Alaska 2004
 
 

Day 06

July 14

  
  Seattle Phil has graciously offered to put us up for the night at his place overlooking the Sound in Seattle. We figure we ought to be there by tomorrow night without too much trouble. Tom is into the Chatty Moron rally, so he's got to find the local Seafood Express bus, get a picture, then make a stop to get a picture of another Chatty Moron in Oregon. The only other destination I've got is to hook up with the Mapinator on my way down the coast then wander down to Don's place in Castro Valley. So we set out looking for this Seafood Express thing. After a bit of bumping around on the washboard roads, he sees it and we get some shots.  
 
 
 

We notice about the only place open for breakfast is the WildFlour Café.

 
 
 
 

"Tom, looks like the only game in town to me!" and fortunately it is a good one. It goes the same as it has for the past 4 breakfasts - me with omelet and pigmeat, him with some pasty/pancake stuff. It is absolutely wonderful and the service is as good hear as it was bad at the SeeAlaska. There's a young man by the name of Jamie who's a local. He rode in an ATV - the best vehicle for around here that I could see. He sees our bikes and strikes up a conversation -
"Where you from?"
"Oh, I'm from Tennessee and Tom here's from Ohio. We're headed out back to the States today".
"You really ought to go see the Salmon glacier up the road, It makes the Bear Glacier, the one on the way in, look tiny" pointing in the opposite direction from where we came in.
"About how far is it?" I ask.
"Oh about 20 miles, but it's really worth it".
I do the math in my head and figure 40 miles round trip on washboard, gravel roads on an ST will be a good 3 hours. I look at Tom-
"What do you think, partner? I figure about 3-4 hours at best"
"I'd really like to go, but wrestling these STs over the road is going to be tough. Not to mention the possibility we could drop our bikes. I guess it had better wait for another day". On the road, you realize you can't do everything in one trip as much as you would like to. Hopefully there will be other trips and another time.
"I appreciate the tip, but I guess we'd better pass this go around" I reply.
I can tell that Jamie is really disappointed in our decision and I hate that.
Tom speaks up -"Well, I'll come back with my wife and you can give us the grand tour then". That seems to help his spirits a bit. We finish up and head for the pier so get some last shots before we head back the way we came. I want to get some souvenirs from Hyder and there happens to be the Boundary Gift Shop just before you cross over into the Canada side.

 
 

 

  
  .

So we stop and make our way in. The lady who runs the place is named Pamela Steward. Her and her husband remind me of my hippie day - carefree and just happy to be there. I notice some musical instruments propped up against the wall.
"You play the guitar?" I ask. "Yes, and teach the kids around here a little bit. There's a little girl I teach whose name is Amanda Lynn. So I just had to convince her parents to let me teach her to play the mandolin". We both have a good laugh on that one. She picks and sings a few of the songs that she wrote which were quite pretty. She's got a really mellow singing voice kind of like Joan Baez.
"By the way, if you need to use the Internet, just go back there and help yourself" she offers.
I wander back through the beaded curtains and bring it up. The speed of the connection is somewhat slower than watching paint dry. After two tries, I finally manage to get a short post to the My-Mc.com site -

"TO ALL - We made it to Hyder, AK last night about 9 PM. Fixin to head for Seattle. Should be there tomorrow night. The road calls - later ..."

As we continue our conversation, it turns out, Jamie, who we met at the WildFlour is her son.
"Well Miss Pamela, he sure is a nice young man. Somebody did a pretty good job of raisin' him" I tell her.
She beams the smile that only a momma can when someone brags on their youngin'. We finally get our gifts picked out, settle up and start to leave.
"Thanks for everything" I tell her.
"You're welcome. Please come back to see us again" she says and I know she is for real and means it. On the way out of Stewart, we figure we had better stop for gas. At the station, is sitting one of the most unusual rigs I've seen on the road - a Valk trike pulling a full size crank-up hardside camper.


 
   
  I walk over to the feller filling up his trike -
"Whereabouts y'all from?"
"My wife and I are from Pennsylvania. We've ridden all the way across the States and we're headed back" he says with a big smile.
"Well, I've just got to ask one question - how in the world do you stop that thing?"
"I had to disconnect the electric brakes on the trailer cause the bumps would set the brakes off. So I just have to be really careful" he replies.
Careful ain't exactly the word I would use but I admire their spirit of adventure.
"Hope you have a great ride back to PA" I offer.
"You folks ride careful too" he says and is off in a flash. That Valk sure could snatch that camper around even if it couldn't stop it too quickly! We follow him for a little bit on the way out of Steward then stop to snap some shots of the Bear Glacier.		  
 
