Day 12: Cheyenne to Burley, ID

Today was one of “those days”.  Bear had planned a route for today that was longer than usual but all on Interstates so we were hoping that since the storm was passed us the roads would be clear and we would be able to drive it in not much more than our usual 8 hours (75 mph speed limits makes traveling much faster).  We woke up to no more snow than we had gone to bed with.  Bug found us a Starbucks in Cheyenne, always a good beginning to a day, and we were off.  We were taking I-80 West across southern Wyoming to connect with I-84 outside Salt Lake City.  It was very cold and the highway was wet from the melting snow so Bear was a little anxious.

Bear at the wheel.  Note the white knuckles, furrowed brow, turning stomach

 As we headed west the sky started to clear and the scenery was beautiful.  The roads dried up and things were looking really good. 

 

We stopped in Laramie for gas and as we pulled back onto I-80 noticed that west of us we could see truckers all the way to the horizon and that they were not moving!  Apparently 20 miles out of Laramie 7 or 8 rigs had left the road and they had it closed in order to get them cleaned up.  It took us 6 hours to go the 60 miles from Cheyenne to the accident site.  This put a definite crimp in our style. 

Wyoming is very interesting.  The geology changes every couple of hours (after the first six) and the snow highlighted everything.  Bug got to add antelope and ravens to her running list of animals seen on this trip.  We got to cross the Continental Divide twice.  At the Great Divide Basin it splits and encircles the basin before joining back up at the bottom.  

It only took Bear 11 ½ days and over 3800 miles to finally give up the steering wheel.  Bug got to drive across SW Wyoming.  Sew Diva’s segment was through Utah.  We definitely want to come back and drive this segment in the daytime.  What we could see in the dark was beautiful but a little on the harrowing side.  Utah DOT seems to be out of reflective paint so visualize driving a chicane downhill at 75 mph without being able to see very far down the road.  The reflective paint is not just missing from the road, there is none on the little markers indicating the sides of the road or on the highway signs – such as speed limit, exits, etc.

As soon as we crossed into Utah we noticed the “no services” signs on the exits.  Bug is convinced that is Utah’s state motto.   She thought “pass with care” epitomized New Mexico and “picnic area, handicap accessible” worked for Texas.  (In Texas rest areas have bathrooms, picnic areas do not- and there were no rest areas).

Tonight is in Yakima and then into Seattle mid-day to be there in time for the evening Husky game.

Day 11: Amarillo to Cheyenne

Today was a day of learning about the Central Plains area of our country.  To be quite frank, in the past we have avoided this area as if it had the plague.  We took the road north out of Amarillo and kept going north in basically a straight line until we got into Nebraska.  Then it was a quick jog west into Cheyenne.  We had been discussing changing our route home to south through El Paso, Tucson and then up the I-5 corridor home.  But the lure of new parts of the country and new states for Bug was too great so we decided that the winter storm warnings didn’t apply to us and off we went.

Bug with her last Texas breakfast - a Texas shaped waffle

We left Amarillo in our shorts, sandals and sleeveless tops since it was quickly working its way up to over 80°.  This may seem like an irrelevant fact but just wait.  While driving north we again saw a plant we didn’t recognize growing in the fields.  We had been seeing it since we got into Texas.  Bug did the smart phone thing and discovered that it is sorghum.  It is a gluten free millet mostly used for animal feed but its use as people food is growing.  The US is the #3 exporter of millet in the world. 

Today we went through 5 states and added 3 to Bug’s list: Oklahoma (for 50 miles, but it counts), Nebraska (again for about 40 miles) and Wyoming.  Our shorts and sandals worked great until about the middle of Colorado when the temperature starting changing from the mid to high 70’s into something much lower.

Bug going into Oklahoma for the first time

Bug crossing into Nebraska

Bug and Sew Diva freezing as they cross into Nebraska

Bug entering Wyoming

We decided to give Colorado the reward for the largest windmill farms on our trip.  They went on absolutely forever.  And unlike most windmill farms we have seen up to this point, the windmills were in fields with other things in them: like wheat, corn and cows.  A much better use of the land than just the windmills.  After noticing the shape of the trees near the windmill farms we did come to a decision about choosing a place to live:  If you can see windmills from the house, don’t live there.  i.e.: windmills = intense wind!

Remember the comment about the shorts and sandals?  Well, this is where that becomes relevant.  As we pulled into Wyoming we met that pesky winter storm warning that didn’t apply to us.  OOPS!  The snow was falling as we entered Cheyenne so we got to get our luggage out of the van and into the motel in the blowing snow in our sandals.

