Totally bendacious

We have officially quit riding the bike (a few days ago). In fact, it's been carefully stuffed in a cardboard box along with several smelly riding clothes for days. While Monty, the bike, enjoyed a well earned box coma we enjoyed a few beers......at no less than eight Bend breweries.

Before Bend we last updated you all from "lovely" Gooding, Idaho. In Gooding we went to Food World, the local market, to pick up a vegetable to add to dinner but instead found ourselves eating a Marie Calendar frozen chocolate pie accompanied by a six pack of beer... Mmmm. Maybe.
From Gooding we rode through more desert and wind than one could ever desire, but we made it to Mountain Home, Id. Along the way we passed through a sleepy town on the Snake River, Glens Ferry. Here we met a man who was lone touring to the Continental Divide. Apparently too much time alone was not a good thing, too much time in ones own head gets weird I guess.
We didn't know it yet, but we had arrived on a popular cross country touring route, the transamerica, and mr. Crazy-pants was clue #1. In Mountain Home we slept in the front yard of an RV in a permanent/long term stay RV park. Very cheap, but very nice. We awoke and went to McDonalds to grab some coffee after shoveling down some cold pizza from the night before. As always we met someone very interested in our trip and bike so enjoyed an extra long cup of coffee and some good conversation with the outside world.
Clue #2 came on the way to Boise from Mt Home. We bumbled sloppily down a sandy railroad service road thinking it would be shorter, haha. We popped out in the middle of nowhere on a paved rd that went our to the interstate, but not too far down this rd, much before I-84, we saw a teensy mom and pop produce stand, an oasis in the sea of desert. Beach boys were blaring out of the speakers on the ramada, some kids came running up from a house to the stand. We walked in and a very friendly man told us that only a few weeks ago another gaggle of cyclists had come upon this magic place. He told us how he lent them his truck and they went to Boise, ran some errands, went swimming, and came back to have dinner with him and his family. This was clue #2.
Later on this miraculous day, we met up with a good friend of mine, Paris, at brewforia, for lunch. Brewforia is basically a beer store/bar. They carry over 700 varieties of beer in bottles, and a few on tap. They also have food. After riding fifty miles since breakfast and only eating a banana between one beer was more than plenty. After lunch and after Paris was off, we were still feeling a little too good to ride, so we walked next door to grab some ice cream and sit it off on some chairs with backs. Eventually we made it to our destination, Caldwell, a suburb of Boise about thirty miles down the road.
Clue #3: The Brit. We arrived at camp, which appeared to be an old KOA, Casey went to shower and I was greeted about twenty minutes later by a cheery guy with a thick Brittish accent.
He introduced himself and told me he had already met Casey, and that we had been on the road the same amount of time, except he had begun in NYC. Turns out we had taken almost identical routes since Nebraska. He wasn't taking the transamerican route in particular but had ended up on it by chance as well. This was the first time we had been informed of this ....thing. We stayed up late talking and wished each other good luck in the morning.
From Caldwell we headed off to Oregon. We made it as far as Brogan. We arrived in the afternoon to a trailer park with camping and headed up to a red double wide with a sign hanging on the door that read "office". Sublime was blasting out of the windows, we rang the doorbell, we knocked, knocked harder, and yet harder. No answer. We found a nice spot and then went back to try again. We knocked and a bigger man, with squinty eyes answer the door and registered us verrrrrry slowly. He pointed to the camping area, very vague, and said anywhere over there was good. We changed and headed over to the only store and grabbed cold drinks since it was over 100 degrees out. In the store we saw another overheated tourer, clue #4. Clue #5 came right after, we walked back to camp and some trailer residents told us they had had lots of cyclists coming through. By morning we had figured it out, the gold miners and farmers gathering at the store in the AM asked us "which way?" instead of seeming completely taken away by the idea. We ate breakfast with a not-so-shy rooster, I fed him some turkey then felt like I just assisted in cannibalism. Oops. The farmers also kept telling us about "brogan hill" and told us that after that we would have an easy day....liars.
We started up brogan hill expecting just that, a hill. About an hour later, we reached the top, Brogan Summit 3900'. So much for a "hill". We descended a bit into a high desert valley. We cruised the valley with ease, then began a second climb for the morning, up to El Dorado Summit, 4100'. We coasted about seven miles down into Unity for lunch, it was beautiful. We were then on our way up another set of mountains and into a national forest. This time we climbed through Blue mountain pass, 5100'. Then yet another lovely long coasting session just to go up one more pass, This one at 5200', then we coasted for ten steep miles back into a valley, into Prarie City where we settled for the night. It was beautiful! We also realized that our tire was not so beautiful. We were riding on the puncture protection where the rubber had rubbed away. The next day we rode downhill to John Day in hopes of finding a new tire. we tried the bicycle cooperative, only found 27" tires, tried a discount store, same deal, tried a drugstore, same deal. Apparently they weren't unaware that size hasn't been used in about twenty years.
Hoping the tire would make it, we rolled onward. Up another very gradual pass, we saw some beautiful views. Eventually we hit the top of Keyes pass, after meeting an elderly woman doing the transamerican who warned us about the pass at 4600'. From the top we became aware of how much less gradual the other side was, very steep. We flew down to the bottom and into Mitchell. Mitchell is a one street town where about everything but the one store and bar were closed down. The city park had free camping and a very nice camping area. There we met two fellows on the transamerica with whom we conversed with for a bit. Turns out that there are guides for this trail with places to stay and stop and such. I think I liked the way we did it more, more adventure, and we met several people taken back by the fact that anyone would ride a bike outside of their Own town....
From Mitchell we rode straight up a long steep grade for twenty miles to the the top of another pass, these were becoming a regular in Oregon. From there it was a gradual thirty mile downhill to Prineville through another National Forest. In Prineville we stopped for a snack and then pushed out the final thirty miles to Bend, with especially aching butts.
We made it!!! We enjoyed some beer filled days in Bend working on the Ale Trail, this consists of drinking a beer at eight breweries, we included several sample trays.
Now we are on our way to San Francisco via the most opposite transportation from our bike as possible, a bright red, brand new, rental mustang.
Thanks for following folks! And even more, thank you all for the support to make it possible!

