Homer, AK to Glennallen, AK

Day 18 – June 17, 2010
Mileage Today: 420
Total Trip Mileage: 6,209

The weather looks fair when get up and head for some breakfast. The little paper map that we got from the tourism center in Homer shows a bakery just down the street from us. We head there.

Two Sisters Bakery:



Excellent. Best coffee of the trip, and the baked goods were superb.

Maybe this day won’t be so bad after all, sun is starting to peek out. I figure we ought to head back to the Spit in proper weather and have a look around.

Some pictures of the Homer Spit:











Good to know:



Next, we pack up and head back towards Anchorage. On the way out from Homer we stop in Anchor Point to grab this sign:



Apparently it is the western most place you can drive a car (without the car being flown or ferried from somewhere)- i think. It's hard to read because people really love to shoot signs with guns around here. This is coming from someone who lives in Texas.

Some pics of the stuff we didn’t take pics of on the way up here.





We pass through Anchorage and continue East on the Glenn Highway. Up until now Alaska had sort of failed to meet expectations. Not that we haven’t seen great scenery, cool towns, harsh environments, etc… But it was all lacking this Grand-ness that you expect. I don’t know why you expect it, but you do. That really changed right outside Palmer.

(disclaimer: pictures fail at accurately capturing)











Glacier:



Maybe it had something to do with the sun being out and the weather being fair – we didn’t have that misery/destination oriented/tunnel vision that you have when you are made uncomfortable by the weather (rain, cold).

It was spectacular!

And even the rain had given us a gift.



This is the closest I have ever been to a Rainbow without it disappearing.

Find a campsite for the night in Glenallen, AK.



It had really turned out to be a nice day, and we got exceptional gas mileage on the way up from Anchorage, like 50mpg. Not too bad for an overloaded bike

On a side note: the chain (or I suppose transmission, but probably the chain) has gotten a noticeable murmur. I suppose that the “Top of the World Highway” and “Dalton” highway, along with poor maintenance could have contributed to this. Or possibly the bootleg chain lube that I purchased from Wal-Mart may not be adequate. My remedy (first attempt) has been to run to the Napa and buy some WD-40 to use as a Taboo chain cleaner (no, I am not lubing the chain with it – I know) and some good ol’ fashioned 90w gear oil to lube the chain with. We will see how it goes. We have got about 700 miles left until we board the ferry. Shouldn’t have any problems prior to that. It will more than likely become an issue somewhere along Hwy 50 in Nevada. Keep an ear to the ground on this one.

jordan