Update 29 July 2009
It was a dark and stormy night – hey, no it wasn't ... this is Alaska!!! I arrived at Anchorage airport at 11pm to daylight and the beginnings of a lovely sunset which we had followed for hours as we flew north. I say ‘we’ as I sat next to a really nice chap called Larry who proceeded to tear out the map from the airline magazine and scribble suggestions for my route all over it along with his phone number in case I got stuck.
The nice American passport and customs people at Calgary airport asked me to complete a dozen forms including the one I had already completed on their website, took my photo and fingerprints, asked me some rather personal questions and, just when I thought they were going to get the rubber gloves out, smiled and wished me 'a nice day'. Who says Americans are paranoid?!
I took a cab to the noisiest backpackers hostel I have ever stayed in (and that’s saying something after Asia!) and fell into a deep sleep with my earplugs firmly wedged into my ears! After taking full advantage of their free tea, coffee and internet I checked out and found a much nicer home. The Red Baron was due to arrive that morning but after checking with the local agent I found I had a free day. He was delayed in Detroit – which, according to the same agent is not somewhere one would wish to be delayed! He was being road freighted to Chicago and was due tomorrow.
So I sauntered into the town and found it to be a delightful and friendly place. The museum was a joy to visit, keeping me amused with signs such as, “Please do not pet the Musk Ox” and interesting facts like that Alaska was bought from the Russians in 1867 and everyone thought it was a really big joke until they found gold and oil. I also didn’t know that our very own Captain Cook found the Hawaiian islands in 1778 along with Alaska while looking for the North West Passage – I can only assume he took a wrong turn at some stage! Unsurprisingly several things are named after him – the Cook Inlet and Turnagain Creek, so named because he had to turn again after so many attempts.
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Colourful moose adorn a local cafe wall. |
Statue "Dedicated to the memory of all dog mushers and their heroic dogs". Set at the start of the legendary Iditarod race - crossing over a 1,000 miles of wild Alaska to end in Nome. |
I also went to The Alaska Public Lands Information Centre which has such a snappy title! There I had to go though a metal detector, have my bag searched and asked if I had a gun – I did wonder if there was actually an airport the other side and I was being deported?! Did I question if American security are paranoid?!! All this effort to find out some information about the national parks and watch an interesting film on native people!
Mr Baron was delayed a further day having missed his flight in Chicago – how can a large wooden box ‘miss a flight’? Was he in the bar or something? Did he not hear them call final boarding?? So I spent another day wandering around the place, kicking about and not buying stuff as I have too much already. I considered buying this stuffed moose for $4,000 but decided that attaching it to the bike may cause a few problems with the handling! |
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Finally the bike was due in. I took a shuttle bus out to the airport and persuaded the nice driver to take me to the customs office rather than departures! I braced myself for the whole fingerprint, form filling and rubber glove treatment but the customs dude was great! He took all my paperwork, tapped a few keys on his computer, swore at it a few times then stamped my form and wished me ‘a great day’ ... it was certainly starting out that way! At the cargo hanger, I handed over my completed custom forms to be told that the bike wasn’t even off the plane and it shouldn’t have been released to me yet... the lady said she had never had this happen before... suffice to say, I kept very quiet at this point! While waiting I got chatting to Pan Dan (and I can only assume his middle name is ‘the man’!) named after his Pan-head Harley Davidson. He seemed rather amused as he watched me unpack the Red Baron’s crate and hug him (the bike that is - not Pan Dan!). He gave me his phone number “in case you need anything”. I sorted the bike out and rode off with a HUGE grin on my face! Wooooo hooooooo!
First stop the ‘gas’ station to rehydrate the Baron. Then to the rather funky Alaska Leather shop where the nice lady helped me chose a ‘butt pad’ – sheepskin seat cover to the rest of the world! She appologied that they didn’t have any matching red ones and I resisted the urge to say that I wouldn’t be seen dead with matching stuff on my bikes!! She gave me the shop’s phone number and (guess what?) told me if I needed any help to call. Now... am I being rather paranoid here or is everyone expecting me to have massive problems??! Or are these people actually as nice as they first seem? ... I’m inclined to think the latter.
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By this time it was too late to get outta Dodge so I took off for a scamper and ended up visiting the National Tribe Village. I felt this was rather overpriced at $24 entrance but it was interesting. I walked around the ‘village’ which had all the different tribal traditional houses and a guide inside telling visitors about the different aspects and artefacts on display. There was a display of traditional games including the High Leg Kick and One Hand Hit which did look impressively difficult and requiring a large amount of flexibility. I then watched a traditional song and dance display where the meaning of each dance was explained beforehand so you could follow its path. |
That night I sorted out all my kit and realised just how much I’d over packed! How on earth am I going to fit it all on the bike? After chatting to a nice Californian biker, called Mike, in the car park who had just completed the reverse of my route and gave me lots of tips, I finally waved Anchorage goodbye.
Pan Dan had asked me my route and when I started to give him all the town names and stuff he had interrupted me and said, “We only have two roads, one south; the other north ... and south one is limited!” So, in memory of Pan 'the man' Dan, I will merely tell you that I headed out on the south road.
What happened next ... well, you’ll have to read the next instalment!