Wednesday, June 16

What a ride! What a ride! Gorgeous. Absolutely beautiful - everything about it. When we left the coffee shop it was 38 degrees but kept warming up nicely. Keeping warm is no problem. Immediately drove into rolling hills that turned into foothills. A few steep grades (couple were three miles long at 10% incline). Beautiful scenery. Went through miles and miles of forest mainly comprised of white birch trees (one of my favorites - and they were unbelievably tall), poplars and some evergreens. They also have lots and lots of wild roses - and they are fully in bloom. Lovely!

We saw two more bears (I managed to get a picture of one), a bobcat (he was too fast for a picture), a moose and her calf, lots and lots of deer and lots of beaver dams (and we're assuming that's the beaver we see swimming in the water). It is so fun when we get to see the wildlife. What a gift!

We were driving along today and Duane says to me, "Gayle, we left in such a hurry from the Alfred Hitchcock place, guess what we forgot to do?" Well, I didn't know - he informed me that we both left in such a hurry we forgot to even brush our teeth. Well, at least we left alive and in one piece. Another thing happened while going down the road today - Duane got hit by a bug in his face (thank goodness for full face mask). It hit so hard that I heard it hit his helmet and it turned on our intercom system (which is voice activated). Boy, would that have left a bruise (and a yucky, slimy mess) if you didn't have a face helmet.

One item I was not a fan of today was a bridge. Now, I'm not a fan of bridges anyway, but this one was made of mesh decking (like metal grate stuff) that you had to ride over. It kind of pulled the bike all over. Not a fan, but we just have to take our time on those kind of bridges.

I tried to blog last night at our campground, but if you literally moved one inch, you would be out of service, so I gave up. Right now we're in a local restaurant that has service. Thank goodness for these people. Our accommodations last night left a little to be desired. I was so excited about this place - it got rave reviews. Well, it was gorgeous on the outside. Sitting right next to a river in the middle of the mountains; however, the cabin we stayed in was "primitive." Oh, good grief - not again. Well, at least we didn't have crazy people to deal with, but the cabin's carpet I'm sure hasn't been vacuumed in months (maybe years - do they even own a vacuum?). At least it had a stool and sink inside the cabin, but had to use the shared showers. It wasn't busy, so that worked out pretty well. Thank goodness for flip flops and a clean bed.

We're on the road again now. Thanks for checking and thanks for the prayers. We are learning out hear that it really is all in God's hands - so your prayers mean everything

Gayle - BOTB

Short update from the front, headed to Watson Lake today, short day only 250 miles . Weather beautiful again, I'll write more about the "curves" we had this morning. Day 6 started and looking good! Later!