Grampa Don and HOT HOT Weather

Something different today on our Bike Trip America journey. And something similar. Something old, something new, nothing borrowed, something very blue.

To start with, we rolled down a long steep hill from where we stayed last night, right through the middle of Lewiston, across a bridge, then we headed east toward our first stop, Orofino, the site of an enormous dam. It would have been a very pleasant ride, except that the temperature quickly climbed above 100 degrees, and stayed there for several hours. When we rolled through Orofino on the way to our end destination, we saw a time and temperature sign that read 104. Happy to report that everyone was drinking constantly, and there were no signs of anyone bonking. The only riding problem was a tire blowout on Bryce’s bike. He had to climb on top of the GMC Suburban and retrieve one of his spare tires.

At lunch, in a slightly forlorn looking park at the beginning of Orofino, I checked my phone messages, and discovered, much to my delight, that I had become a grandfather. We agreed beforehand that I would use the Welsh name for Grandpa, so from now on, I’m Taidie to our newest crew member, “little” Owen. He wasn’t in his bassinette for more than a couple of hours before he grabbed the side and pulled himself over. By the end of our bike trip, maybe Owen will be strong enough to get on a bike and come join us!

When we finally got to Kamiah (pronounced Kam-ee-aiy), we found small town America! We called the local contact for the American Legion got directions to the Legion Hall, where we were staying. It was a huge, nicely maintained but nearly empty building. The one nice thing about it, it stayed relatively cool in spite of the 100 degree temperatures outside. There were no more than a handful of active legionnaires in the town, and most of them could be accounted for on one hand. There was only one couple in town, the local commander, Ron and his wife Maryanne Funnemark, who took us to their house on the edge of town … the house where he had grown up … and provided a barbeque picnic, while the boys and Maryanne entertained each other with a game of “Lawn Yahtzee,” with 6 inch dice tossed from a milk pail.

Ron was trying to be helpful with our planning for the next day’s route, and called the next door neighbor to help him decide. “How far is it to Wilderness Campground?” “A fur piece, I reckon.” “Will it be hot?” “Seems likely.” After awhile, the neighbor came by to help us more seriously, and provided a lot of good advice for the journey. As a result, we will leave early to beat the heat, and will end at milepost 122 … or was that 3 miles past Fish Crick, which is milepost 138 … We’ll find our way, don’t worry. And maybe we’ll have Owen come navigate for us!

The Legion Hall has two interesting features. A disco ball hanging from the ceiling, and a jukebox. The boys managed to get both working, which made for an entertaining evening, what with Ryan’s strobing flashlight, a large empty building, etc. Now, off to bed so we can depart in a timely fashion!

Not sure when this will get posted, since we are low on options for Internet usage the next couple of days. If worse comes to worse, this will get posted in Missoula on Monday.