Severe Passes and Baker City

We are at a park in Baker City and the sun is shining on us, the kids are playing and everything is rosy, but about 2 days ago things were rough, giant passes, rain, a pinched nerve in my hip and long days of grinding away.  On the brighter side, Eastern Oregon is way more gorgeous than I ever dreamed it would be, mile after mile of dramatic landscape and friendly folks, the ones that aren't were comical, last night somebody drove right up next to our tent and yelled at us to wake up and ride our f-ing bikes, we thought maybe we'd slept in too late and looked at our phone, it's 6 a.m., we concluded that they must just need something to do, but we did get up and got off at about 9 a.m., good for us.  In Mitchell, we spent an extra day just because, we flipped a coin and that actually settled it, the kids played all day and we met all kinds of interesting folks there, the owner of the mercantile was a rip-roaring banjo player who taught the kids all kinds of songs about goofy looking girls and heroic boys. In the morning our friend Kaleb showed up and brought his bike to ride with us, I don't think he was expecting such a gnarly climb, but made it to the top with us, riding my bike and me riding his vintage Peugot touring bike, what a sweet, smooth ride up. Most people have been quite friendly, in Dayville we came into town at 6 or 7 at night and asked at the local store where the nearest campground was, they told us there was a church up the road has a hostel for cyclists, sure enough, a block up the road was a little white church on a hill, the Dayville Community Presbyterian Church, a sign on the door said to check in with the house next door, we met Rose there and she showed us around, they had a washer and dryer, shower, kitchen and a t.v. with all kinds of family type movies, we were stoked, I made dinner then hopped in the shower, that was fun, we set up beds on the floor and listened to the rain outside, so thankful for a dry place to stay, I hope the folks there keep on doing their thing there, they are making so many people happy, we want to thank them again.  The passes were brutal, three in a row, 7% grade for mile upon mile right outside of John Day, we felt like tenderized meat by the end of three of those suckers, and finally into Baker City, OR, where we are surprised to see looking so green, we were told by so many people that it was dry and desolate out here but on the contrary, this place looks like paradise, a man we here laughed when I told him I thought it would be wasteland out here, "that's great!" he says, "that's what we want everyone to think, they can all stay out on the coast".  We hope to head out tonight, there is some camping outside of town and we still have some stuff to grab at the store, life without salt is no life at all.

