June 10 - to Talkeetna

We were getting everything packed away this morning.  I was glad I thought to take the motorcycle cover out of the bike bag when it wasn't raining about 1am.  It gave it a chance to dry, so we could put it away properly.  We were in and out of the mh several times getting the very wet motorcycle loaded (taking advantage to our "neighbors" being gone).  The clerk from the office was walking by and I'd told her we were almost ready but it might be about 15 minutes after the get out time.  She was fine and started telling me stories of people saying just 30 minutes, which stretched into hours.  I ran into the mh to get her a survey form and all was well until David tried to get in the mh door shortly after.  The door wouldn't open.  

There are two lock cylinders on the door handle, but we only use the deadbolt one on top.  We both had our keys, but neither of us carry the bottom lock.  The top one worked fine, so something caused the bottom one to lock.  Lock or break, we aren't sure.  Neither of us had a key for the bottom one to try.  David and about 3 guys that worked at the RV park tried all the windows, to get through the roof fan opening (to small), and I called Good Sam Road Service.  Fortunately they were very accommodating at the campground office as my phone, purse, Good Sam card, just everything was in the mh.  Using their phone, it took 45 minutes for Good Sam to say they'd have to send a locksmith from Fairbanks.  ETA was about 3.5 hours.  Rather than wait, David drilled the lock.  Not very attractive, but we got in.   Something else to put on his "to fix" list for when we get home.

 

It was a beautiful day and we weren't going to let the door lock issue spoil it.  We skipped the dumping so we could get on the road.  It was after noon when we got started and only 50°.

 Looking to see Denali was a bit elusive.  She was socked in at the first view points.

A glimpse of Denali's base.

Not to exciting, but her parts are mostly obscured by clouds.

Our overall fuel economy for the trip has been helped by the SLOW driving. 

 This was a beautifully done Veteran's Memorial.  Alaska should be proud of this place. 

I had to build a small snowman for my grands.

 We were checking out these touring bicycles and equipment.  The owners are very ambitious.

 David talked to a previous rider (from France) who gave us a very good map showing camping spots for Alaska.  That guy was done with the area and didn't want to carry it.  It was a much better map than these folks had, so David gave it to them.

 Samuel and Flurina are from Switzerland, they left Anchorage on Friday. They have very ambitious plans.  We told them to give us a call when they get to San Diego.  They gave us their website so we could watch their progress, then laughed because it is written in German and French.

Talkeetna Visitor center was closed.

 When we drove into Talkeetna, we could see people at a viewpoint and noticed a bit more of Denali was showing.  David couldn't get the bike out fast enough once we were parked.  It was only about a mile back to the viewpoint (uphill of course) he didn't even change his shorts or shoes, just beat feet back to look at a mountain.  Ok, to look at "the" mountain.

 We did have a nice ride around the town.  They have a spectacular play area in the park.

 We were stopped by a sign saying to to go on the runway.  I walked past the barricade to see the planes and try to figure where the runway was. 

 This first plane had the keys in it.  Another one that was close had a window open, so I peaked and noticed all kinds of equipment in it.  Guess they are very trusting up here.

Welcome to the Talkeetna village air strip.

 This is near a public boat ramp in Talkeetna.  I don't know how people can use boats in this river.  The water must be super abrasive to engine parts, due to all the glacial rock particles. 

Someone has a lot of talent.

We did see a moose on the road today, but not in Talkeetna, unless you count the pretend ones.  Papa Dave thought the "grands" might like this picture.

The train went by and sitting in the mh was like being in a vibrator chair.  Fortunately it was the last train for the night.  No way to sleep through the shake, rattle and roar (of the whistle).

We decided to stay in Talkeetna for the night.  At 5:30 pm it was 79° and the mosquitoes were hungry.  They had a nice bike path along the highway, and it was a great day to bike tour.  We are up over 4,000 miles on the mh and 340 miles on the bike.  So other than having our 2nd spill on the bike (off road riding again), it was a nice way to see the town.  Most everything except the food places were closed up, but there were lots of folks to watch us fall in the soft gravel.  Good thing they use river rock gravel here (rounded corners).

I looked up and saw the most beautiful sun set.  Had to walk a bit to get out of the trees and was thinking I should have put on a sweater or something.  It was brisk out.  It was odd though.  Only one car passed me and it didn't have its headlights on.  How many times to do you see cars driving after midnight without their lights on?  I hope you enjoy the colors.