BBQs and sagebrush

Sunday morning we got up after a comfortable night camping at Clyde Holliday State Park in Mt Vernon, OR.  It's a bargain for motorcyclists at $5 per person for tent camping.  While Re worked on the last blog post, I did maintenance on the bikes.  The chains seem to be stretching pretty quickly, but all the nuts and bolts were tight, and the bikes used a minimal amount of oil.  Later that afternoon, we went to a bbq with friends and had a good time catching up with everyone who was there., but we were a little disappointed that some people (Cindy!) weren't able to make it.

This is what most of eastern Oregon and western Idaho look like

After a second night at Clyde Holliday S.P, we arose early and hit the road to Idaho.  On the way out of John Day, we reluctantly stopped at McDeath for a breakfast of sausage McMuffins in the parking lot.  Little did we know that this greasy, pork-like product would be our only food for the next 12 hours.  The cool morning quickly turned into a hot day, peaking at 96 degrees.  We slowly wound our way through eastern Oregon and into western Idaho.  Because we can't travel on interstate highways, we are restricted to the "scenic route."  While these roads can be beautiful, most of the services are on the major highways.  Bringing spare gas cans was an excellent idea, since in several places, fueling options were more than 100 miles apart.  most of our riding in western Idaho was in rural, agricultural areas.  While it was interesting to see and smell the different crops (they grow more than just potatoes) we could never find a suitable looking place for lunch.  As the hot afternoon gave way to a just as hot evening, we decided to put our heads down and kept on riding.  We finally ate dinner at a restaurant attached to a gas station in Bliss, Idaho, then rode 10 miles south to our campside in Hagermann, arriving at about 9pm.  We covered 359 miles in 11.5 hours.  The bikes don't seem to like the altitude, so some carb fiddling may be needed soon.

PS- It's Friday now, and we're in Sterling, CO.  Since wifi is even more limited than gas stations out here, we apologize for taking so long to post this.  As we get into the more populated middle of the country, we will keep more current.  We are fine, averaging 350 miles a day, 91mpg.  Keep an eye out for tales of road angels and apocalyptic thunderstorms....  We're on our way to Columbia, MO next- should be there late in the day on Saturday!