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Deane, Norm, and Kay's Motorcycle / RV Trip to Northern Canada and Alaska | |
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September 9 - 13, Deane to Boise, Idaho for 50th Year High School Reunion Norm and Kay to Visit Friends and See More of Alaska |
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Deane's Trip to Boise The flight from Anchorage to Seattle was probably
the most scenic flight I've ever had. The day was exceptionally
clear, and I had a window seat to look out upon the coast of Alaska all
the way down, with tremendous views of all of the glaciers and snow
covered mountains along the Alaska and Canada coastal range of mountains.
I must have seen 30 to 40 glaciers, big and small.
Then flying over Vancouver Island and the San Juan Islands provided
excellent views also. Really pretty!! I attended my 50th year High School
Reunion in Boise, and had a really good time.
First, my four best buddies with whom I played Football and Track
were there. We all came
hoping the others would come, and we all made it.
Remembering old times was enjoyable, with lots of memories. Seeing other class members was fun also, finding out what they had done in all this time and what they were doing now. Some I had seen at the 30th or 40th year reunions, and some I hadn’t seen for 50 years! I would estimate there were 160 – 180 class members attending, out of 519 graduating students. The reunion was well planned and quite a success. Deane could have won the "Farthest distance to get to the Reunion", if they had a contest. With just a "little detour" to Alaska from Albuquerque, on the way to Boise, Deane had traveled 9,300 miles to the reunion!! (1800 of that was by airplane - 7,500 by motorcycle!) Then came visiting with three brothers and wives who
live in Boise, where I and all my brothers were born and raised, and
visiting an uncle and aunt in their 90’s.
Visiting with my wife Diane’s aunt, almost 100 years old, and a
cousin and wife made the visiting complete. Norm and Kay's continuing Alaska Experience While Deane was gone Kay and Norm took a slower pace
for a few days. We visited
Tom Risdal and Jeanie Jacobs in Fairbanks and Margaret and Paul Ames in
Anchorage but the high point was our trip to Denali National Park. It had been smoky from Fairbanks south Thursday evening but we woke up to beautiful clear skies on Friday. Mount McKinley (also called Denali which means “the big one”) was visible and beautiful and many days it is not as clouds frequently obscure it. At over 20,000 feet it is twice as tall as many of the surrounding mountains and really stands out on a clear day. The ride into the park on park service school buses was beautiful but we were initially slow in seeing any wildlife. By the end of the day we hit the Denali “Grand Slam” by seeing the mountain, moose, Dall sheep, caribou, grizzly bears, and foxes.
We saw one grizzly with three two-year old cubs that
we watched for awhile as they ambled along and ate berries. Our guide said
they followed a grizzly bear one day and he ate 168,000 berries in one
day. We also saw a very busy
beaver cutting willows for his new home and he did not mind going around
the bus to do it. It was a
beautiful day and well worth the school bus ride. Saturday morning we had some reduced visibility with
smoke in the Denali area but it cleared as we headed south. The mountain was visible for much of our trip southbound and
we took numerous pictures. We
stopped at Hurricane Gulch to see the Nenana River gorge and Denali in the
background and some Japanese tourists were fascinated with Norm’s Gold
Wing. They wondered if it was
made in Japan or Ohio and he told them in Ohio.
They took lots of pictures and he let some of them sit on it.
They were curious about his age and one lady said “he looks so
young”. It is always
interesting so see others reactions about long motorcycle rides and
riders. We made a short stop at the Museum of Transportation
in Wasilla. They have
everything from airplanes to cars, tractors, boats, trains, and more. |
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