Day 56
We left Canada today... Just kidding, this Ontario is in Oregon. We dedicated the ride to Josh's aunt, Ellie, who passed away from cancer several years ago. During the ride, we also met someone who is actually from Canada. The couple we spoke with are from southern Ontario and road tripping in the US. The man told us about how his brother passed away from colon cancer and also the many people he had cared for during their battles with cancer. He was grateful for his opportunity to take care of family and friends going through the disease.Do you remember when it used to be cold at the beginning of I4K? It rained sometimes and we were quite chilly up in those Appalachia Mountains. Well, those days are something of the past. Today we faced large hills, heat, and headwinds, for 80 miles. We climbed out of Treasure Valley, from desert to more desert. Today we entered the Pacific Time Zone. We also departed from the Snake River at the Farewell Bend. This is where the Oregon Trail pioneers left the river too. We rode on I-84 for the final time today, but will return briefly to an interstate when we reach California. Traveling through the only town, Huntington, we met the gas station attendant who pumps gas because it is illegal to pump your own gas in this state. There's also no tax on food here. We saw the Blue Mountains, which are snow-capped. It's been awhile since we have seen snow. Snow is made of water... Something that was lacking today. We actually ran out of water towards the day's end and ride groups had to go to random houses to request the good old H2O.We are now in Baker City at St. Francis Catholic Church. The school has a gym which we've taken over. There are also showers here! Several trips to Dairy Queen and grocery stores later, we ended up having an early bed time because of the time change. We're really excited to camp tomorrow for the first time in 9 days because we have new tents.