Today we slept in and checked out of the hotel late. Since we had been through some construction zones where they mix in some calcium chloride stuff (verify) we thought it would be wise to clean the bikes and our gear. The unfortunate side effect of this is we don’t really look like we went through and adventure. Sad indeed. After washing our bikes down Kevin decided the best way to get the bike dry was to take it for a spin. Something most of you probably don’t know is there is no helmet law in Alaska, so he took full advantage of that and sped off down the road. I personally have only ridden without a helmet once before after we finished the Baja 500. After Kevin got back from his spin, l took mine and was putting my helmet on and he says something like “Hey, you should try it. You probably won’t be able to do it for a while!” So, I figured what the hell and went for it. I started out slow and got stuck behind some truck spewing black diesel soot all over the place and slinging gravel. So I backed off a ways and let him go. I have to admit, after all the water quit hitting me in the face, and the one bug that nailed me in the cheek. It was pretty fun if you couldn’t tell by the smile on my face. (I’ll update with a pic later)

We cruised around town on foot for a while looking for memorabilia and gifts before heading up to the Chillkoot (Verify) park just a few miles north of the Haines Ferry stop. Along the way I got some pictures of a bald eagle and a juvenile bald eagle hanging out on the coast. Then a few miles after that I got a pic of one of the animals we wanted to see the most. A brown bear. We found out that brown bears and grizzly bears are the same species but the brown bears get bigger because of the greater amount of food found on the coast. Where as the grizzly bears live inland and in the mountains don’t reach the same size. Either way, it was a grizzly bear to us and we didn’t care. At this time I had wished I’d bought the telephoto lens.

We showed up at the Ferry Terminal around 6:30 and waited to board. We ran into Phil again who we had met on the road the previous day. Apparently he was about 15 minutes ahead of us all the way to Haines. We thought he was going to Watson Lake but he apparently reconsidered and went down to Haines to catch the Ferry. he’s got a story to tell which I’m sure he will at some point. Then I’ll link you guys to it. We also met Di and Anna. Two school teachers from Emil Alaska (verify). They teach a school that is in the Alaska outback in a village of 280 people. They rode together on Di’s bike from Anchorage to Haines on a Honda Shadow 250. They make us look like noobs when it comes to ‘adventuring’ after hearings some of their stories from where they live

Getting our bikes on the ferry and tied down wasn’t a fun experience. The crew was marginally helpful except one guy who is a fellow rider. The way in which they have you tie a bike down on the ferry is a bit disconcerting. After that ordeal we got our cabin and dropped all of our stuff off and settled in for the ride. I got to see some whales before turning in. I don’t think my pictures do them justice (again, shoulda had that telephoto). Then I got ready for bed and started reading Ghost Rider by Neal Peart (of Rush).