The Zen of Ken and Jen

Ken and Jen

2011-02-11T10:02:00.000-05:00

Forever Friends

My Final Post

2010-10-10T18:07:00.004-04:00

Hello everyone, and thank you so much for following along on our epic journey across the United States. It has been such a life changing experience and thanks to blogger we will get to keep our memories here online forever. Years ago before the invention of digital cameras and blogs people didn't have the capabilities that we do today and I am so grateful that we do! To know our memories will always be here at The Zen of Ken and Jen pleases me to no end! I am sure Ken and I will be looking back at this blog until we grow old.

A reader asked me to tell you what my favorite things were about the ride, and although my favorite thing about it was the time I got to spend with Ken and how deep our already strong love became, here are several other things I loved about it as well:

1. Talking about Alex and honoring her memory.
2. The countless random acts of kindness that renewed our faith in humanity.
3. Seeing Simon transform into a happy little dog.
4. Meeting so many every day heroes who are now my new forever friends.
4. The horses running along beside us, especially at sunset.
5. The embrace of silence that was often only interrupted by birdsong.
6. Feeling myself becoming stronger, physically, mentally, and most importantly, spiritually.
7. The deeper sense of awe and love I now have for my country and the people in it.
8. The steady feeling I now have that tells me no matter what, everything's gonna be okay.
9. Knowing that people's lives were being saved by those who signed up to be donors.
10.The generosity of the people who donated to our cause and made our ride possible.
11. Meeting Dillon and his family.
12. Listening to Alex's heart beating in Dillon's chest.

If anyone has any questions about the ride please don't hesitate to contact us! And to see where this next chapter of our life is taking us be sure to check out our new blog at: kenandjen-rockymountainhigh

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR HELPING US MAKE OUR RIDE A HUGE SUCCESS!!

Ken and Jen
Over and Out

Florence Oregon - WE MADE IT!

2010-10-02T11:48:00.004-04:00

Florence, OR was a town we'd been talking about for 6 months. Since this small coastal town was our final destination our arrival in Florence was much anticipated. I'd envisioned (in slow motion of course) running hand in hand down the sandy beach after dipping our tires in the salty sea. Well, here's how it happened instead...

Ken's rear wheel suffered a fatal break about half way between Eugene and Florence, and we had to get a ride from a farmer named Mike. His sister Sheryl lived just down the hill from where we had turned our pedals for the last time, so Ken walked down there and asked for help. These folks were characters! Sheryl called both her brother Mike and her father Jerry and soon there were a bunch of us putting stuff into the back of Mike's truck. Mike is building his own tadpole trike so he was interested in our trikes and our experiences riding. Ken and Mike had lively conversation as we made our way to Florence, while I lay in the back seat trying not to vomit. I get VERY car sick, even when I take my medicine for it. When we got to the coast I could hear Ken saying, "There's the ocean, Jen" but I was so ill I couldn't even get up to look at it. We found a campsite and unloaded our things, said thank you and goodbye to Mike, and the moment Ken set up the tent, I went to sleep. I woke up to it raining and it would be two days of that before I would even see the ocean that I could hear roaring from just a two-minute walk away. Finally on Friday the clouds were gone as was most of my sickness so we took my trike down to the water and dipped the tires.

It's official!

Simon's first beach.

Ken can't believe it.

There were lots of sand dunes.

Lookin a little like Magnum there, Ken.

We are going to pull this back to NC so Megan can put it in her yard. :)

Sweet victory!!!!

WE MADE IT!! Coast to Coast.

This marks the official end of our cross country trike trek. Next Spring, however, The Just BeCauses TerraTrike Tour will resume as we head down the Pacific Coast. We plan to ride every Spring for many years to come, raising awareness and enjoying our country, and maybe some other ones too.

Stay tuned for a couple more posts, and then this blog will come to end when we arrive in South Fork, CO where we will spend the winter. You can find us there at the Foothills Lodge and Cabins, and we invite you all to come ski with us!!! Thank you all SO MUCH for following along with us on our journey. And for the donations so many of you made along the way. This was truly a group effort, inspired by Alex, encouraged by friends and family, and blessed by Izzi. Thank you all!

McKenzie Pass

2010-10-01T22:49:00.002-04:00

McKenzie Pass. Elevation 5325. 15 miles of uphill climbing. 23 miles of glorious descent. And at the top, the most unique summit of the trip. It was also our last pass making it pretty much all downhill from here to the coast.

The road had been newly paved and there were hardly any cars.

It went from trees to rock as we got closer to the top. At this point we saw the lava fields. Miles of miles of what looks like rubble. It was unlike anything I've ever seen, or even heard about. 1500 years ago all of this was a sea of red hot lava!

At the top there was a castle-like structure made from the lava rocks. Inside there were big curved windos and in between them were tiny windows, each with a name written below it. The name was indicative of the mountain you could see through the window. All the way around, there were 11 different peaks you could see and identify with the help of these little windows.

Hard to see but in real life it wasn't.

Ken takes a look at Mt. Washington. It had some minor volcanic activity as little as 1330 years ago.

This is what Ken was seeing through that little hole in the wall:

Mt Washington.

See that little trail I am on? There are 20 miles of that trail around here. There were a bunch of workers there making even more trails:

For years this pass was closed for construction. They had only recently reopened it.

Simon couldn't find any grass.

It was also COLD and windy there!

As we began the descent, things started to become more green. We thought it would get warmer but it really didn't until we were down below 1000 feet again.

It got VERY green, and the 23 miles to the bottom was nothing short of magical. The forest here was so lush and dense, it was like something from a fairy tale. The road was smooth and winding and we had it all to ourselves. We camped that night at a campground appropriately named "Paradise" where there were enormous trees covered in moss, and the rapid McKenzie River ran beside us. I didn't get many pictures of this part. I was too busy saying, "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" It was so much fun!!!

Knowing McKenzie was our last pass to conquer made it even more fun.

I let some of Alex's ashes float down the river...

From this point on, things got sort of hectic. The next day we were back in traffic and we got rained on until we arrived in Eugene where we got a room. Everything was soaking wet and covered in road grime and we were miserable. We admitted to one another that as sad as we were about the trip ending, we wouldn't miss this part. Getting soaked, breaking a wet camp, and riding on a dirty busy road isn't fun. The next day we headed for Florence... Our final destination. We would arrive there, but not in the way we'd anticipated for oh so long... stay tuned!

Sisters

2010-10-01T12:05:00.003-04:00

Sisters, for us, meant not only amazing views, but amazing people as well. While on the side of the road...

...a friendly lady stopped her truck and asked if we knew where we were spending the night. Still a few miles from Sisters we didn't know exactly where we were going to stay, so she offered to let us stay with her and her husband Steve. They were WarmShowers hosts who had recently begun hosting cyclists in their lovely, comfortable home. They fed us a delicious home-cooked meal and listened to our stories for hours. :) It was one of those Random Acts of Kindness that have astounded us this entire trip.

Steve and Karen. They ride a tandem. :)

Their friendly dog, Zeke.

Ken lets Steve take a ride.

Of course he enjoyed it. I have yet to hear anyone who doesn't like riding a TerraTrike. They all get a similar smile on their faces. The same smile as the one I've been wearing for half a year!

Above their garage they have a little apartment that cyclists have all to themselves. It was so very comfortable there, and we slept great. Thanks Howrey's! Cyclists, don't miss this stop!

After we left the Howrey's we pedaled a few miles into the quaint little town of Sisters and found a place to have breakfast. A little place with big portions. :)

While eating we met these friendly folks, Barb and Jeff...

And Tammy. Tammy's husband is waiting for a kidney! They stopped us after we'd left the cafe and gave us a donation and wished us well on the remaining miles of our trip. We pray Tammy's husband gets his kidney.

Just as we were about to head on up toward the much-anticipated McKenzie Pass, a carpet cleaning van pulled up along side us and the people inside were waving at us frantically. Pressured from the traffic behind them, they pulled ahead and disappeared. A few minutes later they came back, and this time their window was down and they were yelling our names! Who were these people???

Jim and Paula had been following us on Ken's CrazyGuy Journal since we left! They knew all about Simon, our taste for Root Beer, and our new shoes. :) Jim rides a quad made at Utah Trikes. It was fun meeting someone like that. It kinda made us feel famous for a few minutes. :) McKenzie Pass would put us back in our places, though. The tough climb right after all this attention quickly humbled us.

Paula bought a "Luck" JenTile. :) Is it working for you, Paula? Let us hear from you!

Stay tuned for the ride up and over McKenzie Pass. The view from the top is very unique! And the ride down was my favorite descent ever!

No Weigh!

2010-10-01T11:30:00.001-04:00

Other than, "How many miles do you go in a day?" the most asked question we get is, "So how much weight you pulling?" And our answer, "We have no idea." Well, as we neared the end of our trip we spotted a roadside weigh station that had been left on so we cruised through it. It only goes in 50 lbs increments, so it's not accurate, but you can still get an idea...

Ken rode onto the scale...

Got off the trike...

And this was the shocking total weight! Wow!

Central Oregon

2010-09-24T12:26:00.003-04:00

This part of the country certainly is interesting, geologically speaking especially. There are so many fossil beds, and cliffs, and lava rocks, etc, and pedaling through it has been such a cool experience. This post will cover several days of travel, going through some of the small towns of Central Oregon...

A shoe tree... out in the middle of nowhere. What is this about???

Another flat. Hmmph!

Ken fixes my flats for me. So chivalrous!

This was so weird! There's no SS bldg here, just a sign.

I thought I smelled smoke.

One big worm!

This kitty came into our tent while we were sleeping, and spent the entire night cuddled up with us. Simon likes cats and he seemed to enjoy the company, I think...

He still wasn't ready to get out of bed in the morning, though.

Folk art. lol

More horses running with us. I will sure miss that!

Oh oh! My shifter cable was coming apart. Those little wires are SHARP.

Luckily we happened upon this place and Mike fixed me up.

And he didn't charge us! Thanks Mike for all you do for cyclists!

Ken leans just like the sign!

This may be the cutest Post Office yet. Er, I mean, Pony Express Depot.

This cute store had a new tube that fit the BOB. And there was a yummy restaurant across the street owned by the same nice folks.

