[bike] what divide by what?

Hurray! We have crossed the Continental Divide!! What a day to get over those mountains!

 

I guess I'll start from where I left off at Missoula. Geraldine (the lovely woman who let us stay over: she's a bike tourer herself) bid us farewell. We got a late start from her house because we were still getting used to the time change...we are in mountain time now. At some point we stopped at a gas station because Karen broke 1000 miles!! We celebrated with ice cream. I don't know how many miles they rode before Portland...so I don't know how many miles I've ridden.

 

We stayed overnight at a ranch town called Ovando. It looked exactly like a town from the 1800s: it had saloons and a small store. We got a chance to visit the museum to see how people out in the rural/ranch/rodeo towns of Montana lived. We camped next to the museum: nice except for the lots of MOSQUITOS!

 

Next day we biked to the Continental Divide! The entire way was rolling hills; the uphills were steep, and the downhills weren't very satisfying because they weren't very steep and we had a head wind. The head wind got stronger during the day; I was so frustrated going at 7 miles an hour on flat land...Even worse was that we had climb over McDonald Mountain Pass to get to the Divide line. That meant climbing a steep hill, with a strong headwind, after 53 miles of biking already done that day. I had to give my legs and my bike a lot of encouragement to get up to the top. But I did it! without walking my bike and only one stop to take a short breath. I was proud of myself.

 

We camped on the Continental Divide where there were also a lot of mosquitos. Today we biked only 50 miles from the Divide to Townsend, via big city Helena. The first miles down from the Pass was super fast. I LOVE downhills!! But it was such a hard 50 miles afterward: the weather was sweltering hot (100?) and the strong head wind did not go away. I felt like a bull, trying to barrage my way through. The miles went by very slowly, so slowly I stopped trying to count down the miles. Now I'm exhausted, but glad that this library is airconditioned! Woohoo!

 

why is Montana so big?

minwah 

 

 

[bike] continued

From Pomeroy we headed through Clarkston and Lewiston into Idaho. We picked up a huge box of unopened fruit snacks that were dumped on the side of the road. After sixty odd miles, we arrived at Lenore, Idaho where we spent the night. We found a camp site off a gravel road next to the train tracks at Lenore. The only thing in that town was a post office.

The next day we continued along Route 12 to Lowell. I have a newfound respect for Idaho...the mountains,hills, trees, and rivers were unlike anything found on the east coast. Along the way there were a lot of historic signs that told you about the Lewis and Clark expedition, and the native Americans that used to live there. That night, we stayed up to wait for Ariel to come back! Her family drove her out to Lowell and they brought lots and lots of food (leftover from her grandfather's funeral party): Barbeque pork, spicy hot dogs and shrimp, jello...etc. We pigged out right before we went to sleep.

Then we continued along to climb over those mountains: the next day we climbed a steady uphill to Powell, where we stayed at a campground. Finally today, we got over the mountains through Lolo Indian Pass. We were so excited at the top of Lolo Pass because 1) we didn't have to climb anymore 2) there was free hot chocolate and tea! It was so cold at the top, it was sleeting, snowing, and raining. Brr...

We came down the pass and ended up in Missoula, Montana today. On our way into the city, we bumped into a random woman on her bike at an intersection. And just like that, she offered us her house for the night. She had done a lot of touring before, so she knew that we were looking for a place to stay. Montana is so wonderful!

I posted new photos at teamroadshow.com!

-MinWah

[bike] destination: montana

When I said Pomeroy, Oregon, I actually meant Washington. We crossed the border so many times I was confused. We actually had an interesting night in Pomeroy. We talked to the Sheriff and he let us stay in the city park. At the park, some people were holding a party, and we got there just in time when the party ended, so they gave us a huge stack of leftover BBQ ribs, German cake, and apple and peach pies. mmmm. We slept under a small gazebo, but in the middle of the night, the sprinklers came on! So at 2 in the morning, we scrambled to saved our stuff from getting wet: one of us stood on a pot over the sprinkler, while the others moved our stuff to the sidewalk. It was a funny sight.  

