Wanna see live where we are July 18th 2011?  Check out the Live weather came the Maclaren Lodge Maclaren Live Cam

Our friend Ray headed out before us this morning but I got to say good bye to him.  All bundled up in his rain gear under his Aerostitch one piece suit that he swears is NOT waterproof, we hugged and off he went South to eventually land back in his home state of Arizona.  Ray once again we know you are going to read this, we wish you well and great riding and hanging out with you.

We didn’t get to see Santa at the North Pole. He must have been busy, but at least we got a cool pic of the visitor centre.

We tried to find some restaurants from the Drive Ins, Diners & Dives all supposed to be in the North Pole but not one was open and seemed to be out of business.  Bummer. We ended up eating at McDonald’s and then having a look under Cheryl’s seat at the fresh sir intake snorkel and tried to locate the air filter.  Both bikes are stalling at times and we both think we need a new air filter.  From the looks of it the filter is sort of under the gas tank which means the tank has to be removed?  Not sure and we thought we would take a look when we stopped for the day but the rain is halting those efforts.  We hope to get an email from the Triumph dealer in Anchorage so we can get the bikes in for a check up.

Our first fuel up for the day was at this cute little general store. At least it appeared cute on the outside! Inside they seemed to stock a whole lot of Penthouse and porno magazines and would not let us into the store until we removed our helmets!

Eielson Air Force Base

F-16 and A-10 planes, we got to see them doing flying exercises and the sound barrier was definitely broken.  Way cool and too fast for me to get a picture while on the bike.  You are not allowed to stop or take pictures when driving past the base.  Cheryl pointed that out to me after I took the pictures.  Sorry Air Force people.

Once again we get to see into our future.  We rode right into the black clouds and eventual pouring rain.

Along the Richardson highway Cheryl spotted this big moose on the side of the road. By the time we turned around to go take a closer look, he had decided he would be shy and wandered deeper into the woods so we couldn’t get a great photo.

Remember to click the pictures for larger versions

We saw no Bison at this sight

More beauty even in the rain

Boy oh boy these are great looking bikes aren’t they?!

Cheryl was parked down the road, she did not want to turn around to get a close look at the pipeline.  If she did I bet she would have climbed up on the pipe line just because. 

This thing is really wicked to see up close.  It is HUGE!

The bikes are still relatively clean at this point despite the rain.

Hello top box! Oh ….. and Cheryl back there too. One of my “on the fly” shots. Cheryl usually laughs to herself as she watches me unknowingly taking photos of the side of her helmet.

Ahhhhh ….. what an awesome view the cockpit!

Even on a day like the Alaskan Mountain range is beautiful in an eerie sort of way. What makes riding like this so interesting and at times scary is not knowing these roads at all and what the rains will do to the roads for the bikes.  Sort of heightened anxiety but an adrenalin boost too.  We had no idea really when the pavement would end or if the rain would stop or get worse at this point.  We did think it would get worse.

Gulkana Glacier near Paxson, Alaska

There are certainly some interesting gas stations here in Alaska!

Fill’er up!

After 20 mile of pavement on the Denali highway … we were back to GRAVEL again (and lovin every minute of it!) except the bikes are getting dirty again.

After the picture it began to hail on us and the temperature got a cold as 7 degrees Celsius.  That means it could have snowed on us but it didn’t.

Maclaren Summit is the second highest highway summit in Alaska.  The highest is the Atigun Pass on the Dalton Highway.  So, we have now ridden our bikes on both these roads!

More slippery roads, but they do not even remotely intimidate us anymore.  That is not to say we lose respect for the road conditions but this is becoming an everyday occurrence for us and we can ride them as if they are pavement.

Some of Alaska’s local transportation.

Cheryl’s dinner which consisted of chili and homemade bread. Delish!

Gift shop at the Maclaren River Lodge.

Alaskan beer and rain.

Leslie’s dinner.

The local service station in Maclaren River, Alaska and some pictures from around the lodge.  Still raining out and not great weather for a walk too far unfortunately.

Yep … you guessed it … the Maclaren River.

This flower is called Fireweed and it grows all along the roads and up on the mountainsides. It is stunningly beautiful and really does look like the hills are on fire when the sun is shining on the petals.

This is Heidi one of the employees at the Maclaren Lodge.  She is now a fan of our Facebook page and very inviting.