 
 

We figure we need to get about 500 miles in today and that would leave us about 500 miles for tomorrow. It's back down 37 the way we came, through Prince George then down 97 to Quesnel. The mileage is about right and we stop for gas at a local station.
"Anywhere around here you could recommend for us to spend the night?" I ask the attendant.
"Sure, down the hill, on the right - the Talisman Inn".
"Thanks" and we're off.
As we pull up, we both are thinking that this is a really nice looking place- and probably really expensive.

 
 

 
  But as it turns out, we are right on the first part and wrong on the second part. The lady who owns and runs the place is named Carole.
"Would it be possible for us to get a ground floor room since we've some gear to bring in?" I ask.
"Certainly, no problem at all". She sorts it out and gives us our room key. The room is really nice - one of the nicest ones we have seen on the entire trip. They have free Internet service a bit faster than Alaska, so I'm able to make another post.

PAUL - No card but lots of pictures. Met some great folks and saw some incredible scenery.

TO ALL - Tom and I have just landed in another BC city that I can't pronounce - Quesnel - at the Talisman Inn. Fixin' to walk across the street to eat some Italian food. The previous post was from the Boundary Gift Shop in Hyder where the Internet is at the speed of paint drying on the wall if it works (the post took a couple of shots!). What a ride! And we have the PCH to do!

GUY - I'll lean a few for you, my friend!

SEATTLE PHIL - Should be at your doorstep early afternoon if all goes as planned. Look forward to seeing you again.


I notice Carole is outside walking a cute little Yorkie on a leash. I can't resist so I wander out so see the pooch.
"What's his name?"
"Speed bump because he's not any taller than one. I rescued him and nursed him back to health" she responds.
"That's awful kind of you. Not many folks care that much about animals anymore. They just treat them like pieces of furniture sometimes to be tossed out on the trash heap when they get tired of them".
"Well, I've been through some trouble myself and it was kind of a healing for me too. My husband left me and my daughter Debbie high and dry with no source of income. Never heard from him again so we got this inn. Then we got this dog and have managed to make it quite well. The folks around town try to direct visitors to our place and that has certainly helped".
"I admire your spirit. You've certainly done a great job with the place here."
"Thank you very much". It seems to help her a bit to be able to share with another soul. As I always say, everybody has a story to tell if we can just take the time to listen. We chat a bit more about life and raising kids since her daughter is involved in the business too. It's a pleasant evening and a pleasant respite from many miles on the road.
"Now I've got another question - anywhere around here to get a bite to eat?"
"Oh yes - just diagonally across the road - the Café Rustica. It's owned by a Swiss couple who make everything from scratch".
"Thank you very much. I'll certainly give it a try". I go fetch Tom and we make the short walk over. It feels good to stretch the legs a bit after the hours in the saddle. It is a converted house, but tastefully done and appropriately appointed. We are ushered to our table and Richelle is our server.
"What would you like to drink?"
I ask my usual question when in Canada -
"Is your ice tea brewed or instant?" knowing I would really like some good brewed ice tea but the chances are slim.
"It is instant I'm afraid" she replies.
"Oh well, I'll just take Diet Coke then I reckon".
But she is determined to have a happy customer.
"Let me see what I can do" she says with a twinkle in her eyes.
We placed our order and talk about the days on the road. It is amazing to us that Alaska came and went so quickly. We both would like to return but at a much slower pace. The wait seems a bit long, but Tom and I are enjoying just sitting there and chilling out. Finally Richelle returns - with a freshly brewed glass of ice tea in her hand for me. As it turns out, they went to the store, bought some tea bags and some ice and brewed especially for me. I just about fall out of my chair.
"That was awful nice of you to go to all that trouble".
"No trouble at all. We appreciate your business" she answers.
The food comes and it is absolutely splendid. Nothing is better than a day of riding finished up by a good meal with a good friend. Richelle gives us the bill and I ask her another question.
"Are y'all open for breakfast?"
"Sorry, we're not. But if you go up the hill to the Caribou Burger Palace, they have a wonderful breakfast".
"The Caribou Burger Palace for breakfast?" which seems a little odd to me.
"Yes, you will not be disappointed". After all the trouble she went through to make me ice tea, I figure it must be a dandy place. We thank her, pay our bill and leave her a big tip for she surely earned it. We wander back across the street to our room, knowing tomorrow will be another border crossing and back into the States to Seattle.