Boise, Idaho

Last night we stayed on the grounds of Ontario high School. The grass was soft and the night cooled off so we slept well. For breakfast, we were served a royal breakfast of pancakes, bacon, oatmeal, and cereal. Definitely filled us up with that essential energy for the day. We got out on the road by about 8:30. The route began by taking us through town and then crossig a river into the state of Idaho. Of course, we got a picture of our third state we are cycling through. Next came an agricultural region in the country filled with a whole variety of edible plants, primarily those good ole Idaho potatoes. My dad and I (Mark) started out biking together until we hit a group of fellow cyclists. One cyclist had a few spokes broken in her wheel and her derailer was out of place. My dad fixed the bike temporarily, or at least as well as he could. I more or less watched and learned, picking up useful tricks for the future. So eventually we got back on the road again, but at a slower pace as we helped pull these cyclists into Boise by using the drafting technique.
Entering Boise was quite a sight. The outsirts of the city were dotted with enormous houses and ranches with beautiful landscaping. Hitting the city was quite a shock as we adjusted to seeing so many other cars, people, and houses all over the place. We rode along a looping and curvy road on the outside of town to the Timberlane High School. After today's 65 miles we had reached the end of this week's trip. We set up tent, took showers, and waited for supper. Supper tonight was another fabulous treat: slopppy joes, broccoli salad, baked beans, watermelon, etc... and peanut butter. We always have peanut butter. After supper, my dad and I went across the street to explore the little plaza of shops. Somehow we ended up at a Starbucks. My dad got a coffee and we split a couple almond hershey bars from a local right aid.
Coming back to camp, we received a surprise package of goodies from the "cookie-lady." To our delight, we found inside a whole box of chocolate-chip cookies wrapped in designer wrap. So, for desert, we munched on a few (or maybe more) of the delicious treats. Now we'll really have to watch our weight. Our huge thanks to Janice Dyksterhouse. We thoroughly enjoyed our snacks.

Baker City to Huntington to Ontario

Yesterday we began our ride in Baker City. After a breakfast of oatmeal and cereal we took off for our 45 mile bike ride. The route was to be all downhill. Not feeling challenged enough, my dad and I (Mark) decided to follow a fellow cyclist on and adventurous expedition over a mountain pass nearby. So we departed on our adventured and rode 5 miles up a mountain pass, 2500ft. Then we continued on our way, searching for a rode to lead us to our next camping site in Huntington. The rode we were biking on ended in gravel, a depressing site. So we turned around and went back up the mountain, 5 miles and 2500ft, versus the 20 miles on a gravel rode. Eventually retracing our pedal strokes, we arrived back again in Baker City. We already had about 60 miles logged onto our bike clocks. After stopping at a local gas station for mountain dew and some sour apple slushies, we left on our original planned route for huntington. The ride was hot, but enjoyable since it was primarily all downhill. All around us was desert and sagebrush. Huntington was a small town, built around the railroad and concrete industy. Now things have slown down, but the people are just as friendly as ever. A laundry mat near the school of the Huntington Locos allowed Sea to Sea cyclists to do their laundary for free. Such hospitality. Arriving in Huntington, we pitched our tent and went into town for some appetizers before supper. The local cafe served us some amazing homemade marion-berry pie and a chocolate shake. Both were delicious and the air conditioning in the cafe a welcomed relief. The evening progressed with the normal activites: peleton, small groups, teeth brushing. Eric went for a mountain hike nearby. We thought we could pick him out from camp, a samll white dot in the distance. However, all this while, the wind was picking up. That night the wind was about 40 miles per hour depending on the gusts. Some rainflies were lost and a tent blew away (but we caught it a 1/2 mile down the road). The night was restless, but refreshing since we could sleep in, knowing that tomorrow our route would only be a mere 35 miles to Ontario, Oregon.
This morning started out with breakfast, oatmeal and cereal again (our staples). Then Eric, my dad, and I started out of Huntington. We traveled along the winding Snake River. My legs were feeling a little tired from yesterday's adventure up and down a mountain. Good thing the ride was flat. There were many irrigated fields along the route containing onions, radishes, corn, wheat, etc. The hills and small rock formations were quite amazing. Despite being in the desert, the scenery awed us by its extreme diversity of green farmland and barren desert. We had no flats. The locals tell us that goatheads (like a sandburs) often prick a rider's tires. We were lucky I guess, until we were about a mile away from the Ontario high School and my dad got a slow leak. We did patch it up though and decided to explore town since the ride was so short (35 miles - took us 2 hours so we got here by about 11am). We stopped at a local coffee shop called Java and Juice. Extremely friendly service and great ice water.
For those of you who wonder what we are eating, tonight's supper consisted of mashed potatoes, meatballs, salad, green bean cassarole, chocolate pudding, carrots, and peanut butter sandwiches. My second plate turned out to be bigger than my first. I'm going to have to start to watch my weight. Right now, some fellow cyclists and I are using the internet at the local library. Our satellite internet is not working as planned. They say it's missing a part I think. Hopefully that can be fixed. Otherwise, we'll look for those handy libraries to let you know what's going on. Tomorrow we're off to Boise, Idaho, our third state. We're really starting to really move along now.

