The next morning was grey, foggy and rainy as we rode back out onto the spit for a final glimpse of Homer and the fishing fleet. It was a place we want to return, if for no other reason than to spend a few days and a few bucks going fishing. There was something we liked about it for no obvious reasons, but it called our name and we heard it clearly.
From Homer north to Seward the rain came in sheets and the ride north seemed to take forever. We arrived in Seward and found a coffee shop downtown, sheepishly walking in with water pouring from us, leaving puddles on the floor. We found an empty table and chairs in the rear on which to set our gear and hang our jackets, then sat as far away as possible in the hopes we wouldn’t be associated with the water puddles on the floor… yeah right.
A hot cup of coffee and a bagel filled us and our time, until we saw Heather and Dave pull in, park and walk over to us. They were absolutely drenched and it showed. As they removed their jackets and layers, water patterns showed on each as they came off. Dave was a bit frustrated as their Klim Jackets had also leaked, showing that nothing is truly waterproof, the water having penetrated the zippers eventually after 3 hours of rain. It’s always difficult spending money on products that are marketed well but let you down at the worst time. Dave said they’ve learned most gear is just designed for weekend warriors and fails under regular use. One point he made being a set of expensive “waterproof” soft luggage for their bikes, where he pointed out that though the material was heavy duty and waterproof, the company stitched all the pieces together, which of course penetrated the material and created weep points. Long term use exacerbates issues and poor designs or quality control, and so many riders fall victim to marketing hype. We are finding that to be true so far and Dave and Heather have far more time and experience on the road than we...
After D&H got warmer and a bit drier, we had a chance to catch up on happenings since Fairbanks. Heather had bought the lowered F800GS she test rode and was handling it well. They planned to head from Seward back through Anchorage and possibly Valdez, before going on to Haines and taking the ferry to Prince Rupert. They wanted us to ride from Terrace, BC with them south over back roads through the mountains. We knew that we’d be parting ways with Fanda and Kaschka at Watson Lake in the Yukon, then returning south on the Cassiar while they took the Alcan east for Alberta, so meeting D&H in Terrace sounded perfect.
Check out Dave and Heather's EXCELLENT blog here: http://www.ridingfullcircle.com
We had to head on for Anchorage, but they were going to find a hotel for the night as the cold and wet had taken its toll on them. As we loaded our bikes, several folks came over to talk, including an artist whose work was exhibited in the gallery we were parked in front of. She had the adventurer’s spirit and we talked a long time with her about travel, life, youth, art and age...
The road north for Anchorage was still cold, wet and rainy as we motored on, the tide having gone out from the bay along the roadside - an impressive sight indeed as it appeared to be a 30 foot tide or so.
It was nearing dark when we finally found Ronetta’s home in Anchorage, being greeted by her two fluffy black dogs, the smell of dinner being cooked and a warm dry couch for conversation. She fed us too much… halibut, reindeer sausage, dessert, and more! What an awesome woman she is and we feel like we've got a new sister.
The next morning we had to get back to the BMW dealer to return Kim’s leaking boots and meet up with Dave and Heather. They wanted to see if the BMW Comfort Seat on Kim's old 700 would fit Heather’s new 800 and possibly be a bit lower, as well as check out the Touratech windscreen she’d had on her 700.
When Ronetta heard that Dave & Heather were coming through Anchorage, she offered to let them camp out on the floor at her home as well, so we were glad to offer that to them.
By the time we made the dealership to return the boots, D&H had been there a while. All the BMW gear was on significant sale this particular day, so Kim exchanged the leaky Gaerne's for a set of BMW boots. They had a pair of BMW Gravel boots in my size and, finding online rave reviews for them being truly waterproof, I couldn’t help but grab a pair at the excellent price.
The seat and windshield didn’t work out for D&H, and they followed us to REI where I attempted to return our collapsible Sea to Summit X-Kettle. The kettle was fantastic, collapsing flat for travel but the clear plastic lid had split from the heat. As it turned out, I must have bought the kettle from another place since it wasn’t under my list of purchases and I couldn’t swap lids. Across the street lay an unsuspecting UPS store where I shipped my leaky Forma boots back to Texas and did a victory dance in my new BMW boots. We finally headed over to Ronetta’s place for Caribou spaghetti, garlic bread, dessert, and laughs. Dave was elevated to god-like status upon his producing a bottle of Pendleton. We stayed up way too late telling stories and laughing.