No, this is not a hazy picture.  That is snow falling as we unloaded the car in Cheyenne

View from our window as we went to bed

 

The Race

Guest blog by Bug

We woke up early Sunday morning to head over to the Palmer Event Center for the race start at 7:30 am.  Luckily, our condo was just over a mile from the starting line so Dad, Lefty and I just rode our bikes over. 

Bear, Bug and Lefty leaving for the race

 We got to the start just as Lance Armstrong was giving his welcome speech.  With everything that is going on with him, it was still good to hear him speak as a cancer survivor.  I took one of the dedication cards that we filled out on Friday that noted me as a survivor and put it on the back of my jersey with my race number.  There were so many other people there with the same dedication card on their jersey.  It was a bit overwhelming since this is one of the first times I've been in a place so focused on survivors.  It really hit me hard that I'm in that same group now - not something I ever imagined and frankly something I've had a hard time accepting, even though it's approaching a year from my diagnosis.  But I took some very deep breaths before the race started to calm my nerves - it also helped that I was wearing my sunglasses so no one could see the tears in my eyes :)

I was very worried about the actual biking though.  We were in Texas hill country - definitely nothing compared to the hills we have in Seattle but I've been pretty much unable to bike any hills since I started chemo so I was not as well-trained as I'd like.  Also, my longest training ride had been 10 miles so 18 was going to be a stretch.  But since it was an out and back course, I just kept telling myself that I didn't have to get all the way to the mid-point turnaround.  I could turn around any time I wanted.  Before I got cancer, I would never have accepted even the thought of giving up without doing the whole thing but that has certainly changed. 

We headed out with the other 18 mile riders and almost immediately we came to our first hill - or I should say "hill" - there was definitely an elevation change but more like a bump in the road.  But it was a massacre - riders stopping in the middle of the road to get off and walk or put their chain back on the gears.  Pretty much chaos.  But we maneuvered our way through that part.  There were some bigger and longer hills in the beginning and I did struggle through those.  But I never had to get off my bike and walk.  During one particularly hard hill, a guy biked past me and he looked like he did 100 mile rides on his Saturday mornings just for fun.  But I think he was just there to encourage anyone who needed it and I guess I looked like I needed it.  He rode next to me up the hill telling me I was doing great and that I had "great form."  I guess that's something to be proud of!  But it did help.  About half-way through the out portion of the ride, it flattened out and I was able to find my grove.  Then we really started moving.  We took a nice break at the turnaround point and got some of the food and water they provided.  Then back on our bikes for the return leg.  Then we started flying.  It was mostly downhill and the wind was at our back.  We hit 25-30 miles an hour down some of the hills.  Before I knew it, we were back at the finish line.  The race coordinators did a pretty bad job of measuring the 18 mile course cause it was only 16.5 miles but I'll take it.  I was definitely tired when we finished but it still felt great.  They had survivors go down a special finishers shoot to collect their yellow roses and as they announced all the finishers, they called out all the survivors as well.

Bug riding into the finishing chutes

It was an amazing experience overall.  A great way to celebrate being cancer-free.  Coming to the finish line, I felt like I had conquered something so much more than just a bike ride.

Lefty, Bug and Bear after the race.  Notice Bug's yellow rose.

 

Day 10: Austin to Amarillo

Today was our day to leave the Austin resident part of our trip and return to an itinerant traveler phase.  Lefty’s airplane didn’t leave until the evening so we were able to leave her with the mess in the condo to straighten out.  We got to see lots of different Texas today.  Austin was hill country with lots of trees (live oak, pecan and some other stuff I don’t know the name of).  As we traveled north the land flattened and the vegetation became shorter.  We went through lots of little towns, many of which didn’t look like they had changed at all since the 20’s or 30’s.  At one point we were on highways 287 West, 183 South and 70 North all at the same time.  Our favorite place name was Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River.  I kid you not - that whole thing is really the name of the river.
 

Bear wanted to go through Wichita Falls, TX where he had been stationed with the Air Force in 1969.  Do I need to say that we recognized NOTHING!  At Wichita Falls we turned west and the land became even flatter and browner.  You can tell where a spring or creek is because those are the only trees in sight.  We went by cattle ranches, windmill farms, oil well farms, and cotton farms.  We took no pictures.  We also left behind the warm (spell that h-o-t) nights.  It is so wonderful to have the window open and a cool breeze coming through.

Day 9: Austin

Today was our last day with Panda and Chalupa.  After a great scramble cooked by Chalupa for breakfast we sat around and shared stories for a while.  Then it was off for coffee and lunch.  Lunch was Mexican at a food cart.  Talk about yummy!  Imagine breaded, deep fried avocado in a taco shell.  This was followed by giant doughnuts at another truck called Gordoughs!.  Then it was time for Panda and Chalupa to go to the airport for their trip home.

