There is No Place Like Nome

Nome Slideshow

I heart Nome and I have the button to show it.  Nome is a popular destination during the Iditarod Sled Dog Race, but I happened to be there a week after the final musher rode under the burled “End of the Trail” arch.  I had no idea that Nome offers so much during the off season.  We rode on a snow cat to Anvil mountain to see Musk Ox and the remains of an old gold mining dredge.  One of the highlights was riding snowmachines on the frozen Bering Sea with two crab fishermen to check their three crab holes.  They pulled about 100 lbs of crab out of the holes after chipping away the ice.  A must-do activity in Nome is checking out the local bar scene, or as we termed it, “viewing the urban wild life.”  You can do your laundry and have a drink at Mark’s Soap-N-Suds Bar, and watch some serious pool players at the Polar Bar, which also has the friendlies locals.  Our favorite place to eat was the Polar Cafe for breakfast and lunch, and Airport Pizza for dinner.  The pizza place is no where near the airport, but they’ll deliver a pizza to you via airplane if they can’t drive to your house.

If you’re looking for a thrill, book a helicopter flightseeing trip with Bering Air and you may see Polar bears from the air.  They will fly you to Russia if you pay them enough, and if you pay them even more, they’ll even fly you back.

The museum is also a must-do, although you won’t need much time to view the exhibits in the tiny basement.  They are hoping to complete an expansion in the near future.

My next trip to Nome will likely be during summer months when the tundra is covered in colorful flowers and I can beach-comb and maybe find a gold nugget on the Bering Sea shore.  I’ll bring my bike so I can bike the 350 miles of roads around Nome.

Exploring Asia

I’m in love with Asia – the people, the culture, the food, the trains.  If you haven’t been to an Asian country yet, do it sooner than later, it will change your life.  I recently visited Thailand, Japan and Taiwan with my family.  This was the first trip to Asia for all of us.  One lesson I learned is that expectations play a huge roll in your actual experience, so when you go to Asia, leave your expectations at home.

I hope  you enjoy this slide show of my pictures!

11-22-09 La Frontera Mexicana!!! 1,987.3 official miles south of the Canada border, but our odometer says we rode 2,013 miles.

We started on September 19^th and finished on November 22^nd.  This was one of the best trips of our lives and we are really depressed today because it’s over.  I feel like there is a happy, adventurous world of bike touring out there that goes unnoticed, and we spent two amazing months in this world, meeting our fellow inhabitants.  We had to interact with the outside world only briefly.  The interactions were always the same – answering the same dull questions about our ride, procuring food and lodging, and asking directions.  Most of the people we met in this world have also left it, but some still remain, like Bjorn from Sweden who is taking his time because his visa doesn’t expire until sometime in December, Ed from England who is biking to Buenos Aires, Hwai and Ming who are probably freezing in the northern states by now, and many others.  We’ll probably never hear from them again. 

            The last ride started off great!  We stopped at a little breakfast joint and took our time enjoying the coffee.  Then we had a nice ride through the small towns that lie north of San Diego.  While we were riding on a small bike path through a neighborhood in La Jolla, two couples rode up along us and started asking us about our ride, and then they offered to buy us coffee.  So we accepted and took a small detour to a local coffee shop where we chatted with them some more about their touring trips they’ve done in the past and ours.  They wanted us to keep riding with them, but we had to call our friend Casey, Dicker’s son, who is a Marine in the San Diego area.  He met us at Tourmaline beach, a great surfer spot with genuine surfer dudes who thought our bike was “far out, dudes.”  I got to walk on the sandy beach and soak my feet in the ocean for only the second time on this trip.  The first time was on our day off in LA on Venice Beach.  The water was much colder than I expected.  I thought I would be using my swimsuit more often on this trip, but haven’t since Jared’s hot tub in Monmouth, OR.  We piled into Casey’s sweet, green 1973 VW bus and found a pub called Froggy’s where we caught up with each other’s lives over a few pints.  Casey dropped us back at the beach and the surfers admired his van, and we got busy covering the last 20 miles to the border. 

