tour of Kachemak Bay.) Alaska has beautiful scenery and we are having a wonderful time!

Day 1: Anchorage to Cooper Landing

Pete and Kristina Are Riding in Alaska
We are in Alaska for two weeks. We'll be riding our bike for about 6 or 7 days, weather and legs depending. We are traveling with Patty (Kristina's mom) and Bill (Patty's husband). They graciously offered to drive our gear on the days we'll be riding our bike. For us, sleeping in a real bed at the end of a 100 mile ride is just the way to go, rather than camping.

We arrived on Friday evening and we amazed that at midnight the sun was down but it wasn't really that dark. The sun rose the next day at around 4:30 am. It's crazy! We have to sleep with eye masks to keep the light out. We spent Saturday putting our bike together, provisioning (can I make that a verb?), and picking up Patty & Bill at the airport.

Here we are Sunday morning ready to hit the road from Anchorage. That's our sexy minivan behind us; turns out the bike fits in it without having to use a rack. What luck, as the rack got damaged in transit and would have required a little kludging to make work .

We started the ride from our hotel in downtown Anchorage. We rode along a series of well-maintained bike paths through town. Here is a sculpture installation near an office park in south Anchorage that we thought was somewhat interesting.

As we rode through town we only had to stop once to consult the map; not too bad for never been here before. Once we got out of town, the rest of the route was easy: Just head south on AK-1 for about 80 miles to Cooper Landing on the Kenai Peninsula. The ride would end up being a total of 112 miles.

Here we are cruising along the Turnagain Arm, a long inlet to the southwest of Anchorage. As you can see, it was pretty overcast, and a bit chilly. It was really gorgeous along here. To our left, the mountains rose dramatically straight up from the road. Often we would see little waterfalls that come right down to the edge of the road.

It's still spring up here, so we saw an abundance of wildflowers, some of which were huge. But this is Alaska, so everything up here seems huge! When we stopped for lunch in the Bake Shop at Girdwood, we took a sweet roll to go that was the size of my head.

While many things are large, here I am with two of my little friends. This was around mile 95 for the day and was our last water stop. You see a bench like that, how can you not take a picture. As we got back on the bike to head off, a few rain drops started to come down. Fortunately it didn't develop into anything serious and we were able to make the final few miles without any incident.

Tomorrow we will go hiking, although the forecast is for rain. I think that it'll be a little easier to deal with the weather walking than riding. It doesn't take much rain to get you really wet when you are riding a bike.