Fairbanks to Whittier with stops in Palmer and Homer along the way

We departed Fairbanks after yet another visit to the Great Alaskan Coffee roasting Company - Brian kept insisting we go back hoping they would get his Coffee right but they never did.

I'm pretty certain he was attracted to all the weird alternatively comported individuals that hung out there.  (PIX Censored).

We had an ever increasingly smokey run to Heally/Denali where we stopped for a visit with an ADV Rider acquaintance that had offered us a free place to stay.  However as it was smokey as hell and only noon, Fred's Tiger 800 was operating on the original battery which was acting up, so we opted to continue on, past Denali towards Anchorage eventually opting for a "Cheaper" motel in Palmer rather than something in the "Big City".  It was warm, no, it was hot and Cheap Hotels in Alaska don't have AC.  Despite an excellent Greek Meal across the street, we all slept fitfully because of the heat.

The Mountain - Denali (previously known as Mt McKinley) clear but in the smokey haze

A quick coffee in the morning in Palmer, we walked up to a drive-thru coffee hut and a battery from the NAPA across the street got us underway for Homer AK and our rejoin with Phil and Charlene.

The first part of the journey was along large tidal flats

It was a smoky run from Cooper's Landing well past the Kenai River

and Sterling.  There was an active fire on the West side of the road, firefighters were setting backfires as we rode past carefully following the 35 mph speed limit as we were one car back from an Alaskan State Trooper who flashed his lights at me as I closed going 45 mph, JSNS!

Fishing for Salmon in the Smoke

We arrived at the Kings Landing in the early afternoon, unloaded

and headed for the Homer Spit.

The ocean and the beach at Homer were inviting

If you didn't want to see your boys for six months.

But the local kids were enjoying the warm day and some were in the water as well.

After a late breakfast at the "Two Sisters Bakery" in Homer,

we retraced our steps almost all the way back to Anchorage, through the still active but not quite so smokey fire zone.

Approaching the West end of the Whittier Tunnel

Waiting for all the Trucks, Buses, Cars and RVs to clear the tunnel so the bikes can go through last.

In the Tunnel of Death!

Arriving Whittier we are greeted by the Royal Princess - some 5,000 passengers in a town of 200!

Almost everyone in town lives in this old US Army Family Housing building built in the early 50's.  Our rooms were on the 14th floor looking over the harbor and directly at a glacier or two.

Start to Whittier 5,800 miles so far