We camped at this church. There was a homeless hitch hiker staying inside, and in the morning when we came inside to get our stuff, he came out and tried to tell us to SHUT UP and threatened to call the pastor. What??? Ken told him to go ahead, and the guy left but no pastor came. We were kind of wishing he would have. These nice people that offer cyclists such a great place to stay, with showers and wifi and a kitchen, shouldn't be dealing with people like that.

Einstein. Our latest addition. :)

Home for the night.

Oregon, Our Last State - THIS Year!

2010-09-22T09:49:00.001-04:00

Crossing into Oregon was awesome. More of the same scenery from Idaho went on for many miles, and as we climbed our way through the toughest parts of Hells Canyon we couldn't help but talk about how the ride was coming to an end soon. Hells Canyon is unbelievable. Parts of it are farmland, but other parts are like being on the moon, or on a movie set or something. Has anyone else ever been here? If so, please leave me a comment with your thoughts on the place.

I can't get my mind around how far we've pedaled!!

This was the bridge that took us across the Snake River and into Oregon.

There were places all along here where you could camp.

Ken steers clear of a berry bush. :) PTSD

Snicker.

The climb into Oxbow was steep, but not too long. It wasn't bad.

We stopped at Scotty's Store... great flowers there.

Poor Simon. He didn't like standing on this thing.

Approaching the town of Halfway we saw some cool barns.

We camped next to this one. :)

The climb out of the valley was tough, but this is what we saw once we got away from the town and on top of the hills. So incredible, it felt like we were the only people out there.

We eventually came through some forest, and then out the other side to see this.

Oregon Trail Wagon.

Mo takin a ride. :)

What a sunset!

Woodhead Park

2010-09-21T11:53:00.001-04:00

Idaho Power has created some spectacular lakes and dams and the camping around them is truly an experience. The ride to get there was other-worldly.

We stopped to take a lot of pictures.

The road to get there was winding and there were no cars.

A butterfly landed on my toes. :)

And we saw some old equipment that looked like creatures to me.

When we arrived at this park we thought it was so awesome looking there that we would stay for the night instead of crossing the state line into Oregon. We were only about 5 miles away but a camping experience here was not to be missed. We got the best site in the whole place by pedaling about a mile into the park and picking a spot right on the water.

See the man fishing? Kind of gives some perspective on how huge these hills were.

Ken found a fallen Aspen earlier in the day and was working on making a walking stick.

The sun began to set and things started to change... it just kept getting more and more beautiful.

All around us was this stunning scenery...

And a bright pink and purple sunset. I liked how the light reflected on that couple down by the shore. It was like a spotlight was shining right on them.

It didn't help them catch any fish though, according to them. We were kind of surprised the next morning to see that they had slept out, on just a mattress with no tent. Kinda romantic, huh?

The sun finished it's evening ritual and soon after the moon came out. It made reflections across the entire lake all night long....

As we slept soundly...

Along the Salmon River

2010-09-21T09:56:00.001-04:00

I have never been white-water rafting. After riding along the Salmon River, it has become a must-do. The river is wide and fast and goes through some incredible places where towering rock cliffs come straight up out of the water. The only way to see those parts of the river is to take a boat 80 miles into the canyon and spend a week rafting back. The parts we saw were still spectacular, but unfortunately it was rainy and the pictures are only so-so. You can still get an idea, I hope...

This was near Riggins, where Hells Canyon begins.

This fruit stand had the best stuff in it! We got some tomatoes and onions for our sammiches later, and we got some huckleberry honey. YUM! Huckleberries are big around here. They are like blueberries, but smaller and better. I also got a huckleberry sucker (a suckleberry) but I lost it. :(

Look at those peaches! A lot of people don't know this, I didn't, but there are a lot of peaches in this part of the country, and I believe them to be the best I've ever tasted. Sorry Georgia!

They gave me the info on their fruit stand so I could put it on my blog, but I lost that too. Sorry guys. I lost the bag that had my sucker in it and your brochure.

I like Airstreams. They are the coolest RVs. We kept seeing this one over and over so I took a picture of it. I think they are kind of artsy or something, I don't know. Anyway, later that night, when we arrived at our campsite in Pollock, the owners of this rig were our next door neighbors! They told us about raft trips on the Salmon River - the woman was a tour guide! What a great job that would be, right?

Ooo...This sign scared us so we went down the road to this place instead...

You'd never know it just walking in, but way in the back is an awesome sammich shop. They have all kinds of good things to put on your made to order meal, even sprouts! It was excellent. Thanks to Alfred from SwiftwaterRV for telling us about it.

It started to rain more which made this construction area a muddy mess. All those cars had to wait for us to slowly pedal our way through the mush.

There sure has been a lot of road work on our trip.

"Ken, I think I have a flat tire!!!"

It finally happened! On a rainy day, too! I am a real cyclist now. :) Ken fixed it quickly and we got back on the road. We ended the day in Pollock, an oasis for travelers in this area. There was nothing around at all, no real town to speak of, and it would rain for two days. It was a nice place to be stuck though.

Our soaking wet camp site by the river.

We slept in our tent and stayed cozy and dry, but in the mornings we headed here:

We worked on JenTiles...

And we blogged... And since there was no phone service here, we also learned how to make calls over the internet. I had a live chat session with Diane. It was great to see her face but the connection was just too bad for us to talk very well. Love you Diane!

We also did a lot of resting, which felt really really good.

What a good dog. :)

Grangeville to White Bird via Old Hwy 95

2010-09-11T11:07:00.002-04:00

What a fantastic ride this was!! Well, once we got up this really long hill it was...

This part wasn't very fun. See that car at the bottom of the hill? It was a cop, and it took us so long to get to the top of this hill that we saw him pull over 4 or 5 people. Then we rounded the corner and had more miles of uphill to ride. I don't know how many miles it was, but we were sure glad to get to the top. The view from up there was (once again, I'm afraid I am out of suitable adjectives)... Here, I will just show you:

See what I mean? Ooo!

Simon got up on this rock to pose for the camera.

We used this one for his new Dogbook Profile pic. Jeesh. So silly. I couldn't resist, though.

I just love my little dog so much.

And he loves me too. :)

We took a break together in the long grass, just taking a moment to soak up the scenery.

When we got off the main road and started down Old Hwy 95 we couldn't believe our eyes. Old 95 has huge sweeping switchbacks and no traffic. There's not even a center line painted on the road. We were able to get some stunning pics... Check these out:

Here we go!

Are you ready? Weeeeeeee!!

Look how tiny I am!

This sky was just incredible!

When we finally got to the bottom we cruised through the little town of White Bird, and past the battlefield where the Indians defeated the US Army. Interestingly, there weren't any Indians in the area. Not that we saw anyway. We stopped at SwiftwaterRV and spent the night on the Salmon River. It was beautiful there and the accommodations were top-notch.

The willows were wonderful.

Alfred was an interesting character who kept us engaged in conversations about his many worldly experiences, most importantly, the raising and home schooling of his son. Of his many accomplishments, this one seemed to mean the most to him. Once on the fast track, Alfred and his wife slowed down and focused instead on their son, which was impressive to us. We always like meeting folks who have simplified their lives and who live their priorities. Thanks for the stimulating conversation, Alfred.

Love this shot of Simon on the Salmon River. He had SO MUCH FUN running around in the deep sand.

He ran until he was too tired to run anymore, then wanted me to carry him back to the tent. I don't think so! We walked back to the tent and after dinner went right to bed. It had been a long day... Up a huge hill, down a switchback, landing alongside the river, a run on the beach... Yep, we were tired. And we slept great. It was so peaceful there... that is until the next morning when our friend Brian shared a link to a Neil Diamond song on FB. When I came out of the shower, instead of hearing the relaxing sounds of the nearby river, instead I heard Neil and Ken singing "Brother's Love Traveling Salvation Show" together. It was so funny. Thanks for that Brian!

I love waking up to this. :) Bye everyone!

The Camas Prairie

2010-09-08T15:38:00.006-04:00

After being in the mountains for so long, the Camas Prairie was a sight to behold. We had to climb a long ways to get up and out, though. On our way up the hill we ran out of water so we stopped at the first house we came to to see if they wouldn't mind sharing some of theirs.

I knocked on the door and two very friendly people came out. Their names were Lillian and Ron. They were very short! And they said we were more than welcome to fill up our "whatevers" with water from their spring that had, "been there forever and ever." Indians used to drink from it and water their horses there. Then later, the white men did the same. And now we were about to!

There were little fish in the tub, so they suggested we not scoop the water out, but instead to get it straight from the pipe, so we wouldn't drink their fish. :)

They took good long looks at our trikes... asked us several questions about our ride, told us they were organ donors and then told us some more about themselves. Their house was 100 years old and they had lived in it since 1957. They had no electricity - (which made me wonder how they charge their iPods. Snicker) Lillian took me inside and showed me around and it was fascinating! It was very clean, and chock full of stuff, like hundred year old houses usually are, and she had a ham baking in a large wood stove in the middle of the house. She liked to sew and was working on some fall leaves she had sewn by hand with many different colors of fabric. She was very proud of living simply and advised us that if we wanted to live that way too, the first thing we had to do was get rid of all our stuff. I clung tightly to my netbook computer, and said, "Anything but this. This must stay," to which she just shook her head and laughed. Her piggy tails were the cutest and I left their home feeling warm and fuzzy, and no longer thristy. She did have a cell phone and I promised to call her from time to time to let her know how we are doing. I intend to keep that promise.

Aren't they just so cute? I wanna squeeze em!

About two miles up the road, we finally reached the top of the hill we'd been climbing for hours, and lo and behold, what did we find! We found oat groats all over the side of the road!! Those of you who know about our diet know that oat groats is quite possibly our favorite food. Oatmeal is so misunderstood... if people only knew how delicious, nutritious, and CHEAP groats are... You don't put sugar on them. You put onions and garlic and cilantro and chicken sausage and egg whites in them. (See my previous blog entry Oat Groat Porridge (or Pilaf) for the exact recipe - it got published!)

The view from up here was incredible... Miles and miles of fields. Some of the richest soil ever. I will let the pictures show you, because we got some GREAT ones on this ride. Click on them to see them better.

