One motorcycle, one recently retired military veteran, and endless miles of beautiful wilderness.

Master Sgt. Rob Keller rode his Honda Goldwing solo through the Canadian wilderness on the Alaskan Highway to the last frontier as a retirement present to himself.

"I wanted to enjoy the trip from Bismarck all up the Alaskan Highway and then up into Anchorage and then home," Keller said.

He retired after 26 years in the Guard. He was known by many as the voice of the Guard, as he worked with the state's media.

Keller spent a year and a half researching and preparing for his journey. He spent countless hours weighing his gear, packing and repacking his bike, and taking pre-rides to get in shape for his trip. Keller asked advice from other riders and close friends about what to pack.

Sid Hardt, a friend of Keller's, told him, "If you don't bring anything else, bring duct tape."

Keller took the advice and ended up needing the duct tape to hold his tent down on a ferry.

Keller, along with his essentials, brought 26 T-shirts that said "Soldier Angels" on them. They were created by the National Guard to show support for U.S. troops.

He gave one away every time he ran into someone who supported the military. By the end of his journey, all 26 T-shirts had been given away. Simply by approaching people and saying, "Hi, my name is Rob," people Keller met on his trip opened up and shared their stories with him.

Keller set out on his journey to ride the Alaskan Highway June 29 and returned home 23 days later on July 20. He didn't have a set schedule of how far he had to drive or when he needed to stop. Keller simply rode.

"The only deadline I had was July 14 at 8 p.m. I had to be on a ferry. Other than that, I had no schedule," Keller said.

Keller brought along a Mac computer on his journey to keep a travel blog of his adventures. At the end of each day, Keller would gather his thoughts on the computer and post them on his blog. The blog was a way of keeping his friends and family up to date about the trip.

Keller's wife, Jolynn, also wrote on the blog before Keller left.

"I look forward to reading his blog and viewing the pictures each day. How exciting that so many relatives and friends from all over the nation have logged on to follow Rob's trip too," Jolynn wrote.

There were some nights when Keller couldn't post his blogs because of the lack of wireless Internet service. It was those nights that friends and family wondered if something had gone wrong. Although the lack of service interferred with posting his blogs, many people waited for Keller to paint beautiful pictures of his journey with his next entry.

"I went through blog withdrawals when I went out of town and couldn't read Rob's blog," Hardt said.

Along the way, he met many people with different backgrounds and stories. At Dawson Creek, British Columbia, he ran into sisters, Marilyn Frost and Carol Albright. They were on their way to Valdez, Alaska, to meet their spouses.

"(Marilyn and Carol) said you have to go to Valdez. Because they spoke so highly of it, I decided to take the time to go visit it," Keller said. He rode more than 100 miles out of his way to visit the town of Valdez.

Keller learned about the Exxon oil spill in Valdez that harmed marine life in the area for years. He also got the pleasure of shipping home 20 pounds of freshly caught salmon to his family from the bay.

One of the characters he met, who had a profound impact on Keller, lives in a rustic cabin along the shores of Muncho Lake, British Columbia. His name is Jack Gunness.

Keller came upon Gunness' cabin during a downpour 150 miles into the Alaskan Highway. Keller had to find a place to stay because it was raining too hard to pitch his tent. Gunness' cabin is rented out to travelers, and Keller seized the opportunity to stay the night.

"He had a crusty exterior that I knew I had to break through," Keller said.

By the next morning, Gunness was telling Keller how he came to Muncho Lake to make a fortune 31 years ago and never left. Gunness runs a cafe along with his hotel, a bakery, is the postmaster of the town, and also the weather service reporter.

"He stands out as someone I had to get to know," Keller said. "By the time I left, he was telling me everything."

Keller's 23-day adventure was painfully altered on day five when he hurt his back lifting his bike onto its center stand.

Determined not to let it ruin his trip, he pushed on, even on days he was in pain. One of his first stops after arriving home was the St. Alexius emergency room.

Since his return, he has sold his Honda Goldwing and bought a BMW R1200RT.

Although his Alaskan journey is over, Keller is not done searching for his next adventure. He plans to ride all 48 lower states over the next year or so. "If you want to do something, do it now," Keller said.

Check out Keller's blog at www.mytb.org/robkeller

(Caity Skalicky is a senior at Bismarck High School.)