Day 77: Grangeville, ID -- NOTE THE NEW PICTURES!
New photos posted!
We are CRANKING through states like they are chili on rice. In case you're wondering, that's one of our favorite camp meals and we eat A LOT of it VERY QUICKLY. It's funny and scary at the same time.
So we made it from Twin Bridges to Butte. Johnny and I playfully considered heading on from Butte to Anaconda and staying in the city park - 100 miles, our first century. Didn't happen. The wind kicked up and the sand blew in our faces and we knew the Lord was telling us to stop. So we did at the Travel Plaza. We asked about places to camp, and the dude there suggested the RV park 1/2 mile up the road. It was FREE! Well, it really wasn't free, but no one was in the office the entire time we were there. We checked! We didn't take any showers just to keep it honest.
We met back up with the other dudes at Lodgepole Campground at Georgetown Lake. Felt like a long ride with the headwinds. Felt even longer to Daveyray and Jonathan who went 11 miles out of their way in the wrong direction. The good news is that they can boast that they crossed the Continental Divide 10 times instead of the 9 times Johnny and I did. Nice! Lodgepole Campground was where me made the biggest fire of the trip - Johnny and I and Daveyray gathered firewood for a couple of hours.
It was COLD! Glad we made so much fire.
We rode out from Lodgepole to Chalet Bearmouth. What's in a name, anyway? The chalet was alright, though it was in the traditional spot next to the highway. We made four boxes of Mac and Cheese. We also did laundry. We also charged up our electronics equipment. These are important things to Guys on Bikes!
From Chalet Bearmouth we rode to Missoula, a short 37 miles. We went straight to Adventure Cycling which unadventurously was closed on a Saturday. We then climbed the highest hill in Missoula to stay at the Williamsons. Sue and her four daughters welcomed us as we pulled in the driveway and even let us borrow their van to get back into town! Daveyray has some wonderful Young Life connections, let me tell you. I slept in a BED!
We checked out a mountain bike festival in Missoula, which was VERY cool. They set up an entire course and showed off their abilities. We did NOT try any stunts with our touring bikes, though the idea was mentioned.
We ate dinner at Iron Horse and got very excited to go out in Missoula and hear some live music on a Saturday night! After dinner it got late, and we went home instead. At 8:30pm. The Guys on Bikes were beat.
We hung out at the house for eight minutes and then went to sleep.
Next morning we all went to church with the Williamsons - it was GREAT. We all put on deodorant and wore our nicest polyblend shirts. We also crushed together in the van for the 5 minute ride to church. Those Williamsons rock. Thank you!
We rode from Missoula to Powell. We were supposed to go to a campground, but it was full - so we stayed behind the country store near a lodge. Vague enough? It was great, we mide the infamous chili on rice. The lodge was incredible, with lots of appropriate dead animal heads on the wall, books to read and games to play. I HIGHLY recommend the huckleberry cobbler. The huckleberry pancakes are an excellent breakfast. We rolled out of there to Lowell, not to be confused with Powell. There is NOTHING but gorgeous scenery between Powell and Lowell. Literally. There is even sign on the way out of Powell telling you that there is NOTHING for almost 70 miles. How sweet.
Lowell was great - we ended up at Wild Goose campground and it had a BEACH! The boys of summer crashed out and snoozed along the banks of the Lochsa River, enjoyed burritos and an incredible river sunset. From Powell to Lowell was all downhill. What a great day.
Today's ride took us from Lowell to Grangeville. We coasted downhill the first half and then climbed right back up. The weather was perfect and we had a beautiful river to follow almost the whole way. Not a bad ride. We picked up PACKAGES here in Grangeville- Thank you THANK YOU! We haven't opened them yet - we'll open them at dinner to make it Christmas-like. Daveyray and I went to the secret bike shop in the back of the pizza place and bought a tire, and some wonderful woman told us we could camp in her backyard and use her shower tonight. How's that for Idaho hospitality?
We're all getting excited to finish - Oregon and the end are in sight. We've got 12 days of riding left. That's what our butts are telling us, anyway.
Almost to the Coast!
We are CRANKING through states like they are chili on rice. In case you're wondering, that's one of our favorite camp meals and we eat A LOT of it VERY QUICKLY. It's funny and scary at the same time.
So we made it from Twin Bridges to Butte. Johnny and I playfully considered heading on from Butte to Anaconda and staying in the city park - 100 miles, our first century. Didn't happen. The wind kicked up and the sand blew in our faces and we knew the Lord was telling us to stop. So we did at the Travel Plaza. We asked about places to camp, and the dude there suggested the RV park 1/2 mile up the road. It was FREE! Well, it really wasn't free, but no one was in the office the entire time we were there. We checked! We didn't take any showers just to keep it honest.