This is what we saw from the top of the LONG hill.

(I don't mean to brag, but check out the muscles in my leg. Oh Yeah!)

One of the many fields we saw that day. Gorgeous!

For some reason I like this one, in spite of the strange composition.

The sun started to set and this beautiful prairie got even more beautiful...

And our shadows got LARGE and LONG. :)

We still had a ways to go before we got to Grangeville, and it became a race with the sun.

It got darker and darker as we pedaled down the traffic free, smooth, black road. Off in the distance we could see the town, and we hoped we could get a room there.

We didn't want to ride in the dark.

And we didn't have to for very long.

Because we made it to town right before this crazy lit up sky faded into darkness, and...

we got the last hotel room in town.

The End.

Kamiah

2010-09-08T12:46:00.000-04:00

We went off route just a few miles so we could get to a pharmacy in Kamiah, and opted to stay there instead of returning to Kooskia. Labor Day Weekend in Kamiah meant Free BBQ Days, a parade, and as it turned out, a wonderful new friendship for us. Jan and Tom were at the grocery store when we stopped to get some dinner and root beers and they saw Simon in his camper, which prompted a conversation. They have two little dogs named Chester and Jessie. Although Jan and Tom don't look it, both of them are Indians. We ran into them the next morning at breakfast too so we took some pictures of them, and of the parade and all the people of Kamiah lining the streets. It was hard to leave but we had a long way to go, and much upness to overcome. The climb that day was grueling. Hi Jan and Tom!

We were on the Indian Reservation but it didn't really seem like it. A lot of people who live here are not Indians. That is due in part to many pieces of land that were previously deeded to white people and are not part of the reservation in spite of technically being on it. Kamiah was a fun town, nice people, and they put on an awesome parade! It rained a little bit but that didn't stop this little town from having fun!

The competition over the parade candy was fierce.

That guy was spinning madly. Vomit.

They had an auction too, and huge things like this were sold.

Jan and Tom. Our new friends.

Jan had just gotten her diploma in the mail that morning. That is something to be VERY proud of!

See her necklace? It's a JenTile with a Treble Clef on it. :)

This was taken outside the museum. We tried to go there so I could see Jan's Indian dress that is on display there. Unfortunately it was closed, but Jan sent me this picture. Pretty awesome!

Jan also had weaves these out of Pondarosa Pine Needles. She gives them to women with breast cancer, something she knows all too much about after losing two daughters to this disease within 9 months of each other. Sharing the loss of our daughters made our connection an even deeper one. I think it's wonderful that she gives her time and love to help women with cancer.

Kamiah was a an off-route town, and I am so glad we took that detour. Even if the climbs were more difficult than they would have been if we'd stayed on route.... stay tuned for more about the ride to Grangeville.

Clearwater Natl Forest, Idaho

2010-09-08T09:49:00.005-04:00

After spending two days at the Powell Campground, we packed up our wet stuff (one of my least favorite things about being out here - breaking camp when it's wet) and started what was to be one of our favorite days so far. We coasted, and this is no exaggeration, 67 miles to the little town of Lowell. Okay, once in awhile we had to pedal, but it wasn't often. On our left the entire time was the Lochsa River, which got wider and more wild with each bend we rounded. We must have taken 200 pictures, but we only ended up with about 20 to show you. It just doesn't work to take pictures of a windy river from the road. All you get is a picture of a crooked road with some water back there behind it somewhere. I am disappointed that such a gorgeous place like this is so poorly portrayed here, but here are the few pics we got...

This picture was taken by these two eastbounders, Nathan and April: You can see their blog here:

Natril's Big Adventure

Those are some really great panniers! Nathan made them!

There were a number of these bridges along the river. Another pretty common thing here was cables going over the water, and on the other side was a basket thingy that you got into and it pulled you across. Kinda like those rides that go over canyons and stuff. I can't remember what those are called. I didn't get any pictures of them, though. We crossed one of the bridges and it led to a Warm Spring. (Note: If you are cycling out here, there is a Hidden Hot Spring at mile marker 142. Hike back about a mile, and jump over the log.)

We stopped for several breaks on this ride, not because we needed to rest from all that coasting, but because it was the only way to take in so much beauty. Truly stunning.

This was a campground but there was nobody there. Could it be because they cut down all the trees and the sites had no shade??? Dumb.

We stopped to shed a couple layers since it was warming up quick. It's amazing how often we do that.. put something on, take it back off, put it back on, take it off again... Hot Cold Hot Cold. Weird.

We also stopped because Simon had to use the restroom. :)

Aww Mom, you're embarrassing me!

Often times there are signs on our route that explain some history.

Many Indian Tribes and white settlers including Lewis and Clark and Chief Joseph used the Lolo Trail that we were now pedaling on. Can you imagine doing a route like this through such difficult terrain without tires and hard roads.. without TerraTrikes???? I can't!

We finally rounded the last corner of the day and landed here, in this very small town.

And apparently it's getting smaller! lol Look at that low elevation level! Quite a change!

We camped over there.

And so did these two. Mike and Anna were finishing a TransAm trip they had started last year but didn't finish due to weather issues. I asked Anna how she liked riding on the back and she said she had gotten used to it, but when she got back on her own bike at home, she lost control of it because those handlebars actually worked! LOL! Hi you two!! We will be in Oregon tomorrow!

We stopped to pick blackberries. I had never seen so many before! They lined the road along the river for miles and miles and miles. Impossible to resist, we stopped and gathered some. Sounds fun, right? Well, not really, that is UNLESS YOU LIKE GETN THE CRAP BEAT OUT OF YOU BY A PLANT. See Ken?

See him now? No, you don't, but he is in there. That plant took him down and was slashing away at him as I snapped this shot. I was about to go in after him when I realized that the vengeful vegetation would just do the same to me, so I waited by the river instead.

"Ken? You okay?" There was nothing I could do...

When Ken finally broke free he sat down to treat his wounds, but not before giving me this:

I said, "WOW! That was so worth it!" to which he glared and replied, "Was it, Jen?" lol

Honestly, though, have you ever seen such a perfect and HUGE roadside berry?

It was so big we split it for dinner. Okay, not really, I tried to give it back to Ken since he had worked so hard for it but when he refused, I ate it. :) It was delicious!!!

New Keens feet shot in front of the Lochsa River.

It certainly is.

Missoula to Powell via Lolo Pass

2010-09-05T14:17:00.005-04:00

The moment we got out of Missoula, Ken got a flat. (Note: I still have not gotten a single flat tire! Unbelievable!) Anyway, he fixed his tire and we headed toward Lolo Pass, and as usually happens when climbing passes, it began to rain. This rain would persist until the following day, leaving us "stuck" at the beautiful Powell campground on the Lochsa River for two whole days. We read books and played Farkel and just hung out and tried to stay dry. It was sort of relaxing, and sort of boring. We got some great photos...

That wire in the pieces of tire lying on the road got Ken's back tire.

A busy road - not a fun place to have to fix a flat.

A closeup of "chip seal" which is terrible to ride on. Not only is it not smooth, trucks going by actually fling rocks at us with their tires as they fly past us. We got nailed MANY times.

These clouds were more than just rain clouds. We got hailed on, twice. It didn't hurt much since we had several layers of clothing on. It wasn't fun, though. Not at all.

When we reached our campground destination at Lolo Hot Springs, we were surprised at how BIG the rocks were in this area. Our campsite was so cool!

This pretty much sums us up. lol

Notice anything about this dumpster? Um, it's OPEN???

Mo did a little rock climbing. That's his thing.

Simon too. He loves climbing.

Our neighbors had the most interesting set up. There was a ladder in back so they could climb up into the tent which sat perched on top of their truck. We never did see the people, just the truck.

This place was an unexpected treat...

I love this pic.

Pretty big trees!

Ken looks rather defeated in this picture, and ya know, it's actually a pretty accurate depiction of how we were feeling for much of this day. The cedars were a nice distraction, but the majority of this ride was very difficult. It's hard to ride in the cold rain, slowly getting soaked and chilled deep into your bones, knowing you have to pedal a long ways feeling like that before you can get warmed up again.

Luckily we made it here - after climbing Lolo Pass and riding 26 miles in the freezing rain.

It was such a beautiful ride, though, in spite of being miserable most of the time. To me, Natl Forests are incredible. Better than the Natl Parks because they are still wild, no tourists. God is there.

Our campsite was perfect. Right near the bathroom, the water, the river, and the dumpsters, and situated in such a way that we were guaranteed no nearby neighbors, we set up camp on the muddy ground and prepared to hunker down until the weather improved.

Occasionally the sun peeked through the trees and made some fantastic lighting, which we took advantage of. During these "times of light" we were able to cook something to eat and go to the river.

Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians - "Philosophy, is a walk on the slippery rocks...."

...religion, is a smile on a dog." (I love that song.)

The Lochsa River is rocky and shallow and we would follow it through the mountains for miles and miles after leaving Powell. Truly a blessing for cyclists doing the TransAm (westbounders anyway) is the descent along this river. The farther down you get, the more the river becomes wider and more wild.

We also did some maintenance on the trikes while it wasn't raining. See Ken's ponytail? It was kinda fun to see him with long hair, even if it was moss from a tree. LOL! What a goofball! It took me awhile to notice it since he kept a straight face the entire time he had it on.

Yes, another flat tire. He got this one right as we pulled into Powell.

Goodness, he is so cute in this picture.

Since we had so much time to talk during these rainy days, we acknowledged that the end of the trip was nearing and we discussed our feelings about that. It made us appreciate even more the experience of being cozy in the tent while the rain drops gently pitter-pattered on the "roof."

One more state line to go!

Missoula

2010-09-04T10:26:00.002-04:00

We spent several days in Missoula since it was my birthday, and since my parents would be heading back to Mt View AR, calling an end to their portion of the journey with us. We visited Adventure Cycling and got our pictures taken by the famous Greg Siple (who takes incredibly artsy b/w photos of cyclists), and we were interviewed by one of the Editors so it is very possible we will be either in Bike Bits or in Adventure Cycling Magazine. The maps they provided us with have proven invaluable, opening up a whole new world to us. Cyclists are pedaling all over the country on Adventure Cycling maps and it has been a joy to meet so many of them on this trip.

