Day 14--Blackfoot, ID to Idaho Falls, ID

Day 14—July 02, 2006—Blackfoot, ID to Idaho Falls, ID—34 miles—376’ climb (somewhere)

After a 7 am breakfast and 8 am load, riders left Blackfoot and headed for Idaho Falls, a bustling little city nestled among the Rocky Mountains and sitting astride the Snake River. In fact, the short route today followed the Snake for most of its length — the route's length, that is, not the Snake's. (The Snake is the main tributary of the Columbia River and is 1,670 miles long.) Idaho Falls, originally a fording point over the Snake River was first settled by Mormons, but it owes its existence to the River and the railroad. It was and still is a resting place for travelers on their way to other places such as Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, Targhee, Sun Valley, Craters of the Moon, the Sawtooths, and Jackson, our destination tomorrow.

Our short, 34-mile route today snaked along the Snake and took us through field after field of potatoes and sugar beets. Most of the fields have an irrigation ditch running alongside of them from which water is siphoned onto the crops. Crops are also watered with gigantic motor-driven irrigators that roll slowly across the fields and look, to me, like dinosaur skeletons. I took some photos of riders as they passed a horse ranch that has a practice bull in its corral. Talked with the rancher for a bit here and he told me that his brother had ridden a hand pedaled bike across country a couple of years ago. Said he remembers us from years past.

It was Ray’s 16^th birthday today and all at the Sag Stop sang him a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday” when he arrived. Then, brother Chris, who had been riding in the van with me, took mom’s place on the triple-turned-tandem and rode the rest of the way to Idaho Falls with his birthday brother. Later that evening at dinner, the group sang Happy Birthday to Ray again as he blew out the candles on his birthday cake, which he shared with all.

We’re at a lovely Red Lion Inn in Idaho Falls, directly on the river across from the falls and a Mormon Tabernacle (see photo below). Because it is such a short ride, our rooms are never ready when we get here so riders pack their swimsuits and lounge by the pool or fan out to various local restaurants, museums, and points of interest. I think the last riders got into their rooms about 2:30.

Tomorrow will also be our last day in Idaho. We will cross the state line into Wyoming on our ride up the mountain toward Teton Pass. It will be a tough day with our steepest climb of the trip . . . no late breakfast tomorrow. But the pride of accomplishing this climb, whether on foot the last steep miles or on bicycle, will be remembered by all.

OVERHEARD ON THE ROAD TODAY:

• “What a scenic ride!
• “Ahhh, leftover cookies from last night’s picnic. Any of that great lasagna?”
• “Gotta love these laid-back days!”