We were enjoying a lovely tour of San Diego until we got terribly lost downtown and had to ask a police officer for directions.  She pointed us straight south and told us to keep the ocean on our right (duh lady, but how do I avoid dangerous streets?), and then we were in a race against the sunset because we had to get to the border before dark to get our picture taken and to be safe.  So we frantically pedaled as hard as we could, and cursed every red light, and then we realized that we were almost done.  That really hit us hard and we took in every detail of the last three miles.  We could see Mexico, we heard Spanish all around us, and we smelled corn tortillas on every block.  Getting to the border was less dramatic than I thought it would be.  We didn’t get our picture taken right away because Scott had to go to the bathroom, then he came back to get a quarter so he could get into the bathroom.  Then we found a nice Mexican lady who took our picture, then she had to take it again because the first one didn’t work.  My mom and Ray couldn’t find us, so we decided to meet at a McDonalds on San Ysidro Blvd., but we should have known that there are more than one of those on one street, so they went to the wrong one and we had to wait for about an hour in a dark parking lot between a McDonalds and a cheap motel.  Scott bought a six-pack of Tecate at a gas station and we drank four in that parking lot while waiting for my mom and Ray to show up.  That’s one of the strangest things I’ve done in my life – drinking Tecate in a dark parking lot between a McDonalds and a cheap hotel on the Mexican border with my husband and my tandem bike.  Finally they showed up and we loaded everything into the truck and drove to a hotel. 

            So that’s the end of our epic tandem bike ride down the Pacific Coast.  We’ll really miss the ocean, the Redwoods, having the scenery constantly changing in front of us.  I won’t miss not knowing where I’m going to sleep tonight, or buying ridiculously expensive convenience food in the middle of no where, or not being able to take a shower or wash my clothes.  The positives outweighed the negatives by about ten thousand percent.  We are already making plans for our next tandem adventure. 

11-21-09 Huntington Beach to San Elijo State Beach – 65.4 miles

We took advantage of every amenity at the Best Western this morning, including the continental breakfast.  Scott ate too many muffins according to his stomach discomfort about ten minutes after he ate the last one.  The ride was exceptionally difficult today, we even discussed whether it was the hardest riding day both mentally and physically of the entire trip, and decided that the two days spent riding in the storm were worse.  The problems had to do with the fact that the trip was nearing the end, our butts and legs hurt from too much riding, there was a fog and wind in the morning at Huntington Beach, and we had to ride through congested city streets again.  We missed those stretches of remote road that we had almost to ourselves.  We just took it one mile at a time and started the count down way too early.  In the afternoon the riding got easier as we got into the groove.  The good news is we found a Trader Joes and loaded up on good lunch and dinner food, including the biggest prize of the whole trip – an entire pound of 72% cocoa chocolate for only $2.99.  Aaron Godfred told us about these fantastic chocolate bars from Trader Joe’s and we felt like greedy little kids when we unwrapped it.  Scott ate about half of it in one day on his own, and I had about a quarter.  Needless to say we ate way too much chocolate, but that’s not a bad thing since it made our ride better.  The bike route took us through Camp Pendleton.  We had to pass through the gates and show our IDs.  Our tandem caused quite a stir, the military boys approved and kept saying, “that’s the way to go!” 

Twice today, and several other times during this trip people have told us that we are living their dream, that they wished they had done that while they were young, etc.  At first my response was telling them that it’s never too late, that we met several older people who are doing the same trip, but they would just give us the same excuses every time, so I stopped encouraging them, but I can’t stop wondering why people are in denial and what will it take to get them to snap out of it?  Life should not be compromised, it’s the only one you have.  I’ve said something along these lines earlier in this journal, so I guess it’s the theme of this trip.  You only have one life to live, so quit dreaming and start living.  Other people are out there living your dream, so you can too.

We wanted to stop at a closer campground, but once again were turned away because there were no hiker-biker sites.  What is wrong with campgrounds in southern California?  So we kept riding in the dark for six more miles, and two cars honked at us for some reason.  The next campground was very crowded, but had a hiker-biker site that was occupied by at least five other bikers.  We were greeted with endless questions from one of the bikers who told us he ran into the other tandem couple who are biking from Barrow, AK to Argentina, so he asks us why we didn’t bike from Alaska, and we’re like, why didn’t you bike from Alaska, smart ass?  We had a good time eating dinner and walking on the beach in the dark, and then we passed out in our tent in an exhausted state, and didn’t even mind the sounds of the roaring ocean, the freeway, and the train.

