The Beginning

Detroit to St. Ignace

Today I made it from Detroit, MI to my home town St. Ignace, MI where we had a little family reunion. My sister and her husband moved back today after Candace graduated with her masters in Social Work this weekend.

I'm very happy with the GS. The previous owner did a great job with it and even installed a new rear tire for my trip. I can cruise @ 80mph with ease and little pain in my rear.

Micheal, my brother-in-law and I went for a little ride around St. Ignace just to see what there was to see. We had a good ride, looked at the bridge, and went down a few of the twistier roads in the area.

Tomorrow I'm leaving early, going to stop by some friends house for breakfast, and head West.

Packing

When is enough enough?

The big trip is quickly approaching. I leave Friday night for Michigan to pick up the GS and ride back to Alaska.

On the table is what I've decided to bring so far, minus clothes and riding gear. My tent, sleeping pad, and sleeping bag are in the back. You can also see the license plate, several pair of gloves, assorted tools, some toiletries, and other random stuff. I think I could fit most of it in my tank bag which is good. But, and I know I shouldn't start a sentence with "but", I don't want too much stuff.

Mostly because any extra weight will lower fuel millage and shorten tire life. But also because I have to get all of it on an airplane. Extra baggage fees are expensive!!!

Fork Seal

Fork Seals
Who knew?

Thursday AKSpies and I ran down to Girdwood to see who was hanging around. On the way back I noticed that the left fork seal was leaking a little.

Friday I went to The Motorcycle Shop and picked up the seals. Figureing I would mess up at least one I got two of each, just in case.

Today, while the weather is good, I changed the seal out and got er back together for the next adventure. It was a pretty easy job, Someone could probably do it in an hour if they were so inclined. I just kinda farted around getting it done.

It was one of those days where there's no reason to hurry.

Flies

Fly Tying

Its Whats Fun to do on an Exciting Saturday Night in Anchorage, Alaska

A few of my friends from work are big fisherman, they aren't big, just big into fishing. One of them had a few of us over for a fly tying lesson a couple weeks ago and got me hooked. Har har har...

It is a lot of fun though. We had another get together last week. Aimee came along and got hooked too.

These are some flies that we put together at my place. Salmon season is right around the corner so we've got to stock up.

Last Weekend

Last Weekend
Denali Nat'l Park

Ryan and Heidi were kind enough to bring some tools and my bicycle to Alaska with them when the recently drove back from Michigan. Last weekend I went up to visit and pick up my stuff. Its always a lot of fun going to Talkeetna. You never know what you're going to end up doing.

Saturday, after the plow truck parade into town, we went for a flight over Denali National Park. That first picture is Mt Denali (mt mckinley) the tallest peak in North America. You follow the glaciers up and into the mountains.

The second two pictures are near the Mountain House above the Ruth Glacier. Yep, the peaks are above us. Its pretty cool when you realize how big everything is.

Thanks for the ride, I had a great time!

February Sunrise
Looking Out My Office Window

Theres nothing quite like the realization that its getting light before you go to work in the morning.

A week or two ago I noticed a sliver of light over the mountains on my way to work. This picture was taken from my office window at 8:00 am this morning.

Spring is on its way :D

When Bears Get Hungry
Dinner on the Buskin River, Kodiak

The Buskin River was on my way back from the lab in Kodiak making it a very convenient place for me to go fishing after work. I would always go down to Bridge No. 1 , a spot near the mouth where a bridge used to be. Several times either fellow fisherman down stream or upstream would holler that the bear was coming and everyone would climb up onto the old bridge approach until he passed by. The bear was happy, we here happy, life was good.

Then, one day, while I was jealous of three guys down stream and their nice Silver the bear warning was shouted from someone up stream. We all climbed to the top of the approach again but the three guys were too far down stream so they walked away from the river a ways and expected the bear to pass by.

When that bear came around the bend in the river and saw them with their nice fish he decided it was going to be his fish and started walking towards the men. We couldn't see them but as the bear started walking their way we heard splashing, almost like they were running through the water. About then the bear started trotting and just about went out of sight. I could hear them yelling at the bear. He stopped for a minute but kept going with caution. Then we heard two gun shots. The bear stopped, kind of looked around, and decided the fish wasn't worth the trouble.

The three fisherman climbed up on the approach with us, understandably shaken, and started telling us their story. One of them asked if I could get the beer from the back pocket of his vest for him, which I did.

The bear had learned that if he intimidated people they would give up their fish. These guys didn't give up their fish and they didn't shoot at the bear. They shot towards it, trying to scare it away, which they did.

The whole situation really helped me realize how real it was. It was very humbling and made me think about the chance of running into bears while they are looking for dinner. Usually all you have to do is get out of their way and they will leave you alone. But you have to be prepared for the time that they don't.