ALASKA!!!!!!

ALASKA!!!!! We made it!!!!!!!!!!!! After all the miles (and you don't really understand miles until you ride (or drive) the Alaska highway), we made it to the Alaskan border. Dave and I have now been in all 49 states and all the Canadian Provinces and Territories you can drive to. We are really proud of our accomplishment. We plan on having a little celebration tonight. Some beer, some tequila and a good Cuban cigar.

Dave put a picture on his blog that shows some of the highway construction we drove through today. It took us 2 1/2 hours to ride 47 miles. They call the BIG holes in the road pavement breaks. What that means is they break the pavement off, dig a hole and fill it with dirt and gravel. These breaks can go 20 feet or 2 miles. When it is wet, it becomes as slick as ice. My bike seat now has extra bumps on it from the "pucker factor". I didn't realize leather would stretch that far, but a couple of times I tried to get off, I almost pulled the bike over. I didn't get a good picture of it, but Dave's came out really good.

Some more pictures of things that are hard to describe:

And the road goes on forever.........


..... and ever........
We are spending the night in Delta Junction, about 95 miles from Fairbanks. We will spend the next few days around Fairbanks, doing the fun stuff like laundry (9 days in 7 days worth of clothes means it is time!), getting the oil changed in the bikes, riding to the Arctic Circle (only if we can find a day that it isn't raining. 130+ miles of gravel is NOT fun in the rain). From there, we head to Denali and on to Anchorage and the Kenai peninsula. After that, it is back the way we came, at least for a part of it. But, we will keep you informed as we travel it.

I've been checking the comments and really enjoying them. JT, I always knew you weren't the biker type, but I may get you converted yet.......... Glad you all are enjoying this. I know I am. Writing about what has gone on kind of brings it back to mind. It is hard to keep track of all we are seeing. I know it will get worse as the trip goes on. I've never taken a month long trip before, and trying to remember what you've seen (remember, I'm getting to be an old fart with memory problems) is tough when you see as much as we have.

Be sure to check out Dave's blog. We are trying not to post the same pictures, so you can see more.

Forgot to say anything about hail. Getting into a hailstorm on the bike is an experience (one any sane person could do without). We were waiting out a storm on the side of the road. It decided to come get us anyway. I was just thinking that "darn, those raindrops hurt" when I realized it had turned to hail. We left the road, went into the forest with the bears (refer to the earlier posts of the bears along the road) and stood under the trees for protection. Dave keep looking behind us and said he really hoped the bear would make some noise before he decided we would be a good lunch. Luckily, none showed up while we waited.

More to follow. Time for the celebration!!!!!!! Alaska, we made it!!!!!!!!!!!!