Being off schedule has given us some flexibility to fill in a few things we wanted to do, but didn’t originally have time.  This morning Rob headed to Denali Highway & the 3 of us headed for Anchorage.  We stopped a couple of times hoping to see Mt. McKinley, but there were just too many clouds.  Statistically only 25% of the people who visit the area get to see the top of the mountain.  We were not part of the lucky 25.  However – we are part of the extraordinarily lucky few who can take 24 days & spend it seeing the country with family & friends.  🙂   No complaints here!  I am grateful!

We had a short ride to Anchorage & decided to head on down to Seward.  I am so glad we did.  It was one of the most spectacular rides we have taken.  The scenery was so different from the rest of this trip.  The water & the mountains were so beautiful.  The sun came out in the evening & cast beautiful beams of light on the mountains & water.  We saw mountain goats & a bull moose.  We rode about 500 miles & didn’t roll back into Anchorage until 11pm.  It’s so strange that the sun was still setting.  It feels early.

We had fish & chips in Seward.  We watched the fishing boats unload their catch & clean them.  It was a beautiful evening on the water!

We’ve ridden over 5,000 miles & have spent more than 100 hours on the bikes.  Shawn’s back is better today, but still sore.  My hip has been a little sore.  Dad seems to be getting around better than the 2 of us the last couple of days!

Tomorrow we’ll ride to Chistochina & get back on our schedule.  It’s only 224 miles, so we will either backtrack south & drive out to Whittier, or visit Wrangell St. Elias.  I am thinking Whittier.  We’ll see what the guys say in the morning.  I saw a wildlife preserve I might like to visit too.

Riding & wearing gloves all day is really hard on my hands.  I have a large crack in my thumb, all my nails are broken & split so low they hurt, and my skin is really dry in general.  The first week my face was really dry and wind burned.  Thankfully for some unknown reason that has resolved.  Both of Dad’s thumbs are split in the same place & Shawn said his feel like they are going to split.

The mosquitos here have not been as bad as I imagined, but they are still miserable.  Last night was by far the worst.  They bite through your clothes.  I probably have 30 bites on my legs & body today.

It is another very late night.  I am waiting on laundry & I have a conference call for work at 6:30 am.  We haven’t gotten much sleep on this trip.

The pics here are just from 1 camera.  I’ll get the others loaded in the next couple of days.  Shawn has taken hundreds of pics with the Virb and I have hours of video & other pics that we will edit & upload once we are home. The best ones of the mountains & sunset aren’t on this camera.

We were going to get creative with our sign pics at Kenai, but it was after 10pm and we were being attacked by mosquitos.  We’ll have to come up with a fun pose for the next big sign!

Still on our list of things to do & places to see:  Chicken, Dawson, Laird Hotsprings, visit the signpost forest, ride the full length of the Alaskan Highway, get pictures at the beginning of the highway & spend a little more time in Banff.  We may stop in & see some relatives near Lethbridge on our way home.  If all goes well, our last day will be spent at the Higgins family reunion before going home.

This should be a view of Mt. McKinley in the background. Use your imagination!