RV Living and One Long Run

I followed the instructions from my GPS to Anchorage’s Sand Lake Studio B&B. But I arrived at a single family home. I approached apprehensively and was greeted at the door by a man who introduced himself as Mike. Turns out that I was in the right place; Mike and his wife rent out a very nice loft apartment built over their garage. A very homey feel, complete with two great dogs. Mike was very kind to let me make a complete mess of his lawn and driveway as I tore apart my bike, gear and clothing for a little shake-down and cleaning. Mike and I were both glad that his wife wasn’t around to see the ugliness.

My cleaning and organization project took me up until late evening when it was time to head to the airport to meet Anna’s flight. Taking the bike would not have made sense as there would not be room to carry her and her luggage. So I went for run number two that day (RME factor increases for multiple runs in a single day). Anna arrived, noted my ever-stupid hair and we grabbed a cab back to Mike’s house.

The next day we headed to the BMW to drop the bike off for tires and an oil change. From the (campgroudless) BMW shop we took a cab to *gasp!* the motorhome rental place. In a heartbeat I was transformed from a motorcyclist into a motorcyclist’s worst nightmare, an RV driver. I had wanted a smaller camper, but the only RV available was 30 feet long. IT would be our home for the next week. IT would be monstrous to drive. IT would be an annoyance, threat and real danger to others. IT would eat fuel and produce waste water. IT would be hideous. IT would be fun!

(I forget the exact logistics, but we got a sweet shot of the RV and bike together).

* * I should definitely note that I’m not a complete stranger to RV living. As I think I mentioned, I owned a 21’ motorhome and traveled in it with Griffin the dog for eight months about five years ago. But this motorhome, with its 30 feet in length and it’s “I’m a rental” graphics was a very different animal. Far more annoying. Perfect! * *

Anna and I were registered for the Mayors Marathon foot race, to take place in two days. So rather than leave town, we hunkered down in Anchorage to get settled in to our new home and prepare for the run. From prior travels, I think of Wal-Mart as the de-facto metropolitan place to park an RV on nights when water and electricity aren’t needed. And from prior experience, the Wal-Mart at the intersection of Seward Highway and Dimond Boulevard is the most happening party in town. Apparently my recollection is very accurate because overnight parking has been banned at all Anchorage Wal-Marts due to certain abuses of the retail chain’s generosity. So we headed up the road to Fred Myer (Alaska retail chain, similar to Wal-Mart) where we were greeted with much hospitality.

The Mayors Marathon was great fun. With fewer than 1,400 full marathon runners, the race is very small compared to, say, DC’s Marine Corps Marathon that has tens of thousands of participants. The small crowd size was pretty important as the first couple miles were on a ten-foot-wide path, where passing others was difficult. After a few miles, the course turned off onto a series of full-width gravel fire-roads (not unlike the Dempster or the Dalton!) and the pack thinned out nicely. The scenery was great – it was a bit overcast so some views were obscured, but there were plenty of mountains and wooded areas in full view. At about mile seven(ish), a moose ran onto the course and sort of jogged upstream v. the rest of the runners. Very odd, but very cool!

About half way in, I began to get fatigued. It wasn’t that I couldn’t keep running (I’ve run marathons from start to finish with far less preparation (not quickly of course, I never run quickly)), but that I didn’t want to keep running. I didn’t want to beat myself up so much that I’d hurt for days. I did, however, want to enjoy the city and the event that –ostensibly- I’d traveled so far to experience. I was glad that Anna was of like mind. We ended up walking quite a bit of the second half. And while that might decrease the RME factor, the true 26.2 miles will likely count for some value greater than 26. After all, it was breezy out and we were at about 300 feet in elevation. . .

I found a photo of us online – it’s tough to see us but that makes it sort of fun. I’m pretty much in the center and Anna is to my right, photo viewer’s left.

I should mention that the marathon has significance for me beyond being a great run. It represents the focal point of things done in memory of my father. While I don’t for a moment justify three months of self-serving fun as a duty performed for my family, I gratefully leverage the trip as an opportunity to reflect on my father and to raise some money for a good cause, in his honor.

Okay, this trip report is supposed to be fun – so back to lighter topics!

Leaving Anchorage, our first stop was Talkeetna, a small town about fifteen miles off the Parks highway. Talkeetna is interesting in several ways. Although it is not so close to the entrance to Denali National Park, it is actually one of the closest towns to Mt. McKinley. As such, the National Park Service has an office in the town and all expeditions to “the high one” are to register there – so it is sort of the seat of Denali expeditions. Also, the town has a fascination with the moose. And –strangely- with moose poop. Certain town events involve a moose poop throw competition. Just goes to show that there’s an activity for everyone AND that there’s a use for everything.

From our RV park, Anna and I took a walk into town. On our way we came across a dirt mound that appeared to be used as a bicycle jump. As pedestrians, we gave it our best.

We also stopped at a local bar for some beer, music and wet dogs.

From Talkeetna, we headed up to Denali National Park and into sections only accessible via bus. Our tour was in the evening, predictably the best time to see wildlife. Turns out that we did see an impressive bull moose. And also a wolf. And also some weird little rodent that we couldn’t identify (so we called it an octopus because it had approximately eight limbs). We also saw a lot of great scenery, thanks to clear skies and the angle of the evening sun.

After Denali we turned south again, this time south of Anchorage where we did some great sightseeing, first of glaciers, then of wildlife. I can’t believe how many amazing animals we were fortunate enough to see very close up. I’ll post the best animal shots separately; here is a one of a glacier in the saddle of two mountains.

I should say at least one more thing about RV living. In my own RV, I never really used the toilet as there are certain things I just can’t bring myself to do in my own car. But in the rental I figure that I wouldn’t be creating an environment any worse than had already been created by other renters. So bombs away! Anyway, the downstream part of the process involves a sewage dump. Pretty gross. Remember how my old rainsuit proved ineffective? Well it found its use! And then it got thrown away.