June 15 - June 21

OK. im so sorry it has been so long since my last post. But ive finally reached a internet connection at a freinds house in alaska who is letting me use the internet reall quick so the next butt load of posts are going to look like crap and probably have misspelling but just give me a few days to find time to make it look good. love you guys. I miss you too.


we woke up at 6 again(alaska time and dad said he even let me sleep in for a little bit) and headed out to the road.
before we headed out today we decided to check out the abandoned school house behind skinny's bar. We took pictures for you
guys so dont worry. After that we headed out to the pain in the butt road and started another 5 mile climb. We pretty much had to
stop every 30 pedals just to make it up that dang hill. But once on top it was pretty much easy sailing(not flat or always
down hill either) from there till we finally reached the monderosa grill(which was our 20 mile mark by the way). we had a
cheese burger that was called the bestcheeseburger in alaska. It turns out it was the best cheeseburger in america. it was
huge and tasted great. best meal everwhich included a burger, a but load of frech fries and a soda all for 10.00. After that
we head 3 miles down the road to nanena. Yeah we finally made it. We got plenty of pictures and videos to show you guys. We
climbed inside of this old fishingboat and after we was done we grabbed 2 ice cream bars and ate outside. After that we
headed into town. (by the way we have seen our first live wild animal...a rabbit) We headed to check out the grocery store
and find the prices were so high that even a box of cereal was 8.99(7.99 for cornflakes). We said forget that and moved on
to a railroad museum(which wasnt that detailed but still cool. it even had rooms to sleep in for $90.) for a few minutes then
we moved ontu a cultural musuem pretty much a eskimo store were they made there own stuff and sold them and had some history
about the town and the eskimos that live around there. After that we looked for a place to sleep and found a steakhouse(empty
of course) with a giant backpourch that not only was very private but also blocked the wind. We stayed there and watched the
river(oh yeah. the steakhouse was right by a river(the tenya river, which was apart of the movie "into the wild". this was the
river that forced supertramp to starve to death becuase he couldn't cross it)) until the we got hungry and decided that we
would get something to eat. We ate out at a pizza parlor(they used to much grease and cheese) and headed back to our campsite
until, of course, it started to sprinkle outside. So we walked over this giant pavilion and put our stuff under there. Sure
enough mosquitos started to carry us away so we put up the tent. After that i decided i was bored and went for a walk.

Stupid moment
I forgot to mention we took a shower at the community center thanks to the locals(two girls and their mom who
controlled the cultural museum building) who told us that we could take a shower there free.

I was mainly trying to find the two girls who were in the shop earlier who told us about the free showers. They was
my age or younger and seemed really cool. They walked around the town all day(i saw them walking around twice) so i decided
to see if i could find them and walk with them but after finding them and trying to casually catch up i started to feel like
a stalker following them so i just walked back to the tent. We had to put the tarp around the tent due to the wind and rain
after after that well here we are about to fall asleep. I'll catch up with you guys tommorow night or maybe sooner who knows.
goodnight.

