Buckets filled
- Riding the Alaska Highway by motorcycle (this was a big one for me)
- Visiting Alaska and notching the final state of all 50
- Up close and personal encounters with glaciers
- Icebergs (ok, not really)
- Riding a train in Alaska
- Seeing whales in nature
- Seeing Sea otters
- Puffins!
- Grizzly bears (I've seen plenty of black bears)
- Pitching a tent on the deck of a ferry
- Riding the Sea to Sky highway (didn't know this bucket existed until we were on the highway)
Mileage/Gasoline
Total number of miles driven: 7464Number of gallons of fuel consumed: 188.48
Miles per gallon (calculated): 39.6
Number of times ran out of fuel: 1
Comments: The mileage figure seems really good for a fully-loaded 2-up, 1330cc machine! I had heard that one can expect about 40mpg, now I believe it to be true.
When available, we typically purchased mid-grade gasoline. In more remote areas we just purchased what was available. Sometimes it was low-grade, sometimes it was high-grade. There are certain things one doesn't ask when one is in certain locations.
We didn't keep track of how much we paid for fuel, as such costs tend to be quite volatile, and can vary very much based on location. If one assumes a cost of about $3.00/gal, we spent about $565 just on fuel. If we were driving an RV that got 13 miles/gal, our costs would have blown up to something like $1721.
Although not technically mileage/gasoline, the cost of the ferry from Haines, AK to Bellingham, WA was $1221. This included two fares, $369 each for the spousal unit and I, and conveyance of the Spyder, which as a vehicle under 10 feet cost $483 (note that taxes are hard to find in Alaska).
Cool people met
12 - One meets a lot of cool people on a trip like this. This is the topic for another post.Lodging/Camping
Number of days on the road: 29Number of days on the ferry: 3
Number of nights in lodging: 8
Number of nights camping: 21 (not including ferry)
Most expensive lodging: $150 cabin in Valdez (worth it because we were cold, wet, and exhausted)
Least expensive lodging: $0 tent on ferry deck (well worth it for 3 days, fabulous views and good company)
Camping/lodging ratio: 3.625
Total spent on lodging/camping: $1002.85
Comment: This matches what we had projected. We had expected to stay in nicer digs about every 3-4 days. Most campsites run $10-$20 per night, whether the charge is in USD or CAD. To calculate the total amount spent, CAD was converted to USD by multiplying CAD by 0.78.
Nourishment
We didn't really keep records of how much we ate/drank. What one eats/drinks is so variable based on individual needs and desires that it didn't really make much sense to keep track of. However, we did make an effort to eat fairly inexpensively.With a camp stove we often made coffee while packing up the bike. Breakfast usually consisted of in-camp oatmeal or granola bars. Road food was often granola bars, jerky, bananas, and deli takeout.
We sometimes were so into riding that we skipped meals so that we would have one 'large meal' for lunch or dinner and just have road food for one other small meal.
When we were on the coast we splurged on some good local seafood since this is rather scarce where we live in Colorado.
Animals
We saw plenty of wildlife. Some of the following are just 'guesstimates' as we drove by.Bears: 4 black, 3 grizzly
Caribou: 8
Buffalo: 12
Antelope: too many to count
Stone sheep: 12
Bobcat: 1
Elk: 6
Deer: 7
Eagles: 57
Humpback whale: 1
Fin whale spouts: 20
Stellar Sea Lions: 27
Mystery whales (seen from ferry): 9
Dolphin/porpoises: 9
Puffins: 11
Sea Otters: 8
Birds removed from radiator: 1
Insects
Nights requiring head nets for mosquitoes: 2 (Jean just hid in tent)Ounces of Coleman 100 MAX insect repellant used: .25
Number of times bike cleaned of bug collections (including radiator): 3
Sightseeing Excursions
Number of tour boats (Whittier, Seward, Portage Glacier): 3Number of train rides (Whittier): 1
Miscellaneous
Number of times other drivers tried to user our lane when we were: 2Number of bottles of muscle relaxant purchased: 2
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