Idaho Falls

Jean writes – We arrived in Idaho Falls about 3:00 this afternoon and got a hotel right across from the falls. They’re beautiful and the sound they create is heaven. It will be good sleeping tonight! Thanks Ralph for the tip!

I’ve been asked about my days and what they consist of. You must think I’m bored out of my mind (I know I’d think that if I were you), but I’m not, at least not yet. When we get up (all in one room with 4 bikes and way too much luggage), someone always seems to know where we can get a cheap cup of coffee (and out here where there’s lots of country and not much else, that’s a miracle in itself). So we all drink coffee while having showers, packing up, cleaning water/gatoraid bottles, finding lost keys, draining the ice chest, phoning those who might have forgotten we exist, etc, etc. Then I prepare breakfast, which always consists of cereal, juice, yogart, bananas and sometimes bakery (that is, if our motel doesn’t have a complimentary breakfast). Once we are organized and the car repacked, I usually leave with the bikers; they on their bikes and me in the car. I gas up if needed, buy ice for our ice chest, and head out on the highway where they are riding.

Once on the road, I usually drive ahead for about 3 to 5 miles and then find a spot on the side of the road, pull over, and wait for them to arrive. This gives me a chance to read, nap, take pictures, make phone calls, or just do nothing. Since there’s so much country in between towns, I feel I need to be close in case they have flat tires, break chains, or get hurt somehow. They’ve experienced the first two already. Cell phones don’t work in all places. (I can’t imagine riding across the U.S. without support – meaning a vehicle in tow). By the way, there are lots of signs on fence posts and we’re not sure why because there’s usually no structure around to warrant them and they say things like, Private Proterty, Keep Out, Enter At Your Own Risk, Beware of Dog, and other threatening things but today, one sign topped them all. This sign said something like, “KEEP OUT! Trespassers Will Be Shot, Survivers Will Be Shot Again!” And I was parked right next to it. Think I didn’t keep watch on what went on around me!

When they catch up to me, they may want a snack or lunch when it’s that time of day. (Remember we said we brought table and chairs along with all that camping gear? This stuff that takes up so much of the room in our van? Well, we decided to use the table set at lunch time since, realistically, we may never experience camping on this trip. (None of us are eager to get everything out of the van at the end of a long day, then pitch a tent, build fires, sing songs, watch for bears, and then sleep, probably uncomfortably, for about 6 hours only to repack and put it all back in the van exactly the same way it came out. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle in there. And to be honest, we’re just too hot, too tired, and probably too lazy to do all that). Anyway, you can picture the 4 of us, at the side of the road, sitting in our sling-backed chairs, table full of food, among sage brush, miles of plains, and distant mountains, enjoying a meal fit for a biker – peanut butter/jelly sandwiches, carrots, snow peas, cheese/crackers and more bananas. Potassium, you know. All we need are candles and a lacy table cloth. In the evenings, after dinner, (we do eat out for that meal), I shop for food, get some exercise, and then fall into bed only to get up and do it all over again.

So my days are full – I haven’t played golf yet but threaten to do that once we hit the midwest – and I am ready for yet another. Goodnight and talk with you tomorrow if we find a motel wired to do that.