Day 10 - Baker City

Today we rode from La Grande to Baker City. We had some eggs and cheese with our normal cereal, fruit, and yogurt for breakfast. We cruised right along today. It was only about a 50 mile day. We stopped in the small cattle ranching town of Union to sit down under a tree with our usual peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. Gotta love that peanut butter and jelly! We arrived in Baker City at about 12:30 and stopped at the local bike shop to take a look around. We stopped at Charley's ice cream for a quick snack, Huckleberry and Amazon Trail ice cream. Mmmmm. Mmmmm. Gotta support the local ice cream shops. The owner stopped by our table in the shop and asked about the tour. We handed out a few cards about the tour to others in the shop too. Who knows what may come of it, but we were encouraged to keep on handing out more cards. We are biking now, but we are still on a mission. The locals were great people. A local newspaper crew came to camp at the high school here in Baker City to interview several of us and take pictures. We found a river about a mile from camp, the Powder River. We plopped into the river from a rope swing tied to a tree along the banks. The river had quite a current, but not overpowering. Some local kids were taking what looked to be a float trip down the river in their little blow up boat. Now we are sitting in the shade of the gear truck waiting for dinner at 6 pm. We are always looking forward to dinner time. Last night we were surprised with apple crumble and ice cream for desert. Dad stopped at the Dollar Store to pick up a whiffle bat and ball. We hope to get a game going tonight maybe before dinner or something. If we are at all of these schools we figure that we might as well have fun on the baseball fields. We are still getting to know names on the tour. 150 people is quite a group. So many great people with great stories, new ones everday pop up to make our ride more exciting. Thank God for the great weather that we have been having and the great company to share it with.

Pendleton

Today, we arrived in Pendleton. The ride was hot and moderately uphill. However, the scenery was amazing. At first we were in a canyon with strong headwinds, but eventually climbed out of it. All around you up top were wheat fields stretching out into the vast horizon. Talk about amber waves of grain. In Pendleton, we beat the gear truck and so I (Mark)and a friend, Peter, took a ride into town. Eric was still biking and my dad was fixing his first flat tire of the tour. He then went to a local coffee shop. In town I got some postcards at Walmart, went for a underground historic tour (free because they liked Sea to Sea), and visited the Pendleton Woolen Mills. The blankets at the mills were gorgeous, but expensive. And anyway, I had to stick to my sixty pound weight limit. Tonight we had spaghetti for supper, definitely high in carbs and preparing us for our next day, a 2500ft climb into La Grande. Our Pendleton meeting covered the same topics as usual - flats, accidents, banana peels alongside the road, etc. We then had a devotion speaking about the intricacies of a bike wheel, how all the parts must function and fit together in order for the wheel to spin true. If Paul were a biker, he would have used the bike wheel analogy versus the body perhaps. After small groups we watched the sun set quickly. The red glow is amazing over the hills. Now is time for sleep, a very essential part of biking. Perhaps I can get them to let me sleep in a little to 6:30. We'll see.

Yakima, Sunnyside, and Kennewick (Columbia Park)

