july 5 - July 9

Monday july, 5
Rest day. Worked on blog and chilled out. Dad worked with Richard at the visitor's center down in Glenn Allen. He
picked up trash and fixed Richards weed eater for him. The string broke on the weed eater and Dad was able to fix it. After
they came back home Dad fell asleep as I listened to my Zune on my bed and relaxed. We got a knock on the door and Richard
told us that they was getting the hotdogs ready so we could go eat with them if we wanted. How could we deny hotdogs. They
a nice metal firepit that they had the fire going in and the food was on a picnic table a few feet from it. We ate hotdogs,
chips, greenbean cassarole and strawberry jello(which had reall strawberries) that Judy made that day. Afterwards we cleaned
up and went on to bed.

Tuesday July, 6
Dad woke me up at 9:30 and I headed over to the bathroom and took a nice shower. After that I helped Dad pack up the
bikes and we went and got some breakfast. I got cheerios, yogurt, a banana and some blueberry muffins(this is only half of
what they had sitting on the counter too). After that we took pictures, said our goodbyes and went on down the road. We took
a stop at the pakey's trading post(the one we got the cake and icing from) and grabbed ourselves some soda and fuel for Dad's
fuel bottle. After that we headed down a few miles and found a RV parking area but they didnt have any food to buy so we
asked how far away the next store was. The lady working there told us it was about 7 miles down the road. We literally had
to walk the bikes uo the steep driveway back up to the street and after maybe 200 yards of riding 2 bicyclist came up on bikes
behind us. We stopped and let them catch up and it was 2 guys. One was from Germany and the other was from New Zealand I
think. There destination I really can't remember but they rode with us until we reached the grocery store that lady talked
about. When we arrived the bikers said that they was calling it a day and was going to camp behind the store. It was only 4
o clock but they said that they wake up early and bike 70 miles a day. Goodnight we said as we grabbed some soda and snacks for
the road. We also cooked up some beenie weenies outside in our pan before leaving so we were prime and ready to head out.
After riding a few more miles the wildlife really started to come out. We saw beavers, trumpeter swans, ducks, mosquitos
and even two moose(how awesome is that) and about 2 dozen ponds along the way. After all these amazing views and scenery,
we reached our destination. A cafe and grocerie store along with lodging and a motel all next to each other. We went inside
and grabbed two cheeseburgers(which were big by the way) and some soda. After eating we found a great campsite off the road
which had some very comfertable moss to lay on. So we set up tent and fell asleep. I can't wait for breakfast tommorow.

Wed. July, 7
OF course Dad woke me up and of course he already had coffee at the restaruant(the name of the restaruant was called
"Majestic Lodge). So we packed up and headed over to the
resteruant and was greeted by a older lady and a lady around Dad's age. We had a good talk about our bike trip and that the
women we was talking to about them being on a ministriy thing. Joan(the one about dad's age) also gave us a place come to come
to. She said we could couch surf in San Diego. Sweet another house to surf in. Joan's husband rides about 80 miles a day on his
bicycle whenever he goes riding. She even recorded us on a camcorder(Dad a was a little camera shy).
They all went back to their motel room after the great conversation and we went into the restaruant. I ordered two pancakes
and Dad got two biscuits and gravy. After filling up we went back, you know it, on the road again. Except this time we didnt
have a store for 45 miles until Tok. After riding we ran into the bikers again. They were off of their bikes and taking
pictures of the scenery when Dad saw them and we pulled up. After chatting we all left on our bikes and Dad made a movie of
all of us and one of the guys was really surprised on how Dad could hold the camera and take the picture with just one hand.
Let me tell you this lady's and gentlemen. My Dad can take off his helmet, lay it on his front bag, take off his shirt,
put his shirt in his rear bag and put his helmet back on all with just one hand. This I kid you not. But of course we lost
the bikers becuase not only was they fast, but I had to pee. After the bathroom break and riding alot more miles we reached
Tok. Guess who we meet outside of a grocery store. Yep, the bikers. They was enjoying some milk, sandwhiches and other goodies
so we said hello and walked inside and grabbed some milk, cereal, an arm's leanght of french bread, a variety pack of sliced
meat, two things of mini doughnuts and about 8 candy bars. After eating a few bowls of cereal outside we headed over to the
visitor's center and relaxed and washed up a little. After figuring out where the next store was we headed east out of Tok
and to the canadian border which was only 80 miles away. Around 7 or so we ran into a campground which had a big hill beside
it so we climbed up the hill and camped out uptop. After setting up tent we broke off two peices of french bread, made holes
in the middle and put meat inside. Great sandwhiches I do say so myself. We also guzzeled down some water before heading to
bed and starting on the blog for the night.

