Chuck:
We had dry camped in a wide “pull thru” rest area on Dot Lake, beautiful view. Another RV camped in front of us. While Mitzie and I were out for a morning walk, I spotted fresh moose tracks about 20 feet behind our RV. Evidently, a cow and her calf crossed the highway, walked behind our RV and into the foliage on the lake shore. After breakfast, as I was biking out of the parking area I saw that the other RV had departed revealing a couple of bikers that had pitched their tent even farther away along the lake. A young guy waved so I rode toward them. In front of their tent, they had lots of supplies on a tarp and a cute young blond was busy, most likely fixing breakfast. More gear and their bicycles were behind them. We were all eager to exchange info and everyone was talking at the same time when the young lady calmly stood up and finished dressing, I politely looked away and said I was sorry. She said “Oh don’t be” and continued the conversation without interruption. They were a German couple and were biking from Anchorage to Haines via Denali NP and Fairbanks. A few minutes later she followed me over to meet Betty and we filled their drinking water bottles. We all agreed to meet in the evening at the Tok RV Park.
The terrain in this area is mostly flat and miles go by easily. Betty had the RV parked and was in the midst of doing laundry when I rolled into the park. We had finished dinner and were reading when Doerte Jahr and Martin Erdmann biked up beside the RV. They said they would pitch their tent, get cleaned up and be back. Shortly after they returned, it started raining; we sat inside talking about bike trips, past trips, future trips, camping, Germany, etc. It was great! We were all surprised that it was one o’clock when we parted. They are a really nice and interesting couple.