Many a cyclist has stood next to this sign. :)

Russ had two of these awesome shirts waiting for us. What a nice thing to do! Those are the names of the little towns we have pedaled through. Looking at it reminds me of how close we are getting to the end. While I do feel an enormous sense of accomplishment, and in spite of finding an ideal winter situation, I am so sad that we won't be out here much longer.

Adventure Cycling began in a tent. Now it has a nice building in Missoula, a University town with lots of character. Bikes EVERYWHERE. Bike lanes too. :)

We were camped at the KOA which just so happened to be right behind REI so I traded in the shoes Michell sent for a pair that was a size smaller. They fit much better. I love my Keens SO MUCH!

We also got a new tent. The zipper broke on our old one and no matter what, you have to be able to zip up your tent. It's our home, ya know? So we got a better one this time. This one has two doors, one for each of us. Here is Simon's first look at it.

He loves being in the tent.

So does he.

The KOA had a really unique set up for tents. It was so nice to have this shelter in addition to our tent since it was rainy. Under the roof there was even a place where you could lock up your stuff, something tenters worry about a lot when going someplace. The KOA was pricey but it was a nice place to stay in town.

I thought we were losing our tans since it's been so cold, but I guess not, huh?

See that couple behind Ken? They were Dutch. The man rode my trike and immediately after, sent us a thank you email telling him how much it meant to him. While we rode, he told me in broken English with a thick accent that his wife thought the bikes peculiar, and that she was very normal so she didn't want to ride. :) He also told me that back home they go for bike rides in the country but since they are too old to sit on the ground, they pull a BOB trailer with a little table and chairs in it. When they see a nice place to pull over, they lay their bikes down in the grass, set up the table and hide the BOB under the tablecloth and sit there and drink wine. People driving by just see this couple sitting in the middle of nowhere with no clue as to how they got there. It makes them laugh and when he told me this story, I laughed too. :)

It's my birthday! I am 21. (ahem. okay. times 2)

I had birthday cake flavored ice cream with a candle in it.

Simon helped himself to some while Grandpa gave him rabbit ears. lol!

He loves ice cream but of course we don't often let him have it (Simon, not Grandpa - snicker). This ice cream was especially tasty - it was from the Stone Cold Creamery. YUM.

This woodpecker must have really been into himself. He sat here in this tree for a long time trying to get to know that bird reflecting in the window. Jeesh. Gorgeous bird, though. Guess you can't blame him.

At first glance, it may appear as though my Dad is having some more ice cream...

Upon closer examination, one might still think that...

However, after taking a bite, my Dad realized it was not really ice cream he was eating. Well, it sort of was. It was Mountain House dehydrated dessert and while the taste was consistent with the more traditional ice cream sammiches, the texture certainly wasn't! It was more like really crunchy sweet styrofoam. I love Mountain House foods, but I think we will pass on this one in the future. I just wish I'd had the video camera on when my Dad took that first bite. LOL

My Dad and I took a walk together, knowing it would be our last one for awhile.

I miss you so much already Dad. Thank you for all your loving support.

When Alex Was Two...

2010-09-03T20:11:00.004-04:00

A great friend from my Army days sent me some pictures of Alex that I hadn't seen in a long time. You see, a few years back someone broke into several storage units where I was keeping my things. The thieves took everything of value to them, and threw the rest away. Most of my pictures of Alex were in that storage unit, so anytime I get to see a picture of Alex I thought I was gone forever, it is truly a gift. Thank you Ang, for sending this to me.

Chief Joseph Pass and The Bike Trail to Lolo

2010-09-03T09:38:00.001-04:00

Woohoo! Another summit conquered!

Right as we reached the top my Dad pulled up and snapped a couple of pictures. Fun surprise!

Speaking of FUN, the other side of this pass was miles and miles of downhill. Near the bottom we met these two, who were about to head up what we had just flown down. My heart went out to them as I began to fill up with gratitude that we were westbounders. :) David and Martha had come all the way from Alaska and were on their way to Nebraska on The 'Aska Tour. WOW!

As you can see we took pictures of each other. :) We noticed David had a really nice camera so we asked him about different kinds that are good for getting longer distance shots. We also learned that they are going to take on a caretaking job this winter back in Alaska. Kind of a work/live arrangement. NICE!

We pedaled through some areas that had evidently been affected by fires some time ago. And we pedaled past a NEW fire that had just started before we arrived. Scary.

It is sad to see the mountains looking so barren.

There was still much beauty though.

But is says DO NOT ENTER, Ken!

Perhaps this is why??

We just pedaled on through and no one said anything to us. Just past this construction a beautiful bike trail took us all the way to Lolo where we spent the night, then headed in to Missoula the next day.

The view from the bike trail was often like this.

I had just told Ken that when we "settle down" I want to paint our bee boxes lots of different colors, and then we saw these. Up until I said that, we had only seen white ones. Hmmph.

Simon taking a break.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BABY!

2010-08-28T14:26:00.000-04:00

This is Ken. I've hijacked Jen's blog so that next time she logs on she can see this:

You are the light of my life.. keep on shining. Ken

Montana - The Last Best Place

2010-08-28T09:33:00.004-04:00

Montana is not what I'd expected it to be. For some (ignorant) reason I thought it was flat and boring here, with brutal winters and lonely ranches dotting the terrain, but this trip is teaching me that there is a lot I don't know. That is certainly the case when it comes to Montana. I haven't seen all the states yet, but I am tempted at this point, to call Montana my favorite. There is much to love about this mountainous state with it's peaks and valleys, it's vivid sunset skies, and it's friendly people.

Here are some pictures of some of the valleys we've been so lucky to have pedaled through. To view them at their best, click on them.

We've seen more bee boxes here than anywhere else on the trip. Good sign.

These horses were PLAYING in the water! Jumping around in it and everything.

After seeing this sign the suspense was killing us! 7 Miles of WHAT? Now we know it must have said, 7 miles of absurd winds.

Crossing these two passes it felt like we were in another world. The wind was trying to knock me over and I literally had to sit on the left side of my seat and lean hard to the left to keep the trike from flipping. It was so loud Ken and I couldn't even talk to each other. It was terrible, and a bit frightening to be honest. Tears ran down our faces (from the wind, we weren't crying, we're not babies) and our hats blew away. There was no place to hide and nothing to do but keep riding. For hours we did this. Hours. Funny thing was, other than some dark clouds in the distance behind us, there were blue skies most of the time this wind blew. Weird.

We finally made it over both of the passes and got to lower ground. It was still windy but for awhile it was at our backs. NICE!

Lots of happy cows out here. Sure beats seeing them in those feed lots in Kansas.

These haystacks are GINORMOUS!

They make them with these somehow.

There is more hay here than anywhere else I've ever seen.

We saw a pair of Golden Eagles!

She let me park the trike and get off to get a closer picture. The other one circled overhead as I snapped pictures of his mate. Awesomeness.

The road less traveled is sometimes less traveled for a reason. :)

This was one of the most difficult rides so far. Stupid wind.

Twin Bridges Bike Camp

2010-08-28T09:00:00.001-04:00

After staying in Alder at the KOA we thought we would try to make it to Dillon but our friend Michell said we needed to stop at the Twin Bridges Bike Camp. So we took a short day and coasted (yes, it was nearly all downhill) the 25 miles or so into the small town of Twin Bridges where we quickly located the Bike Camp. You could tell someone had put some love for cyclists into this place and we felt right at home. Right next to the small but fast river was a building to sleep and eat in, a bike wash, an outdoor sink, a shower and bathroom, and a counter top that was perfect for making JenTiles on! During our stay there we met several other cyclists who came and went but when it came time for bed we had the place all to ourselves. And we got a special visitor! Bill White, the man who built the Bike Camp! We gave him a JenTile with the mountains on it and talked to him for a long time. He's not even a cyclist but after trying out a trike we may have converted him. :) Hi Bill!! Thank you for your awesome Bike Camp!

It was a pretty hot day so we saw lots of people floating or boating. See the kids?

Fun! So nice to see people outside playing in the river.

Outdoor sink and bike wash area.

JenTile operation. I could only get a couple done since I am out of supplies.

Biker shelf - take something, leave something.

Leave the ukulele, please. :)

This is Lee. He actually knew how to play that ukulele! See the brown bag? It has cherries in it that Lee got from a roadside farmer. He gave them to Ken and Ken gave him our extra tire pump since Lee didn't have a pump anymore due to a malfunction.

With all the screens there was a great breeze in here. Ceiling fans would be a great thing in here.

Bill White, the man who made this camp. HUG!

It was great to meet you Bill! We will send our cycling friends your way!

As usual, Simon was the last to get up. We got another late start but made it to Dillon. Along the way we saw this...

We stopped and looked at him through our binocs for quite some time. Then we were interrupted by a haunting and continuous "scree" sounds. It was a juvenile eagle, probably waiting for this one to get home with some food. It took my breath away watching them. Having briefly worked with birds of prey in the past I am so moved by how majestic they are, especially the bald eagle. It was intense seeing these so closely.

An Inspiring Letter

2010-08-27T19:22:00.003-04:00

Recently we received a letter from a very special person who not only performs an important function in the Donate Life world, but who is also about to become a living donor by giving a kidney to a complete stranger. The letter was beautifully written, and the writer and I have since become good friends through the many letters that followed this one. Kind enough to give me permission to reprint the letter here, this incredibly giving soul is helping us get the message out, and after reading, I hope you feel inspired to follow your hearts and to dare going after your own dreams... Thank you to "L" for allowing me to share this with you:

Dear Ken and Jen.....

My name is L and I've been reading your blog for the past couple of
hours while watching a kidney that we recovered earlier today. Watching
a kidney means that it's on a machine to assess function. I'm getting
ready to take it off the machine where it will make it's way to New York
in a couple of hours.

