It's hard to believe we only have one state left. I had an awesome time white water rafting on Snake River in Jackson with friends, but then the next day we had to brave Teton Pass. The climb was 6 miles long, fairly short compared to some of the climbs we're used to, but it was one of the steepest we've encountered. When I got to the summit, everyone who had already made it was there cheering me on--we made a tunnel for all the riders coming up, and had a dance party atop the peak (it felt like a mini Cannon Beach!)
We had an awesome descent, then entered IDAHO...Famous Potatoes. Entering Idaho, I was surprised at how drastically the scenery changed, once again...it was much greener than I was expecting, and absolutely beautiful. We rode into Idaho Falls that day, to a wonderful church hosting us that worked closely with IF's Habitat chapter, with whom we built with the next day. The build was very well organized, and then later that night, the pastor of the church invited us to his beautiful ranch home out in the country for a cookout--it was a beautiful backyard, and we had delicious food and played lots of volleyball...exactly my kind of summer night!
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| Thrift Store donations... |
The next day we had a more boring, flat ride to Arco, ID--the first US city lit by atomic power (the world's first nuclear power plant was on our way!) I rode the first 40 miles with the other UNCers on the trip (we started off doing a "Tar Heel Ten Mile" together, but ended up riding a lot longer! It was great talking to Michael, Lacy, and Keefer--don't usually get to ride with them!) The church in Arco gave us all the leftover clothes from their thrift store donations to use for our "Thrift Store Prom" the next day. It was HILARIOUS trying on all the clothes!
From Arco, we headed to Challis, ID--an absolutely beautiful ride, especially the section through Grand View Canyon. We had a tough climb (against the wind, of course) up to the retreat center where we were staying, but the location was awesome. Nestled in the mountains, we had our own kitchen, deck, showers, and BEDS--a first for the trip! It was wonderful; can't wait to be sleeping in my own again! We had our Prom that night, which was a blast; everyone got so into their costumes and we danced a lot and got to look at the awesome sky out in the mountains.
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| Cowboys/girls on prom! |
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| Retreat center in Challis |
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| Ride along the Salmon River |
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| Looking out over Lucky Peak Lake on the way to Boise |
We got to sleep in the next day, but everyone was still pretty tired from being up late the night before. The ride into Stanley was perhaps even more beautiful than the day before; we followed the Salmon River and it was very woodsy, passed several hot springs, it was just wonderful. It was a steady incline all day, but so gradual we hardly noticed it. We got into Stanley, where we were camping, but it was a great location to be outside. Ryan's family vacations in Stanley every year, and provided us dinner at the ranch they were staying at--delicious! That night was extremely cold, and when we woke up the next morning, the temperature was right around freezing. We slept for a while and then tried to pack up to get going, but it took a while, because everyone was still so cold! We had a 91 mile day that day, and I was quite worried about not making it, just because the morning started off pretty roughly and I'd been feeling pretty tired the past few days. Abby and I felt surprisingly strong, though, and rode towards the front of the pack all day, which was a great change! We had a climb that was 10 miles long and pretty touch, but we're all starting to get a lot more used to climbing (and dare I say...enjoying it?) It was a long, exhausting day, but very fulfilling to complete it. We arrived in Idaho City and explored the historic section, which was pretty neat.
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| Niel as Santa--Bike and Build Christmas |
The next day was our Christmas in July! We woke up late and cooked a great breakfast, and danced to Christmas songs. Our ride into Boise was only about 38 miles, and once again, beautiful! We arrived in the capital around 12:30 and ate lunch, then had our Family Meeting, where Niel dressed as Santa and distributed our Secret Santa presents! It was a lot of fun. Today we're just relaxing and maybe having a picnic in the park--our last day off, then a 7-day stretch into Portland, where we have a Build Day. Then only two more ride days before we reach the Pacific--so hard to believe!
(I'm so sorry the pictures are out of order; the formatting is so hard and I had limited time on the computer!!)
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| Lacy, Kareem, Ryan, and Daisy on Prom Night |
