This virtual rally is an excuse to ride around and take pictures. After registering, you are assigned a number and download a scoresheet with a number of tasks. I began at 9:00am with a couple of quick stops. Here is the Large Animal Research Station and if you look closely, you may be able to see a couple of musk ox behind the fence.
One of the items on the list were roadside attractions. This plane on the roof is listed in the
Roadside America website so I guess that qualifies. This is a candy and snack shop attached to one of the hotels across the street from the airport. As you can see, they are now closed for the season.
Another quick stop at the northernmost Harley dealer in the U.S. Their tee shirts don't mention the U.S. part. At a Cisco class I attended a number of years ago, I met someone from Norway who mentioned that there was a Harley dealer north of the Arctic Circle over there. It is also a Honda, Polaris, BMW, Stihl and Victory dealer as well as a Harley dealer.
Just a quick shot by the front of the University of Alaska Museum of the North. It was pretty quiet on campus even though classes began last Thursday.
I then got sidetracked to the College Coffeehouse to meet with the other Airheads that generally get together there.
Bridget and I then went to a diner in North Pole on our way to the Santa Claus house. Apparently, the organizers don't want people dropping off by the side of the road due to starvation as you got extra points for stopping for lunch as well as bonus points for having pie...
Another popular roadside attraction is the muffler man sized Santa Claus at the Santa Claus house in North Pole. They are open year 'round and do a lot of business during the summer tourist season.
Another stop at the Chena River. The water is really high due to the record rainfall for the month of September. I believe a new record was set on the first day of the month. What a way to begin the month.
Another roadside attraction listed on the website is the Alaska pipeline on the Steese Highway north of town. A "must see" for anyone visiting Alaska.
Not really an attraction but a popular place for locals. This is the Fox Spring near the beginning of the Elliott Highway. This is the road that heads north eventually ending in Prudhoe Bay.
One last stop was at the northernmost Denny's. I guess we could have picked almost anything and it would be the northernmost. Home Depot, Lowes, Macdonalds, Walmart, Silver Gulch all list themselves as being the northernmost. Fairbanks is also listed as the northernmost Metropolitan Statistical Area in the United States. I had a lot of opportunities to kick start the rig (extra points!) so I did it 10 times. At most but not all of the stops.
All in all, a beautiful day to ride around the area taking pictures. 817 points total for the day. Not a bad way to spend the day.
so, what was your score?
ReplyDelete817. I just finished adding it into the post...
DeleteSounds like you and the Mrs. had a terrific Date Day on the Ural. Great pictures of the northern most areas of the USA!
ReplyDeleteThanks! It was a fun thing to do. And a nice reason to ride around.
DeleteWow, you too got a lot of points. I enjoyed these posts by both you and Dom. How cool that it is the same rally in different locations.
ReplyDeleteDouble cool that Bridget rode along as monkey too.
Since they awarded 2 points for pictures taken, I thought about just mounting the GoPro in time lapse mode and have take a couple of thousand photos.
DeleteRichard, what wonderful response to the challenge/rally. Your hack makes for a lovely motive.
ReplyDeleteI am glad to see that the wife came along on the trip. Good times!
It was a great way to spend the day and having Bridget along was a real plus!
DeleteRichard,
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing some of these wonderful sights ourselves - currently en route to Alaska on the MV Zuiderdam. Looking forward to cycling from the top of White Pass back to Skagway!
Were you planning on more of Alaska than the Southeast?
DeleteLooks like a great day! Giant Santa should get extra points because he is pretty famous.
ReplyDeleteIt was a great day to be out and about even if it was only local. In the years I've been here, the giant Santa statue has gone through a couple of revisions. It now is surrounded by a fence and kind of set off to the side.
DeleteWhat a great rally - sounds like a heck of a lot of fun for both of you.
ReplyDeleteI thought that it was an interesting idea though I found the best part of any rally was visiting with others...
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