Day 61

Tuesday, September 6

Mile today: 66
Vale to Unity, OR

Note: I wrote an entry for Tuesday on Tuesday night and thought I posted it, but now it is nowhere to be found. So I will do a quick recap...

Had breakfast at the Starlite Cafe with Beau and Gage, the hitch hikers. Delicious breakfast, and talked to locals about the best route into Eugene. We decided on rt26 to 126, much more mountainous but also more beautiful than the high desert south of us and more towns along the way.

First pass- Brogen Hill Pass at 3900 ft (from 2200 ft in vale). It was long but steady.

Second pass- Elderedo Pass at 4600. I got a flat at the top, my first one in the 1000+ miles since I got my new tires. 

I wasn't too happy about the flat, not sure why the sign isn't really in the picture. I guess it was a stressful time

Just down the mountain a bit, we passed into Baker City, meaning we are in the Pacific Time Zone!

These cows just stared at Ben while I the picture, then mooed and ran away.

We got into Unity around 7:45, but it was getting dark because it was really like 8:45. We didn't feel like cooking so we ate at the Watering Hole Cafe. These small town cafe/bars tend to have awesome food! It really surprises us, but then again maybe anything hot that we don't have to prepare would taste delicious.

We camped at the city park for free, so we had to go without showers. Not so bad for just a day, but always have to hope tomorrow has a shower in store for us.

Today concludes 2 months on the road. And we hit 3000 miles as we pulled into town!

Location:Unity, OR

Day 60

Monday, September 5

Miles today: 66
Boise, ID to Vale, OR

Hellloooo OREGON! It's such a beautiful thing to finally be here!

We got a late start this morning because we went grocery shopping again at WinCo and then had breakfast so we didn't get on the bikes until after 11. Our discipline in the morning is really fading. We had a great flat, no wind ride into Nyssa, Oregon. We crossed the Snake River for the last time and said our farewell to Idaho and the sweet smell of onions. Apparently western Idaho is onion country because they were growing everywhere! Sometimes there were even loose onions on the side of the road. I was extremely disappointed that there was no "Welcome to Oregon" sign. Of all the states we've been to, this is the most important and they don't even welcome us? We took a picture of this sign coming into Nyssa but it is really not the same so we didn't even bother to get in the picture.

We think a Thunderegg is a type of rock. We ate lunch in Nyssa and then rode to Vale. We kept hearing a clicking sound coming from Bens bike but couldn't figure out what it was. Then he found this in his tire

It went right through the tire on the side, and by some stroke of luck didn't puncture the tube. He had to use pliers to pull it out. It wasn't even sharp so I don't understand how that huge thing got in the tire!

We met two cyclists coming east from Portland at the gas station. They had a little dog, Yoshie, in a trailer. They said they hoped to make it through Colorado before it snows but if not, they might just hang out there for a while.

Then at our campground we met two 19 year old guys from Iowa who have been hitch hiking for 2 weeks. They are trying to get to western Oregon to visit one of their dads. They were pretty cool kids and have had a lot of awesome experiences on this trip. One guy picked them up in Iowa and brought them to a convention in Texas for a sports food company. He paid for their hotel rooms and for them to attend the convention! It's a bit odd, but still cool. We hung out with them for a while and then by 9:30 we were all tired- they had walked about 5 miles today with 40 lb packs.

Our flights are booked to come back to RI on Sept 21! Only a little while longer to enjoy this nomadic lifestyle.

Location:11th St N,Vale,United States

Day 59

Sunday, September 4

Miles today: none, rest in Boise

We slept in until 8:30!! A big mechanical room next to our tent made me feel like I was in a giant washing machine so I had to get up. Ben went back to WinCo to get breakfast- bagels and cream cheese- all for a ridiculously low price. We decided to see a movie so we went to the matinee of Our Idiot Brother. The cast was great and the movie was pretty funny but it lacked a real plot. It was cute and entertaining though. Then we snuck in to see The Debt, because it was playing just 5 minutes after we got out. We haven't seen any movies on this trip and we loved it so we had to see another! The Debt was awesome and it defintiely had a plot. After our double feature we rode 5 miles down the road to TGIFriday to use a gift certificate Ben got for his graduation. We have been trying to use this gift card for the whole trip but when we saw a TGIF in Virginia, we thought it was too soon and then we haven't had another opportunity. I'm glad we waited, because it was far more satisfying today than it wound have been 1 week into the trip. So thank you to Tina and Debbie for our great meal! They were having half priced appetizers and drinks so we really indulged and had a terrific meal.

That pretty much sums up our day off. It may not sound too exciting, but it was just what we needed today. Now, 500 miles to go until the coast. We could be done in 8 days or so!

Location:W Pennwood St,Meridian,United States

Day 58

Saturday, September 3

Miles today: 70
Glenn's Ferry to Boise, ID

We got up this morning and went to a cafe for breakfast. Our waitress warned us that it was all uphill from here to Boise. She was only half right. It was uphill to Mountain Home, about 28 miles away, but after that it was all flat. And we had almost no wind! It was just awesome! We stopped at a Mexican bakery in Mountain Home because the smells coming from it drew us in. They had fresh baked breads and desserts and they were so good! We got a cheddar and jalapeño stuffed French bread, and a strawberry and cheese Danish. Yum!!

