August 15, Sunday
We all got up and it was one of those incredibly beautiful Alaskan days; the kind we wait entire winters to see. The night before, Harvey had said he was planning to ride up to meet us. We'd checked the weather and Fairbanks was going to be nice, so we told him we were coming home via Fairbanks. So his plan was to leave at about 6:30 a.m., heading in our direction.
The weather person had not disappointed us, and we were going to take advantage of the day. The group left about 8 a.m. from Tok, on our way to Fairbanks. The weather was cooperating so well that our leathers were way too hot, and we started shedding clothes.
Roadrunner (Rebecca) brought the headset Mike Sweet had given me to Tok so I could check it out. Dave and Tom showed me how to connect and use it. Wow, it's fun to have. And they really are useful for passing, indicating things in or near the road, and so on. I am impressed with the thing. Can't believe I'm into so many new things this year … laptop, blog, CB headset. Guess some old girl dogs can learn a few new tricks.
We stopped in Fairbanks for gas, to lighten our load of clothing on our backs even more, and to visit the Harley shop. It was a promising day, and later I heard it was also a record breaker, 91 degrees. Oh yeah. Had lunch at Brewster's, a place we discovered several rallies ago. We reminisced over the time we were there a few years ago and Fish On (Meg) got her bike knocked over by some young kid backing up his car. Sometimes things just pull memories out of you … a laugh, a sad moment, a fond memory. We all agreed that we miss Fish On although we wish her the best and hope we'll see her again at some point.
The road was pretty good, not too much traffic. But there were areas of construction and single lanes. All of this slowed us down, probably by an hour and a half or even two. We hit a sprinkle or two, but nothing major. We had apparently found the little windows of no rain which made it pleasant, but it had certainly gotten cooler, dropping about 20 degrees or more between Fairbanks and Cantwell.
We rolled on into town, even bypassing Miller's Ice Cream due to time, and peeled off one by one as we headed to our prospective homes. First Harvey and Zookeeper, then Roadrunner, then it was Dave and me. I arrived home, tired, with a filthy bike and so sorry that now it really was over. But, on the bright side, I was happy to see Biker Bill and the Beagles …
He had washed all the bedding and had the blanket and sheet pulled down for me … just like in a high-class hotel … wow. However, there was no little mint on my pillow. I'll give him a pass for that … the mints aren't my favorites anyway. And it was nice to be home.
Tired, but happy, and all in.
August 16, Monday
A rude awakening … returning to work. I'm out of leave, out of money and out of tolerance for working. Will I make it to my planned retirement date of February 28? And then to working part time until after the Chugach annual meeting? Time will tell.
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