Old and Alone, A Solo Motorcycle Trip to Alaska | Part 9

[@markboudette8380]

That was a terrific series Craig! Thank you for taking the time to put it together. And thanks for sharing some of the more wearing aspects of a long trip. But, I especially appreciate showing the touching reunion with your wife. Well done, - Mark

[@LTVoyager]

I am fortunate in that I have never hit the wall while traveling on motorcycle. Then again, our longest trip was 33 days to Alaska from PA so maybe it is a trip length phenomenon. Also, my wife always travels with me so I don’t have someone waiting at home other than the cats. My wife and I have our packing routine down to a science so that is no longer much of an issue. We have bag liners for all our cases. This helps a lot. When we stop, we pull the bags from the side cases, remove the bag we carry on the top case rack, remove the bag from the top case and put the top rack bag in it. The top rack bag carries bike cover, rain gear, air compressor, jumper cables and such that we don’t need in our hotel room. We then grab the three bags and head into the hotel. Probably only takes 2-3 minutes. I pack my clothes in my side case and can pull them out often in one piece like a brick as they get compressed pretty well riding in the bag all day. The next morning I place my dirty clothes in the bag bottom, place my swimming suit in as a dirt vs. clean separator and then put the brick of clothes back in, often in just one operation. Again, 2-3 minutes and I’m repacked. We don’t carry cameras anymore as the phones are good enough for the pictures we take. The biggest hassle is carrying the charger for phones and helmet headsets, but I use a 4 port charging hub and it packs pretty small and is fairly easy to manage. I’d like to take a longer trip, but I will never pry my wife away from the grandkids for more than about a month at a time. 😁

[@oobmaine04064]

Hi Craig. Watching your trip of a life time from Maine? Thanks for taking us all along for the ride, THANK YOU

[@joeharley87]

Great trip thx for taking us along. The one thing that does amaze me is how you make all those hotel reservations in advance. I never do on my trips, I never know how long I will ride in a day. I always find someplace. Great series.

[@harleyjetdriver1957]

When I first went into the AF in 1976, my first assignment was working in a "missile silo." Luckily, I volunteered for K-9 and was selected for that. The AF was very good to me. Spent my last 15 years as a pilot. I'm NOT looking forward to your Alaska series being over. Ride safe!!

[@NedRochford]

... and you come around the corner like you have a million times, pull into the drive and then, all of a sudden, without fanfare, it is over. Craig, it has been one helluva adventure! Ned in SC

[@LivingOffTheSlab]

It was!

[@mrc9699]

Great trip and great video, your editing skills are obvious. Been there, done that, finally hung it up at age 77. Am now enjoying cycling through video series like yours. Keep up the good work and stay safe.

[@richardadams6853]

loved your trip Craig

[@dadadit]

Thanks for letting me ride along!

[@Doug_Morgan]

It looks like I am back in the adventure bike world. I missed my old Super Tenere and my Goldwing Tour had lost it's appeal. I found I no longer had the desire to ride it much anymore. So I just made a very nice deal on a left over 23 Pan America Special. I did the break in over 4 days and got it back to the dealer for first service before it started snowing up here. Really looking forward to spring and see what the future holds. We may cross paths in our rides yet, we came really close back in 2019 where our trips crossed but was off by a day or two. I remember the drills in school back in the 60s. I grew up on an air force base and we used to have air raid siren tests every day as well. I was born 1 year after you. Your trips are something else, mine are usually in the 5,000 to 6,000 mile range.

[@brianmcquirk7428]

Thanks for the ride Mr Craig I really enjoyed it all.

[@okstatepiper]

I enjoyed the trip. Thank you for taking us along.

[@oscartamez5209]

What a great trip. Thanks for the effort of documenting and sharing it with all of us.

[@AZRealtyVids]

Fabulous adventure... Thanks for sharing.

[@joecody195]

I rode up to Alaska in 20218 with three friends and really enjoyed doing it again with you, thanks for taking us....

[@ellgarf]

Thanks for taking us along. Really enjoyed the road trip and the lovely welcome home. Ride safe.

[@MotoNorseman]

Breakfast in a small town off the beaten path is the best. Especially in the Midwest.

[@sherwincody5025]

back in the early 80's we payed our phone and light bill [LOL] at the dollar general, now there everywhere and are a discount store , then it was a general and drug store ,lifes changing, nice videos,

[@jamesbonner5989]

What a great adventure, I have throughly enjoyed your videos. thanks for sharing.

