Day 8

July 27. Up until today, I've had cold days and rainy days, but today was the first cold and rainy day. Low 40's, clouds, and rain in the first part of the morning. Then it cleared up and I was just cold. But I made it 448 miles to Destruction Bay, Yukon. It was worth every shiver and every drop of rain to see mile after mile of this:




Not that the day was all gutting-it-out. A couple of other cyclists (1 coming back and the other going north) landed at the same gas station as me. We compared notes on road and weather and where we'd been and where we were going. Anybody up here is serious. Bikes of all kinds, mostly Japanese tourers and BMWs, but a Harley here and there. We make up a kind of fraternity of old guys who should know better.

Then there was the little Chinese girl who waited on me at a "Western/Chinese" restaurant. (I had a hamburger, because anytime a Chinese establishment books its hometown cuisine second, you pretty much want to shy away from that side of the menu.) Anyway, when she was taking my money, she said, "You smell like Fruit Loops." I almost snapped back, "Oh yeah? Well, you smell like fish guts!", when I realized she was probably smelling my lip balm and didn't mean anything by it.

Then there is here, the motel in Destruction Bay. When I was checking in there was a very old, very drunk lady trying to buy some groceries, but had trouble either remembering or actually punching in her debit card pin. She asked me a bunch of times where I had ridden that motorcycle from and couldn't remember New Jersey. She finally settled on Ohio, so I said "Yepper, that's where I'm from." Then she asked if later on tonight I wouldn't mind stopping down to her room at the end of the hall and take a look at her acrylics. Hey man! I still got it!