 

We have now passed through Idaho, and into Missoula, Montana. Idaho was such a beauty. The desert changed into the forest, and the ride was absolutely gorgeous. We biked along the Clearwater River, and over the Lolo Indian Pass. Our route from Lewiston, Idaho to Missoula was a historic Lewis and Clark trail...

 

have to continue later, must get off the internet

 

-MinWah

ida-what?

Hello once again!

 

We are now in Pomeroy, Oregon. By tomorrow, we'll be in IdaHO!! Since Umatilla, we have had some adventures. We stayed at Hat Rock State Park with an old man who we have nicknamed "Wacko". We didn't want to pay for the campground there, so we asked him if we could stay in his front lawn. He talked, and talked, and talked, and went off on a lot of tangents. It was less of a conversation between us, but more of him just going off about things. But he was nice enough to let us stay there.

 

The next day we woke up before 5 am to beat the heat. It got up to over 90 degrees. We rode through Touche (prounounced Too-shee, Talia: not two-shay) There was a big store there so we got some water and continued through Walla Walla (where we had lunch) and finally ended our day at the bottom of a long downhill in Waitsburg. As we were picking up groceries, we met an old man named Roger who overheard us talking about finding a place to stay, and he offered us his lawn. He and his wife, Laura were the nicest people I've ever met!

 

They took us to the local swimming pool, then Karen, Seager, and I were craving burgers (protein!) so we treated ourselves to a huge sub and lots of mini-burgers. Then we went back to Laura and George's place and they had baked strawberry shortcakes for us. They even served it on their nice china that they bought in Europe (they also served us drinks in Murano glass, for those of you who know what I mean). We all talked a lot about our families and traveling. Finally, we were tired and they offered us their basement to sleep for the night. In the morning they cooked us a wonderful breakfast (oatmeal, toast, fresh fruit) before we headed out.

 

You should visit teamroadshow.com for more stories. There is just too much to talk about!

 

Love,

MinWah

[bike] umatilla

we're in umatilla, oregon! we went up to washington and then came back down to oregon just now. i can't tell you much about our trip because i have limited time on the internet, but i thought i'd update since i won't have internet again for awhile. Ariel, though, is splitting from us for a few days  (at her aunts place) and she'll have an update on teamroadshow.com soon. so check out the site! we've been averaging about 50 miles each day. yesterday we did 74 miles! but today is going to be a short day to recover. the landscape changed drastically from the waterfalls and lush green out of Portland and along the Columbia River Gorge. But now, it's mostly desert, with some fake grass fields for agriculture. and apparently, honking is the way to say 'hi' here...cars would honk and we'd all wave. there have been a lot of honks, people are super friendly here. we're going to leave the visitor center here at umatilla soon and head to McNary campground about 16 miles away.

 

honk honk!

minwah

the beginnings

hello all,

i start my bike trip across the usa tomorrow! i arrived in oregon on
thursday at my aunt's house. my bike arrived safely in oregon last
week, and i spent most of yesterday fitting everything together.
already, i've run into some trouble because the bike parts that i
ordered never came! but everything is fine now: i bought new parts in
Portland.

my bikemates (Karen, Ariel, and Seager) started a week ago. they biked
along the Oregon coast while they waited for me to come. i meet them
tomorrow just outside of Portland--on the Springwater Corridor, a bike
trail through Portland. it's only a 6 mile ride from my aunt's house
to the trail, so i won't have to be alone for too long.

my family has fed me well these two days (including sushi), and they
gave me a whole deal of food to bring along--so much that i can't fit
it all in my bags. i suppose it isn't a chinese family if it isn't
about food.

all things aside, most of all i would like to say THANK YOU!!! to all
those who helped me prepare for this trip...especially for all the
generous bike 'presents' and favors that you have done for me. your
gifts will be used well and wisely on this trip, and i'll be thinking
about you as i am trying to climb over those steep hills.

love,
minwah

updated blogs and pictures will be at www.teamroadshow.com (click on
journals or photos) and miniwahwah.blogspot.com

p.s. if you have more important emails to read this summer, and would
rather not receive my emails, just let me know. i won't take it
personally, i promise.