Wensday june, 16
OK. Dad woke me up at 10:00 today. It was a cold morning too. No sun was in the sky at all. The only way to get
warm in Alaska is to get in the sun. But anyway, we rode out of town(stopping at the custom's museum becuase Dad woke up at 5:00
so he decided to charge the phone in the custom's museum becuase the girl's dad had already opened the museum). So after picking
up the phone and calling Tina, we got back ontu the road. The sky was completely covered with clouds today. After 25 miles of
riding wereached the next food stop. It was a bar that was actually not too bad. It was nice and cool and had a TV that was
showing"the Cash Cab" which I thought was awesome. Me and Dad answering the questions together reminded me of home when we
would watch it together. We ordered ourselves two hamburgers(which took forever) and it was very good. Boy was we hungry too.
no food for 25 miles,thats 50 compared to atlanta flat hills.next stop neana river,5 miles away was the latanika campgrouhd.
There was 3 people there when we pulled up. 1 man and 2 girls. The man's name was seth and the girl was luara(we never got
the 3rd girl's name but she was from georgia also) The place they was sitting on involved a giant picnic table(yeah another one)
and luara was on a laptop. This hinted to me that they had wi-fi. They did have wi-fi but it was password protected. But good
ole' me guessed the password very quickly and got connected. I jumped ontu facebook and our blog instantly. I updated the
blog and started to chat on facebook. The wind was autrocious in that campground due to the fact that the river was right
down the street. After a few minutes we went to see if we could pay someone to stay at the campground but not a soul was
in sight. So We walked over to the bridge that went over the river and found a great spot on the right side of the bridge
that was very soft with grass and also the hill that came down from the bridge blocked all the 50 m.p.h wind that came from
the river. You could see the sand blowing and the trees bending as you sat there. We set up tent, put the tarp around the
tent and started cooking(thanks to seth who gave us not only fuel but also 3 things of food which was wheat, noodles, and
something that resembles grits but yellow in color). We both had 2 packs of grits(we added some wheat too) and then we headed off to
the campground showers. The showers cost 6 dollars for both of us(3 dollars a piece) so I slid 10 dollars in a envelope under
the main door of the campground shop and went back and waited for Dad to get out of the shower and once he got out I jumped in. After the shower and
wearing some fresh clothes, we grabbed the laptop and went to go ontu the wi-fi. There we added the rest of the pictures on
our hard-drive that we wanted to add and went on facebook for a little while. After that we went to youtube and I showed Dad
the video called "tourretes guy"(warning: lots of cussing but hilarious.). That was the first time dad ever watched that video
and he was luaghing almomst the entire time. After that we saw a guy walking around inside the vegetable patch in front of the
parking lot and Dad walked over to say hello(I sent some messages on facebook while he was away). It turns out he was the one
who planted the garden and the three people we was talking to earlier helped him with the garden. He caters to resteruants and
just about anyone who will buy his vegetables. His name is Jimmie Hendricks. Please check out his website at AWEinspires.com
and tell him we sent The story of Jimmie is that he came to Alaska to live off of the land. Then the world started to
go green and organic so he started to sell his vegetables. Now he has a pretty nice garden and sending his vegetables this way
and that. Jimmie has also climbed mt. mckinley(starting out from his garden too). Hiring dog mushers for his food drop off's.
OK. enough for tonight. Remember to pray for us. Love you guys. Goodnight And may god bless us all.

Thursday june, 17.
Today was pure crap. As we woke up the wind had died down(for now). So we got up and went over to the restrooms
at the campground and brushed our teeth, washed our face and used the restroom. After that we went to the now open gift shop
and bought 10 postcards a peice and we bought four hamburgers a peice. These hamburgers were perfect becuase not only was
they small and fit in our front bags but they provided enough energy to hopefully get us the 50 miles we have to go today.
OK. They wern't really hamburgers but actually just candy bars. But any way. After we left we headed off over the bridge
and started on the way. Nothing waited us besides 30 m.p.h headwinds, hills and whining as we biked all the way to a chevron
(which by the way is the only gas station I think exist in alaska) 50 miles away. As we got there we found a great campsite
behind the store on the side of this little gravel road. We grabbed dinner(corndogs and a turkey and swiss club sandwhich)
along with some dr. pepper and went back to the campsite. We ate dinner and now im working on the blog. Ill talk to you guys
tommorow. See ya.