[@ericroadglide9985]

Very enjoyable in part because you tell the true story of your challenges and frustrations throughout! I'm your age and totally understand your short patience with things like the silver toyota! Lol. Bravo for taking such a long solo trip. I'd be out of interest after 2 weeks max. Thanks tho!!

[@familylandscapecompanyinc.7355]

Aw boy so I have followed your channel for more than several years and watch much of your content. However until this video I did not realize you were a chiropractor.. So funny I've had regular chiropractic treatments most of my adult life and I'm almost 50. I became good friends with my previous chiropractor who retired but before that he was CHP motorcycle officer.. Just thought it was funny to mention.. Great content Craig I enjoy all of it. Shawn.

[@kmatsdaddy5338]

Thanks for sharing your adventure! You made it all the way back to our neck of the woods in one piece with great memories! Cheers, Dan from Ashland, MA

[@robynmolle5842]

Great series, thanks for bringing us along.

[@craigschroeder1733]

As always thanks for sharing, Craig. Very much have enjoyed your details on this trip. And last, some of the humor along the way.

[@Kevin-mw9yl]

The most excellent of adventures. Loved every minute of it.

[@randyhickman604]

I e also enjoyed your series very much, thank you. I’ve done a few trips ranging from 1,000-5,000 miles either solo or with one other person. I admire your ability to do long solo motorcycle trips, after about day three or four I start thinking about all the things that I should be doing at home rather than the ride I’m on. I like the idea of a long multi-week trip but not sure if I could do that or not

[@jaybrodie]

I have enjoyed following your travels to Alaska. I am planning a run from Ontario Canada in the summer of 2026. Some good points and information in these videos. Thanks for sharing.

[@lowriderrjw]

Yeah Craig I can relate. In my experience the return trip is really mundane compared to the euphoria you feel when you start a trip. You definitely were getting pretty curmudgeony 😂. Two laning it sure beats superslabbing it when you can do it.

[@paulmorris3022]

Hi Craig. what a fantastic trip. Loved every minute of it and my Sunday morning breakfast watching your vlogs is complete. Happy Anniversary to you both, but i bet that was a few months past now. Looking forward to your next journey

[@twmclean1]

Congrats to you both on your 33rd anniversary. Hi Kathy 🙋‍♂

[@5280Roadrunner]

First world problems. I got stuck behind a trike. 😝. Great series. Keep it going

[@Candywarhol]

I started school just after the SALT talks. Many was the night I laid awake worrying about not seeing tomorrow.

[@TobFromme]

I wish I had known you were going through my area. Could have treated you to some lunch or an adult beverage. Great stories!

[@bigmike4962]

Just finished your last part here but I do have to go back and catch the first four. Appreciate your efforts and enjoyed your journey. I am a little surprised you did not do the Badlands. It's well worth a couple of hours to ride the Loop Road. I did not do the Minuteman missile silos and it looked interesting enough that the next time I'm in that part of the world I will be checking it out.

[@LivingOffTheSlab]

I have been to the bad lands a couple of times, it is great but wanted to do the silos this time.

[@exc911ence_channel]

Enjoyed watching the ride with you. So what's next?

[@LivingOffTheSlab]

Not sure yet, will come up with a plan over the winter.

[@jimc778]

Thanks for filming this for all of us. Great job editing and filming. Would you mind posting all your routes on a map?

[@LivingOffTheSlab]

Now that I am done with the videos I will see if I can make the GPX files available.

[@davidtobergte8037]

Indianapolis is an always a nightmare.

[@djtomtrain2015]

I hope 1 day i can just ride for a whole year or 2

[@painsrides]

The last time I ran into you was in Athens, OH(it was also the last trip I made on the old Victory) ... Congrats on your anniversary🎉 I really detest interstate\highway riding. Someday I want to tour the country with my wheels never with touching a highway.... On a recent off-road riding trip to PA me and my buds walked out of Hoss's without eating(or paying for) the s**t they tried to serve as food😡 That place was awful

[@leoveroude4492]

Apparently there's a car dealership in New York state that only sells silver Toyota Corollas.😅😅 Thank you for sharing your trip Craig.