Thursday July, 8
Woke up around 9:30 and ate some doughnuts. After eating we headed out. Today was really good and flat until after
about 15 or 20 miles, then the hills rolled in on us. It was a roller coaster ride all day. Plus the sun was burning us
to a crisp. I've been begging for the sun to come out but not like this. I never expected a day like this in alaska. It was
cloudy for 23 days and just 5 days ago it was 55 degrees all day and now it just jumps right up to 85 to 90 degrees. The
worst part was that we didn't have a store until 45 miles of roller coaster hills, clint eastwood desert sun and not a single
source of water along the entire road. Luckily though we was able to flag down a car who gave us a half-full bottle of
water and we also asked a couple in a rv for water and they gave us two ice-cold coca-cola's. Thank you God! After about 10
more miles we finally reached the grocery store. It was like a indian reservation store with barely anything good(like milk
or fruit) but charged no taxes. Plus it was mainly indians who walked in the store. They had two little girls running around
and having fun while we ordered 4 eggrolls and after eating those we ate 4 burrito's. Now these for like gas station sized
frozen rolls but we was starving to death so it was alright. We also got showers in the store for 2 dollars a peice. After
that we went 10 more miles making today a 59.20 mile day. Almost 60 miles! Our biggest day yet! We found some very comfertable camp site
next to a picnic area on top of a hill. We turned it into a picnic/camping area and put down the tent behind the picnic
tables and relaxed a little while. After that I worked on the blog and fell asleep. This will be the last night in Alaska
and the tommorow will be the finish of Dad's dream of going to Alaska.


Friday July, 8
We woke up at 8:30. This is our last day in Alaska.

Qoute from my Dad
"I have lived my Dad's dream for 24 days and 803 miles.
This is for you pop's
and when we meet at the gates. May it be as pretty as Alaska."

(for those that don't know yet. My grandfather was paralyzed from the neck down becuase of a dog that wrapped up
his legs in a chain and tripped him. The accident caused my grandfather to be paralyzed from the neck down. My Dad took care
of for him for ten years until november 12, 2005 when he passed away. The Dream came from 15 years ago when Dad and my
grandfather would watch a show about Alaskan train rides and my grandfather would tell my Dad,
"Darlin', whatever you do. Please go to Alaska".)

When we passed the american border it was pretty much what we expected. Hi-Tech and security cameras everywhere. Even
this giant x-ray machine that can scan your entire car as you pull up(So make sure you use the restroom before the border).
After that though was a big surprise to me. No one told us that there was a 20 mile gap between the american and the canadian
border. There pretty much was no road between the two borders either. Just gravel and was it awfull. Dust everywhere and
not only that it was 90 degrees outside. After 20 miles of dust we finally reached asphult and the canadian border. Out
of all the horror stories I heard of getting across that border it was very easy for us. All you have to do is tell the
truth and give the proper identifcation(normally you would just show a passport but we just had to give them I.D's and
birth certificates. After scanning our I.D's in the computer he said "Your all clear, go on ahead". Phew, that was a big
worry off of our shoulders. After getting out of there we headed down what I consider one of the worst road's I've ever
rode on. So many gully's and potholes that I feared for motorcycle riders. Riding the horrible road for a few miles brought
us to a town called "Beaver Creek" which of course the only thing that interested us was the restaruant. The name was
"Buckshot betty's". There I had a (you guessed it) a cheeseburger and dad had a hotdog(It had a deli sandwhich style bun
with a normal sized hot dog) and some canned soda. After that we rode some more miles and found a great spot on the side
of the road which gave us some shade from the 90 degree day.