Friday june, 18.
Today was a little better. Still had headwinds so strong that we considered hitchhiking to Denali park. But
we roughed it out to the end. It was such a releif seeing that big town and the giant Denali visitors center. We went
inside and boy was it packed. luckily the bathrooms wasnt full becuase i really needed to was my face. Dad went off to the
front desk and asked about shuttles into the park. Turns out we had to catch a shuttle to the park outdoor center before
we could enter the park. After waiting for like 2 minutes the bus was there and luckily for us we was able to get the
bikes on board. After riding the bus for a few minutes we arrived at the outdoor center. From there we went inside and asked
about staying the night into the park. They told us we had 2 choices. To stay at a campground or to receive a backpackers
pass from the W.A.C(wilderness access center). Of course we wanted a backpackers pass but with the pass came great
responsibility. We had to not only be half a mile from the road but also we cant be seen from the shuttle buses from the
road. We was given the pass after watching a movie about staying safe on our own and given a bear proof oil drum type of
thing to keep our food in. After that we cuaght a bus that had a bike rack on the front of the bus. What luck. While riding
on the shuttle we met a park worker named J.P. He was hired by the park from this program that helps students get a job and
pay for college. Also he was getting off at the same stop we was so we was able to talk to him the whole time. He seemed
really interested in the bike trip and was a very cheerfull person. He also gave us some info on were to camp and some
info on some wolf den's in the area so we could stay away from them. After the shuttle reached its destination we locked up
the bikes on a bike rack next to this mini book store and put whatever we wasnt taking in the giant anti-bear box. After
saying good-bye to J.p(J.P if your reading this I hope you have fun at Denali park and thanks for the info.) we met a family
who was doing a 40 mile trek from toklat river(were we was) to savage river. They was ging to be out all night and trust me
40 miles on a bike on a gravel road will take all night. The family included two 14-year old or so girls, the girls mother
and father, aunt and uncle and a freind. They left as we was packing so we said good-bye and wished them luck. After packing
up we started to head down the rocky river bed and hiked 3 miles up the bank to get out of view. We found a good out of the
way location and set up tent. After setting up and putting the bear drum down wind from camp Dad started to worry about
the stuff we left at the mini bookstore. Mainly the wallet. So as I stayed in the tent he hiked all the way back to out stuff,
got the wallet and headed back. After that I fell asleep but I'm not to sure about him due to the mountains.

Forgot to mention
We stopped at a grill inside the first denali visitors center. The waiter or tress(im not saying names becuase he or she
might get in trouble if there boss reads this) was awesome there. We ordered the buffet and not only did the waiter or tress
only make us pay for 1 buffet use but also gave us both a bowl of clam chowder which would have cost us both like 9 dollars.
We didnt even have to pay for the drinks. The waiter or tress even invited us for a drink at a local bar and would even buy
us a drink but we never went.

Saturday June, 19.
We woke up during the night and saw a wolf passing the tent. Dad woke me up and told me to get my glasses on.
After finding them and looking outside i could see the butt of it walking away with its giant tail swinging left and right.
A few hours of sleep later we woke up and packed up. Walking another 3 miles back we was able to see the shuttle buses rolling
in. Making it back to the mini library we found nothing was taken(thank god) and the bikes were still there. Putting our
bikes back together we waited for a bus that went out to wonder lake. Dad wanted to head out to wonder lake in hopes of seeing
Mt. Mckinley. After waiting for an hour or so(and buying two Denali national park patches) a bus finally arrived that accepted
bikes. So we lugged the bikes ontu the back of the bus and went off to wonder lake. I sat next to a lady who was very nice.
She was with family(about 4 or more) who not only offered us 2 whole peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches but a bottle of
water at the next stop which was eilson center. After eating the sandwhiches(which was deliciousby the way) We headed inside
and checked out the building. It was very warm(especially the bathrooms) and it had a interactive 3d map of the mountain
regions. You had buttons to push and each one showed up this cool trail of lights that showed off these trails that people
took to get up to Mt. Mckinley and also showed the path of the Denali glaceirs. Sure enough I saw a familiar face talking to
another person. Good ol' J.P. All dressed up in his uniform and doing his job. I said hi reall quick and he said "wassup
keith" and went back to work. I would have loved to sit and chat with him but I knew he had a job to do. After 45 minutes
they sayed the bus was ready so we all headed back to the bus and went off to wonder lake. We stopped to look at some bears
and caribou. We reached wonder lake after about 2 hours of stopping and looking at animals, rest stops, picking up and
dropping off passengers. It was very beautiful but unfortunalty Mt. Mckinley was hiding beind some clouds so we wasn't able
to see it. After the viewing and pulling a herd of mosquitos back into the bus. We headed to the very end of the road that
was the only road in denali park. We saw the airfeild and a cool little house and after that we headed back to the park
entrance. During the trip back the cool family that we sat with not only offered us a place to stay in colorodo but also
gave me an orange juice. A lady behind us gave me a pack of cherry fruit chews which not only was so cool for her to gve them
to me but was very good. After a few minutes we saw a wolf on the side of the road and then the coolest part of the trip came
up. A big grizzly bear was in the middle of the road. Even though the bus was right behind it, it stayed arragont on staying
on the road. Everyone was holding there cameras outside and making movies. Of course the bus driver told them to get back
inside becuase we had to go around the bear becuase the bus driver couldnt be late on the bus schedule or he would be in
trouble. Luckily thought the bear got out of the way and we was able to catch back up to speed. After about an hour later
we made it back to the park entrance and said good-bye to the awesome family that we talked too. We unloaded the bikes and
sat on the benches outside of the the entrance(the entrance being were you go to get inside the park not the one were the
grill is were we ate) were we thought about what to do next. We tried to get on the internet but the router didnt have
internet access and we did'nt have a phonebook near by either. Sure enough a older couples walk up and starts talking to us
about these cabins they was staying in next to the river. They said they was getting a ride back up to the cabins and said
that we could join them if we could get the bicycles in the travel van. When the van arrived we got very lucky and the driver
let us store the bikes in the back as we rode in the back seat along with the older couple. When we got to the cabins we
checked the price of the cabins($150 for a "away from the river" cabin) and Dad thought that was a good price so we got one.
Now we are here. We both took a shower and I did some luandry. Thank god for the luandry room and the shower. Dad already
fell asleep becuase when I was done with the luandry it was 12:00 alaskan time. Where did the time go? Well we got discovery
channel here so im watching something stupid. Im going to brush my teeth and head to bed. Ill talk to you guys later.