Ochoco Pass and Mitchell OR

We are camped out right now in the funkiest little town called Mitchell OR, a real old west with absolutely no pretense whatsoever, just the funnest place. The town lets bikers camp in the town park for 3 days and has water, fire pits, bathrooms and playground stuff for kiddos, and right now there is only us and Tom, a young guy from out east pedaling to Virginia from Florence OR.   We camped last night in the Ochoco Wilderness off the road a little bit, we got in around 7 and started setting up camp, we had dinner, rice with veggies, falafel and hummus and while I'm cooking I remember seeing all kinds of posters warning us about bears in the Ochoco, so I am getting a little paranoid about the smells we're creating here, I am trying to keep all food smelling type stuff off the ground and after dinner buttoned up super tight.  We went to bed after we sat around the fire for awhile telling bear stories and I had the most realistic dream that a bear was trying to get in the tent and I kept pushing it's fat head through the tent and growling at it, just totally annoyed that it would just keep pushing back. It was so real that when I woke up in the morning I asked Ryan if he had heard all the racket of me fighting with the bear, "no, I missed that" he says dryly, "How in the world could you miss that, I was rocking the whole tent!" I snap at him, "You were dreaming Jelena " he tells me matter of factly. I seriously had to ponder this, maybe I really was dreaming, maybe not. I had to investigate this one, I got up and looked around for footprints ,nothing, food left on the trailer is untouched. It all seemed so real. We finished leftovers from the night before and start heading out when we're met by an older hippy couple on a  co-motion tandem fully loaded, they tell us they are heading to Maine, Bay Harbor to be exact.  These guys are firing off questions left and right about us and our set up and just thrilled to the max, Abby boasts to me that she saw them first and they were gnawing on a two-pound block of cheese with their teeth, I love them instantly, I offered them the use of my pocket knife and they refused and kept ripping off massive hunks with their chompers, their names they tell us are John and Shanna and hale from Salem, OR, we had a blast asking them questions and them asking us questions, and John the whole time he's standing there talking to us is just gawking like he had just discovered a village of leprechauns or something. After a long visit we part ways, I am sad to see them go but they are getting 60-70 mile days in and I doubt we'll be seeing them again and we are averaging about 30-35 right now.     The Ochoco is gorgeous, every bit of it, giant ponderosa pines, the children call them puzzle pines because their bark looks just like puzzle pieces, high meadows with little butterflies floating around and happy little yellow flowers, we are climbing all day and finally get to the top and come to sign that says. Downhill next 7 miles, I mean this is some serious downhill, probably a 12% grade and we are just soaring, Ryan and Obby tucked themselves up and bulleted past us at 40-45 and I had every intention of catching up but something went flying off my bike and Abby tells me it's my stevia that I had in my front pack, I didn't reckon I'd find any of that anytime soon and had to stop and grab it, I guess I had left my front handle bar bag open, I probably would have lost it all as fast as we were going.  We got rolling again and we are cruising in no time flat, I could not even begin to describe how beautiful this place was, just one shocking scene after another, valleys with ancient sea bed rock formations rimming the whole thing and giant grassy plains way down below with mountains busting out the ground violently and covered with amazing trees and foliage.  I about made me cry, but I couldn't because I'm flying so fast I would surely going sailing over the edge of this cliff right next to us if I teared up.  I am holding the handle bars so tight, scanning the road ahead like a hawk for any bumps or gravel patches, with wind flapping my cheeks around like laundry on the line, Abby is trying to talk to me but all her noise is falling behind her, I glanced her face in the mirror and she is all smiles from ear to ear, she lives for this kind of stuff, little junkie.  When we get to bottom I asked her what she had said and she told me she was yelling for me to pedal like she was.   We reach flat land and pedaling seems so hard now after that and it is significantly hotter for sure, I had to shed the jacket and hat I was wearing and that still wasn't enough,  we were now entering Mitchell, we were all talking excitedly for days about the captive bear they kept there at the local gas station, it was supposedly so tame, you could wrestle with it and we really couldn;t wait to meet him, we stopped first though at a coffee shop heralding famous maple bars and the kids asked how far it was to the bear, the lady at the coffee place tells us that they just moved the bear to a ranch outside of town because he was getting too big, we were bummed but when we rode on into town it all seemed to get better, this place is so cool.  Old West mining town that is stuck in time, I mean, Sisters was cute in that Disneyland sort of way, McDonalds with a western storefront scene, but this here is the real thang. We roll into the park and there is John and Shanna eating their lunch with Tom, we have a happy little reunion but after a bit they gotta go, they are serious about miles. I don't understand how it was so hard to part ways with people you just met this morning but I am struggling. Tom is staying behind and we get to chat with him a while and soon Ryan takes the kids off exploring the town, they come back hours later telling me excitedly about all the scorpions they caught, and then they take off again and it's been hours more, it's going on 9:30 and no sign, where could they be, this town is only a couple hundred yards long with just a couple hundred people.  I better go find em, they might be in a pinch with a rattler, I'll have to go use my mad bear fighting skills to free em of their predicament.

Major Alterations

So we've made a lot of changes the last couple days, unfortunately it means we're not on the road but in the end we'll be happier.  Sam no longer has to have a trailer behind him and instead is sporting panniers and Ryan now carries Sam's trailer instead of the cargo trailer, with all the kitchen stuff in there.  Sam was so excited and demonstrated how fast he could fly up the hill clocking himself at 14 m.p.h. We have knocked off over 45 lbs. and have streamlined significantly.  We also traded the Burley trailer for the girls and got the Chariot instead because of storage problems, they seem way cozier and it's red which is my favorite color.  We're itching to get going but this is good stuff.

