Day 22 - Haines AK is an amazing place

I woke up this morning in Juneau Alaska (sounds funny just saying that) and went to the ferry to head to Haines. I didn't know squat about Haines except my fellow bikers rated it very high. The ferry ride there was beautiful (this whole state is just mind-blowing to me) and when we got there, Jody and Elisabeth (who I have been calling Mary - sorry!) invited me to have a beer with the at the local micro-brewery and then lunch. For a town of maybe 3,000 this place was very surprising. The brewery was maybe the size of a big garage (but tall) and they had a line of people before they even opened. And the beer was DELICIOUS! I saw Luke and Ben there who I had met on the ferry and the 5 of us had quite the time. Lunch at the Firewood Restaurant was equally great and Fred, the former Mayor, joined us and then wanted to ride with us as we headed out to Canada. And so we took off. And let me tell you - it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. It was like riding across the Alps. And when we got to the Alaskan Highway we found a hotel and then went to eat at a German restaurant. There we met about 10 Germans, Swiss, and Alaskans who were also biking and so we argued about bikes, beer and anything else we could think of and it was a hoot! I left at a little after midnight and the sun was still shining (see the picture of the Raven hotel taken at 12:15 am). For a ride by myself I sure do have a lot of friends with me! :)
ODO - 4598