I am a Preservation Coordinator here at CDS which means that I go into
the OR and help surgeons recover organs, make sure they are packaged and
labelled correctly and then make sure they get to where they are going.
I've worked with CDS for the past 6 years and I have the best job in the
world. The conduit between death and life. It's humbling,
bittersweet....it's like nothing I can describe to anyone unless you've
lived it. I'm also a cyclist. I'm training for the Bridge to Bridge
Incredible Challenge, a 100 mile bike ride from Lenoir, NC to the top of
Grandfather Mountain. They say it's one of the most challenging bike
rides in the country. I told my girlfriend that I would do the best I
could do. But now after reading your blog I have new inspiration, new
motivation and a new attitude on what it means to keep going. Both
emotionally and physically. I have never been personally touched by
organ donation. But this job reminds me of how precious life is and
because of that, I have decided to donate one of my kidneys to a
complete stranger. It's what I feel I can do to help someone else
live the gift of life we all want to experience.

Thank you.

For what you are doing mile after mile.
For spreading the word about organ donation through your bikes, your
souls and your wisdom.
For sharing your daughter with me, for her life and for other's lives
you helped save.
For your amazing relationship with each other and the energy you
transmit from your blog.
For Simon and his sweet adorable face.
For giving me another reason to get back on the bike and train.
For so much I can't put into words at 0130 in the morning.

I hope to meet you two one of these days. On the bike, hopefully.

Be safe out there, godspeed to you and your support crew.

"L"
Preservation Coordinator
Carolina Donor Services

Western Towns and Other Stuff

2010-08-24T09:40:00.004-04:00

There were several interesting things to see during this couple of days. Some of the small towns we passed through like Virginia City and Nevada City were original frontier towns from the Old West and they looked as though nothing much had changed since they were built back in the 1800's. There was a slightly touristy feel but not overly so. We didn't stay long and I kind of wish we would have spent more time exploring this area.

This place looked like it was a movie set or something. The house was HUGE and weird.

And speaking of weird...

Need a closer look? I did...

Danger? Really? I wanted to go in here. Why, I do not know. lol

This guy honked at us when we pedaled by, so we stopped and I gave him some bread. He was in a fenced in area with a bunch of cows and appeared to be the only one of his kind there.

Wonder how he felt about being around a bunch of cows. lol

Part store, part Post Office. Small town.

A package? For us? What could be in this box????

KEEEEEENS!!!!!!!!

Thanks to our new friend Michell, Ken and I are no longer at risk of running over our own feet!!! Michell sent us shoes and pedals and since we've gone clipless, our riding is so much more fun! I am amazed at how much energy, mental and physical, we were using just keeping our feet on the pedals. Now we can just relax and ride. Pedaling is so much more efficient and enjoyable now!

Simon used to be afraid of the camera but he has changed so much on this trip, and one of those changes is that he loves to pose for me when I get the camera out. lol Look at these pics I took the other day when we were stuck in the tent due to rain...

Seeing him come around and become a happy dog has been one of the best parts of this trip. He used to be so scared and growly at everyone and now strangers can actually pet him! He LOVES to play and he LOVES to ride in his camper. Sleeping with him in our sleeping bag is one of our favorite things. He is so snuggly and that helps keep us warm!

Back on the road... Check out these wavy, swirly clouds.

The sky was full of these strange clouds. The skies really are different here in Montana!

Thanks to all of you who make doing this possible. We appreciate your donations and your JenTile orders so very much!!! You keep us going!

God Bless America! And everyone else! :)

Beaver Creek Campground

2010-08-20T22:32:00.001-04:00

With so many incredible places to compare it to, it is still easy for me to say that Beaver Creek Campground is my favorite so far. Near Quake Lake and Hebgen Lake it's a paradise for fishermen but also for those who just want to go camping in the mountains. There were only two or three other people in the whole place and it was unbelievably quiet there, especially after spending the last few days in Yellowstone. There we saw more stars in the sky than either of us had ever seen. I think we remained in a constant state of jaw-dropping awe during our entire stay. I hope I got some pictures that can give you a glimpse of this amazingly beautiful, vast, and tranquil land that we were lucky enough to call HOME for a night.

We had planned to go farther than 25 miles but I just KNEW we had to stay here. That little voice inside of me that I know how to really listen to now, told me to STAY HERE.

Aspens.

Did you know that underneath the ground all these trees are connected to one another?

We explored for hours.

We were on Loop B. This was the only water on the loop.

It was so good and cold.

We used this water to make some dinner. A Mountain House Chicken and Potatoes dehydrated dinner that you just have to add boiling water to. If you've never tried this, you really oughta give them a try. They are surprisingly good and each package has two small servings in it. After we had our chicken we made a Mountain House Cheesecake and picked fresh huckleberries to put in it. Yum!

They weigh practically nothing.

We went to bed early and Ken read me to sleep. We woke up once and went outside to look at the billions of stars that filled the big Montana sky.

The next morning we woke up late and took our time getting ready, sipping our coffee, saying nothing.

HOME.

Yellowstone

2010-08-20T13:02:00.000-04:00

We have mixed feelings about Yellowstone. On one hand, it's a place I'd heard about my whole life and had always wanted to see. There are some amazing things there that is for sure! But the road construction, the bike unfriendly roads and the constant roar of traffic really took away from it for us. Other cyclists we'd met who had already come through the park said the same thing, it was a mixed experience. Something not to be missed, but difficult to ride through and often not enjoyable. So, we got a ride. As long as we admit to that it's not cheating and it is our ride afterall. Why do something you know is going to suck? Instead we rode around the park some with my Dad. We saw some of the highlights and didn't have to risk getting run over by a rented RV. :)

Click on these for a bigger version so you can understand the pics that come next.

The boiling water was SO blue. It's hard to tell since it was an overcast day.

Rabbit ears. :)

After this we went to see Old Faithful. Something everyone has heard about since childhood, and something I've always wanted to see.

We got there right before it erupted. It goes off about every 90 minutes or so.

There were a lot of people there.

All the clouds in the sky kinda took away from it, but it was still so neat to see.

It erupts for 2-5 minutes, depending on how much pressure has built up.

Our lasted about 3 minutes.

The ones I love.

Next we went to Geyser Basin. Another interesting place on this earth.

See that little dot? Guess what it is...

Snicker.

There was some great driftwood out there. Some people took pictures of their families in it...

That's going to be a great shot!

Next we went to see the Paint Pots. They bubble and boil and are very muddy.

Kinda hard to catch the bubbling action with a still camera. lol

We left here and headed toward the Montana State Line and guess what we saw!

Bison and their babies.

More dangerous, unpredictable, and aggressive than bears people get too close to these all the time and get injured. Just a few weeks ago a woman got tossed 15 feet into the air when one came after her when she got too close to try to get some video. The camera was still on and caught the whole thing. If I were her I think I would have kept that video to myself. It kinda tells people how DUMB you were, right?

This one kept looking at Ken and Ken stayed WAY back. lol Simon too.

We made it to Montana! Crossing a state line in a truck is not as much fun as doing it on the trikes, but still, this makes our 9th state! Hard to believe! Thanks for the ride Dad! We appreciate it!

The Teton Spur - Jenny Lake

2010-08-20T12:05:00.000-04:00

We had heard about Jenny Lake and I was drawn to it simply because of it's name (I was Jenny when I was younger, but now that I am mature (snicker) I prefer Jen.) Anyway, we also heard that the tent sites fill up quickly so we pedaled as fast as we could to get there before they put up the dreaded FULL sign. We got there just as they were hanging it out and our hearts sank, but then the Ranger told us that the sign doesn't apply to cyclists because we have our own hiker/biker area to camp in. Our hearts lifted right back up and we quickly found a spot and set up.

The road that leads back to the camping area.

The spots were not nearly as private or shaded as Signal.

But the views were intense. This was taken from inside our tent as the sun came across the mountain first thing in the morning. Ahhh.... It was pretty chilly there too.

See, the neighbors here were close, but nobody seemed to talk to each other. I guess that's okay, but to us it just seemed like everyone here was in a hurry and sort of off to themselves. There were A LOT of people in the park and many of them were from other countries. The trail we hiked on went around the perimeter of the lake and we had gotten about a 4th of the way around when we realized we weren't supposed to have Simon on the trails at all so we had to head back. Someone told us that we weren't even allowed to have him in the park at all, but we knew that wasn't true since the Ranger knew Simon by name. The water in Jenny Lake can be as blue as the ocean in Hawaii. It's a glacier lake and at it's deepest point it goes down 260 feet!

I took some pictures in the early morning but at that time of day the water doesn't look blue.

While we were waiting on my Dad to come get us to take us through Y-Stone, we had an encounter with a wild animal...

Snicker.

Ken accidentally dropped a piece of donut. :)

Simon didn't seem to mind.

Jenny Lake was great, but if you plan to be in this area, we suggest Signal Mtn.

The Teton Spur - Signal Mountain

2010-08-19T09:29:00.000-04:00

On our maps we discovered an intriguing optional route called The Teton Spur. Off route 35 miles this Spur would take us through the Tetons, up close and personal, but then we would have to ride back out on the same road we took in. That part wasn't appealing so we had pretty much decided to skip it when I read in my cross country book, DO NOT MISS THIS SPUR. So we did about 2/3rds of it and stayed at the most incredible campground called Signal Mountain. The next day we went on to Jenny Lake and then the day after that we had my Dad come get us and we got a ride through Yellowstone. Too much construction going on, no shoulders, and people driving rented RVs would have made it a nightmare for two people and a dog on trikes. The Spur did not disappoint. The best views of the trip so far. Check it out:

There were only 3 sites left when we arrived, and we thought we'd get a crappy spot because of it, but as it turns out, there are no crappy spots here! Each site was secluded and full of trees that gave us plenty of shade. At night they only use very low level lighting in the whole place so you can see the big night skies.

Ken filled out our little envelope and paid for our spot. Only $5.00 each!

Then we set up the tent and I found a trail behind it.

So I went exploring and saw lots of animals. A deer, birds I had never seen before, and some sort of critter I have yet to identify. It looked sort of like a beaver but didn't have a flat tail. It was in a tree, sort of cat like in shape and movement, but it wasn't a cat. Any idea what it could have been?

It wasn't a bear, but they had those there too. This is a bear box and any food we had with us had to be stored in here at all times, unless we were eating it.

We must have gotten in and out of that thing a hundred times. It's hard to know where stuff is when you have to lock it up. Even our toiletries had to go in the bear box.

We finally got everything in order and took off for our first hike. Unlike most parks in this area Simon was allowed on the trails so we went for a long walk on a path that ran alongside the water.

