|
Wutheringbikes Home -- TransAm Bike Ride
|
Saturday 14th August 2004
From
Cambridge (Bucky's Motel) to Halfway Motel, Campsite., Halfway - about 58
miles on route. While buying breakfast a man in a wheelchair said - 'you
on a bike?', me -> 'yes, doing coast to coast America', man ->'you
protesting about something', me->'no just seeing the USA', man->'oh,
so it's not a protest' (looking surprised), me->'no, I suppose it's for
pleasure' (sounding doubtful). I suppose we ought to be protesting about
something, still never mind. We headed up over the pass that takes you down,
down, down, into Hell's Canyon. A hot morning promising a very hot afternoon.
Stopped at the 'Gateway to Hell's Canyon' store - and got involved in a
birthday celebration. We were given cake and ice-cream! It was a 60th (or
55th - was that the real age?!) birthday for someone working in the cafe.
Such hospitality. I can't see this happening in West Yorkshire (or indeed
in the UK). The wonderful side of small town, rural, USA, is the simple
open hospitality that so frequently bubbles out of people. It was boiling
outside, but the icecream helped us set off, eventually. We got to Hell's
Canyon only to discover that someone had filled it, very thoughtfully, with
water. What an angel! So Steve had a swim in Brownlee Reservoir to cool
off. It was nice to see that the powerboat did not completely dominate the
boating scene. No, there were no sails flapping in a breeze, sadly, but
there were canoes about. The powerboats still outnumbered them, but it's
a start. After lunch in the shade by the water we headed out down the canyon
to Oxbow, then up the hill to Halfway. The valley going up to Halfway is
in Oregon! Hooray, we're in Oregon, nearly at the coast, only 600 miles
or so to go. Halfway provided a campground, at the Halfway Motel. And we
had a couple of bottles of Wheat Beer to round the day off. Very pleasant
- and just right after being scorched by the sun so much. From the position
of small town America, the USA is a sherriff seeing off the bullying desperado
Saddam Hussein, so why aren't the Iraqi's more grateful? No wonder a lot
of americans are puzzled by the world beyond their continent. |
|
Wutheringbikes Home -- TransAm Bike Ride
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|