Well it’s cooler today – only 37.5c!
I’m at a place called John Day as I type. Very much a Cowboy and Indian town in Oregon: Hicksville. However as I was here first and no motel had been booked I got us into a ‘Best Value’ motel which did a really nice twin double bedded room with AC and all the trimmings plus a swimming pool and the most helpful pleasant middle aged sisters running it: And all for $80 a room!
I rode from Lewiston on my own today and enjoyed the 270 odd mile trip a lot. It’s amazing the differences you see in such a ride – from fairly flat prosperous agricultural Idaho into Oregon that seemed a lot poorer, lots of dilapidated and empty buildings and one horse towns and land that was scrub. Equally though I went through one or two National Parks with the mandatory winding road through the forested valley of a range of hills. I also rode through a couple of larger towns as it’s interesting to see how they lay out their towns and what shops operate in them. However when I say large towns, I guess they were Felixstowe size.
The trip is nearing its end now and I’ve started to reflect on my feelings about it. It’s probably too early to put these down in the blog yet but suffice it to say that I have, in the main, really enjoyed it. The main issue is around the size of America and the distances we’ve traveled – basically we’ve spent too much time chasing from one place to another, crashing out of an evening and then getting back on the bike first thing in the morning. I also much prefer just traveling with one or two other people – it’s far easier to make decisions about what you want to do, the speed at which you want to travel and meal and hotel breaks are a lot easier. Nevertheless all the guys have got on pretty well and there haven’t been any big falling outs – yet. More to come on my thoughts about the trip later. PS I’ve done one or two videos of my ride which are to big to upload – I’ll share them with anybody who wants to see them when I’m back.