Day 72 - July 14 - Lewiston, ID Rest Day - Two Old Guys Take On A Continent

July 14, 2023

Day 72 - July 14 - Lewiston, ID Rest Day

Simmering

John’s Story

Walked up the road, up being the operative word, to a cafe for breakfast. We’ll do the hotel breakfast tomorrow morning. Then we walked down the road, down being the operative word, to Albertsons for resupply. Then down the road and back up the road to the hotel. Do you sense a theme here? This is another one of those places that doesn’t seem to have many flat spots. It was nice and cool at 7:00 AM.

We rode our bikes to the post office 3/4 mile away, I to pick up a care package at General Delivery and Ed shipped some stuff home. At 10:00 AM the sun was feeling toasty.

Care package from my friend Linda in Oklahoma City. Those two plastic containers are full of bourbon molasses cookies. Delicious!! Thank you, Linda! And tell Matt hi!

We then did our weekly maintenance routines on the bikes in the shade out in front of the hotel. As long as we weren’t in the sun it was not uncomfortable. A dry heat.

We walked to a nearby pizza place to get salads for lunch. Taxied to the theater to see a matinée of the new Mission Impossible movie, Ubered to the only real brewery in Lewiston for dinner, then Ubered back to the hotel.

Finally got to the only real brewery in Lewiston, and I didn’t drink any of their beers. I had a juicy IPA from Heretic Brewing in Fairfield, CA (been there, it’s where my older sister lives) and a Bourbon barrel aged stout from Destihl Brewing in Normal, IL.

Live entertainment on the patio at Groundwork Brewing. Not uncomfortable in the shade with a breeze at 95 degrees. Did I mention the dry heat?

We will do laundry (Ed’s turn) and pack up so we can hit the road immediately after a 6:00 AM hotel breakfast tomorrow morning.

We’re looking down the road at the weather and making plans to avoid camping if at all possible until the heat breaks. We have a room at the only motel in Pomeroy tomorrow (sharing a queen sized bed again). We found WarmShowers hosts in Walla Walla and in Hermiston (about 7 miles off the route from Umatilla). Hopefully by then the excessive heat will break and we can get back to camping without meltdown. We may not have any choice west of Umatilla as the resources get really slim.

Ed’s Story

Tried to stay in bed longer this morning but it didn’t work. John was already up moving around. I told him I was just laying there but he said I was snoring,

Had a great breakfast at the cafe, a stuffed veggie burrito with hash browns and coffee. It was called the Wayback Café and is 50’s/60’s themed.

Pink was a popular color in the 50’s, although not so much now.

Couldn’t find any way to put money in, but the music was great,

I decided to mail all my cooler weather clothes home (as we will not see any more cool weather) along with some other stuff. Think I mailed about 7-1/2 lbs back. Quite a weight savings. It almost completely filled a pannier.

I knew there would be some hot days ahead of us so I contacted the only hotel in Pomeroy (tomorrow’s overnight). As John noted we have to share a bed again, but better than not cooling down at night, especially since Sunday will be a longer, warmer ride.

We ended up taking a late, overpriced, run down, non-air-conditioned cab to the theater. It was only afterwards that we determined Lewiston had Ubers - better service and less expensive, even with the tip. Had the same driver both times.

The movie was a typical Mission Impossible movie. Lots of action with a highly made-up 60-year old Tom Cruise in the lead. It was a Part 1 so I guess I’ll have to go to Part 2 whenever it comes out.

The brewery was a great way to end the day - beer and pizza and another beer. All that with live music to boot.

Not a very fancy building but it’s what inside that counts.

Tomorrow is a short day of about 40 miles. The glitch is that we have almost a 2000 ft climb after the first 10 miles. Luckily it will be in the morning so the heat won’t have built up by then.

Currently washing clothes so we can finish packing.

So campers, until tomorrow, happy biking!

Today's ride: 1 mile (2 km)
Total: 639 miles (1,028 km)

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