 

 Lefty and Bug had $30 in “Cars-to-go” credit burning a hole in their pockets so they went off to find a car and give it a try.  For those of you who have never heard of “Cars-to-go”, what a great thing!  They are Smart Cars parked (seemingly) randomly around the city.  You pay an annual fee to join (but Bear, Bug and Lefty got free memberships as part of their race packets) and then 38¢ per minute to drive the car.  Sounds like a lot but remember they are for getting from here to there and that includes the insurance and gas.  When you get where you are going you just park them on the street, sign out and walk away.  This means they can be anywhere in the city.  This is where that ubiquitous smart phone comes in handy.  There is an app that allows you to look up the location of all the Cars-to-go in your area.  We used them when we were in Washington D.C. in June and they were a kick.  Bear said they were lots of fun to drive.  At the race we learned that Cars-to-go is coming to Seattle next.

Bear and I came back to the condo to rest and read.  We have a balcony with really comfortable lounge chairs on it so we enjoyed sitting out there with the doors open so the air conditioning could waft over us.  Dinner was more great barbecue at a place called Blue Star Barbecue just a couple blocks from the condo.

Day 8: Race Day

Bear, Lefty and Bug got up early and were off to the races.  Panda, Chalupa and I followed behind and got to the start just after they left so we decided to go in search of a breakfast.  We ended up at a coffee shop/beer and Panini bar.  Another delicious breakfast was had by all.  Then it was back to the race finish to be on hand when our riders came in. The riders all had numbers on cards with micro-chips in them so we could track their progress on Panda’s phone (speaking of toys I may need).   We had a moment of panic when Bug and Lefty’s chips showed them not moving for a long time and Bear’s showed him having finished.  All was sorted out with a quick (panicky) phone call.  It was just a glitch in the chips and they were all doing fine and were very close to the finish.  As they came in we got to jump up and down and yell a lot and Bug got her yellow rose as a finisher and survivor.  There was food for the racers, actually for everyone but the cheering squad was still full after our great Paninis so we passed on it and just ate Italian ices while the riders had tacos.

Bug and Lefty before the race

Lefty on the road

Bug on the road

Bug with her rose

Bug and Bear before the race

Then it was back to the condo to gasp and recover a little in the air conditioning.  Outside was approaching 90°.  We decided to go to Barton Springs today rather than waiting until tomorrow.  What a great place!  It was like swimming in the river but with no current, oh wait, we were swimming in the river.  Unlike the rivers at home which all seem to come directly off the glaciers, this water was relatively warm.  I say relatively because it wasn’t really “warm” as in bath or hot tub but it was not cold.  All in all, the perfect place to cool off.  We had a minor celebrity sighting.  When we were in Manhattan visiting Panda and Chalupa a couple of years ago Bear tried to push Woody Harrelson into the street.  This time he tried to push him into the pool.   Fortunately he didn’t succeed either time.

At Barton Springs

For dinner we wanted Mexican and so ended up at a place with wonderful food.  (Do you get a theme here?)  They mixed together ingredients that I wouldn’t have thought of and prepared them in a wonderful way.  This must be the difference between people who really know what they are doing and people like me who can follow a recipe or copy an idea.

Our last stop for the evening was to watch the bats fly out from under the Commerce St. bridge at sunset.  They were so tiny that they were just flashes as they left their roosts.

Day 7: Austin

This morning Bear “needed” to go see a man about a conversion van.  Our neighbor at home spent this spring and summer converting an Astro van into a camper van.  Bear has never seen a toy that he didn’t “need” so has been looking up van conversion places on the internet.   What do you know:  there is one here in Austin.   Never mind that we already have one more vehicle than we can comfortably park at our house.  So off he went.  The rest of us had a really great breakfast at Frank.  They have amazing light biscuits with all kinds of wonderful things on them.  I went for the fried chicken on the bacon waffle.  Fantastic!

See, our van is the same as the sag wagons for the race!

kids in the car

Today was the first day of “Q”, barbecue to those not “in the know”.  Chalupa had a place in mind about 20 mi. south of Austin so off we went.  It was a huge place, multiple buildings, gobs of people and really good Q.  We did some wine tasting and played a game of bocce.   Bocce is similar to horseshoes but played with balls and in the Italian style.  Chalupa and Lefty both play softball and so cleaned up on Bear and Panda.  We brought the food back to town to eat at the river walk.  We ended up parking as far from the river as you can get without leaving the park but it was fun to watch the people on the path.  Every dog that went by thought he had been invited to our party.  It was nice to be so popular.