It was narrow but pretty easy to hike.

When we came to this part we just stopped and stared silently for quite some time.

Except for Simon that is. He wanted to play. He was so happy out here he was being silly.

I, on the other hand, felt rather quiet and reflective.

Where am I and how did I get here? I was just astounded at the beauty and so very grateful to everyone who helped me get here. I thank you all so much.

The mountains are healing. And the beach is too. This place had both.

I can't believe we almost missed this by not taking the Teton Spur. That would have been tragic!

More to come about the Spur. Stay tuned for Jenny Lake and Yellowstone.

The Heart of a Champion

2010-08-14T09:06:00.002-04:00

Those of you who have been following our story know that Dillon is a VERY important part of it. I am proud to announce that he came home from this year's Transplant Games in Madison WI with THREE medals - Two Silvers and a Gold! Someday it is a dream of mine to see him compete. Here are some pictures of that big day:

That's Dillon in the middle.

Look at all those medals!! And they are lying right over his heart.

He is wearing a JenTile (actually a KenTile) and a pin with Alex's picture on it!! How cool is that!

(I want one.)

Long Jump.

Badminton.

And swimming. If you look closely you can see his scar, but it's barely visible.

My daughter's heart is in there!

Dillon and his family - we are so proud of them, and so happy to know them after all this time. Great job you guys! Hi Karla and Lee! Good to see you again! :)

A real WINNER with the heart of a champion!
You did great, Dillon!

Togwatee Pass and The Tetons

2010-08-13T17:49:00.002-04:00

There aren't many pics of the ride from the Lava Mountain Lodge Campground to the top of Togwatee Pass because it was raining pretty hard the entire time and I didn't want to get the camera wet. Once again we had to get a ride, this time for about 4-5 miles, since they were doing some serious road work. The pilot truck took us to the top on dirt roads.

We were already really cold but when we got to the top it was much colder, in the 40's, and windy, and still raining quite hard. We searched through our bags and put on several layers in an attempt to get warm. It helped some but mostly we just got more clothes wet. And then we saw this sign so we knew we weren't going to get warmed up using pedal power. Not this time. Instead we got blow dried on the way down, and man was it COLD. But, the sun came out right after we began our descent, and by the time we got to the bottom, we were dry. :)

Weeeee! Brrrrrr!

Due to the construction we had the road to ourselves, other than the few times when they let the traffic through. The road was so smooth and the area was beautiful. We ran into these two about 8 miles down.

They asked us where the trucks were, you know, the ones that give you a ride over the pass... Ken looked at our odometer and told them they had about 8 more miles to go. The German guy said, "Well, that can't be right. In 8 more miles we should be at the top." Ken said, "Oh, dude, I hate to tell you this, but you're going the wrong way if you want a ride UP the pass. You are getting a ride DOWN it." I wish I could explain to you the look we saw take over this man's face. It was as though his entire being deflated and it was a few minutes before he could join the conversation with a smile again. lol Poor guy. We know that feeling.

While we chatted with them, Ken walked Simon and we found what we think is a moose track. Look closely. It's nearly as big as Ken's paw, I mean foot.

Yikes! After several glances into the treelines and up the hills, we got back on our trikes and started coasting again. Ken watched the bike computer and the temp slowly crept up as we coasted down.

The rain clouds that had passed over us were now in front of us and where we were supposed to get that first incredible sighting of the Tetons we had heard so much about, we instead saw this:

Tetons? What Tetons? They are there but you can't see them.

The next day we would see them MUCH better. This was kind of a let down, and by the time we reached the destination for the day, Teton RV Park, it was WINDY and raining again. We got a little cabin for just $9 more than they charged for tent sites. Nice!

See that "football" over there on the ground by my trike? It's not a football. It's a rock. Ask Ken how he found that out. Snicker.

We met a couple in the store and they gave Ken some stuff for altitude sickness. Instead of diluting it like the instructions say, he just put some directly into his mouth via the dropper and look what happened:

Eeeeeeeeeeeeek!

Green teeth! Ew!! Thing is, they STAYED this way for several hours so when we talked to people I felt the need to explain Ken's green lips and teeth. He didn't seem to care that much, but then he didn't have to look at them so he just forgot about it. It was funny for a long time. :)

Finally the next morning around 5:30 I got to see the Tetons. The pink sky was incredible, and I woke Ken up to see it. Unfortunately all these RVs were in the way and I couldn't get a clear shot of them. There would be plenty of opportunities for that later in the day though. Plenty. In fact, right after we left the CG we saw them without anything in the way.

They are gorgeous mountains.

See that little hiker in the bottom right hand corner? That's Jim.

He's a retired dairy farmer who is walking the Continental Divide. I liked him very much. Ken talked to him for a long time the night before since he stayed where we stayed. I spoke with him the next morning before we left, and then we stopped again for this short chat.

Then we all entered the Teton National Park together. See the sign in back?

The scenery would just keep getting better and better from here.

A bike belonging to an eastbounder...

who was taking pictures. We waved hello to him and then a few moments later we saw an RV pass us by. It was one of those fancy bus kinds. It stopped and a man in an orange shirt got out and flagged us down. We pulled over and he walked up to us and put some folded up bills in my hand! Then another person came out of the bus and did the same thing! Then another, and another, and another! They said they liked what we were doing, and said, God Bless, and then we took some pictures and they were gone. It was so amazing! We got $80, which more than covered the cost of the cabin we'd gotten the night before. It also paid for the next two nights of camping and a meal! Thank you guys if you are reading this!!

Our generous friends.

Thank you so much!! God Bless you too!!!

A little farther up the road we ran into some more construction. We sat in line right here for awhile, but then the guy with the sign waved us up to the front and told us to go ahead and get our stuff ready to throw into the back of the pilot truck. I can just imagine the groans coming from the people in the cars who had already been waiting there for 30 minutes when they saw us pull up in front of them. Sorry bout that.

Front of the line.

Back of the truck. They only took us about a mile, then dropped us off near the chapel. We went inside and found the log cabin church to be simple and comfy. They still hold mass there every week.

And look at their stained glass window:

Sacred Heart. Made me think of Alex. :)

DuBois (Du-Boyz)

2010-08-13T11:01:00.004-04:00

When we left Lander we spent the next night on the Indian Reservation and met a wonderful lady named LuAnn Malek. I traded her a JenTile for some pie and ice cream and we listened to her tell interesting stories about her campground and it's history.

Me with LuAnn.

See her wearing her JenTile? It matches her personality perfectly!

We saw so many horses on this ride. More than the rest of the trip combined!

Most of them ran away from us, but four of them stayed and followed us for a bit.

We planned to go the entire way to DuBois in one day but didn't make it so we stopped and camped near Crowheart Butte. The Fire Dept in Crowheart isn't on the map we have but when we asked at the store the man said cyclists camp there all the time, so we set up.

What we thought was Devil's Tower was actually Crowheart Butte (thanks John). It slowly appeared in the background but when I look at this picture all I notice are the MUSCLES in Ken's leg. WOW! :-P

More majestic creatures.

Awww... the whole time we watched these two, she never left his side.

Unlike other parts of the country we've passed through, there were several places that had LOTS of bee boxes on them. That is a good sign.

We set up camp here and shortly after the skies got really pretty!

See the not Devil's Tower through the O? lol

Seeing what lies outside our tent door when I first wake up is one thing I just love. We always try to position the tent in a way that gets us the best view to wake up to.

The next day's ride was another superb one. Not much traffic and good shoulders too.

Not much traffic most of the time.

Look at that shoulder! Nice!

Cliffs started to appear. And they got bigger and bigger.

Again, that "I am so small," feeling happened. These cliffs were amazing. We camped near them that evening at a really nice campground.

There was a small but swift river running through the campground and Simon liked it!

He used to be afraid of water but now he isn't. He still doesn't get in it unless we are giving him a bath, though.

We went into town to eat and do a little looking around.

DuBois was such a neat old western style town, with thriving businesses and good food. Butch Cassidy used to hang out here.

We ate here. The elk omelet was outstanding!

This was the laundromat. :) Interesting.

I found this book on a donation shelf and started reading. It taught me a lot! For example, bears are not the biggest threat to people in Y-Stone at all. The thermal pools and bison are MUCH more dangerous. The worst part about falling into those pools, some of which are over 200 degrees, is that the victims rarely lose consciousness and yet live for several days in agonizing pain until they finally die. Terrible fate.

These have been everywhere for several days of travel. It's like a plague or something.

They are kinda cute, though. :) And speaking of cute, this is Finn. We met her and her parents at a rest stop and I liked her right away. I would have guessed she was older because she was so confident and well-spoken, but she was only 7! She reminded me a bit of a blonde Alex. :) I gave her a JenTile and her parents gave us a donation. We appreciate it and we enjoyed meeing them. Here's Finn:

Hi Finn! I hope I spelled your name right. Leave a comment for me if I need to change it, okay?

Twin Pines, the Birthday Boy, and the Cloud Goddess

2010-08-13T09:51:00.001-04:00

Even though it was still a few miles out of town, we decided on Twin Pines and headed down the little hill to set up camp. It was so nice down there, and all the tree cover made us feel cozy.

See what I mean? Cozy. :)

The trees bent over us and gave us some shelter from the storms and from the sun.

An early morning view of the lake.

During the evenings we would sit at this bench and watch the sunsets.

And there were some spectacular ones!

The moon shining through the clouds made an awesome moonset. Is that a word?

During the day we worked on JenTiles and got a couple of orders filled. (If you have a backorder with me, hang tight, they are slowly being filled.) We came up with this pine tree design. Like it?

I also macro'd a few new bugs. Hadn't done that in awhile.

Shadfly.

These small blue dragonflies were everywhere! The most I've seen in one place.

Simon chilled in the tent. He likes it in the tent so much he tries to get in it while we are putting it up.

He heard the camera click. He was trying to fall asleep standing up. He does that a lot.

Guess who's birthday it was while we were in Lander!! My Dad's! To celebrate we took him out for ice cream and since there were two places in town that were reputed to have great ice cream, we took him to both of them. :)

The first place we went to was Ken and Betty's.

It was VERY good!

