Good Morning From Fairbanks, Alaska

Hello Everyone.  i told you I was changing my plans and they are coming together quite nicely.  Yesterday, i rode on through Tok from Whitehorse and onto Fairbanks.  This gives me an extra day in Fairbanks.  So today I am am riding the bike up to the Arctic Circle, maybe even on to Coldfoot if I have the time.  Then it’s back to my hotel in Fairbanks tonight.

Tomorrow i will pick up the Ford Escape from Arctic Outfitters and head towards Deadhorse. I’m still trying to adjust scheduling a bit on the Deadhorse run making it at least three days, rather than four.

Yesterday, a mostly uneventful ride except that about 20 miles from Fairbanks, I think i drom through someone’s bear spray.  Not really sure what else it could have been.  But I was on the highway, passing through an area of campers and such, at about 65 – 70 mph.  Suddenly my lips began to burn.  Then my eyes began to burn, then water, profusely.  I soon found myself nearly unable to keep my eyes open.  There were no turnoffs along the road so I tried to continue on to find one.  But I could not.  With eye site getting to the point where I  could only squint out of my eyes, one at a time, I had to pull over.

So I pulled over as far onto the shoulder of the road as possible and got off the bike.  Found a  towel, wiped my face and eyes, then took a second towel and soaked it with water from my water bottle and washed my face and eyes out.  Soon i could see just fine, lip burning began to subside, and my eyes stopped watering.  All seemed good again.

So i put everything away and headed off on my merry way towards Fairbanks.  No more problems.  As i rode along i tried to analyse the situation.  I was driving into the wind, passing through an area where there are known bears, and people camping and such.  Hmmm?  Maybe a bear was a bit too friendly.

I hed the bed and 12:20 AM this morning, and it was still daylight out.  I shot a video to show the light but when i was done, and back in my room, I realized I had my video camera set to take a picture not video.  So that didn’t work so well.  I laughed along with the desk clerk and another patron of the hotel who was trying to get her beer bottle open.

Two , no make it three counting both the guy and the lady behind the desk and the lady with beer, were trying to open a bottle of beer with the most strange opener i have ever seen.  We were all laughing at my shooting a video in the “picture” mode and the fact that it seemed i was the one who needed the beer.  So I asked them let me have a go at it.  I popped the bottle right open with the opener, but using it completely differently that they had been doing.

They asked if i had used such an opener before.  I said no, but am staying at a Holiday Inn tonight.  They had a funny look on their faces, then at the same time all three of them remembered the Holiday Inn commercials and then we all had a big laugh.

Sorry if some of you don’t get the joke.  But it was funny.  So off I go to the Arctic Circle.  Hope to have pics and an update tonight.