Deals Gap--ride the Dragon

I had a 3000 mile round trip to Deals Gap ( to ride the Dragon) in mid-Oct. I went with two friends and we were gone 8 days. I was riding a Venture, my buddies had a Goldwing and a Victory. I rain on us the first day out of Texas and then rained on us for two days heading back home, but we did have 5 days of good weather. If you have not rode the dragon you need to. It is 11 miles long with 318 curves. The dragon is great, but the surrounding territory is just beautiful and well worth the trip. I do recommend calling ahead for a room. we got to Deals Gap right before they close for the night, it was the middle of the week in October and we were lucky to get the only room they had left. We stayed two nights at the gap and had a great time riding and meeting fellow bikers. We are planning an Alaska trip for next summer, anyone have any words of wisdom about traveling by bike to Alaska?