Thursday we arrived in Yakima after a beautiful ride through the Yakima River Valley Canyon. there were gorgeous rock formations and an oasis where the river flowed through with its swift waters. All around the outside of the canyon and its walls was barren brushland with tufts of plants and shrubs spotting the hillsides. Eric and I (Mark) climbed up the side of one of these "bluffs". We would have to guess that it was a thousand foot climb. Each time we would reach what seemed to be the top, a new higher ridge would appear before us. So, being commited we continued climbing to the top and succeeded in viewing a vast landscape of the Sonora Desert. The wind was blowing and you could see Yakima in the distance. Quite a sight! (Mountain biking shoes work well for climbing we found out) Then, continuing our adventure, Eric and I explored an old road travelling parallel to the highway. It went through an old bridge through the cliffs on the edge. We carefully walked through, carrying our bikes. Inside we found many graffitti-drawn pictures. It was really cool seeing all the artwork. Eventually we found the right road again marked on our maps and rode to that night's camp site. We stayed at a local Christian school. the Yakima CRC provided us with peanut m&m's and tootsie roll pops. We gratefully appreciated the snacks. It is this type of hospitality that is so amazing!
In the evening at camp we played card games. We played variations of spoons and president. Both served well to build community and burn time before supper. Mosquitoes turned out that night. I woke up that morning with a couple bites, but you don't notice when biking.
Friday we reached Sunnyside. The ride was very hot in the "barren wasteland" we were biking through. However, when we would look around you would notice patches of green where irrigation was occuring. This region of Washington is actually a major center of fruit growing, especially cherries. During the ride we received refreshments from a Church in Zillah, another small gesture of support and hospitility. I believe the people in Washington are the most friendly that I have ever encountered. At the rest point in Zillah, we ate cherries, watermelon, bananas, etc. A few from the church were there to serve and converse with.
When we arrived in Sunnyside it was early in the day for our ride was short, about 40 miles. We stayed in the fields around the local Christian School. To cool down from the heat, Eric and I ran around in the sprinklers with some other riders in the fields. Later that night, my dad, Eric, and I were put to sweep duty. This is where you serve food and help set up/tear down camp. However, we were spared our chores for the CRC in the area served us supper. We didn't even have to bring or wash our own dishes! It was an amazing meal of tortilla chips, tacos, beans, hamburger, pork, and strawberry shortcake. Then, that night for the forth of July we went to fireworks at Sunnyside high school. Another church served us rootbeer floats-very refreshing in the heat. I think we will gain weight versus losing it on this trip. The fireworks that night were great, an impressive show, but many of us were so tired that we could hardly keep our eyes open. Eventually we turned in for the night. Camping in fields under the stars.
Saturday,we arrived in Kennewick at Columbia park. It's a park right beside the Columbia river with some mountains in the background and multiple large bridges towering over the waters. The bike ride that day was extremely hot. Not much shade or coverage was around. The three of us were on sweep duty. We were "appointed" the last riders of the day, bringing in the herd. As a result we wer eon the road for six hours in the scorching sun. I'm sure that I have gotten burned. Many riders that day had flat tires from goatheads, small, sharp burs. Thus, we ended up mastering our tire repair skills and leisurely biking the route. When stopping for a bathroom break, we asked a local Mexican farmer if we could us his port-a-jon in the orched. he was all to happy to allow us and insisted that we take some cherries from his orchard. He quickly went and found a huge box filled with fresh cherries, picked that day, and told us to take them all. We ate what we could, and packed a few, but could not finish off the entire box. Before we left, the farmer insisted on giving us his cell phone number in case we wanted to come back for more cherries that night. What a blessing this farmer was, giving us not only a meal of cherries, but cold water. I think that I have now concluded that folks from Washington are the most friendly, we'll see how the other states are though.
Today, Sunday we attended the celebration rally in the park we're staying in, Columbia Park. Kennewick consists of about three cities and so the rally was bigger than the first one at the University of Washington. The service asked us to give and realized that we are more blessed when we focus on those around us. A few of the church were Burmese, another story, and they provided us with amazing music and singing. What a wonderful sound, even though it is in another language.
This after noon, we were able to do different activities from boating to floating down a river to shopping. Eric and I went to a pool at the house of a person from the area. The pool had a waterslide, diving board, and zip-line. Quite a treat. We enjoyed it and thank them deeply. My dad stayed at camp and rested up while playing bocce ball. Overall, its been a relaxing day preparing us for another intense week of biking. Thanks for all the support. We'll watch the sunset over the river tongiht and think of all you. Thanks again.

Leavensworth to Ellensburg

We woke up this morning early to get a jump start on our second major mountain climb of the week. Oatmeal and muffins supplied us with our energy for the hills. We traveled briefly through a construction zone and then began our ascent. Ponderosa pines and tall rock formations covered in folaiged lined the roads. The route we traveled was through Blewett Pass, 3000ft, and then did another 1000ft climb. The downhills were much appreciated since the temperature rose above 100 degrees.
We're coping with the heat by drinking plenty of water and stopping for slushies at a gas station near camp. At camp tonight we ate supper and then attended our daily peleton meeting and small group. At the peleton meeting we talked about the day, heard who had flats, who fell, how many trucks honked at us, etc. At small group we talked about having the freedom to bike. Christ gives us the liberty to serve him and go our own direction in him. We're not confined to our sinful nature, but can choose our own route. Each day we have a short devotional relating to bike riding.
Tomorrow's route is downhill. Hopefully we can recover from our aches and pains from the mountains. Thanks for all the prayers and support. We're meeting tons of new people and are hearing their stories. Many miracles large and small are in those stories.
We'll keep pedeling out here.

Today we traveled from Sultan to Leavensworth, WA. It's a samll German town in the moutain passes. The ride there was very strenuous, however we had no flat tires to slow us down. We climbed about 4000ft in 40 miles to Steven's Pass and then coasted 40 miles to the town. There were extremely cold waterfalls and rivers along the way to cool us down from the 95 degree temperatures. Overall, the ride's going great with beautiful weather, no rain so far. Tomorrow is another mountain pass.