We were all pretty tired when we woke up this morning, but the excitement of getting to Alaska got us up early. I was so happy that it was a beautiful sunny day today and not all grey and cloudy like yesterday. Papa Mike was the first one to get all packed so he headed over to the RV park where they had coffee and wi-fi. Joey and I followed shortly after. Michael slept in for a little bit, but it was still only around 9 when he joined us. We used the internet for a while and made some oatmeal for breakfast at one of the campground tables. I was so excited that we were going to cross the border today. Our next stop was at a bakery/restaurant because the Michael's each wanted to get a big cinnamon roll. Papa Mike surprised us by offering to get one for each of us too! It sure was amazing. Getting to enjoy a HUGE hot cinnamon roll with butter made the day even better; thanks Papa Mike!! We stopped at the little convenience store before heading out of town to get a box of cookies and some more marshmallows to tide us over for the next few days. I was so excited that we were going to cross the border today and was riding really fast because of it. The ride was pretty up and down for the 20 miles to the border. At one point, Michael said that he saw a couple bear cubs and when they heard him they ran up into a tree. He also saw the mother bear and she grunted at him. With his bear mace in hand, he just kept riding as the bear stared at him. When he told us what happened he said that he was a little scared at that moment and I don't blame him. When we got close to the border, we could see the line cut where the border was in the trees. We were also excited to see the time zone sign that said we would be entering into the Alaska Time Zone; now we are 4 hours behind the time at home! The Alaska state sign was great. We got our usual picture taken by the sign and spent a little time walking around the area because they had information boards to read along with the international border post and a bench you could sit on and be in Alaska and the Yukon at the same time. I took a minuted just to take in the fact that we had made it. Even with all the mechanical problems, I knew we would make it one way or the other, but to really BE there was a neat thing. We continued up the hill to where the customs were. Joe went through first and I followed after. The guy asked the normal questions of if we had and fresh fruit, guns, etc. and then asked if we had any firewood. I couldn't help but laugh a little when I said no because of the thought of carrying any firewood on our bikes. The border guy chuckled a little too at that. He was so much better than the border guy we had when we were leaving MT and entering Canada. The Michael's didn't have any problems either. Right after crossing the border, the road went from the rough bumpy seal coat to a nice brand new smooth asphalt; it was wonderful! For the next 5 miles or so people in cars must have thought I was a looney because I was riding with a huge grin on my face. Shortly after crossing the border, we passed some old cabins that looked like they had been there for a really long time. They were falling down and looked like they had sunk into the ground for quite a while. A short while later, we saw a sign for a gas station/restaurant/gift shop. This was a big surprise because nothing on our map indicated that it was there. At that point we were already thinking of looking for a place to make lunch, so this worked out perfect. We sat on the porch and cooked up some mac and cheese for lunch while snacking on some cookies and the last of the gummie bears that had made it to AK! To our surprise, there was again free wi-fi. We took probably about a 2 hour lunch break since it didn't matter we had extra time because of the time change. We rode for a while an at the top of a pretty big hill was the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge visitor center. We stopped there and enjoyed the view through the big binoculars. The lady inside was super nice and told us quite a bit about the area. We found out that just down the road about 10 miles was a trail back to a hidden lake where there was a free boat we could use. That of course made us quite excited! We watched a video on the wildlife refuge while enjoying some coffee and tea. I also bought a big milk chocolate caramel bar they had to raise money for the refuge. It was a great little treat! The ride from the visitor center to Hidden Lake trail was a pretty short one. When we got there, we found out that the mile long trail was partially made with planks of wood. We found a little pull off on the trail not too far in to set up our camp. We got our tents all set up and then gathered what we needed to go to the lake. The hike back to the lake was great. When we got there, we found that they had life jackets to go along with the boat. Of the two boats, one of the had a small hole in it so it was taking on water. Michael, Joey and I all went out into the working boat. We took one of the fishing poles in hopes of catching something. It was great for me because the boys did all of the paddling, all I had to do was sit there, relax and enjoy the view. Unfortunately we didn't get any fish while out in the boat. We got a couple bites, and I had a good bite and somehow the fish got popped out of the water when I was trying to pull him in. Either way we had a blast. Papa Mike caught a couple fish from shore and had them cooking over the campfire. We snacked on marshmallows and ate some Rainbow Trout, life couldn't get any better. Michael caught a fish but when he was cleaning it (his first time cleaning a fish) he lost it in the water. Joey caught a little fish that we were going to throw back, but it swallowed the hook and we tried everything to get it out, but the fish didn't make it. We all sat by the fire for quite a while. It had gotten really quite cold out by the time we were heading back to camp around midnight. I couldn't wait to get in my sleeping bag. Everyday we have had so much fun lately, not at all what I pictured this part of the trip to be like. Looking back, the Yukon wasn't at all like I pictured it would be. It was SO much better. For some reason I just pictured a long road with nothing but trees on either side, but the ride was just so pretty. We've also met so many great people while we were in this area; I anticipated there to be pretty much no one living up here. I'm so glad my assumptions were wrong. Our first night in Alaska was wonderful. We rode 38.53 miles today.
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