Once we got into Boise, we hung out at a Starbucks for a while and looked up hostels and campgrounds. The cheapest we could find was in Meridian, about 5 miles down the road so we went there to set up camp for 2 nights.

The campground has an amazing indoor pool and hottub that we went it. Then we found the best supermarket ever across the street. WinCo foods has be lowest prices I've ever seen, and an awesome selection of bulk foods. They have so much candy, chocolate covered items, everything you can imagine. We were fascinated by this place, but we just bought salad stuff for a fresh healthy dinner, and promised to be back tomorrow.

Location:W Pennwood St,Meridian,United States

Day 57

Friday, September 2

Miles today: 70
Twin Falls to Glenn's Ferry, ID

From Twin Falls, we took US route 30 all day. It was pretty nice because there were a lot of little towns along the way and we didn't have to go far without being able to rest. We descended into a canyon, which blocked the wind for most of the day, which was awesome!

We saw a billboard for a creamery in the town of Buhl with potato flavored ice cream, and we had to try it. We got to Cloverfield Creamery and asked to try it and the owner replied, "if you must, but it's not very good!". She was right- it was pretty nasty but their other flavors were incredible so we both got a cone. This place turned out to be awesome. The creamery is family owned, and they moved out to Idaho in 1994, with their cows, from Lancaster County, PA. The cows are raised very humanely, with no steroids or any of that stuff. The farm is 4 miles from the creamery, where they make milk, chocolate milk, butter and cheese curds. We tried the cheese curds for the first time and they were actually pretty good. The owner took us to the back where they were bottling the milk- it was really cool! We ended up staying for over an hour, just chatting with the owner.

We continued on our way and had a great ride until we had to climb back up the other side of the canyon. It was a long hill and then once we reached the top, the wind was wild. The last 25 miles into Glenns Ferry were extremely slow. It was even downhill for most of it, but we were still struggling. We finally got there and went to a pizza place for dinner. We went to one of the 3 RV parks (in a town of 1,000!) and set up our tent and passed out. It was another long day, but at least the first half was without wind!

Location:Glenns Ferry, ID

Day 56

Thursday, September 1

Miles today: 30 by bike + 90 by bus

The day started off great. A precious little kitten came up to our tent and followed us around all morning while we got ready. It was too cute!

It was way to cold to ride when we got up so we went to breakfast at ButterBurr's and had the early bird specials. On the way out our waitress gave us a piece of oatmeal pie to take with us, since we had never had it (we are going to miss this type of special treatment!). It was delicious and I'm going to have to find a recipe when I get home.

Once we got on the road, we were immediately fighting against the wind. It was so strong and we were going uphill for most of the ride. By the time we got to the next town, American Falls (25 miles away) it was past 1:00 and we were exhausted. The next town was 50 miles away- Heyburn and there was nothing in between. We knew that we wouldn't make it at this pace and we wouldn't even have a place to stop if we got too tired! So, we took a little cheat and hopped on a city bus. We drove 90 miles to Twin Falls and it felt amazing! We both slept for most of the ride and no, we don't feel guilty at all for doing it! It is just torture to ride in wind like that so we felt no need to continue to torture ourselves. This trip is supposed to be fun, and jumping ahead a little bit is a blast!


We got to Twin Falls and found a campground. We were camping next to two guys in their 60s riding their motorcycles along the Oregon Trail. One was from Montana and the other from Texas, they had been friends since 6th grade in Oklahoma. They were both very impressed with how efficiently Ben and I set up the tent and cooked dinner. We have it down to a science now, after 8 weeks!

Location:Twin Falls, ID

Day 55

Wednesday, August 31

Miles today: 76
Ririe to Pocatello, ID

It was an extremely windy day in Idaho, and in the wrong direction for us. We struggled for 24 miles into Idaho Falls, where we stopped for a break. We did see a beautiful waterfall on the snake river and the enormous Mormon church right on the river. Idaho has a very high Mormon population. We rode 7 more grueling miles where we stopped at a subway in Shelley for a quick 5 minute break. I fell asleep laying on the sidewalk almost immediately.

Cute, right?

Ben and I were both feeling defeated and couldn't stop thinking about this billboard we saw: "California Dreaming? 2 hour Nonstop flights to San Francisco every day". I must say, we were very tempted. But we got a phone call from Joy (Ben's mom) and she gave us a good pep talk, which was enough to convince us to get back on the bikes. We rode another hard 20 to Blackfoot, where we stopped at a coffee shop. I downed 6 cups of coffee and a handful of chocolate covered espresso beans, and Ben had a red bull slushie. By the time we got back on the road, it was almost 6 now, the wind had died down a bit and we were cruising with our caffeine boost. We rode the last 25 miles to the KOA in Pocatello and got in around 8:15pm. Pocatello is a huge town- over 50,000 people and they have more fast food places than we have seen anywhere! We cooked dinner, did laundry, showered and went right to sleep by 10:30.

We have about 740 miles (give or take a few) until the coast. So close, yet so far away!

Location:E Alameda Rd,Pocatello,United States