In between ice cream places we stopped at the newspaper to meet with Anne and do a quick interview for the local paper.

Look at the size of that tree!

You can probably tell my Dad was taking this picture by the rabbit ears. lol After the interview we headed for the other ice cream place in town, The Scream Shack:

A smaller place. Here you ordered at the window and sat at the tables outside.

More ice cream please!

I would be hard pressed to tell you which one was the best. They were both YUMMY and I think my Dad liked his little birthday outing with us. Happy Birthday Dad!!!

When we got back HOME, a storm started to brew and we got some excellent, and STRANGE pictures. Check this stuff out:

The clouds looked SCARY.

It was starting to rain far off in the distance over the lake.

We walked up on the hill near the tepee and got this picture of Ken:

Wow, huh?

Then a rainbow appeared in the sky. And then..... right after the rainbow, this cloud goddess showed herself. AWESOMENESS!

See her? From here she looks like a witch, but if you zoom in and look closer the detail in her face is astonishing. There are two eyes, a normal nose, even teeth and a pixie haircut. It looks as though she is about to eat a marshmallow. Do you see her???

So many cool things happened here. The barking at the lake, the goddess in the clouds, and the unparalleled sunsets made this stay one we will never, ever forget!

We heart Lander!

Lander, Wyoming

2010-08-08T09:41:00.002-04:00

We bid our teary farewells to the ladies at the Mormon River Camp and got back on the road pretty early. It was another still, cool morning and it felt great to get going. According to what others have told us, Wyoming has not been nearly as windy as it normally is. We feel blessed to have that in our favor.

Lander had a neat downtown. Nestled among tall, leafy trees the overall feel there was one of forward thinking people combined with old-time traditions. Good people in good moods. We saw lots of neat things during our three day stay in Lander and I could actually see myself living there someday. Well, maybe not, but you get what I mean, right? No Walmart, no strip malls, very few chain restaurants, and a peaceful yet slightly funky charm. Cool town.

This post is going to be long, but worth it. So many cool things happened while we were there, it just wouldn't be right to leave any of this out. Here we go:

I guess I should tell you first about getting to Lander. I've never been anywhere that looks quite like this...

It was actually longer than 6 miles.. and it was fun!

Some of the scenery was lunar. Other parts had strange shapes..

Still not many trees here.

It is always a moment to remember when the next set of mountains appears on the horizon in front of you. You pedal a bit harder knowing that in a day or two you will get to be IN those mountains.

More vegetation appears and things get a little greener as you get closer. That is the Wind River Range that you can see way back there. They are part of the Tetons.

You might get the impression that Ken and I are out here all by ourselves, and at times it did feel that way... Well, we were pedaling along, enjoying the silence and scenery when this appeared over our shoulders!

It was LOUD and HUGE and we have no idea what it was.

Look how tiny Ken looks compared to that thing. It took up almost the entire road!

Shortly after this went by we stopped to let Simon out and look what we found...

Yep, it was a rattle snake. About 6 years old if it's true they get a rattle each year.

It was super hot out on that paved road by this time. See the temp? 107 degrees.

Look at the road...

Some spots were really soft. The tar was melting...

That is not a trick. His finger really is IN the road... We got back ON the road and found more downhills waiting for us to coast down. NICE!

Hey, I don't think I've had to pedal for about an hour!

These red rock cliffs looked so much better in "real life." I tried. I think you can still sorta get it how SMALL they could make a person feel. I like that small feeling, actually. It's not a bad thing to be reminded of that from time to time, in the way that mother nature (Iz) does it.

About 30 miles down the road we found ourselves nearing the town of Lander (9-10 miles before it) and stopped at what appeared to be an RV park. It wasn't on our maps but it was in my 1996 cross-country bike book, so we stopped. Ken's tire was flat so.... oh wait, I have to tell you something. Ken and I traded bikes. Since he has to pull so much more weight his chain skips sometimes so for the good of the team I offered to let him ride Sidd. Now guess who gets the flats all the time? Still Ken!!! hahahahah! Okay, where was I...

Oh yeah, the "RV Park" was spooooooooky. From far off it looked okay. Not many RVs though, which was our first clue that something was wrong.

Still, parts of it were really cute. Like this little old western town that looked like a movie set.

I began to wonder, though, if it wasn't the set for a HORROR movie, not a western when I went up to the Office door...

I smelled something... the trash dumpster was overfull, but that wasn't it... As I looked over each shoulder, searching for a person (surely there had to be someone there, right?) I peeked in the door and had to hold my nose to stay there long enough to take this picture...

The place had been ransacked and the stench was overpowering, and there were GUNS just lying around.

How strange is this???? So I speed-walk (don't want to run or they might get me - lol) back to Ken who is just finishing fixing his tire. "Let's go, please!" I said to which he replied, "Yes, lets." Well, about that time I saw someone move in one of the old buildings. A man with no hair on top and lots of it on the sides shuffled out. He was wearing overalls, I kid you not, and I even think he had a piece of straw in his mouth. He said, "Can I help you?" We said, "This place closed?" And he said, "Nah, there ain't no water or power but you can stay here... I'll take yer money." "Hurry Ken, hurry." I whispered. Just then I saw the man had a woman with him. She sat down in the chair behind the big man in the overalls and when I said hello to her, she looked down and pulled her shirt up over her face. Seriously. This was one spooky place. Ken said, "No thanks, Dude, I think we'll head down the road." And the couple shuffled back into through the old saloon doors and disappeared again. True Story.

Just a few miles down the road we found a campground called Twin Pines and it was there that we would set up the HOME sign for three days. Since the sun has come up and it is making it nearly impossible to see my screen, I think I will save what happened there for my next post.

A Better Video

2010-08-04T20:51:00.000-04:00

Here is another video taken at the lake the following night. This one is a little more clear and easier to see. I sure wish I knew what was making those ripples when we barked.

Barking at the Lake

2010-08-03T21:58:00.001-04:00

This is something I have never seen in my life. We discovered it when Simon barked and we saw the ripples in the lake move. So we tried it and it worked when we barked too! Soon people were wandering down to find out why this crazy lady and her crazy husband were making strange noises down at the lake. Next thing you knew, everyone was doing it! It was really weird and wonderful and I just had to share it with you. We still don't know what makes all the ripples, if it's bugs or fish or tadpoles or something else. Whatever they are they are just under the surface of the water and apparently they jump at certain notes. If anyone else has ever seen this please tell us about it!!

Split Rock and Sweetwater River

2010-08-03T20:53:00.001-04:00

One of the things I absolutely love about this trip is that you never really know what you are going to see. For example: Split Rock is an area of historical interest that we hadn't even heard of before. There were no other people there at all, so when we stopped we discovered a really cool place and had it all to ourselves. Simon LOVED it here. I let some of Alex's ashes go here because this is the kind of place she would have wanted to spend all day at climbing around.

Google it to read the history, if you want.

Simon was so fun and he was a much better climber than I would have expected.

See me up there?

Here I am!

Simon cooling off after his big climb. :)

After we left here, we went through a town called Jeffrey City where again, I have to complain. I wish there was something good to say, but there isn't much. The restaurant we stopped at had decent food but the service was very rude. They even went so far as to put the answers to any questions someone might ask up on a dry erase board. Things like, "Yes, the winters here are cold and windy" were written in different colors and really sent the message, "Don't talk to me." I wanted to hug her and ask her if there was anything I could do, but then I just decided to not leave a tip. Weird grouchiness is not my forte so we ate quickly and got back on the road.

The only restaurant for miles.

This was the motel there. Most of this town is deserted. I wonder why.

This was cool tho. :)

We stopped for the night at a true safe haven in Sweetwater. There was a Mormon River Camp there and when we pulled in a couple of really sweet ladies came out to greet us. They were so kind and welcoming and we were so happy to be there! Little did we know we would get to witness something wonderful while we were there.

As we unpacked our things and started to set up camp, about 75 people came walking up the River Trail, and they were dressed up in clothes from the frontier days, and some of them were pushing carts.

Our wagons look different than their wagons.

They all stood in a circle. And then they did what's called a "Cinnamon Roll" and the circle started curling in on itself until all these kids were in a huge pile! It was hot out. I don't know how they could stand it but they were all laughing so hard we couldn't help but laugh too. It was wonderful to see young people having good clean fun together like this.

After they all got settled into their camp area, Ken and I took off down the River Trail the kids had come down and about a mile down the trail we spotted the access to the River.

The sun was just starting to go down. We wished there had been showers there but once we got to the River we were actually glad they didn't. The water felt fantastic!!

Sweetwater River Bath.

Yes, that is my Liggetts Soap! Safe for the fishies and for me.

Makes you feel ALIVE to wash in a river. Have you ever done it??

It's not always easy at first. Ken is trying to ease in. I told him to just get it over with and this is what he did:

It surprised me and made me laugh!! Then he did it to me too. :)

After our bath Simon got a River Bath too. No pictures of that, though. It took all of our hands to wash him. He did really good but didn't care much for it. Then we all walked back to the camp and got ready for bed. The next morning we spoke with some of the youth leaders and people who worked at the camp and several of them were not registered organ donors. But they are now. I thank them for that, and for their nice place to stay. It was refreshing in many ways.

Thanks Sisters! We will always remember your kindness.

Beautiful hand carts made right there at the camp. Keeping the Mormon history alive.

Saratoga, Muddy Gap, and the Moon

2010-08-02T22:10:00.002-04:00

Saratoga had another hot spring but we didn't get to experience this one. We saw it, and it wasn't at all like the Hot Sulphur Springs we liked so much. It was just one big hot pool, all natural, and they called it The Hobo Pool. For many years Indians from warring tribes would meet here and sit side by side in the healing waters. We took a look and since it was nearly 100 degrees outside when we saw it there was no way we were getting in during the day and our campsite at the lake was over a mile away so we never did make the ride back to get in. But that's okay. We still enjoyed camping at Saratoga Lake very much.

It was about a mile off the highway down a roughish road.

We were the only tenters there except for one other couple way down on the end.

There weren't any trees so until the sun went down we were pretty hot. We didn't get in the water, though.

Ken called his sister Angie. He likes to talk to her and tell her where her brother is.

We checked out the playground and Barney's older brother bit Ken in the butt.

