Day 60

Today's ride is dedicated to several people Blake met last night at the First United Methodist Church. Bob's sister, Marilyn, passed away from lung cancer in 2003. We also are riding for Janet's friends Sherri, a 12-year survivor of lung cancer; and Barbara, who recently was declared to be in remission from lung cancer.It was cold when we woke up, and the temperature got down to 54 deg over the course of the day. It rained a lot today. Then it rained some more. But when we first got on the Dalles-California Highway after meandering (we most certainly didn't get lost) through the city of Bend, we had enough climbing to warm us up a bit. During the first rest stop, we brought up the idea of stopping in the town of Crescent to camp. Earlier we were unsuccessful in finding a stayover, so we had planned to ride out of our way to Crescent Lake. A giddy energy filled our group as we considered the possibility of cutting 24 miles off of today's planned 71-mile ride. So Connor drove the van to Crescent in search of a campsite, and we rode on to the town of La Pine, where we hunkered down at McDonalds.After breakfast ended and we had begun ordering from the lunch menu, news came. "Campsite confirmed; showers included," declared Walder. A tumultuous uproar of cheers exploded from our group; we had just won the Super Bowl it seemed. We waited awhile for the rain to end, but it didn't. The Best Western hotel invited us into their lobby, so we relaxed there for another long while.Finally after many hours of chilling, we got back on the road and headed to Crescent, where we pitched our tents at Crescent RV Park. We got in so early that there was a lot of time to explore the small community. The Mohawk Restaurant was the dinner joint of choice for most of the team, but spaghetti was made as well. We are freezing out here, so we plan to sleep in a bit to avoid the cold tomorrow.