[@nipotinodolce]

🎉👍 from Italy (I'm 72 years old, honda rebel 500)

[@alainmichaud6747]

Great travel and video's thanks for sharing. You did well , I would not last 50 days biking everyday, I love to ride short to medium trip , watching your video made me realized that I would not have the ( gusto) patience ( hard to find a word to describe my feeling, ) but that is to long of of trip on the bike for me. Yellow is just like a bear now its been Hibernized for the winter.

[@pureblood2020]

I did not know I had another bearded brother from another mother. You sound exactly like me. The slow pokes on the "trikes" the kiosk at the hotel. 🤣 fellow grumpy "old" man. P.S. Those power plants you rode by are coal burners. They were built to be nuclear, but the tree huggers boycotted them. They are coal burners. (same folks that charge their electric cars from diesel powered generator stations) Go figure. "You don't get yesterday back & you can't buy a minute!"

[@ColonelBandit]

Difficult to be sure but I think I stayed in that hotel during a visit to Rapid City SD from the UK about 10 years ago! Small world

[@kevinsterner9490]

Really fun series Craig. Thanks for bringing us along. Just curious, after you get home, how long is it before you want to go for a ride again? Even a short one

[@LivingOffTheSlab]

I stayed off the bike for a couple of weeks.

[@Quilustrucu]

Craig, thanks for making it possible to follow you on your trip. But you gotta work on your french.

[@hatter_jbk]

I'll disagree - we need to "hear this s*it." The reality is that road trips can wear on you. Nice to see that represented as straightforward venting on some videos. I've lost track of the number of return trips where I'm going "ok, I'm ready to be at the house, with the family, doing the day to day." Although, the daily grind doesn't take me long to start looking forward to the next trip. It's all a vicious cycle. 😂

[@LivingOffTheSlab]

Thanks! I want to show the how your outlook changes over the course of a long trip. It is all good, but there are ups and downs. Already thinking about the next one.

[@stroln]

When you ride 200 miles a day, a 12,000 miles trip you will be packing and unpacking quit a few time. There were only 150 Minute Man Missiles at Ellsworth AFB. There were 6 Minute Man missile bases in the United States. Of the 6 bases only 3 are still active. 1) Francis E. Warren AFT in Cheyenne Wyoming 2) Minot AFB in Minot North Dakota and Malmstrom AFB in Great Falls Montana. Missile bases the do not have any more Minute Man Missiles are Grand Forks AFB in Grand Forks, ND. Ellsworth AFB in Rapid City SD and Whiteman AFB near Knob Noster Missouri.

[@dadadit]

That second power plant was probably a gas or coal fired power plant. Those "TMI" funnels don't necessarily ID a Nuclear Plant.

[@seaninness334]

Which would you rather have? Get-home-itus or that feeling of having the end of your trip come up and still feel wanting more? Seems there are pros and cons to both. I've never felt the latter when traveling by myself but when traveling with people who made the trip less than ideal. How long did you drive behind the silver Toyota before you memorized the license plate to make sure it was the same guy? LOL! always good to know you didn't feel like Dennis Weaver in Duel, right?

[@LivingOffTheSlab]

No Duel action...always good to come home, and start thinking about the next one

[@seaninness334]

@@LivingOffTheSlab Any ideas about the next one you care to share at this time, Craig? Nice traditions with the stones too.

[@LivingOffTheSlab]

@seaninness334 Just started thinking about it. Maybe down south.

[@johnsalvi9073]

Dude, there’s time during the day, preferably early morning that’s meant for eating the miles. You could have put some 750 plus miles on your bike to get where you’re going. Like I say, you gotta earn your lunch.

[@LivingOffTheSlab]

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. Time to slow down and enjoy.

[@stroln]

FYI, When the flag is flown vertical, the stars should be in the upper left corner.

[@LTVoyager]

You are just looking at it from the wrong side.

[@stroln]

@@LTVoyager It is on the outside of the garage door. Nice try.

[@LTVoyager]

@@strolnI put my flag stamps upside down on my envelopes. Been doing that since 2020.

[@stroln]

@@LTVoyager Now that makes sense.

[@LTVoyager]

@ Not sure most who see it understand why.

[@ArchdukeB]

I mostly enjoy these videos, but the more I watch, the more I think that you are the guy that stands on your driveway yelling at people driving on the road in front of your house to slow down. I don't think that the stoicism book is working...

[@timetohunt1]

Awesome trip thanks for sharing it with us.