Viva La Vagabond: I DONT KNOW,BUT IDAHO!!!

Two maps down, one state conquered and a new time zone entered. Now it really feels like we are getting somewhere! Oregon was so good to us. It gave us so many friendly people and memories but it was time to get out of there and move on. In Baker City we took half the day to do laundry, shower and get some other odds and ends together from the previous big days of cycling. We ate brunch at a neat cafe called The Little Pig, stocked up on food at the biggest dollar tree we have ever seen, then set off again for a new town. We had a decent climb out of Baker City with lots of historical monuments about The Oregon Trail. After that hill, it was pretty much all descending with tail winds around lots of wide curves and pretty scenery. We knocked out the last 35 miles in no time so even with our late start we were in Richland by 5:30. I think we all agree that was much more fun than spending almost entire days going under 10mph. Our first stop in Richland was the ice cream parlor. We have been coming through many towns recently with populations anywhere from 86 to 2,000 people. These towns have just the essentials for functioning as a town and apparently ice cream is one of them. Needless to say, we have been taking advantage of that. On our way to set up camp to eat instant mash potatoes and tree bark, we caught a glimpse of the special at the one restaurant in town and were sucked in. A big piece of BBQ chicken, potato salad, baked beans and a giant ear of corn. Tasted like home y'all! We rested up in the community park to get ready for a big climb out of Richland. Are you guys starting to see a common theme here? The top of the hill had a pleasant coast down into Hells Canyon. It is as fun as it sounds. A quick refill on water at Scotty's Outdoors turned into a 3 hour lunch/nap to survive the heat. Scotty had a very loud and condescending, yet nurturing wife named Diane.After calling us babies and whiners she gave us towels and told us to go dunk our heads under the cold sink water. She also gave us fresh organic vegetables from her garden and elk steak to try. After we recovered enough, we headed for Idaho. We wound all around the Snake River for a while before FINALLY crossing into Idaho. Thanks to Diane's "suggestions", which sound a lot like orders, we climbed up a little more to get to Woodhead Park to camp. We were greeted by a group of Idaho police officers who asked us if we like steak or drink beer. Yes and yes! After that hard day we immediately sat down to a delicious and hearty dinner, no preparation or cleaning up to do. These guys were there for a fishing tournament and were worried about what to do with the extra food. Not to worry, we came to the rescue. They were super nice and gave us their card in case we need any help on the road. With satisfied bellies we went to set up the best camp site yet. We slept right on the shore of the Snake River. We had yet Another big climb to start the next day but we stopped to get breakfast a couple miles in at Gateway to Hells Canyon Cafe, another one of Diane's "suggestions". With pancakes and eggs for fuel, we were able to make it to another summit, then coasted our way down into Cambridge. A short lunch stop at the cafe/movie rental store grew quickly once the boys got sucked into The Hobbit. We still had time to make it another 22 miles to camp in Council's public park, which is really more of a courtyard with rusted tractors and bathrooms. However we have been so exhausted at the end of the day that we will pass out anywhere anyone will allow us to..and close bathrooms are always a plus. We can't wait to share all that Idaho has in store for us but for now, we have some riding to do!

Thank you so much Kurt Schweitzer !!!