It rained again last night for a few hours, but everything was nice and dry by the time we woke up this morning. As we were getting ready to leave this morning, a truck with a cab over camper pulled in. Two doggies came running out, a golden retriever and a black lab (made us think of Nala and Lilly back home!). It was funny to watch because the dogs would run and greet any of the people in the vehicles that pulled into the rest area. Soon enough they came over and visited us. That got my day started off to a great since I got to pet the doggies! We rode for about 6 miles before we stopped at an RV park to fill up on water. There was construction just down the road, so there were a bunch of trailers around the area too. One of the guys who was on the construction team said that the water from the taps at the camp sites wasn't drinkable. He offered for us to fill up in the kitchen trailer where they had a nice cold filtered water! So, we got our bottles all filled up so we were ready for the rest of the day. Just as we were leaving the RV park, the Michaels had caught up and were riding by. The start of the loose gravel road was just a few kilometers away. We rode for a couple miles before getting to where the construction was in full swing. Unfortunately they had a pilot car so we weren't allowed to ride through. They said the road was too bumpy and it would be too dangerous for us to ride through because of it. So, we had to load our bikes into the back of the truck and ride the 4 miles through the construction site in the truck. Now we can't say we rode the whole way from the US border to Alaska, but I guess it saved a little wear on the bikes from not having to ride on the gravel. The Michaels thought that it was great that we got to ride in a truck for a while and were super excited. Joe and I went through first and then the Michaels came through on the next round. Instead of waiting in the congestion of the construction area, we rode ahead to the rest area which was only about 8 miles down the road. While we waited, we made some mac and cheese for lunch. A truck driver who had stopped for a quick break stopped to talk to us for a few minutes. It was pretty interesting to hear about how he drives to Alaska and back every week. When the Michaels got there they made some lunch and then we all headed down the road. We stopped pretty soon after lunch so the Michaels could fill up on water at the river. They wanted to sit there and let it filter and fill the bag up again before getting back on the road, so we decided to ride ahead and wait for them at the next rest area, which we knew was about 28 miles away. So, off we went. Since it was just us riding, we got the miles done pretty fast. There was a little section of construction at one point again, but we were allowed to ride through that one. At one point it started to sprinkle and the nice tailwind we had turned into a little bit of a head wind. Luckily it didn't rain long enough to get us really wet, so we dried off pretty quickly. When we had about 2km left before the rest area, I found a little motorcycle Alaska license plate! That made my day for sure. The rest area was a pretty nice one since it was right on the edge of Pickhandle Lake. There was a little dock and everything. Joe and I found a nice spot in the woods next to the rest area to set up our tent and there, again, was a fire pit already made. Joey gathered wood to make a fire and we got that started right away. Since we were already super hungry, we each had a bowl of oatmeal. We played cards for a while to kill some time waiting for the Michaels to get there. After we had been there for two hours, they arrived. Joey and Michael had fun playing around by the lake. They went swimming and stayed in there for a lot longer than usual because the water wasn't as cold as the rivers made of melt water. While we were by the water we met some folks from Arizona traveling in their RVs. They talk to us for a while and told us they planned to spend the night at the rest area too. We invited them to come sit by the fire if they were interested and they said they would. They also said they had a bunch of Peeps that they would bring over so we could roast them. Can't say I've ever thought of roasting a Peep before, but either way, I was excited. We headed back to the fire and made some Ramen Noodles for dinner. We are starting to get really low on food. We have 3 meals of mac and cheese, one meal of rice, and a meal of baked beans left (along with a whole bag of oatmeal). Hopefully we will be able to pick up a couple things in Beaver Creek tomorrow because the next grocery store we know of is in Tok, which is about 190 miles away. A little while later, the people from the RV came over with their folding chairs, peeps and metal roasting forks. I couldn't believe how good the Peeps were roasted. The sugar on the outside carmelized and the inside was just so melty; it definitely was a step up from you ordinary roasted marshmallows. We had a great time talking with Jim, Marcie, Merry and Gerald. They were telling us about how great the Alaska Cruise was and that we were definitely in for a treat! I am already getting excited about the cruise, so that made me even more excited. Jim, Marcie, Merry and Gerald offered to have us fill up on water from their RV which was really great because we didn't have to wait for all the water to filter. We had another great day. We rode 43.28 miles today (plus the 4 we had to ride in the pilot car through the construction). I can hardly believe how close we are getting to the Alaska border; it is kind of a crazy feeling.
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