We met back up with the other dudes at Lodgepole Campground at Georgetown Lake. Felt like a long ride with the headwinds. Felt even longer to Daveyray and Jonathan who went 11 miles out of their way in the wrong direction. The good news is that they can boast that they crossed the Continental Divide 10 times instead of the 9 times Johnny and I did. Nice! Lodgepole Campground was where me made the biggest fire of the trip - Johnny and I and Daveyray gathered firewood for a couple of hours.
It was COLD! Glad we made so much fire.
We rode out from Lodgepole to Chalet Bearmouth. What's in a name, anyway? The chalet was alright, though it was in the traditional spot next to the highway. We made four boxes of Mac and Cheese. We also did laundry. We also charged up our electronics equipment. These are important things to Guys on Bikes!
From Chalet Bearmouth we rode to Missoula, a short 37 miles. We went straight to Adventure Cycling which unadventurously was closed on a Saturday. We then climbed the highest hill in Missoula to stay at the Williamsons. Sue and her four daughters welcomed us as we pulled in the driveway and even let us borrow their van to get back into town! Daveyray has some wonderful Young Life connections, let me tell you. I slept in a BED!
We checked out a mountain bike festival in Missoula, which was VERY cool. They set up an entire course and showed off their abilities. We did NOT try any stunts with our touring bikes, though the idea was mentioned.
We ate dinner at Iron Horse and got very excited to go out in Missoula and hear some live music on a Saturday night! After dinner it got late, and we went home instead. At 8:30pm. The Guys on Bikes were beat.
We hung out at the house for eight minutes and then went to sleep.
Next morning we all went to church with the Williamsons - it was GREAT. We all put on deodorant and wore our nicest polyblend shirts. We also crushed together in the van for the 5 minute ride to church. Those Williamsons rock. Thank you!
We rode from Missoula to Powell. We were supposed to go to a campground, but it was full - so we stayed behind the country store near a lodge. Vague enough? It was great, we mide the infamous chili on rice. The lodge was incredible, with lots of appropriate dead animal heads on the wall, books to read and games to play. I HIGHLY recommend the huckleberry cobbler. The huckleberry pancakes are an excellent breakfast. We rolled out of there to Lowell, not to be confused with Powell. There is NOTHING but gorgeous scenery between Powell and Lowell. Literally. There is even sign on the way out of Powell telling you that there is NOTHING for almost 70 miles. How sweet.
Lowell was great - we ended up at Wild Goose campground and it had a BEACH! The boys of summer crashed out and snoozed along the banks of the Lochsa River, enjoyed burritos and an incredible river sunset. From Powell to Lowell was all downhill. What a great day.
Today's ride took us from Lowell to Grangeville. We coasted downhill the first half and then climbed right back up. The weather was perfect and we had a beautiful river to follow almost the whole way. Not a bad ride. We picked up PACKAGES here in Grangeville- Thank you THANK YOU! We haven't opened them yet - we'll open them at dinner to make it Christmas-like. Daveyray and I went to the secret bike shop in the back of the pizza place and bought a tire, and some wonderful woman told us we could camp in her backyard and use her shower tonight. How's that for Idaho hospitality?
We're all getting excited to finish - Oregon and the end are in sight. We've got 12 days of riding left. That's what our butts are telling us, anyway.
Almost to the Coast!
4 Comments:
Can't WAIT to see you all in Eugene!! Only a week and a half and counting!!
--Adriane
By
Anonymous, at 7:28 AM
dudes - so psyched about the adventures you are having on the trip, and the things you are learning from the Lord. ryan, you should be a professional blogger. can't wait to celebrate with you all in OREGON!
hugs, garce :)
By
Anonymous, at 12:44 PM
Hello. This is from Reyna ( weird lady who invited you guys ) and hope your enjoying your ride. We really enjoyed your visit. We wish you guys could of stayed and we could have shown what makes north central idaho awesome. The most interseting person for us was the lawyer. He was quiet but modest (very cute in his bike shorts I might add) The dude with the guitar was so sweet and nice we wanted him to stay and chill. The teacher is outragously alive. He is nothing but a positive man. Wished he visited me in the hospital to lift my spirits. And the Asian-American, well I wanted to talk to him and talk. Sounded like he knew a lot and wasn't afraid to talk. He reminded me of my brother.. This is what touring is about.... Life...
Vote democrat........ George W. Bush is the president Dan Quayle we never had.
By
Anonymous, at 2:39 PM
Hi you GUYS !! This is moom and poop K. we are finally posting a comment - better late than never !
it's been amazing reading your blog - ryan, you really should write a book ! the pictures have been amazing too !! the recent one around the fire was awesome !
it's not suprising that people welcome the four of you into their homes and lives because you are all genuinely nice guys !
we're looking forward to getting the whole story when you get back !
See you soon !!
By
Anonymous, at 5:47 PM
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