Unpacking Your Life

As John and Paul said…

The long and winding road that leads to your door will never disappear. I’ve seen that road before. It always leads me here. Lead me to you door.

Today was an interesting and long day. If you are reading this then you have an interest in the adventure that I started on, or heard about it from someone. Today was the end of the adventure for now. Not sure when it was, probably sometime after noon, I was heading into the town of Soldanta, Ak on the Kenai Peninsula. I can over a ridge and started down a slope. I was a good distance from a motorhome, but they decided to make a last minuite decision to turn into a turn off. As I got closer, I applied the breaks and the rear of the bike began to fishtail. That is about all I remember.

I then remember being put into an ambulance. Nothing more.

Then I remember being at the hospital. Not much else after that.

By the time I started remembering it was a few hrs later. Here is what I am told happened. When the bike began to fishtail, I was told I got good control of it, then it finally gave way, and I whacked my head pretty good on the pavement. Fortuantely I was wearing a helmet like I always do. The helmet has a crease in it. So I guess it was a good whack. The suit I was wearing provided excellent crash protection as well. Kevin, who also went down (ditched the bike to avoid me) said that my face was blue/purple so I got a good ringing. He said the trooper kept asking me some questions, and I was almost giving some sarcastic anwser, so the tropper goes to Kevin and asked is he always like that. Well then I kept repeating the same quesion over and over again, so they decided to call the ambulance again (they had called it off before).

At the hospital, they did lots of x-rays, and didn’t find anything. It was more of a trauma situtation, so Brandi will be scheduling an appointment with my Dr. for Thrusday or Friday. For now, I am just really sore. It hurts to move, breath, bend. However, nothing is broken. Not even my spirit. It’s why it was called and accident. There was nothing I could have done to avoid it except not ride. Basically it was slippery conditions and with these retarded motorhome drivers it’s not health (I sound like a local now). Anyhow, I am fine. Kevin’s bike however looks horrible. My KLR that I was riding snapped a footpeg bolt, and that’s about it. It did take the hit hard. Hip Hip Horray for the Red 06 KLR I was riding. Kevin’s v-storm looks bad, but isn’t really damaged bad. Just replace some bolt on parts and it’s as good as new.

What does this mean, well I am a bit banged up right now. Really sore, so I am going to come home tomorrow and rest. No trip to Key West on a bike. I physically won’t be able to do it. When life gives you choices, you just need to make sure to choose the right ones. I have learned alot about myself on this trip, and learned alot about the adventure type of travel. I am completely taken by the beauty that is Alaska, and I can assuredly tell you this won’t be my last trip.

A special shout out to Phil from Motoquest. Phil has to leave work, and come and get Kevin and I. It was a few hrs drive each way from Anchorage. Not only was he cheery about it, he was very informative, and an exceptional guide on the way back. He even called a place to find us a room tonight. We had a nice dinner with him and had some great conversation. Tomorrow, we will meet him for some breakfast, then head into Anchorage. Tomorrow evening, we catch a redeye back to Texas where I rest a bit.

Thanks for everyone’s prayers and thanks to God for having HIS angels of mercy protecting me. This could have been much worse then it was.

BTW the motorhome people, turned into a pull out. We are pretty sure they saw the wreck but kept on going.

Based on what Kevin and the Trooper said, it wasn’t my fault and I tried to recover the best I could. That atleast kinda makes me feel better, although it doesn’t help the physical… It’s helps the emotional pain.

The main reason for writing this is to write down what I remember. Kevin said I would get a test tomorrow to see what I remember and what day it is it, so we’ll see if I pass. The bell was rung pretty good. In fact it’s still ringing.

It’s not a matter of if you crash, it’s when. Are you ready to handle it?

I’m fine. Had a bad wreck. Got discharged. Resting now. Will fly home tomorrow. No key west

I figured i would get this over with. I had a wreck in alaska. I am fine, sore, but will be coming tomorrow. No key west ill be recov …

my boat for the afternoon nauti-lady http://twitpic.com/24r8cm

view from hotel room in homer http://twitpic.com/24kwgm

almost to homer… http://twitpic.com/24kb62

its cold. stopped in trapper creek, ak http://twitpic.com/24glzd

Deadhorse to Coldfoot

What a differance a day could make. The ride today from Deadhorse to Coldfoot is nothing like it was yesterday. Today it was dry, sunny and in the low 60’s. A bit windy, but if someone road up today they would have a completely different experiance. We did run into a bit of bike trouble with Kevin’s bike. It seems to be kinda jerking back and forth, kinda like bad gas. So we are going to see how tomorrow looks on the way to the fairbanks area. Tomorrow we are treating ourselves with a visit to the Chenya Hot Springs. We will be staying there for the night. It’s a place I would like to come visit when it’s 40 below with Brandi so since we are here, I figured why not do some recon work for the wife.

Today was overall a good day. Good fun safe ridinbg and fellowship with other bikers. When you all as a group experiance something there is a bit of comrodairy that goes along with the accomplished task. Not many people can say they have riden a motorcycle up the haul road and back, and I am glad I was able to make it this far without indicent. Deep down I am an adventurer at heart, however the life we lead doesn’t allow for as much adventure as I would like. So it’s up to me to make it so.