He got me too. Purple people eater. We decided to get out of the sun and into the tent where we could feel the strong breeze coming off the water.

Simon watched the birds flying past. The seagulls went back and forth in front of us.

Our neighbor John Easter stopped by and chatted with us, then gave us a ride to town to get some ice. He was a retired HS coach from Illinois and was here in WY to help build a log cabin for his daughter. We also got to meet John's ex-wife of 38 years, Jane. She was lovely to talk with and we wondered how someone so nice could have gotten mixed up with a fella like John. (snicker) Kidding aside they were both great to talk with and we enjoyed their company and appreciated them getting to know us some.

We got back in the tent and listened to some Sean Hayes (Flowering Spade cd) and actually dozed a bit, and when we woke up the sun was going down.

When we woke up in the morning we thought about going here:

But we decided to get on down the road instead. The first part of the ride was super. We saw some Pronghorn Antelope and they stared at us, and we stared at them. There was little traffic and more of the same great scenery. Less mountainous and more farmland but still great to look at. Then we had to get on

I-80... yes, we actually rode on the Interstate. Wyoming is one of the only states where that is legal and since there were really wide shoulders the 14 miles we spent on it wasn't that bad.

Yikes! Okay okay!

Right before we got on I-80 we stopped at the only store for miles and saw this thing.. talk about CREEPY. It gets worse. It was tied to the pole.

Disturbing. I had to take a picture of it.

(I just realized that I must have gotten out of order blogging yesterday because from here we went to Sinclair, but I have already put the Sinclair pictures up. Oops. I will fix it later. That is what happens when it takes too long to get online and blog.)

Okay, on to Muddy Gap....

How often do you hear me complain here?? Not often because I strive to be a positive person and don't see much use in complaining. And I certainly don't want to offend anyone or alienate people who might otherwise become organ donors, but I have to tell you something about Muddy Gap and it's not a positive report. There are only a few places along this stretch in Wyoming where you can pitch your tent and they are far apart and VERY unappealing. One place we thought we might stop was before you got to Muddy Gap and it was called Grandma's Cafe. Sounds inviting, but it's not. The place was surrounded by trash and scrap metal and old trailers and equipment and there were loose dogs running around and barking at us which of course upset Simon. Still, we knocked on the door since it was closed, and a grouchy lady answered and told us we could pitch a tent behind the cafe, but when we looked the ground had so much junk laying everywhere we couldn't see a good place to put the tent. I told her our names and she grunted, "Yeah, okay..." and closed the door on us. Even though it was about to storm on us we decided to keep riding and see what was up the road. And that is when we got to Muddy Gap, which used to be a place, but is now just a store.

The people running this know they are the only store for miles and their prices are ridiculous. For $12 they tell you to find some grass to put your tent on. Good luck with that. There was junk lying around everywhere here too. He said, "We also have rooms for rent" and since there were no bathrooms for us to use if we camped, I asked how much and where the rooms were...

$65 for a third of this place. That door you see is where you go in, and you get the last room and bathroom of the trailer. For $65!!!! It was even still dirty!! So we talked to another cyclist who had gotten a room at the other end of this trailer and he said, "Hey, it's been a long time since I've had a shower and a bed so I had to spend the money." I totally understand that, but there was NO WAY I was giving this guy a cent of our money. NO WAY. He was clearly taking advantage of people, and seemed to me he was especially targeting cyclists with these rooms. The cyclist told us about a place just up the road that used to be a campground and that it was on our maps, so we went over there and knocked on the door of the house. No one answered. We noticed that we were also on what was the Fire Dept land, so we waited for awhile, then finally decided to pitch our tent there. No one ever came home. We left our card for them so they would know we were there. Not an ideal situation to say the least but we survived it and got some cool pictures because of it.

I love this one. Looks like an album cover.

Simon was ready to get in the tent before we even had it up!

At least they had a bathroom we could use.

And an old John Deere Ken could play on. How old is he again? lol

Early the next morning we packed it all up and got the heck outa there. Looking on the bright side, it was free, there were bathrooms, and there was water. What more do you need??

What we saw when we got just a few miles down the road turned my frown upside down. The terrain took on a whole new look. It was, LUNAR. Check these out:

A storm was a brewin.. but we outran it...

It is so weird to see blue sky in front of you and this behind. And lightening in a blue sky is especially unsettling.

We saw these two and stopped to say hello. Denise works with patients who are both waiting on transplants and who have received them, and when I heard that we went over to their side of the road to talk some more.

They weren't too worried about the storm either, even though they were heading into it. Their ride was about to be over in 3 days and they were just glad to still be out here riding. Wish we could have had more time to talk to them. They seemed really cool.

There were just a couple of cops on this road but they made A LOT of stops. Be careful if you are on 287 going toward Split Rock. They are out to get you here! One cop got out of his car as we were pedaling past and said to us, "I'm comin' after you next," to which I replied, "Oh yeah? Well, catch us if you can!!!" I tried to peel out but, well, I couldn't. lol

They never did catch us. heh heh heh

WYOMING!

2010-08-01T15:09:00.004-04:00

We stayed the night at a City Park in Walden, CO and from there we were only 22 miles from the Wyoming border. People said the scenery would become boring and bleak but we never thought it did. It got different, and very desolate but not boring. Wyoming is oh so beautiful in it's own unique way. I have come up with many ideas as to why this state only has a total population of around 500,000 but I still am not sure why so few people live here. Some of the people we've met have acted sort of, well, miserable, to be frank. Not all of them, but we have run into more older grouchy folks than anywhere else on the trip. I can't figure this place out yet. Part of me loves it and another part of me feels like something is missing or something. I guess it's just different than anything I've seen so it's confusing. I am still trying to figure it out and as we pedal it keeps getting better, so I guess I will let you know how I feel about Wyoming when I get to Montana. :)

There are some serious ranches here. Hundreds of thousands of acres of land belonging to private owners is one of the reasons I think Wyoming has remained so natural. No strip malls here!

And check out the wide shoulders. Just the right size for a trike!

We like this very much! Kinda strange there would be such a nice shoulder when there is hardly the traffic to warrant it. Still quite nice, though!

At our campsite in Walden. And nope, this isn't Thoreau's Walden.

It's windy here which makes it good for these.

Here is our campsite in Riverside. A nice place with nice people and good food across the street. The population of Riverside is 52. We stayed for two nights.

In that door is where we made JenTiles.

We worked on them all day and did some new designs. Anyone want to buy a JenTile? Or a KenTile? Just leave a comment here or email us.

Fun to make and wear. I am wearing the Peace Sign right now. See?

Several hours after we left Riverside we ran out of water and had to stop at a house, the only house we'd seen all day. We were taken inside by a nice man and his kids and as we filled up our camels we told him our story. He seemed moved and told us of another child organ donor story that was recently on the news in Wyoming. He bid us farewell and his dog did too:

Simon didn't care much for this but I did. I love dog "attacks!"

Sinclair was a HUGE oil refinery town with an interesting history. It had a strong odor.

It was loud and dirty looking. Kinda creepy, actually.

The town was really small, other than the oil place, and this was their Post Office where Ken stopped to mail his Mom the present he got her in Rand.

Ken loves his Mom. He sends her things from time to time to remind her of that, and to thank her for being such a strong supporter of our tour. We appreciate that very much!

Then we went to eat at Su Casa and it was GOOD! To save money and keep losing weight Ken and I have started sharing plates instead of ordering two meals. And we order water instead of expensive teas or sodas. Our food costs have gone down considerably because of this change.

We finished this day in Rawlins where we stayed at an RV Park on the other side of town. We made a stop at the local bike shop and saw this guy taking a nap. Yeah, it was hot and we do get this tired out here. Thing is, there was a couch inside just for this, but he was too tired to know it.

ZZZzzzzzzz.....

Loud because of I-80 but still okay. Unfortunately with all the empty spots there for tenters someone decided to set up just two down from us. That being a HUGE pet peeve of mine I said something to them and yes, they moved, but then I felt bad and so I went to apologize. I didn't mean to be rude, and they said I wasn't and that they accepted my apology, but I felt mean about saying anything to them. Mean people suck and I just never want to be one of them. I began to think that maybe Wyoming was making me grouchy too! The next day would change my mind though...

The Arapaho National Forest

2010-08-01T14:15:00.001-04:00

If you like primitive camping then the Arapaho National Forest is a great place to go. There were two campgrounds on our route and we opted to stay at the second one so we could get a little further down the road. There is always a risk when you do this because the next site could be full, or you might not like it as much as you did the one you passed up, but that is part of the adventure I suppose. In this case we chose right. The second place was called Denver Creek and we found a great place to pitch our tent, again right on the river. The camp host had water for us and we fed the chipmunks our cashews.

It was so pretty here but the dead pine trees projected a deep, lingering sadness. The pine beetles have done so much damage and it was painful to see so much destruction.

No traffic at all out here. It was super quiet.

That peak back there is called Park View.

A closer look at it.

A couple of cyclists sharing the road with us. One of them used to race bikes in the Olympics and was a true pioneer for women competing in the sport. She had just recently retired and was riding once again.

We cross this often, but this one was a pretty long climb. Not that we mind at all. We like the climbs because they give us a chance to talk, especially when we can ride side by side.

I know you're not supposed to drink from these but I can't resist. They are so cold and taste so good, and despite my expression in this pic, they have never made me sick.

We met some more great folks at the campground. They had seen us riding earlier in the day and couldn't believe we had made it as far as we did. They ride bikes too. There was a young girl named Sasha and her Dad and his Mom (Grandma) named Norma. They were delightful company and I wish I had some pictures of them to put up but unfortunately our camera batteries were dead.

As we left the forest we saw more plains and farmland.

What an awesome place to live.

Ken looks back at the road we had just come down. We made our way downhill to a tiny place called Rand where we found some batteries and a cool drink and Ken got his Mom a present.

We were so happy it was open. Cute place!

Good thing we weren't speeding!

Spookier than other cops we've seen on the road, that's for sure.

Some fertile farmland can be found up in the mountains.

Wildflowers are plenty and we often stop to smell them. The smells are so powerful when you are outside all the time. You really become aware of them and they are powerfully connected to my new memories.

Flying our flags proudly through this beautiful land.