Bend, reunions, and fortune cookies

We had the most wonderful time visiting here with folks in Central Oregon, staying up till 4:30 in the morning, visiting a Yerba Mate shop, which is about like solid gold in my books, laughing our guts out, playing in the sunshine with the Love family, beauitul reunions with our roommates, the Harris's, and lot's of reconstructing of our load.  We have shaved easily 30 lbs. of gear and 15 lbs. of trailer, we've totally reexamined our load after learning alot crossing the Cascade mountain range, and gotten alot stronger.  Ryan's legs are totally morphing, he has some crazy, mutant calves and his thigh muscles are just plain sick, they start jutting out right after his knee in a super-heroisc fashion. All the children have the same wild muscle stack on their legs and also are noticable stronger looking.  I feel good and look forward to riding more, but  it will be hard to leave everyone here.  We really feel like we are leaving our familiar territory and venturing out into the unknown,we've always hung near the coast and E. Oregon is foreign.  We've been shown so much kindness by complete strangers, giving water, places to stay, money and just time, wanting to stop and talk to us and know our story, in Terrebonne, outside Smith Rocks, the owner of the local Thriftway came out and was asking us questions, she herself was an avid biker who has pulled off several, 400 and 200 mile races, a wiry and energetic lady anmed Bonnie with a shock of blond hair, she asked us all kinds of questions and was so fascinated with the whole touring aspect of life with a family, she is taking pictures of us and jumping about excitedly and could tell she was so thrilled she could have busted out of her skin. "Is there anything you need?" she asks "I own the whole store, you name it" I was just flat taken back, "we could use some water out of your faucet to fill our bottles" I tell her, she goes inside and comes back with the jug filled that I gave her and a bag full of Powerbars and snack-y stuff for everyone. She is standing there talking to us and notices my arm covered with poison oak and runs back in and brings me calamine lotion and cotton balls to take with me, she wanted to aid us in whatever way she could,and when she could see we were in need of nothing else, she gave us money,  her kindness was so precious to behold.  People we know have been equally amazing in their  giving of themselves to us, pampering us, encouraging us, letting us keep them up all night, and putting us up.  The Bray family that we've bee staying with here has nothing short of just plain doted over us constently, they gave us their bed to sleep in, made meals and treats, loved on us severly, and smile the whole time, we will never be able to repay their kindness.  Rachel Harris wanted to take me out for coffee in Bend and took me to this little tiny place called the Sparrow bakery and got me the most amazing breakfast sandwich on the planet, a poached egg on a homemade croissant with a giant slice of peppery bacon and covered with arugula and garlic aioli sauce, I just groaned the whole time I ate it, and they had an amazing execution of an americano, it was all just way too dreamy.  The Harris family watched our bunch while we went out for the last date we'd be having in a long time, we grabbed last minute items and went to a Chinese restaurant and talked about the next jaunt over tea and dinner.  We also had a chance to cut hair, Ryan and the boys probably shed 3 or 4 lbs. of hair and are now looking way more streamlined, Jessica did a great job but the hippy in me was kind of sad to see all the locks come crashing to the ground, maybe the birdies will make sweet little nests with it.  The next stretch is going to take a lot more planning as there are alot less ways to secure water and towns seem more spread out but we are excited.  I know we've been well taken care of and the Father's provisions have been more than enough and that never ceases to amaze us.

Obby and his new pals Octavius Steen (9) and his brother Darius (6) taking us back home with them to their cool, desert oasis home outside of Sisters. This is about the hardiest bunch I've met in a long time. They are a rare breed. These boys met us at the road and chased our bikes for three miles with no hesitation. They know these parts like the back of their gnarly little hands. Obby and Sam had no problem getting cozy with this bunch.
   The boys Dad, Peter Braun is an avid climber and woodworker who has crazy knuckles like knots in a pine tree from climbing but is the sweetest gentlest soul who loves babies. and gives the greatest hugs in the world.  Peter and Dorris have a sweet house nestled in a lonely canyon with their 4 rowdy boys, Octavius, Darius, Cannon, and Dax and lot's of rabbits, cats, chickens and turkeys.  Dorris carries a dagger in a leather case on her belt loop, I of course loved her instantly, it was very hard not to linger here for days, weeks maybe. I hope I see these ones again.

Anny is enjoying some time running around on back roads to break loose from the trailer. On our way down the 3 mile driveway in Central OR to our new friends house, Octavius Steen (that's really his middle name) and his brother Darius escort us to their home in the McKenzie Canyon area outside Sisters. The Deschutes are a beautiful and I can't believe all the views, Smith Rocks (famous climbing spot), rivers, snowy peaks, sprawling ranches with cool barns and the healthiest horses in the world and all these animals are running majestically up to the fence to seemingly greet us, I feel special.

Our Flagger over the pass

I gotta shut you down
-police officer of the Cascade Range area

Real men wave pink ponchos
-Jelena Steen