Soggy

May 28

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Friends & Family....we apologize for our lack of updates as of late! We've had very limited, if any, internet access. When we did have access, it was dial-up and we didn't have time to post pictures. I'm at the library in New Meadows, ID and the other three are checking into a hotel. Yes, a hotel. The streets are practically flooded and we are NOT camping in this nonsense tonight. Especially when Danielle was unlucky enough to have two flats today...in the downpour. We are treating ourselves to a warm hotel, a hot shower, heaps of fried food and, most likely, multiple beers!

So, to backtrack and try to remember where we've been since the last posting.....

We left off in DAYVILLE after a pleasant stay in a very nice community. The play to which we were invited was fun and it supported the high school kids' upcoming trip to NY. Good deal for everyone! The title of the play was Bridal Terrorism. In the morning the church people made us a tasty breakfast of coffee, pancakes and eggs!

We left DAYVILLE and traveled onward to PRAIRIE CITY, though our goal was to go a bit further. Sadly, we met up with our not-so-good friend, the rain. We parked ourselves at the Branding Iron Saloon and had a couple PBR's (for those of you not familiar, Pabst Blue Ribbon beer....hey, it was $2 on tap so who could resist?) We decided, as it continued to rain and we continued to enjoy being inside and warm, that we'd go no further that evening. We found a place that had a covered picnic area so at least we could pitch our tents in a dry area. After dinner we went back to the saloon for some night life and encountered a friendly fellow who insisted that the next day we make a side trip to SUMPTER to see a dredge and some other stuff I can't remember because I was completely uninterested. We tried to explain to this guy that, since we cut our day short, the next day would be a killer. We'd have to summit three passes in order to make our goal. I'm not sure why he thought a six-mile roundtrip side trip would be a good idea????

The next morning we awoke to clouds but no rain. We packed up, grabbed coffee and food and hit it. We were all mentally prepared for the passes but it was still a big challenging day. And, believe it or not, we got rained on again! Not until the last pass, fortunately. BAKER CITY was the end of the line for that day and, happily, the weather improved as we descended into town. We had hot showers and Danielle made a scrumptious meal of pierogies and veggies for dinner. After 71 miles we needed it! Thanks Danielle!

Next day....BAKER CITY to HALFWAY. Easy first two thirds of the day and then the last third thrashed us with a neverending six-mile climb. The bummer about this climb compared to the climbing of the three passes is that the road was not curvy so we could see the top and how slowly we were reaching it! Gift was hit with a flat on this day. The descent into Halfway was gorgeous. All the scenery so far has been gorgeous! This is the time of year for lovely displays of wildflowers and hopefully we'll share some pictures soon.

The library is closing in ten minutes and there is much more to tell about the last few days. Again, sorry to be sporadic and to not have pix posted yet. We'll be in Missoula in less than a week and, if we don't get a chance before then, we'll do some serious posting there! Until then, thanks for reading....thanks for all your support! PLEASE cross fingers and toes for some dry days!!!

all the best from all of us!
amy