Tidak Apa Apa

A wonderful finish line at the Lincoln Memorial

It’s unreal that this is our last day of the trip. We have been biking everyday with all the stuff we need on our bicycles since June 18th when we left Seattle. We have felt an amazing amount of support from family, friends and strangers - and together Ben and I have battled through challenges and problem solving and have just loved every minute of this journey! I have learned so much about the food waste in this country, but also have met the most amazing people who are doing something about it! I hope to document our adventures in some form or another. Thank you for following our stories during the summer of 2014!

On a much HAPPIER note, look at all these cows! They stopped and all looked up as we were biking by. Then they started RUNNING with us! No joke, they trotted next to us for about a quarter mile, all 250 of them. I couldn’t figure out what they wanted? I tried looking for a rancher or someone local I could ask, but no one was around. It one of the best moments of this trip!

Nebraska. State 7. The good life…of headwinds, let’s hope for tailwinds today!

Denver, CO. Kyle, pictured working on the bike trailers, is the director of Denver Food Rescue. We met over coffee and continued the conversation about food waste and how DFR (http://www.denverfoodrescue.org) is finding their niche in the city. He started in Boulder and now in Denver found that it’s important to adapt your rescue mission to the city being served. Ask yourself, “Are you really making a difference? Where is the biggest need and what are you accomplishing?” He found that it’s best to create leaders in the community to become part of the effort. He has found alternate ways of delivering food vs. a food bank structure. One solution is to set up tables on the sidewalk of neighborhood corners - it’s familiar and it’s neighbors helping neighbors. Food banks can be disempowering, Kyle believes food stamps are important for that sense of independence. Now if only these grocery stores would sell that non-perfect produce at a discount then those food stamps could be stretched even further! I enjoyed the conversation with Kyle and his philosophical way of looking for solutions. We then joined him and 2 volunteers to pick up produce at Sprouts Market and get it ready for bike delivery. Thanks for letting us join for the afternoon!

Stop the killing.

You fooled us Idaho, led us to where the bikes can’t go - gravel roads! Turned around and now traveling on the highway, but not before stopping for lunch under the highway bridge. Loving the shade!

Goodbye Oregon - you were a great state to bike through north to south and west to east for 10 days. Hello state #3 IDAHO!

Who is ready for 100+ miles today, rounding out the last days in Oregon. Day #12 Sunny and 76 deg. We are leaving the Best Western apartment suite (never knew they had one!) for open roads and not sure where we will sleep tonight? Ready for more adventure one day at a time, happy Sunday!

And so it begins, one horse towns where gas is $6/gallon and while striking up conversation with a nice Harley couple I saw my first handgun of the trip 😳

Day #7: starting the climb to Mckenzie pass. Today was the first time I was scared on the road, it was only for a mile or so but since Seattle I had never felt this way. The gravel eventually cleared and the shoulders widened and so we continued our way to the hot springs campground (first night of camping on this trip). We stopped at this great local cafe (maybe 7 tables) for lunch and everyone was intrigued by the bicycles.. The waitress even made sure there was “a table saved for the bicyclist out front” and didn’t realize I was one of the cyclists at the next table over. All day we listened to mixed reviews about crossing the Mckenzie pass from the Eugene side which is more difficult than from Sisters, OR. We heard comments about the “no shoulders and switchbacks which you’ll be walking your bikes up” to this man at the restaurant shouting to the waitress “can you believe these two want to cross the pass on a bicycle!” He was a very sweet man and fun to share our stories with. We figured it was smart to take in all the advice, but would rather battle up the steeper, shorter pass than battle the tractor trailers and RVs over the more traveled pass. And we wanted to see those gorgeous views! So plan for day 8 - Mckenzie it is!

-Knee pain still hanging around -Total freedom being on the bike -Started to get tired at mile 64 -Total miles for the day: 70 -My bike at start = 82lbs -Ben’s bike at start = 85lbs -Best finish to the day - ice bath in Nisqually Glacier run off water!