“Creepy” Outhouses

Jaz and I headed out of Anchorage with Southeast Alaska on our mind. Two countries, two boats, and roughly 1800 miles (boat and road) over a week and two weekends – this should be exciting!

No sooner did I get on the freeway before I discovered I had an incredibly frightening wobble in my front end when I hit 65 mph. I slowed down to 60 and tried to figure out what was going on. I had the tire balanced and seated correctly, so I knew the tires were fine. This trip, since Michael was not coming along, I was packing all the tools – a lot more weight than I usually carry. I figured I hadn’t packed the weight well. We stopped in Palmer and I redistributed the weight, breaking up the tool kit to a more balanced load. It helped, but there was still a wobble. At the Matanuska Glacier I moved the tools to my tank bag, distributing weight more forward – this corrected most of the issue. Finally, I tied the espresso machine to the tank… (just kidding).

Image of several colorful sacks of gear lined up in a row

Gear ready to go. Apparently I am carrying heavy stuff on this trip.

Resting and having a snack at the Matanuska Glacier

While stopped at the Matsu Glacier, I decided to text Michael to confirm the safest way to slow the bike down quickly with a front end wobble (rear tire I figured, but wasn’t completely sure). I was allowing the bike to coast down on its own rather than risk increasing the wobble. I was hoping to get an affirmative on the back brake before I considered touching the front brake when it was occurring. The Matsu Glacier rest stop has outhouses – the deep pit style. So, here I sat in an outhouse texting Michael about my bike issues. I mean I use the iPhone on the toilet at home… what’s the big deal?

As I am texting away, I feel something in the outhouse crawling on my butt. Then I realize, “Whoa, this is NOT RIGHT!” I jump from the outhouse faster than you can say, “OH SHIT!” My phone goes flying, and I am smacking my ass trying to get the creepy crawlers off of me! Lesson learned! Use the outhouse fast and get out of there!

Image of an outhouse surrounded by Fireweed.

Outhouse surrounded by Fireweed. Not the outhouse I scrambled out of.

With the wobble mostly gone, I could focus on the road. Everything is green and lovely and all the flowers are out. We topped off gas in the Holy City (Glennallen) and grabbed some hamburger and chili to cook at the cabin for dinner. Never Never Never eat in Glennallen.

We rolled into Red Eagle Lodge in Chistochina, cooked up a dinner and went for a walk. I like the Red Eagle, friendly people, off the beaten path… quiet. It is also nice to check out all the things that collect in the woods in Alaska.