July 6th 15th day Alaska Trip

We saddled up for the ride down from Tok "the Sled Dog Capitol of Alaska" to Valdez "Alaska's Little Switzerland" on a clear morning with a good breakfast under our belts. This stretch is road follows rivers and lakes formed by glacial melt. We passed by several big glaciers, denoted by the bluish color of the ice. Glaciers are literally moving rivers of ice. Due to the extreme weight of the glacier, it heats from the bottom up caused by friction created from grinding away the surface of the mountains. This in turn, causes the bluish color. It is odd that most of the glaciers are in the south, with several falling into the Pacific Ocean. Leroy said there are hardly any traces of glaciers north of Denali National Park, which is about middle of the State. Oh yeah, I saw a new sign today as we went over one of the passes, it read: "Watch for Flying Objects"... What the heck does that mean? Are there "Unidentified Flying Objects" in Alaska? Is Govr. Palin being controlled by Aliens from Outer Space? Oh, My My!!! We got to Valdez after much pretty scenery of snow covered mountains. There were numerous beautiful waterfalls, such as Horse Tail Falls and Bridal Veil Falls. Once in Valdez, we found a great Mexican Food Restaurant two doors down from our Hotel that was absolutely delicious! Jeez, I forgot what good Mexican Food tastes like! Afterwards, we tried to ride the bikes up a dirt road to a valley of water falls, but after crossing a rickety old wooden bridge I decided to turn back at the second creek crossing, since the Wing ain't no damn dual sport! Leroy was a little worried about going farther without someone with him, since he had been taking muscle relaxers all day. BTW, his back is still cramping, but it has eased somewhat. Hopefully, we can push on a little further tomorrow.