Sunday june, 20.
After waking up at 10:00. I find Dad walking in with the something in aluminium foil. Sure enough, it was
breakfast. There was gravy in the aluminium foil and three biscuits in a paper bag. I tore up the biscuits and threw them in
the gravy and gobbled them up. If they wasnt cold i would have ate them with the gusto of a starving hound dog licking his teeth
but i ate them either way. He also brought me two things of yogurt(those i ate with the gusto of a hound dog). After eating
, brushing our teeth and packing up we headed back out to the road. We saw some of the best views today. After 25 miles of
riding we reached a chevron(again) and ate 2 giant beef hot dogs. We also grabbed some chocolate
milk. Nothing like a glass of chocolate milk to make the worries go away. After eating and buying a mountain dew and a few
snacks for the road we headed out again. After riding another 10 or so miles we ran into a giant igloo. The door was busted
open and people were already inside. We headed inside and it actually had 3 stories. After everyone else left we decided to
cook up a can of stew. but before then i had to use the restroom and stired up a giant(and i mean GIANT) herd of mosquitos.
After coming back the mosquitos followed me of course and they moved ontu Dad as well as me. I literally had to walk and eat
at the same time they was so bad. I walked in about 20 circles while i ate. A few minutes later a couple of girls came over
to go inside the igloo. I tried to stay as far away from them but they still got around them too. After cleaning the pan we ran
out of the parking lot and biked like crazy. We stopped at the first rest area ive seen since the entire trip. so we went
to the restroom and biked like crazy out of there becuase the mosqitoes were now swarming everywhere. After leaving we passed
a river and found a great campsite next to it. After setting up tent Dad saw another biker and called for him to come over.
sure enough he came over and he was a chinese man who spoke no english. He was able to tell us he was from beijing, China. He
started from the bottom of alaska and was heading north. After reaching fairbanks he was going to go through canada and then
head to new york. We was so surprised that a man who couldnt speak a lick of english(besides hello and bye-bye) would attempt
to make it all the way to new york. How he ordered food was beyond me. But anyway ill see you guys in the next post.

