Fairbanks to Healy: OVER THE TOP!

After stopping by Bob's to pick up the stuff we left at his place a few days earlier, we went south on the Parks Highway, which links Fairbanks and Anchorage. Our destination: Healy, AK, which is just outside of Denali National Park. Last spring, I mentioned to a friend, Roxy, that Mark and I would be traveling in Alaska during the summer. She said that she and her family would be in Healy and that we should stop by her place. So we did. And Roxy, her husband Bruce, her daughter-in-law Kim, and her son Rob rolled out the red carpet for us in a huge way!



We showed up at the airport in Healy (Rob and Bruce fly--Bruce has just a little bit of experience in the air--he stopped counting at 22,000 hours--and he taught Rob to fly at age 14) where the family works, and called Roxy. She zipped right up from their place to meet us. As we were waiting, Kim said, "Oh, let's get you on the summit flight at 5 p.m., OK?" My jaw dropped.



We followed Roxy down the road and dropped our motorcycles off. We met Bruce, who asked us how long we were staying. He let us know that he really wanted to get us up to the glacier (his plane has skis on it so he can land there) and also said that he had gotten us a room for two nights at the Denali Bluffs Hotel. Again, my jaw dropped.



But wait, there's more...after our flight, we were invited to a BBQ. Kim had caught a couple of halibut last week and a family friend, Shaw, had just returned from down south with some salmon, which had been swimming the waters of the Kenai peninsula only 24 hours ago.

Here is Rob, pilot extraordinaire. His commentary was phenomenal, and I am convinced that he has ice water running through his veins--the ride was bumpy and he was as cool as a cucumber.

The view from the top of North America. I think Mark and I are still in shock that we actually got to experience this, as I write about it 2 days later.

Later on, we enjoyed great food, excellent company and tales of Alaska!! Below, Bruce works his magic on the grill.

The evening ended with Roxy's homemade apple pie. She is an amazing cook. She and Bruce owned the Big Creek Lodge in Idaho (they joked that it owned them) for 10 years in the 1970's and 1980's. Roxy would regularly make breakfast for 100 people who would fly in to the backcountry airstrip there, so taking care of us was a piece of cake.

Odometer: 5605 miles (plus a ride to 21,000 feet!!)