I've been dreaming of starting my motorcycle trips with a return to Alaska. It didn't happen last year due to switching jobs and random other excuses.

Well no more excuses.. I'll take two weeks starting June 14th.

Ever since leaving in 1999, I've wanted to return to Fairbanks. It's a wonderful place, and 10 years is too long to go without returning. Sure, I went on a cruise to AK in 2008 but that barely scratches the surface.

Time to create a packing list, I suppose.

The route, by the way, is: Portland, OR up the normal route to Fairbanks. Then visit my old boss at the Chevron (Hi Todd!) and head up to Prudhoe Bay on the infamous Haul road. When living there, I only rode (on a Kawasaki EX500) about 1/3 the way up to the arctic circle before turning around one summer. Then, back to Fairbanks and on to Anchorage. From Anchorage, I want to hop a ferry to Valdez, and then ride up HWY 4 to catch the Alaskan Highway again without backtracking to Fairbanks.