..new friends, a rainy good bye and sudden changes..

yay.. finally time to free my mind and catch up with my blog!

I had a greattime in Anchorage! ran into people, with very good energies.. the week-end, my friends took me out in the woods, where the "Gypsy Undergound" band (they play awesome psychadelic rock) had a stage built, with lots of space to hang around! :)
I eat great food.. organic, vegan and also fresh salmon :) we spinned fire and made music and wherever they eye reached, there were artistic vibes! ..I've seen the first time in my life a fire rope-dart and a fire contact ball and they just rock! :D haha ;) ..need to practice more ropedart and get one of those!!!
they installed a shadow screen and it was just so cool, to do wierd stuff behind it.. shadow screen is a winner! ;) ..hmm.. finally after two days of enjoying ourselves in all imaginable ways, we split up and for me, it was also time to move on, if I want to make it to Prudhoe Bay and back down to the Shambhala music festival. In just a few days, I met dozen of totally amazing people around Anchorage! :D ..and I know, it would be a nice time, to stay there and hang out with them! :)

of course it was raining the next day, when I started.. went to the ministry of traffic to get a personalized license plate.. gonna let you know, if it worked out ;) and head for Fairbanks.
on my way, I decided for some reason to turn in onto the old Denali Highway (that's a blast! 80 miles of dirtroad through the wilderness! :) I rode my dragon with 65 mph through hills and plains ;)
.. for some other reasons I decided to move on and on, to finally end up at a place, sitting on a bar between motorbike riders and some guys with a laptop. decided then to check the distance from where I was to the festival and figured out, that I assumed a little bit wrong.. about 1500 miles wrong.. ups.. (for those who don't know 1 mile = 1.6 km). So if I want to make it to Prudhoe Bay, I don't have any spare days and would have to drive every day 300 miles.. it's just not how I like it. So I decided quickly, to change all planned ahead and go directly for Canada, so I have enough time to drive down without getting "pain in the ass" ;)
as I left so many things behind, I didn't actually need, I gave also my spare 2 gallons fuel tank away and drove to Tok.
it's kinda sad to leave Alaska that quick and I'm not prepared yet for Canada (could I ever have? ;) and it would have been nice to see the road to that outtest point of Alaska, but it's not going to happen this time. I also don't feel like to drive a lot of miles, but more meet interesting people and have an unforgettable time ;)
so on my way here I drove first from Paxson to Delta Junction.. totally beautiful!! :D and then 110 miles down to Tok.. totally boring road.. trees on both sides and enough distance to the road to spot mooses. you could see miles ahead, because the road is just straight :P
so I ended up with 75-80 mph (highway limit is 65 mph) and it would have been all right, if I didn't get too much used to it, so I still had this 75 mph, when I reached city limit (55 mph) and the police car passed. hmm.. they appearently radar you when you pass by, so I saw some flashing lights in the mirror and a car stopping. not enough.. for panicking a minute, I somehow turned in a street ? to loose the police in the forest? and ended just in a backyard of a house. hmm.. so I got off the bike and there is also the officer arriving (there was no siren, to mention that ;) haha :D it was not ALL that dramatic ;)
anyway.. with this real ackward feeling, when you know, you did something wrong, every single cell of my body yelling for merci and understanding.. and feeling REALLY sorry, he broke that down to a 90 dollar ticket.. phew ;) I wouldn't have my license anymore in Switzerland, I guess ;)
but yes.. foreigner + being nice and burning good Karma ;) hehe :)
so at least I have now my bike checked.. it's not stolen, it's correctly registered and the insurance card was enough. didn't need international driving license.. swiss one is OK :)
got a good story at least ;) hehe :) even if it are not the ones, that I'm trying to tell.. ;) would have probably spend that money for better things as booze ;) but in the end, it doesn't matter. you don't get always the best deal out of life, if you're traveling, might spend too much for a cab or being ripped off at the market.. it doesn't matter in the end, because you always run into these priceless moments, where you met nice people and have been invited to something.. situations, that fill your heart with love! :)

