Eric's Gooding to Burley

Today we rode form Goodings to Burley. We left camp in Goodings at about 8 am for our 81 mile day. I (Eric) was feeling almost 100 % better than on Monday and Tuesday. I think I was tired from having too much fun going ice blocking and tubing over the weekend. The last two nights were some early bed times like before 10 pm. About 15 miles into the ride we stopped at Ted Miller’s dairy farm where we got a sneak peak at the milking operations. Fifty cows ran on a carrousel. One was milked every 12 seconds. The farmer set out coolers with milk and water for our refreshment. Just before Twin Falls, we passed a huge canyon at the bottom of which the Snake River flowed. We rode across a big iron bridge across the canyon into Twin Falls. Heidi and Denise said they saw a man jump off the bridge with a parasail! He landed on a grassy spot at the bottom of the canyon. This bridge is one of the few spots left in the United States where it is legal to base-jump. It is quite popular! A road wound to the bottom of the canyon where there was a smaller bridge, farming fields, homes, trees, and even a golf course. It was quite a beautiful canyon. About half way on our ride in Twin Falls we stopped at a local Reformed church who fed us subway sandwiches, fudge popsicles, orange cream popsicles, strawberry, white and chocolate milk, watermelon, and potato chips. A stellar lunch, I have to say! Thanks so much to that church! Perhaps this will happen more often if future churches hear how thankful we are for these lovely stops in our day. We also went a little off-route in Twin Falls to stop at Shoshone Falls, the Niagara Falls of the west. It was quite a majestic sight! The locals said that the water volume flowing over the falls was unusually high due to all the snow they got in the winter. We had to descend 1200 feet into the canyon to see the falls. Then we had to climb back up, but it was worth it. The ride down was a switchback rush, and the ride back up went quicker than we thought. Past the falls we cruised down highway 30 to Burley. We rode at a solid pace. All day long my Dad, my brother Mark, and myself rode together. We can move pretty well as a three-man pace line. We arrived in camp at 3:30. We showered, set up our tent, and are now waiting for dinner.

The photo of the ladies in the sprinkler is at falls - they were hot and ran into the sprinkler (Geri and ___ the head cook).

Thanks to Denise, this blog was typed up in a very timely fashion.