07/07 The famous cinnamon buns they serve here at the Shepherd’s Inn have been sampled and summarily devoured. Quite tasty. The Inn is well known around here and is specifically mentioned in The Milepost as a great place to stop for dinner. They have motel rooms here but I opted for the camping area out front since it was only $6. They let you use one of the motel rooms to shower so it was well worth it. I’m camped out almost right next to the road which is the only bad part. Traffic should start dropping as it gets later.
I slacked off a little and only rode 37 miles but the rain wasn’t letting up and my chain kept getting caught when I was climbing hills which is about the worst time for that. I’m an idiot for not getting it looked at in Fort St. John when I was there getting a spare tire and new bike gloves since I lost mine. I never used to lose things so this is getting annoying (and expensive). The spare tire is a GT Guardian. I never heard of it either. It beats walking so I’ll hang on to it until I can find something better.
The scenery changed dramatically once I was north of Fort. St. John. The trees were back in force and there is no more farm land. The road now looks a lot more like how I thought the Alaska Highway would look. The traffic pretty much stinks royally though. It’s better since leaving Fort St. John but there are still a surprising number of cars on the road. It’s so loud too. Almost everything that passes me is an 18-wheeler or a 4×4 diesel pickup running on knobby tires.
I’ve noticed a couple things that I thought I’d share. There are no police on the roads up here or anywhere else for that matter. I’ve yet to hear a siren since entering Canada and today was the first time I saw a police car on the highway. There is also virtually no road kill which is a welcome relief. I’ve only seen 2 deer that were too slow. Nothing close to what I was seeing in the States. Less people equals more chances for the critters to make it across I guess. Even on the comparatively busy AK Hwy I haven’t seen anything yet.
Update: Had a massive portion of incredible pork chops for dinner. The owners are so nice here. I asked if they had any degreaser so I could clean off my chain cassette. I’m pretty sure that’s why it was sticking. It had tar and junk all over it. Anyway, she called her husband who drove over with some bug/tar remover and some rags I could use. Now it shifts like the first day I got it.
Also, at Safeway today, the cashier was ringing up my stuff when she asks, “So are you having a busy week?” I almost started laughing. I’m about as not busy as you can get. I wasn’t even sure what day it was not to mention I’ve been on PDT and didn’t know it. Pretty funny.
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Hi, Scott – I’m chuckling over your Sarah Palin ‘poll’. One of the guys from an online RV group I belong to actually ran into her when he fueled up somewhere between Anchorage and Soldotna last month! The ‘complain too much’ was good, too – until one has been out here where life isn’t ‘normal’, they don’t ‘get it’. It is not complaining, it’s new experiences!!
I’m excited that you have accomplished so much!! Safe travels!!
Anita
Cinnamon buns you know where those babies are gonna be stickin. Guess your not gonna be using your, ” I know my rights” cards up there.
Be Safe
Wow man, you have done some really good distance. Looks so peaceful up there. So hows it feel to be back in your home land? Keep on trucking man. You’re almost there.
that’s kind of a funny campsite you found, it’s like right in the middle of the street! kind of.
Hi Scott,
The reason you haven’t seen any road kill is twofold. !. If a resident hit it, the animal has been field dressed and loaded into their truck within 6 minutes. 2. If hit by anything else, a very large furry carnivore has performed its own style of field dressing and dragged it off to the side. Another bit of knowledge you might want to keep in mind when in the bush is that if you smell something very putrid in the forest, or see a road kill that has been dragged off to the side and gutted, a very, very large brown fuzzy animal called ursis horribilis (grizzley) is in the immediate.
Sleep tight.
People laugh, but in MN, WI, and IA, it’s not unheard of for someone to grab a whitetail that’s been hit and take it to a meat locker.
…and perhaps there is less roadkill because Canadian animals are more intelligent than their counterparts in the States ?!!
In regards to warm Cinnamon anythings…any guy worth his salt likes them. I want to say I read somewhere that cinnamon [goodies] are aphrodisiacs as well…
Shepherd’s inn is an awesome place to stay, been there several times. Run by a Christian group I think. Awesome food too. Had the same pork chops, they are good aren’t they?