June 14 - Jeff's post

June 14, 2013

Started off later than usual.  We slept in until 6:00 and left at 7:00.  It rained some during the night.  Tents worked and nothing got wet.  Our goal was 70 miles over three mountains.  Dixie Pass, 5,277 feet; Tipton Pass, 5,124; and Sumpter Pass, 5,082.  Right out of the chute, we had to climb.  Made it over the first mountain and got to the bottom to a city called Austin Junction and went to café to get a cup of coffee and ended up having a short stack again.  Waitress said they were this big, and they came back much larger.  Jack and I were going to split an order, but she said she would have to charge us.  So of course we all just got an order of our own. Shocker.   Second climb was easier and shorter as was the third.  Downhills were good.  Always precarious.  We are taking them slower it seems.  Most of the roads had good shoulders today.  Traffic wasn’t too bad.    Saw a lot of magnificent scenery, mountain streams, babbling brooks ( did I really say that), and mountains.  Like Jack says, they are majestic.  Every bend had something new and different and “magnificent”. Seeing all these “neat” little cities that you  would never know existed really adds to the trip. Saw our first dog on the trip that wasn’t penned up.  Couldn’t keep up wit us.  Jack saw a couple deer.  We ended up in Baker City about 2:00.  Seventy miles which puts us at 580 miles for the trip.  Seven days of riding so far.  We are taking tomorrow off.

You would think we would see a lot of wildlife on bikes.  Today, we did see an osprey, cows, a llama again, and a ground squirrel.  Sue driving in a car saw antelope,sandhill cranes, osprey, and a herd of cattle, in the road.  She was traveling along the same route as us a little before we went through and cowboys were herding cattle along the road.  Like 60 head of cattle. Sue felt like she was in a Western movie.   Traffic was stopped needless to say.  So much for going slow on a bike and seeing America.

Sue arranged for us to stay in an RV Park in Baker City.  Showers, laundry, hot tub, pool, and a great campsite.  We treated ourselves to Mexican Food at El Erroango (?).  Then it was a tour of Baker City, a population of around 9,000 and cell phone service.  Still a little chilly at night.  We made it until 8:15 before we retreated to our tents.

The donation website is up to almost $1300 I am told.   Just a reminder or a first notice to some, I am riding for a cause.  It is the MPS Society, the national organization that supports research and families of children afflicted with an MPS disease.  Aly was born with San Filippo Syndrome, one of those diseases.   If you lost the website or want to donate still, it is www.mpssociety.org/donor-pages and find Alyson Von Handorf.                                                                                                                    

Jeff, Jerry, Jack, Sue