 After another tour and beer run at the Whole Foods we came home and crashed in front of the TV and watched the Huskies give away the ranch.  All in all, not a good weekend for Seattle football.

Day 6: Austin

We woke up to a beautiful day here in Austin.  Our bikers decided that today would be the best day to pick up their race packets.  So we started the day with a walk on Lady Bird Lake (aka the Colorado River – no not the one that goes through the Grand Canyon) right in the middle of town.  It was a beautiful path with a pedestrian only bridge to cross the lake.  We went to look at the Barton Springs Pool.  It is a swimming hole created by an earthen dam across a creek that runs into the river.  The springs are 70°.  It looked really fun so we are planning to go back on Monday and swim.  Then we came back to pick up the packets, about 7 ½ miles in all.  There were so many trees that we don’t have at home and flowers blooming all over the place.  Of course it was over 80°.

Sew Diva, Bug and Lefty on the pedestrian bridge

Turtles on a rock.  Any resemblance to previous photo is purely coincidental.

Blackbirds.  Texas has no crows, just these guys with a sweet call.

Bicycle pedal cars on Lady Bird Lake

Skyline view

 

After picking up the packets and chatting with all the vendors who were just setting up their booths we headed off for lunch. 

Team Positive Emily Spirit race dedications

We found a great place with super yummy food and then had a great time at a dog stuff store.  You know the stuff:  food, treats, toys, costumes, dog themed cards, etc.  After all that we went back to our condo to rest and recuperate.   In the evening we went to The Ginger Man, a tavern with 100 taps.  Yummy, yummy.  Lefty and Bug wanted to do some bar hopping so Bear and I walked up 6^th St., the party street.  It was hopping but not like it is right now (it is 1:30 a.m.).  Panda and Chalupa’s airplane was delayed on their end so they didn’t get here until midnight.  We picked them up and it was so good to see them.  Bear and I got to visit in June but that seems like a long time ago.  They are out on the street as I write taking in “the scene”.

Day 5: Big Spring to Austin

Our room was great.  Really good beds and lots of room and the breakfast was good.  Perhaps not $200 of good but good none the less.  We had a sharp reminder that we were in fact in Texas when we went to drink the water from the tap.  Seattle water it is not!  I now know why all the ladies my age here are blonde rather than grey – you guessed it, all the minerals in the water turn their hair yellow.  So I guess I am joining the crowd for the duration.  No more silver haired fashionista for me for a while.  The other horror was that it was 150 miles to the nearest espresso stand!  How do these people survive.

Texas between Big Spring and Austin certainly didn’t look like I expected west Texas to look.  Flat yes but not brown.  Much greener than I expected and cotton fields everywhere.  They are currently harvesting the cotton so one field looks like it is knee deep in snow and the next is brown with bolls in the dirt around the edge.  I was so tempted to ask Bear to stop so I could run over and grab a couple.  I have never held a cotton boll before.  Then we hit the hill country and the land changed to rolling hills.  Lots of mesquite and big ranches but still not brown.  We were not on the interstate so we got to drive through lots of small towns.  Some were wrecks of former towns and others were beautiful and clean and prosperous looking.
 
We rolled into Austin in the early afternoon.  Our condo is right downtown just off of the biggest party street in Austin.  It is midnight and I am still listening to the horn player on the corner across the street.  And the people walking up and down the sidewalks!  Dressed in everything from jeans and tee shirt to 6” stiletto heels.  The one look I don’t see from our window is cowboy.  How odd, I would have thought that would be the big look.  This doesn’t feel like a cowboy town.  I feels the most like Seattle of any of our stops on this trip.  Perhaps it is the Starbucks on the corner.

We went for a shopping trip to the flagship Whole Foods.  It is HUGE!  We had such a good time picking out stuff for dinner – and local beer.  The cookie bar didn’t hurt either.  Imagine an olive bar with about 20 items to choose from – now turn those olives into cookies.  MMMM, yum.
 
Lefty joined us just before dinner.  Then we got to watch the Seahawks give away the farm, or since this is Texas they gave away the ranch.  So sad.

Day 4: Santa Fe to Big Spring, TX

Bug cooking breakfast at the motel

Bear enjoying his breakfast - no waffle for him

 Today was to be our shortest day.  We pulled out of Santa Fe and went east into the mountains (in Western WA we call them hills).  They were covered in juniper with a few pines.  This was almost the first “God made” green we have seen since we left Western WA.  And such a surprise.  We were expecting more browns.  Then we turned south to I-40.  We drove along the edge of a high plateau with grassland and a few very small juniper – more of what we were expecting from New Mexico.  It was like we were in a different dimension.  80 mph felt like 50, 55 like 35.  The road was absolutely straight with only a few gentle rolls.

