You Can Run, But You Can’t Hide…
A coddiewomple by definition consists of undetermined destinations; although, being on such a ride in the first place is clearly ‘planned’ to at least some degree… if nothing else, at a minimum to simply be out there at all. In July 2017, our girl brought us the couple of hundred feet from a gas pump at some out-of-the-way convenience store to the stop sign at the intersection of the side road and a two-lane highway in south central British Columbia. What now? Which way? Should I toss a coin?
A right turn would take us south, perhaps back to the not-too-distant good ole USA… Nope, not yet… Left would take us north for more exploration of BC… Hmmmm, maybe even a return to Alaska this time…? It had been twenty-three years since our first and only trek so far way up there…. A very long, difficult, but hugely rewarding enterprise!!!
I’d always wanted to make that trip again, even came close to attempting it once or twice… Alas, recollections of the ardor of that other ride always before had caused this aging trekker to back-off… Seventy-years old by that time, I was keenly aware changes in the body had taken a severe toll on things like strength, stamina… overall tolerance for physical difficulty.
Our girl, too, was by then eighteen years old herself, and she had about half a million miles on her clock. She also had not been serviced or gone over and prepared for such a ride… Heck! She even had a plugged rear tire at the time! We were alone, also, and such a ride includes some pretty isolated stretches where any forced stoppages could be… mighty inconvenient. It seemed quite unwise, so… why not?!
I reasoned: Since we didn’t have anything else going on, timing would be on our side, we were halfway there anyway, and most of all… we didn’t have to keep going all the way if the way became too difficult… We could always just turn around and go somewhere else at most any time… I liked the possibilities, even the odds, so we headed in that direction… No plan, no waypoints predetermined, no idea what we might soon face… Just pure, raw adventure and a chance at completing a fantasy ride!
Coming through Moosejaw, SK, the first time, we’d taken different roads to Dawson Creek than we would this time… Right off the bat this was proving to be a wonderful idea! Previously unridden roads, awesome even stunning sights, interesting people… A whole nuther side to a big adventure not foreseen at all even a few days before!
The beginning of the Alaska Highway and a photo-op not to be missed!
best image hostingA dip into a sliver of Yukon, then back into BC, then onward for real into and through Yukon Territory…
is lacroix sugar freeRight past the ‘sign forest’…
short term health goalsOnward to the prize!!!
Holy cow!!! We did it!!! Again!!! The most profound thing I recalled reveling-in on the first trip was that we’d actually done it… we were really there and on a motorcycle, too! That thought was keeping me aloft on a cloud one more time, and words simply cannot come close to expressing the elation and awe of it all! Those of you who have also done it know of what I speak… Those who haven’t, well… my advice is don’t believe all of what you hear… no matter what that might be, I guarantee it understates the actual experience by a rather wide margin…
Time had come for the coddiewomple to move over and make room for a ‘planned’ interlude… On the way up, I’d announced my intentions, and Meathead had said he hoped to see me out on the Kenai Peninsula at Homer, AK, where he and his family were visiting extended family… Rob and Brenda, his spouse, had lived there before, even met and married near Anchorage where they’d also both grown up… They currently reside in Lake Havasu City, AZ… I’d been to the home of the London Bridge several times and toured Arizona many, many times, even recently… but we’d never met in person. We knew each other through posts on this board only…
What a great couple!
Maybe it was just more magic working a spell on this gullible traveler, or perhaps it was something I’ve long deeply believed proving itself once again… One’s personal political perspective and/or beliefs have nothing to do with the worth of a person… Those ‘chosen views’ simply have to do with interpretations of all the information and experiences through a lifetime of exposure to the world around them, and to the conclusions thereby drawn… A different journey offers a different exposure and perspective; therefore, it must invariably and unavoidably yield a different view…
Politics played no role in our getting acquainted and sharing a pleasant afternoon together… all the while reveling in the remarkable circumstances that had finally brought us together. I do like those two very much, indeed! Good folks through and through, genuine, sincere, pleasant, intelligent, and fascinating folks to listen to. Their story is most remarkable and very much worth hearing… Their qualities as people are very much deserving of close friendship, complete trust, unqualified respect, and a wide-open welcome to any aspect of my own journey.
Making such a challenging trek is rewarding on so many levels… too many to attempt to lay them out here. Just know that such an accomplishment is well worth the time and effort invested… It will broaden, deepen, and alter your entire view of yourself, the world around you, and of the people who share this island in space with us… Heck, I was just given a new cap that needs breaking-in, so I just may head that way again myself… Wonder if Canada will be open next summer…?
DDT