11-20-09 Aaron’s grandmother’s house to Huntington Beach ~ 48 miles

We had a great experience in LA, mainly because Aaron and his fiancé Melody showed us a good time, and Aaron’s grandmother was kind enough to offer her house to us for lodging.  Highlights include finally going to a Krispy Kreme for the first time, eating the cookie ice cream sandwich at Diddy Riese, and of course seeing Aaron’s movie, Little Blue Pill.  Scott couldn’t resist taking advantage of Grandma’s kitchen, so he baked a pizza, bread, sticky buns, and chocolate chip cookies.  We relaxed for a whole day and hit the road again today.  Aaron gave us a great sendoff by making French toast for us for breakfast and then riding his bike with us for the first 15 miles, or so.  We are really looking forward to Aaron and Melody’s wedding on July 4^th.  On our bike ride Aaron asked Scott to be a groom’s man. 

            The ride started off very pleasantly on a bike trail along the beach, but then we had to ride through a ghetto section of Long Beach on busy Pacific Coast Highway.  Poor Scott was really stressed for the entire 25 miles.  We’re excited about being so close to the border.  The guide book told us to stay at the Colony Hostel, but when we got there, we found out that it had closed and the building is for sale.  So we got a room at the Best Western for $108, which isn’t bad for a hotel on the beach on Friday night.  We’re about to go check out the hot tub, which totally justifies the room cost in my mind.  We went to the CVS and I bought Spaghetti O’s for dinner, and when I tasted them for the first time in over ten years, I realized that I don’t like them anymore.  Just another part of growing up, I guess.  Two more days until we reach the border.

11-18-09 Sycamore Canyon to Grandma Godfred’s house on Sunset Blvd in LA County ~ 35 miles

 

Malibu

In the morning as I walked to the water faucet I heard a rustling in the bushes, and when I looked to see what that was, I saw a lynx, and it stared back at me.  So we just stared at each other, and then I decided maybe that wasn’t such a good idea.

 

We had a really great ride through Malibu and got to Sunset Blvd really fast.  The ride up Sunset Blvd was a bit challenging because it’s a big hill, but we made great time getting to Aaron’s grandma’s house.  There are some really amazing houses in this area.   We chose the right day to arrive here because Aaron had a screening of his movie, Little Blue Pill tonight.  We were excited to see it finally.  Then we got drinks at a pub with a great draft beer selection, and came home around 1 am.

11-17-09 Refugio State Park to Sycamore Canyon ~ 76 miles

 

Sunrise

The guys didn’t want to pay for the campsite because some of them didn’t have any money and others didn’t want to pay more than their share, so we all got up at the crack of dawn, packed up as quickly as possible and escaped from the campground.  Scott and I felt bad about that, but we succumbed to the pack mentality and didn’t want to be stuck with the whole fee.  We saw the sun rise as we rode, which was amazing.  We rode on and on and on without breakfast, coffee, or a bathroom break until we got to Santa Barbara about 25 miles later.  Ben and Luis stopped there for breakfast, but Terry, Derek, Scott and I went to the beach to make coffee and eat some of our own food.  An obnoxious character who was riding his loaded bike stopped when he saw us and began to preach about achieving enlightenment through playing tennis left and right-handed.  He said he possessed all the knowledge a human needs and we were fortunate to meet him because he has all the answers.  We unanimously decided he was an idiot and told him to move along.

 

Scott and I decided we want our tandem mojo back, because we got tired of the pack craziness, so we told Derek and Terry that we were breaking away from the pack.  We parted warmly, exchanged contact information, and all of a sudden Scott and I were on our own again, which felt really good because we were free to go as far and as fast as we wanted and to say anything we wanted.  We just kept on riding and riding, just didn’t want to stop and we were flying along because the terrain was relatively flat, so we rode into the night again.  That’s two days in a row that we rode over 70 miles/day.  We were pretty tired when we arrived at the campground.  We celebrated our independence from the pack with a bottle of wine and went to bed and slept really well.

11-16-09 Oceano Campground to Refugio State Park – 76 miles

 

Riding pack of boys

We rolled out of the campground in a big pack of bikers.  Along the way another biker named Derek caught up to us.  Ben and Luis met him a few days earlier and told us about him, so they were really happy to see each other.  Derek is riding to Mexico to swim with birthing whales.  He’s a very interesting individual and very laid back.  I feel like he’s full of interesting knowledge and I could have spent a lot more time talking to him.  He also has an Extracycle like Terry and has a ukulele strapped to it.  Derek is older, probably in his late 50’s and has brilliantly blue eyes.  He told us about Himalayan sea salt.  At one point the Himalayan mountains were in the ocean and now people are mining sea salt from there.  You can buy pieces of it at natural food stores.  Derek mixes the salt in water and can sustain himself while riding for several days just on that fluid alone because it has many of the same qualities as blood.  He said he drank that for four days while riding through Big Sur, one of the most strenuous sections of the coast.

