Ride on, Highway Cat !!: Wonder Woman and Captain America

DAY 6, Monday Aug. 31, 2015
Million $ Falls - Haines Alaska
165 km. Haines Rd. BC & US Customs. Est. 95 km/hr, 1hr/43 min. F250 Superduty Pickup

Despite being frosty, I had a surprisingly good sleep and woke to light flurries. I grabbed my tent (still erected) and hauled it over to the kitchen shelter to dry off. I decided that I wasn't going to ride out this morning. So I spent several hours dialling a fire and getting warm again. While carving wood, I thought of options for the day. I new that I was ill- prepared to "guerrilla camp". So, I would need to ride directly to Haines, 11 hours minimum, (provided the pass had ideal conditions). Normally not a big deal, but I'm not dressed for this dance. (The locals tell me that this weather is abnormal) Skeptics say you need to be prepared for anything. I agree. Learned my lesson.
Anyway, I decided to try something radical ... Hitchhike!... a new low for sure.
I sat by the fire for about 3 hours and made note of the traffic frequency. It was tough to hear, but I estimated 1 vehicle every 20 min. would pass. (Not great thumbing data). I figured that if I thumb till around 4 pm and have no takers, then I would simply set up camp again and prepare for an early push the next morning.
So after some oatmeal with cashews and several coffees I roamed around the park taking pics and headed out to the highway. I parked Shirley against a signpost and just stood there waiting...
I felt so stupid standing there. A small vehicle approached and zoomed by, then a motorcycle. I was hoping for something a little bigger. Duh. A couple minutes later, a pickup truck with a 5th wheel slowly sailed by. I couldn't believe my eyes. It was pulling over! A clean cut bearded man got out and walked towards me. "What do you need" he said.
I replied: "You going to Haines by any chance?" I thought, where the hell else would anyone be going? Anyway, He checked with his boss for approval. He said "We can make this work". So, with a bit of work, we were able to load Shirley and all my gear. Amazing, my first hitch hike took 8 minutes. Looking pathetic is a good marketing tactic I guess. Actually I learned later that they had a soft spot for touring cyclists that were un prepared.
It was Ron and Sally from Michigan. They were cruising all over Alaska and then down to Seattle in a Super Duty F250 pulling a monster home. Sitting in the back of the cab was a very foreign experience to me. Looking at the terrain from this protective bubble was a surreal experience. Although I enjoyed seeing the landscape in this safety zone I couldn't help but feel sad for not riding it, but then I wouldn't have met this great super duo!
After arriving in Haines, I hung out with Ron and Sally as they got set up at the RV Park. Sally was driving for this particular segment of their grand voyage and that included the parking of the beast. They are still rookies of sort in this RV game, but you wouldn't know it. They are a great team indeed with perhaps some hippie camping background. We took a couple pics and said our goodbyes. Such great people. Despite my anti social nature, I really enjoyed our time. We exchanged cards. Mine was for this blog, there's was for Wilderness Photography that they do. I saw some of the camera equipment. They don't fool around. I tried to look up their website but unfortunately couldn't find anything. This is what was on the card: rskadlec@charter.net
I headed along the highway to the downtown core. I basically hit the first Motel I saw. I knew about a bike camp on the shore but decided to continue this lazy streak. HWC was furious as usual. "Beach, take me to the damn beach you monster!"
Got set up at a nice little place called "Captains Choice Motel" Did some cruising around. Cool little relaxed town. Got Eats and Ale, drew up a plan for tomorrow. I thought I should go for a run to make up the fitness deficit. Laziness won that battle.