Day fourteen.....waiting....and waiting

Today was probably the most boring day of the whole trip. We had to wait around until 6:00pm before we could check in to the ferry.

We hung around our hotel until the very last second before we HAD to check out....so that got us to noon. Then we went to Main Street to walk around. Had some lunch and bought some fudge at a gift shop. Then we realized that "Main Street" was only one block long and we needed to come up with something else to do. 

Someone told us about Chilkoot Lake and that it was near the ferry terminal. We went out there and spent as much time as we could but eventually the mosquitos were too much. That was a beautiful place though! It was just a few miles up the valley that is the bay the ferry comes in. And the lake empties into the bay. Here are some pictures

We made one last trip back to town and fueled up and decided to head to the ferry.....it was only 5:00 but we didn't know what else to do. We got there and checked in and were surprisingly not the first people there. But we did get to go to the front of the line cause bikes go on first. So there we sat...and waited some more. 

BUT! While we waited a bald eagle landed on a lamp post near us and just sat there for almost an hour and posed for me.....so I took a ton of pictures. 

And lastly....just cause I want to show off what my camera can do......here is the view of the where the eagle was only zoomed in 4x...

Then our ferry showed up! Yaaaay!

So it turns out that motorcycles dot NOT get on the ferry first.......and also it takes a very long time to load a ferry.....it was 7:30 before we finally loaded. O well.....were here now. We strapped our bikes down and headed up to claim a spot. Then I went outside and snapped these.....

Day thirteen.....a terrible road and a great road

Today started off with rain again. It's really hard to get motivated when you wake up to rain hitting the metal roof and your bike is soaking wet. But we hopped on anyway. We knew we had a long day....468 miles.....so we did our best to get out by 6:00....so naturally it was 7:00 by the time we left. 

Most of our ride was on road we had already covered and it was the least interesting scenery too so there are no pictures from the first part of the day. There are however some videos showing how completely ruined the Alcan highway is. When we were planning this trip everyone said to watch for road construction and frost heaves (water gets under the road then freezes and lifts the road. Then when it melts it leaves behind a gigantic dip in the road). The Alcan highway between the Canadian border and Beaver Creek is so bad....it was like riding a motocross course. We don't have any pictures to prove it but there were two times that both our bikes were in the air.....saw it with my own eyes and Enrique saw me later. And then there was the "construction".......apparently Canada thinks that throwing gravel in SOME of the millions of pot holes is sufficient. All it does is spread loose gravel all over the road. So.....if you ever ride the Alcan highway......be very careful! It's in terrible shape towards the end. And also....if I ever hear someone back home complain about road construction or how bad the road is.....I'm going to punch them right in the face.

Once we made it to Haines Junction we got to turn onto a new road headed for Haines. This road was light years ahead of the old one......you could even still see the lines painted on it! It was wide and very smooth and unfortunately not very twisty but we made good time on it. The scenery was also much better. 

Yay! We made it back to Alaska!

We made it to Haines around 6:00pm and got to our hotel. It's a very neat place.....it's a really old building that has been restored to its original beauty. The hotel is all three of the buildings in the picture below. We ate at the resturaunt that is in the hotel....my goodness! That was good. I figured that since it was my last dinner in alaska I had better get one last piece of salmon......it was the best salmon I've had on the entire trip. 

Then it was bed time. 

Day twelve......headed home

Today was our last morning in Anchorage. It started out raining as usual so we didn't get a chance to linger and say bye...we just loaded up and left. It rained for a little while and then it got nice and sunny.

The ride was nice....more views of glaciers and mountains. Only stopped a few times today so not many pictures. The route today was a different road but we ended up in a place we've already been...Tok. 

Made it to Tok around dinner time and got our same spot at Thompsons Eagle Claw. Then we got some brats and cooked them over the fire.

We didn't realize until the end of the day that this was our last day on new roads in Alaska......really it's all heading home now......

And last but not least......

These signs need to be everywhere.

Day eleven......windy but worth it!

Today we did a little day ride from Anchorage to Seward and back...250 miles

The first 50-60 miles were right along the bay and it was extremely windy......I hated it. But the views were enough to keep us moving.....ocean, mountains, and glaciers off in the distance. And the road was pretty fun too.

Once we made the turn at the end of the bay the road cut in to the mountains and the wind died off and it was much more enjoyable. The ride took us through the middle of the Kenai peninsula and it was very pretty.....lots of leafy trees and tall mountains and a twisty road. 

The highway doesn't go all the way to the end of the peninsula....that's on the other side of the mountains to Homer.....but it ends in a neat little town called Seward. Seward is right on the water and the ferries and cruise ships stop there so it's very touristy but it was still neat. We ate some VERY GOOD halibut at Chinook....but it cost a fortune and the portions were way too small for the price. After we ate we walked the main street....more gift shops! Then we went down to the water for a few pictures and I picked up a few shells (they're all for you Rod!). And from there we went to the alaska sealife center. That place was really fun! I got to touch an anemone  and a star fish and a sea cucumber......I felt like a five year old. "I touched it and it moved!!!!! AAAHHHH!!!!!"

Here's some random pictures of our day

I'm going to pretend that the thing on the right is a water slide to the ship....

Our ride back was just as pretty as the ride there. We just got back from dinner.....we decided to go big tonight.....I just ate calamari, a pound of Alaskan king crab legs, AND a lobster tail....I think I'm gonna die. I've never spent that much at a resturaunt...but hey....I'm on vacation.

Day ten......GIFTS!!!!

Sooooo....today all we did was spent way too much money on stuff to bring home. We also got to walk around downtown and enjoy all the sights but mostly it was just buying stuff. Seriously just picture two pretty large tough looking dudes that are two weeks in to a three week long motorcycle trip walking around stores with literally four or five bags each like they were shoe shopping.

I don't know what else to say....soooo....PICTURES!!!

I thought this was kind of ironic.....goats and rabbits made into coyote and wolf statues.....

And lastly....I'm not sure how someone gets to become the "chief special agent" of the alaska railroad.....but it sounds so much cooler than I'm sure it really is.

Also a tunnel happened