 

When Scott and I ride our tandem alone we have what we call “tandem mojo”, meaning that we attract friendly vibes from people who like talking to us and are very nice and welcoming to us.  We noticed that when we’re in a bike pack with a bunch of raggedy-looking guys who have been on the road for a long time, we don’t have the same mojo.  People are weary of our group and much more hostile.  We were enjoying the last few moments of light at the end of our day at Gaviota State Park when the camp host drove up on his four wheeler, and very rudely told us to either pay $10 per person for a campsite, or to “get the hell out”.  He prefaced that with, “don’t take it personally”.  We asked if we could all share a site for $35 and he said no way.  Well, all the guys took it personally and decided to ride nine miles down the road in the dark to the next campground.  I was pretty mad at that host too, so we didn’t want to stay there either, especially because he was trying to charge us too much.  So we rode as fast as we could in a crazy state of lucid night riding and got there in record time.  At night, you can’t see the hills, so you just power up without the mental element.  At Refugio State Park the host was very friendly and told us to share a site instead of paying $10 per person.  We all ate dinner together, sharing our food with those who didn’t have as much.  Scott and I really enjoyed our day riding with the boys.

 

Pier at Gaviota

 

 

11-15-09 San Simeon State Beach to Oceano Campground in Pismo Beach – 58 miles

Terry rode all day with us today.  Ben and Luis weren’t far behind us.  Bjorn stayed behind because he has a long time left before his visa expires, so he’s going slow.  We rode through a lovely town called Morro Bay.  At one point, many, many years ago there were nine volcanoes in this area, but they have all been destroyed by the ocean.  There are still some remnants of the volcanoes such as Morro Rock.  The weather was really great today, like all the other days, and it was a nice enjoyable ride through neighborhood streets, past golf courses, along the ocean.  When we arrived at the campground, we found out that the guide book was wrong, there were no hiker-biker sites, so we rode four miles to a different campground, but encountered the same situation.  Basically, we rode around town for an extra 6 miles looking in vain for hiker-biker sites.  Finally we gave up and sprung for a regular campsite, which only ended up costing $8 per person.  Later that night, Ben and Luis showed up and shared the site with us in return for beer.  We hit the sack pretty early that night because we were feeling a bit tired while the boys drank the beer around the camp fire.

11-14-09 Kirk Creek Campground to Sam Simeon State Beach – 40 miles

 

Elephant Seals

In the morning we didn’t have any food to eat for breakfast, or any water to make coffee, so we woke up as soon as the sun rose, packed up, and hit the road.  I think this is the earliest we’ve ever started riding.  After about 8.5 miles we stopped at a little “town” called Gorda that consisted of a lodging establishment, a small store, and a restaurant.  We went to the restaurant for breakfast and were really shocked at the high prices on the menu, but decided to treat ourselves after our tough night and morning without food and water.  We gorged ourselves on eggs, bacon, potatoes and French toast, which cost $35 including $6.5 for our coffees.  Then we paid $9.75 for a small piece of low quality cheese and a loaf of old bread for lunch and left feeling a little ripped off, but our bellies were satisfied, which does wonders for our mental attitudes and the overall enjoyment of the ride.  During one of our rest stops a couple pulled up in a minivan.  They were driving to Portland and when we told them we’re from Alaska, the woman told us the funniest thing: “What did Delaware?  Idaho, Alaska, maybe a New Jersey.”

 

Today’s ride was really short so we arrived at the campground with plenty of time to walk on the beach, take showers, and just relax.  When we got back from the shower, the campground was full of bikers.  We were surprised to see our buddy Bjorn from Sweden whom we met in Charleston in October.  Terry was also there, along with Ben who quit a Wall Street job, Luis from Englund, and another man who was riding a recumbent bicycle pulling a trailer with a dog in it.  He was trying to bike to Oakland, but the headwinds from the north were too strong, so he was feeling discouraged and turned back.  We had a great time that night all sharing cheese, bread, chocolate and a bottle of Crown Royal that Ben and Luis scored from a couple locals the previous night.

 

Biker campsite