so here I am.. in Tok.. washed my bike (and loved it!!) haha :D ..it was a mosqito cementary on the front and Denali mud wall from behind.. so it just looks really nice again ;)
and the more other bikes I see, the more I like mine.. it looks just so damn good!! :D
it's incredible, how many bug commit suicide on my visier :P they just get smashed within miliseconds and make a noise between "fshh" and "clack" (the second ones are REALLY ugly!) I'd like to see the insect, that spreads so much guts on my helmet ;) hehe :) ..started to write a song about them ;)
now, as my mind is freed, I'm looking forward to hang out at the camp site and play guitar and practise with my double sticks. got tons of new ideas, after meeting these cool guys in Anchorage! :D

gonna keep you posted and have a good time! :)

..back in town..

So here I am, back in Anchorage, sitting on a couch, with the greatest people of town! :D having truly awesome experiences! there was just the evening when I arrived this fire spinning practice downtown in the park and showed me the place, where I would find it, lent me a bike and there I went.. I found the spot, but nobody was there (was actually two blocks down ;) but ran into someone on the street, who belongs to the group and took me along.. then it was just such a warm and nice atmosphere! found friends within minutes.. talked about a lot of stuff and deep stuff. got inspired to go to the burning man and backed up with my plans to go to the Shambala music festival.. oh.. I have to party a bit! :D ..you life just once, and I want to tell my kids ;) hehe :)

I probably stay for a some days more.. there are just so good vibes around!! makes me feel incredible happy!! :)

gonna keep you up to date.. had a great day, as they mostly turn out to be. I tell you, to look at the life with the eyes of a child, being open minded, open hearted.. it just totally works out! (you should try it ;) hehe :)

where swiss people may end up.. :)

Hi there :)

I have kinda catch up with my story ;) even if I don't feel like commenting a lot, I'd like to share some of my unbelievable stories with you ;)

..the last day in Seward, I used to climb Mt.Marathon (what a funny name ;) ..every 4th of July, 300 people would "run" up and down that mountain (more are not allowed, because it's already dangerous enough ;) ..so I met Mario, a German guy on the bottom and we made our way up.. it's about 1000m and took us an hour to get to the top (including the minutes we used to get our breath back, while watching the breath taking scenery ;) 

..we had a little snowball fight on the top and then ran down as it's like walking on the moon, because of the loose gravel.. you get a quite thrilling speed jumping down :D ..took us 25 minutes to be on sea level again :)

the next day, I headed for Homer.. my heart filled with pure love to all the people I met so far. It's incredible.. it just started and I met already so many nice people.. open minded, heart followers, that understand my being on the first sight! I felt so welcome in all these places and still am, where I'm sitting now! :D ..I feel, that I could live my life in any place, and that's a great feeling!

in Homer, I hooked up with some people, that had a RV (motor home) down there and helped them cleaning their boat. I was invited to Chili and Lasagna and decided to leave my recently bought camping stuff behind.. I don't have room for it, would need a lot of other stuff as well (like food ;) and I'm just not into cooking.. still not.. so better make a sandwich, roll a potato into foil or put a can into the fire ;) ..but somehow it seems, that we tend to need these things, in order to figure out, that we don't need them ;) :P

but it's a good feeling to leave things behind.. kinda makes you more free! :)

so I camped out two days at the "spit" (the half Island in Homer) and met the right people in the right moment.. went out the next day to visit the russian town (where my bike got surrounded by horses ;) ..I drove my bike along the beach (it was low tide) and got pretty excited about it.. so excited, that I somehow oversaw a bump and managed to break both of my mirrors, bend  a pannier and a blinker (no Mom, don't worry, it wasn't dangerous! ;) hehe :D just a scratch for me and a minor flesh wound for the bike (but someday I have to learn how to fix it, right?). So on my way back, I met Brigitte from Germany, who leaves here for years with her Husband Willi from Switzerland, Aargau :) he had all the tools we needed and I shaped that pannier back in no time :) it's even better than before and we got the broken screw out and this very afternoon I got them mounted again. ..the right people in the right moment :) they invited me for dinner.. pesto and salad from their garden with fresh mushrooms.. just so delicious!! :D

met other guest, who stayed with them, got also invited to their place (thou I didn't make it then) and got a contact here in Anchorage, that gave me the address of a friend, who has two BMWs, so I'm eager to talk to him! :)