I have been doing lots of thinking and planning, and I have a lot of things I want to talk to Brandi about when I get home. I also need to figure out if I want to go the BMW route of fix my KLR and try it again. The KLR has been a great bike for this portion of the trip. It handled the wet mud great. However a BMW would be a bit heavier so not sure if it would handle the mud as well. Either way, that is one decision. I really am thinking more and more about the URAL as well. I really do need to spend more time with Oliver and the URAL would be an excellent way to do it. So it all depends on what we want to do when we get home.

Not sure if you guys know this, but someone got my CC between Texas and Wyoming on June 27th when I left for the trip. To be honest, not sure how. I only pay at the pump, and I don’t pay inside. If I do, I pay cash. I never take a reciept from the pump either. (Except when I am doing an IBA ride, which I technically didn’t start yet) So this one has ben baffled. It was about 6K in visa gift cards the person charged through idaho and california. So it had to be have on one of the gas stops in Coloradio or Wymoming, but to be honest not sure how yet. The sucky part was Citibank didn’t stop the charges since we notified them we would be traveling during the time. I happened to notice it in Deadhorse, AK when I was checking emails. It got a balance notification from Citibank and was like what has Brandi been buying. So I looked and it was 4 or 5 times 104.95 or something like that, then a few 515.78 or something like that amounts. So I called Brandi and she called Citibank and got it stopped, but the challege is now I am traveling and have 1 less CC. I use the CC’s because it’s simple but is it? Anyhow just some ramblings.

So far on the trip I have learned alot. Drybags rock, too bad I didn’t bring one. Oops. I haven’t listened to music yet on the bike. For folks who know me they would be like what…. no music? Nope no music. I figured the time would be best spent being awestruck with the nature around me. Nothing for miles as far as the eye can see, there is something peaceful about that. Being out here had renewed my interest in gold prospecting. That is something I did with my Dad growing up and it’s something I truly do miss. Maybe its something Ollie and I can do to continue on the legacy. I hope so. Well that’s it for now, I will post this once I get internet again.

Coldfoot to Chena Hot Springs

Today we rode from Coldfoot to Chena Hot Springs. Chena is a natural hot springs that has a nice sulfer smell. They call that smell, the smell of money. Riding was good today. Kevin’s bike was acting up a bit. It appears to have been bad gas. Once we got into Fairbanks we were able to get some stuff to get it settled down. So then we road to Chena. It was a colorful experiance to say the least. Kevin can verify this, but I actually rode through the end of a rainbow. No leprachan or pot of gold, however it was amazing to see the beaty of God’s creation first hand. Once we arrived, we checked in and headed to the resturant. As we sit down and order some Moose Juice, I turn and look to the bar. It just so happened to be our waitress from the Witness Protection Agency, Liz, she was there ordering dinner with her mother. It just goes to show how small the world really is. We saw her in Valdez, she was our waitress and she was a blessing. I’ll make sure I say an extra prayer for her tonight. She sure was having a hard time with her employment.

On the way from Coldfoot, we stopped at The Hotspot just north of the Yukon river. The hotspot has a famous “Big Burger”. We it was big and yummy. I also say a great bumper sticker, which I had also seen in Coldfoot. It says “I’m SEMI-Crazy for Lisa Kelly” If you’ve ever seen Ice Road Truckers, then you know who she is. She is the “girl” ice road trucker, and she’s quite a looker. Many a men are waiting for that Maxium Pictorial. Anyhow, she is a great lady and handles herself quite well, so it’s nice to see her get some respect. Overall the trip so far as been a blessing in many ways. I am learning alot about myself and what I am able to handle and what I am not. When I planned the trip I did overlook many simple things. So having this abbriviated trip has been a good learning case, so when I do it again I will be better prepared. Tomorrow we head to a room in Cantwell. We might change the route, it all depends on how we feel. It’s current midnight here, and it’s as daylight as I could ever imagine. That is something that you just have to get used to. From what folks tell me, you do.

Oh, the original trip was 13,100 miles however, I will be doing about 9000 in total on the 2 seperate trips, so overall pretty good and I will still be hitting the Artic Ocean (already done that) and then key west in the same amount of time. All good stuff. Check ya later!

Chena Hot Springs to Cantwell via Denali

Today was an interesting day. It started with getting all my txt messages and voicemails when I got into Fairbanks. I wish people would fix things themselves sometimes…. Anyhow, we raced down to Cantwell, so I could get settled in for the night. Well we did some more riding on the Denali Highway. Wow, what a peaceful place. I plan on being back just to ride that road. A special thanks to prospectors pizza in Denali. They have let me sit here all evening to use their internet. They rock! But I was able to catch up on everything and get back in sync. I will post some photos tomorrow when I get some more net access. Tomorrow we are riding through anchorage, to Homer. We will spend 2 days there, then head to Seward and on home. It’s been a great trip so far, more to come.

artic ocean, wish you were here http://twitpic.com/23isq4

Just found out that somone got my cc on my trip from texas to cheyenne. Definately not a good trip.