At Clovis, NM Bear wanted to stop and see the classic train station.  It turned out there was a model train museum in the station.  We had a great time playing with all the models. 

Bug entering Texas for the first time

Today Bug got to add another new state to her list.  Imagine two states in two days!

Our original plan was to spend the night in Lubbock but it was early when we got there so we decided to push on to the next town and make a shorter day tomorrow.  Imagine our shock when at the next little burg there were NO ROOMS!  It turns out Texas Tech in Lubbock had two games over the weekend and not only were there no rooms in Lubbock there were no rooms here either.  We made a really wise decision to have dinner before getting back on the road.  It was only 45 miles to Big Spring, pop 25,000 with 6 freeway exits so getting a room there would be no problem.  Well, as it turned out, there is an oil convention somewhere in west Texas and every room for 150 miles is booked.  Well, almost every room.  We are currently sitting in the lobby of the Hampton Inn waiting for Expedia to send the confirmation for our $350. room!  I do believe this is the most we have ever paid for a hotel room.  But it is better than sleeping in the car on the side of the road.  We did contemplate injuring Bear so we could check him into the VA hospital and then Bug and I could have spent the night at his bedside.  He voted for spending the money instead.

Day 3 continued: Moab to Santa Fe

From Moab we dropped into the Navajo Nation in Arizona to make a stop at Four Corners.  Bug had never been there before and really wanted her picture taken standing in all four states at once.

Bug standing on the Four Corners

Our next stop was Santa Fe, so Bug got to add a new state to her list. This was her first time in New Mexico.

Bug entering New Mexico

We went through Farmington and dropped down through Cuba to just north of Albuquerque and up I-25 to Santa Fe.  Again the rock formations were outstanding.  After Cuba the land wasn’t as dry and empty as it had been since we got to I-70.  We pulled into our motel just as the sun set.  It is a lot easier to find your hotel when it is light out than in the dark.  We had dinner at a restaurant overlooking the central plaza in Old Town Santa Fe.  Great New Mexican food and too much fun watching the people on the street below.  There was a musician in the gazebo in the plaza so we were serenaded also.  How could it be better than that!

Day 3: Moab to Santa Fe

We decided to get up early and go back to Arches before we left Moab.  So we were up before dawn and on our way into the park.  Watching the sun rise was spectacular.  We decided that we wouldn’t leave the car and walk to any viewpoints or else we would have spent the whole day there.  Also Bug isn’t as strong as she used to be and wouldn’t be able to do much in the way of hiking.  So we did a photo bomb run through the park.  1 ½ hours – it must be a record.  It is such a beautiful park.  Glorious rock formations and dirt in a thousand different colors.  So worth it!

Day 2: Boise to Moab

 

 We got a late start out of Boise.  It was about finding a Starbucks (the motel coffee left something to be desired) and picking up some things we forgot when we left Seattle.  This made for a very long feeling day.  Southern Idaho and northern Utah, while having some beauty of their own, are BORING to drive through.  Bug and I swapped places and she entertained Bear while I slept away the miles.  We did make a stop in Bliss, ID for gas and so I could get a photo of the Ox-Bow Café.  We tried but were unable to make it work to stop there for lunch or dinner.  We have been there before and it has the best typical American food.  Highly recommended for a stop.


Bear working hard (as usual)



Bug and Sew Diva enjoying the trip

At Provo we turned off of I-15 and onto Beehive 6 (aka Utah 6).  Bug was horrified at the thought of a state symbol being based on a trite expression – busy as a bee.  It was a beautiful road.  We went through great canyons and rock formations before coming out on the plateau just above I-70. 

 

 Then on to Moab.  As we pulled into Moab we went by the entrance to Arches National Park and since the sun hadn’t yet gone down we decided to do a fly through and snap some photos.  The sun sets really fast out here and the sky was fabulous shades of pink.  We got two sunset photo ops and then it was too dark to see anything else so with heavy hearts we turned ourselves back to Moab.

 

green rocks on the way to Moab

Sunset in Arches National Park

More sunset

And still more sunset



We stayed in the Apache Motel.  It is where John Wayne stayed when he was making a movie near Moab.  Think classic early 50’s motel.  As beer aficionados we feel obligated to seek out local breweries and test their offerings.  In Moab we found the Moab Brewing Company.  Really good food and great beers.