I left out all the expensive stuff.. as flightseeing and bear watching.. I just don't like to spend a lot of money for experiences like that.. they come for free and are best, if unexpected.. HAHA :D the next day I saddled my bike and drove back to Anchorage.. 340 km.. it's enough for a day.. gonna try to keep my daily routes shorter than that. (especially with a bike packed that much)

there are quite some people from Switzerland staying there and I unfortunately didn't have time to visit them all, but I'm sure, it would have been a good experience!!

oh.. I have to mention that: when I arrived, there was this bald eagle sitting on the beach and eating on a fish. So I approached carefully and got to close to 5m.. just sitting next to him and admire him, until he finished and spread out his wings and climbed in the airs again.. was just amazing!!

a fish story

hmm.. it's already 22.15 and still as bright as it could be.. midnight sun rules!! :)

I arrived in Seward and due to some lucky circumstances, I ended with very nice people, having a great party, making new friends and having a lot of fun! :) oh yeah! the trip has begun!!
the last time, I just stayed overnight and was camping alone.. but this time, it's just an awesome, incredible experience!! :D I feel blessed by life and hope, that I can pass something on of if..

so I heard about the Exit Glacier hike (that was a good exercise! :) just brought way too many layers with me and was sweating a lot. but once on the top, I sat down, meditated a while and felt the elements coming together.. the warm sun, a refreshing breeze, the water flowing under the ice and the solid ground below me. Nature here is beautiful and finally I got time to hike around..

the evening, we had a tasty Alaskan BBQ with fresh caught salmon (it couldn't be better! :) I'm known for not being a huge fan of fish, but this salmon was just delicious! :D
later on, I went to town, going out in a bar (I cycled to town.. no drunk driving of course ;) and met some very nice people.. actually, they are just great!! :D
I got invited that very evening to a boat trip to catch salmon out in the Alaskan sea.. I would never go on a charter (touristy) tour, paying a lot of money for.. but being out with friends, that show you how to fish, on the biggest yaught in Seward (maybe even in whole Alaska, because it belongs to a billionaire), catching fresh salmon.. some people would die for that ;)
oh.. now I'm ruined.. totally spoiled.. this almost can't be beaten by another fishing trip. it was just totally awesome!!! :D could call it the best day in my life :) (so far ;)
all I had to get was a fishing license for 20 bucks.. I could not even have afforded the gasoline, the two 1200 HP engines consumed.. you might check the pictures out.. even caught a King Salmon (they are far more rare than the Silver Salmon). oh yeah.. learned a lot about fishing.. and will be forever grateful for these fulfilling moments! :) traveling rocks totally!!! haha :D you should try that! ;)

now I'm going out.. it's Saturday and let's see, what the evening holds for me :)

Arrival and the first days..

Dear family and friends,

I'm still not sure, if I should write email and blog in English or German, but I try it in English first, so it becomes even more international ;) and you might profit in the sense of learning a few new words (I hope my grammar won't be all that bad ;)

I managed to pack my bike (hell do I have a lot of stuff.. needed some army bags from a backyard sale, to mount everything on my bike ;) might even leave something behind, to get a better bike handling..

I stayed at two different couchsurfing places over night and enjoyed a lot! was a great time in Anchorage!! (not as the last time, where I had to camp out alone somewhere). Somehow everything seems to work out better this time and I enjoy this "starting-help" of the universe :)

I'm now pretty familiar with anchorage.. drove a lot up and down to get my things done. bought some camping equipment (and got my VISA card canceled, because it passed the limit ;)
even if they don't even have wheat here (that's imported like everything else except for fish ;) they brew a lot of different beers in Alaska and I'm on it to try as many of them as possible.. ;)

after three days, I had prepared everything and headed down to Seward..