>North to Alaska – 13
>
>July 2, 2007
>
>Another wet grey day but it did let up enough to pack our bikes. We are 
>both actually getting comfortable riding in Rain. We left a bit late 
>after waiting for the Harley place, which was closed for Canada Day, to 
>open so Jim could buy a pair of boots. Well, we didn’t need to go to 
>far today anyway, about 330 miles. Today started cold and wet and 
>finished dry and hot. Shortly after we left this morning the rain 
>diminished and eventually stopped. We both had to take off some cloths 
>by lunch. We stopped at the last stop before Dawson City for lunch and 
>fuel. They had had a power outage for several hours. Thankfully the 
>power returned shortly after we stopped. If the power remained out we 
>would not have had enough fuel to make it to the next station, 107 miles away.
>
>The roads in BC and the Yukon have been excellent. The forest is 
>generally clear cut 100 ft. from the road on either side. I think this 
>is to allow us to see the animals before they start across the road and 
>for them to see us as well. It may also be to provide space for snow 
>removal and to allow for additional visibility around turns. Whatever 
>the reason the practice makes for comfortable driving. The roads are 
>also well maintained for being so far away from civilization and where 
>there are holes or rough surfaces or loose gravel it is well signed. We 
>also ran into about 10 miles of road under repair. It was covered with 
>loose gravel and it certainly got our attention. While it felt unstable 
>driving through the stuff and it gave us a few pucker moments we had no problems.
>
>We saw a bear and a fox today. Jim passed the fox which then jumped out 
>in front of a semi. The semi braked hard in front of me to allow the 
>fox to pass. The fox ran up the embankment, stopped and looked back as 
>if to say “watch what you are doing big guy.”
>
>We are now about 60 miles from Alaska, so, in less than two weeks and 
>just over 5000 miles we’ll be in the biggest state of the union. Our 
>trip is almost half over. Jim and I are doing well together and we 
>continue to meet Tom and Al along the way. Tonight we are staying in 
>the same hotel and we had dinner together. We are also planning some 
>activities together while we are in Alaska. Stay tuned as we visit Alaska.