Second Day: John Day, OR to Hailey, ID
Today was another day of great riding and seeing some really amazing scenery. Here's a list of soime of the highlights:
Saw a coyote cross the road somewhere between John Day and Vale.
Saw a bunch of quails, lots of cows, lots of horses, some sheep and a few chickens.
Met some really neat people.
Rode with Bobo today.
I got a late start this morning so I didn't leave John Day until 7:30 a.m. I gassed up about 15 miles down the road and Bobo caught up with me and we ended up riding together for the day. In Brogan, OR, we stopped for gas and a snack. We ended up talking with the proprietor of the market, Sharon, for quite a while. She was very interested in our trip and treated us really well. She also had a whole bunch of chickens, of which I took several pictures for my roommate Misty to look at when I get back. For those of you not in the know, my roommate has three bantam chickens, but I digress.
Next big stop was Ontario to get a few supplies. We stopped at the Evil Empire, also known as WalMart to get a few things we knew they would have. We continued along the route and eventually stopped again for gas in Emmett, ID. While there, a few of the Cannonballers stopped and we got to talking. Robert Volz asked if I had changed my jetting yet and I said, "no". He receommended I do that, so I did it at the gas station. It made all the difference in the world when we were going over the 7,000 foot pass later on. However, it wasn't quite enough for the 8,000 foot Galena Pass, just before Ketchum, ID. I thought my scooter was going to blow up! It made it okay, but I think for tomorrow, I am going to downjet again. We have a 9,000 foot pass somewhere near the Grand Tetons, I think.
Bobo and I also stopped in Lowman, ID where we chatted with the owner of the mini-mart/gas station for a while. As usual, most people were amazed to hear our tale of riding our scooters across the US. After the Lowman stop, we really had to start kicking some butt or we weren't going to make it to Hailey before dark. We made good time and I arrived in Hailey around 7:20 p.m. MST. We lost an hour today due to the time zone change. I placed 24th again, so at least I am being consistent!!! Bobo went to Sun Valley to check things out and came into Hailey a little after I did.
We went through the Sawtooth Mountain Range, but visibility was horrible due to the forest fires. Apparentlly, the smoke was a lot worse and what we saw today is an improvement. You couldn't see any of the mountains, but it was still a nice ride.
All in all, it was another great day. My scooter is running better and my confidence is growing. I am really enjoying the riding and the beautiful country we are seeing.
Special thanks to Styrax for letting me borrow his laptop to type this entry up!! More to come tomorrow!
Saw a coyote cross the road somewhere between John Day and Vale.
Saw a bunch of quails, lots of cows, lots of horses, some sheep and a few chickens.
Met some really neat people.
Rode with Bobo today.
I got a late start this morning so I didn't leave John Day until 7:30 a.m. I gassed up about 15 miles down the road and Bobo caught up with me and we ended up riding together for the day. In Brogan, OR, we stopped for gas and a snack. We ended up talking with the proprietor of the market, Sharon, for quite a while. She was very interested in our trip and treated us really well. She also had a whole bunch of chickens, of which I took several pictures for my roommate Misty to look at when I get back. For those of you not in the know, my roommate has three bantam chickens, but I digress.
Next big stop was Ontario to get a few supplies. We stopped at the Evil Empire, also known as WalMart to get a few things we knew they would have. We continued along the route and eventually stopped again for gas in Emmett, ID. While there, a few of the Cannonballers stopped and we got to talking. Robert Volz asked if I had changed my jetting yet and I said, "no". He receommended I do that, so I did it at the gas station. It made all the difference in the world when we were going over the 7,000 foot pass later on. However, it wasn't quite enough for the 8,000 foot Galena Pass, just before Ketchum, ID. I thought my scooter was going to blow up! It made it okay, but I think for tomorrow, I am going to downjet again. We have a 9,000 foot pass somewhere near the Grand Tetons, I think.
Bobo and I also stopped in Lowman, ID where we chatted with the owner of the mini-mart/gas station for a while. As usual, most people were amazed to hear our tale of riding our scooters across the US. After the Lowman stop, we really had to start kicking some butt or we weren't going to make it to Hailey before dark. We made good time and I arrived in Hailey around 7:20 p.m. MST. We lost an hour today due to the time zone change. I placed 24th again, so at least I am being consistent!!! Bobo went to Sun Valley to check things out and came into Hailey a little after I did.
We went through the Sawtooth Mountain Range, but visibility was horrible due to the forest fires. Apparentlly, the smoke was a lot worse and what we saw today is an improvement. You couldn't see any of the mountains, but it was still a nice ride.
All in all, it was another great day. My scooter is running better and my confidence is growing. I am really enjoying the riding and the beautiful country we are seeing.
Special thanks to Styrax for letting me borrow his laptop to type this entry up!! More to come tomorrow!