Monday june, 21.
Dad woke me up at 8:00 this morning. I got up to see the Chinese guy was already packed and ready to go. We
let him borrow our mosquito net pants to put on his head yesterday and he still had those on. We got a picture with him before he left
and he gave me a boiled egg for breakfast(pretty good actually) and after that we left. After riding for a few miles we saw
another biker riding up from behind us. We let him catch up and he started riding with us. We found out that he was a teacher
and his name was christian. He had 2 months off every year so he spends his time riding. (before this we met another guy on
a lay back bike who did a trip from anchorage to fairbanks every year for 20 years. pretty cool if you ask me.) We rode together
up to a veterans memorial area. We all stoped and grabed some canned soda and candy bars(which were only $1 each) and relaxed.
After 30 minutes christian decided to leave us due to he got like 90 to 80 miles a day(were we mainly get 50). After he left
we decided to check out the veterans memorial. It talked about what all 5 parts of the military(army, marines, navy, airforce,
and coastguard) and what they did for alaska during WW2. I did a salute and we left. After riding for a few miles we found a resteruant on top of a
mountain(it looked out at mt. mckinley if you could actually see it on a clear day) We walked in and this nice lady greated us.
She was inside the resturaunts gift shop and we walked over to the cafe.We saw all sorts of baked goods like cookies and brownies.
We sat down ordered some tea. After talking to the lady behind the counter and the lady working the gift shop we ordered some
humburgers. While we was eating we was tuaght a little about the place. The lady behind the gift shop(we took pictures) was
the duaghter of a woman who moved here after her husband passed away. When she settled in alaska she became a journalist and
a school teacher. She started to write about a rescue pilot who would go out and save hikers on the mountains. I dont know
the full story about if she actually completed a book or not but i do know this. She was kicked out of her first home due
to it being "A scenic spot" which was told to her by some government people. So she moved to a peice of land that over-looked
mt. mckinley and she set up a trailer there(which became the gift shop) and started adding on to it. She evently got a bar
going along with an upstairs that has motel style rooms that you can pay to stay in. After setting up she asked the governer
to set up a road that went through her area. She literally had to fight the system for 8 years before they finally said yes.
BAck in the day after the road was built, planes woud land on the road and park in her driveway. Of course that would be near
impossible today with the population increase. The lady in the gift shop was this womans duaghter. She took over the shop
after her mother passed away. She even writes childrens books in the winter which i think is pretty cool. During the summer
she works the cafe/giftshop/motel along with her son and during the winter the store closes due to the heating isnt effective
enough to keep it warm during the winter so she goes back down to texas and writes books and goes to schools to talk to the
children. But anyway. After eating Dad talk to the lady to ask if we could put up a tent in her front yard. She said "sure,
go ahead".(Dad must have laid down some georgian charm becuase the lady's who worked there said that no one was allowed to set
up a tent out front before.). After setting up tent Dad saw 2 bikers passing by and he waved at them to come on over. Sure
enough they stopped by and asked Dad if they could set up tent here for free. fDad said yeah so they started to set up their
tents. One was a girl named robin and one was a guy named wain. After setting up their tent they asked if they sold beer inside.
Dad said yeah and Robins eyes lit up wide and she said "Well lets go drink then" I went and changed out of my bike clothes
into more comfteralbe clothes and when i came back robin, wain and dad was already at the table with some bud lights in hand.
I sat down and when i did wain and robin received there food, Wain had a burger with fries and i cant remember what robin had.
We talked and found out there story. Robins husband was a colonel in the army and was being shipped out this july. Robin
of course is a girl who is hard to tie down and she told him that she cant wait till july to go to alaska becuase itll get to
cold to ride up there. Wain is a butcher who loves his burgers and fries just as much as he loves riding his bike. Wain and
robin met up 4 years ago and im not sure exactly how many trips they have rode with eachother. After they got done eating we
found out that the girls who worked there was going to have a summer soltace. They said that we could bring some beer to the
tents and they would join us later. Robin and Wain wanted to check out a viepoint up the road so we walked up there and
checked out the sights and talked about stuff. After that we walked back down to the tents. When we got there we heard the
girls luaghing so we called them over. They came over we all sat down in a circle and talked. Thats when wained told us he
had a speaker system on his bike and he downloaded 40 albums(with one song in each album) ontu his new ipod touch. So the
girl named haley(she lives in california and works here in the summer. She owns a horse and two dogs) so she became
our dj and started to choose the songs that we would listen to. After a while two of the girls got in a car and rode off to
grab more beer while leaving the rest of us here(there was 3 girls that joined us. they left haley with us.). As they left
i plugged in my zune and started cranking up some of my music. Robin kept getting nats around her so she went inside her tent
and pulled the screen down as hilary started talking to her. Me, wain and Dad started talking about dumb stuff(male bonding
as girls would say). After like 3 hours the girls still didnt come back so robin, wain and haley went to bed. 10 minutes after
that the girls pull up with 2 boxes of beer. Me an Dad went over to spend time and ask what took so long. They had to run
to 3 different stores before they could find one that was open(thats alaska for ya). So All in all it was a good party even
though everyone went to bed(we should have got some black markers) but hey, we met some great people.