Day 13 Sea to Sea Ontaio Oregon to Boise Idaho End of 2 week

It is hard to believe that we have already completed 2 weeks on this tour. Everyone is in good spirits as tomorrow is Sunday when we can rest and not bike for the day.
This morning we woke up to a chilly morning with temperatures around 54 degrees. A little cooler than what we have during the day. We did hear that Baker City where we were yesterday the morning temperature was 34 degrees. We are experiencing huge temperature changes.

Hank, Joan and I started out just before 7 AM. We knew it would be a longer day therefore wanted to get out early enough to beat the heat in the late afternoon.

We left Oregon right outside the city of Ontario and entered Idaho our third state to cross.

We now have 13 states left to go through and one province. Amazing that we have gone 640 miles and have 3242 miles left to go. Everyone is still committed to going the distance they planned. Today we say goodbye to three cyclists Agatha VanderStarre age 77, Joel Pel and Martin Kastalin all who had committed to riding for 2 weeks. All say they will miss the tour, but have work or other activities to get back to. Saying good bye to fellow cyclists who touched others is a little sad, but we know this will happen again in Denver and Grand Rapids. This is life and we need to celebrate what we experienced to together.
Joan and I left Hank just into Idaho as he prefers to ride at his own speed and not try to keep up with others that ride faster. We rode along huge fields that were being irrigated. We past fields of spearmint, (which smelled refreshing) garlic (which had a distinctly other smell), swisschard, corn, potatoes and hay. We notice that the land not irrigated is very barren, brown, and dry. Amazing how giving water to the soil brings out new life and blessings.

Joan and I stopped by a cafe along the way at about 930. The cafe had already been invaded by a large group of cyclists who reported coffee was excellent and the cinnamon buns were to die for. So Joan and I had coffee, but split a cinnamon bun because it was so big. It was hot and gooey. The next shift of cyclists rolling in cleaned out the cafe of cinnamon buns. When Hank rolled in there were none left. He had to settle for just a cup of coffee.

We road through rolling hills, nothing real steep or hard today. Again Ed has done a great job of finding quiet country roads that had minimal car traffic on them and we could ride side by side a lot of the time to talk and share thoughts about the ride. The temperature before noon was fairly comfortable, but we could feel the sun getting hotter on us and the road starting to heat up. It was time to get to Boise where we would stay for the weekend. It seemed not too many cyclists dilly dallied today as all wanted to get into Boise. Many of the younger folks who started late just sped by us and they made biking up hill look like they were giving little effort. We do notice that if the road surface is rough, we have to work harder and with much greater effort to maintain a speed of 14 miles per hour. Often we would drop down to 12 or 13 just we were working much harder than when the road is smooth.

This is a picture of the Boise valley. Sorry it is so poor but I am starting my descent down a steep hill and am trying to take a picture while riding. Joan had already gone way down. Not a good idea here as I need to put my camera into my pocket so I have control when I am speedy along at 38 miles per hour. Right at the bottom of this steep hill we had a stop sign and had to turn left.

The Boise river valley area is again quiet beautiful. We rode along estates lots that had huge homes on them and many had a barn that held some horses or cattle. The area appears to be very prosperous. Boise appears to be a neat area to leave. Many farmers from southern California I understand have moved up here because land is much cheaper and it is not as crowded. Just outside and to the north of Boise, there is a great ski area called Bogus Basin that has great skiing. Boise does not get severe winter, but still offers people the fun things of winter only a short distance away. I think I could live here.

We arrived at the out skirts of Boise at about noon. We still had 15 miles to go to get into camp. I knew we were biking very close to Matt Zwaanstra's home. It was only 100 yards off the route. I quickly swung by to say I was in town and to tell Matt his dad was about 1 hour behing me. Matt went out to greet his dad with his daugther Valerie. It was quiet emotional from what Matt told me. as Hank was not expecting to see them along the route. I wish I could taken a picture of this moment. As Matt says here you are biking 3882 miles across the country and you could have taken numerous routes, but here you are only 100 yards from our home.

Just before we got into camp about 5 miles from our destinations we saw a large group of cyclists stopped at another coffee shop. They called out to us to stop as the cafe had great coffee and refreshing drinks, which we did. Joan and I both had a large glass of freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice which tasted sooo refreshing as it was cold. Both of us were very thirsty and were tired of drinking the warm water in our water bottles. Finally we started up again to finish our ride into camp. But before we got there I still craved some cold chocolate milk. We rode past a variety store and I bought a bottle which I downed very quickly. Now I was ready to get to camp which was just a mile away.

Today is Saturday so it is also the day we all clean out our shelves take everything out of the gear truck so it can be sweeped out and cleaned. The truck does get very dirty from sand and dust and also very smelly from all the dirty clothes and shoes. This is also a time everyone get a chance to reorganize their laundry baskets and try to find things they missed placed and could not find during the week. It is also a time for people to do laundry. Some of the SAG wagons will provide a shuttle to the closest laundramat which today is over a mile away. Too far to walk with a pile of laundry. As Hank and I are staying with Matt and Sherie, I am taking a all our dirty clothes including our sheets and pillow cases and towels to get cleaned for the next week.

Hank and I are enjoying our time with his son Matt and his family, Sherie his wife and two daughters Valerie and Kathleen. This is very much appreciated. We have a nice comfortable bed to sleep in, have our own bathroom next to the bedroom and a great shower. Sitting in an airconditioned home with comfortable chairs, catching up on the news and having a glass of wine is a real treat. Hank has not had a chance to hear any news for two weeks and has had no idea what the stock market is doing. So getting an update from his son of the current events was great. Kathleen, Matt, Valerie, Sherie,Hank and I

Matt and Sherie took us out for dinner to the Texas Roadhouse where we had the most delicious spareribs. The waitress asked us if we were visitors and when she found out what we were doing and why she said the manager would certainly like meet us. The manager did come to talk to us and he was really impressed with what we were doing. When Matt went to pay the bill, he noticed that two spare rib meals had been taken off the bill. Many thanks to Troy DeVries service manager and Texas Roadhouse in Meridian Idaho for this gift. It is much appreciated.

Both Hank and I were very tired. Hank kept falling asleep as we were driving home from the restaurant. He could not even stay awake for the news and went to bed at 830. I went to bed at 930 after the local Channel 12 news, which had a section on the Sea to Sea bike tour. They said they will have a more detailed coverage at nine on Sunday night. Matt will try to record this for us.

So here we are at the end of week two, very tired but thankful that we were both able to complete another week without incidents. We are also thankful that none of the other cyclists had major incidents and everyone is doing well. A couple of cyclists are still struggling and do not ride everyday due to some health issues. This is OK as we hope they can stay with the ride and do they days they can so they can still experience the blessings of the tour.

Thanks for your support and prayers. God is good and has provided for us in amazing ways. We feel his presence everyday and know his angels are protecting us along the way.