It was the best ride from Baker City to Richland, all downhill! (which of course means big uphill the next day). As soon as we rolled into town we saw a big sign at the park we were camping for free at that read, "Eagle Valley Days june 20-21" All of us jogged our minds for the date, and after asking Debbie at the ice cream shop we learned that INDEED we were there for the celebration!! So the town of 120 people was bustling. The RV park was full, but we thought we could try to sneak a shower off of them..... fail. Just as Kelsey was leaving the bathroom sure enough a very crabby receptionist demanded $5 each from us. BOGUS. I would have taken a longer shower. Later that night Kels and I hit up the ATM which just so happened to be at the local bar where we met our new friends, Gary and Dalelyn! We sat down for one drink and ended up staying hours talking to them! Poor Dan was left holding down the fort in the city park. Ya win some you lose some. The next day we woke up to coffee and donuts just hundreds of feet from our beds. Love it. Then after an hour of learning how to play the Nez Perce flute from one of the vendors, Kelsey and I jumped off the cliff together and made the purchase. Now, we have a new activity for tent time, don't worry, concert to come upon our arrival to Iowa City! Meanwhile, Dan had already been put to work by the locals numbering the parade floats with the promise of a free lunch. After we had stuffed our faces with parade candy and hot dogs we disdainfully started the six mile uphill out of Richland. We joked about how funny it would be to blog about how we vomited up our hot dogs as we sweated up the mtn, but thankfully we all kept them down.
Yesterday we made it into IDAHO! (finally!!!) We camped right along the Snake River. It would have been the perfect night- campfire, flutes, and all, EXCEPT for the fact that it started storming, and never stopped. Our tents were whipping us in the face, everything was soaked, and on top of that, we had set up our tent directly below the only light in the parking lot. Way to go. The next morning was hot, we were tired, grouchy, and dreading the climb out of the valley. After another 13 mile uphill climb, we reached the top just in time for the rain to come pouring down on us. Rain ruins a fun downhill pretty quickly. We raced to Cambridge which was only 8 miles away, completely soaked, and hung out at Bucky's Cafe for the next few hours. We camped out at the local park which had free camping for bikers!! And outlets galore-- awesome! However, we soon learned that the shelter's lights were motion activated and wouldn't turn off! So after laying in our tent under bright light for the second night in a row, Kelsey had the brilliant idea of unscrewing the light bulbs! So I climbed up on her shoulders (and after being terrified of falling down we switched spots), and voila! Problem solved! We slept like rocks. Big 70+ mile day today, we're hoping to make it to Polluck. We're hanging out at a coffee shop in Council with a Frenchman who wants to take our pictures.... just another day. :)