Location:NW Galveston Ave,Bend,United States

Pictures of Jackson and such

Wind river


View of the Tetons from togwotee pass




Hidden falls in Teton national park



Top of Teton pass



Another view of the Tetons




Love this sign




Here we are now just we'll be in Oregon tomorrow

Location:W 6th S,Mountain Home,United States

Famous Potatoes...

Fun fact: Although Idaho is known for it's famous potatoes, Maine, a state one-third of Idaho's size, produces more.

Now down to business.  Last time ya'll were updated we were in Casper resting up. What a rest day that turned out to be.... we walked ALL over town running errands, but it was a nice change up from pedaling. We rode from Casper to Hiland, Wyoming, population 10. Hiland is home of "The Bright Spot", a bar/restaraunt/gas station/store/motel, the only building in town, it is also the owner's home. We arrived there after pedaling three hours through the rain in 50-something weather....brrrrrr. We went inside to get coffee to warm up and ended up having dinner as well. During dinner, the owner's son, a gangly 15 year old, was betting a drunken truck driver $100 on arm wrestling. Lucky us, we got a free show with dinner. Since the kid was betting his mom's money she lowered the wager to $50. He won, she should have left it a $100. After dinner and a show and some lively conversation from the drunks in the bar we asked where we could camp. The owner told us, "anywhere you guys want to put a tent down!" We curled up in the tent and got warm then fell asleep. We awoke to a chilly morning and for compensation for the free camping, we bought breakfast from "The Bright Spot", which included the best bacon I've ever had....and I'm not generally a big bacon fan..... With a good hearty breakfast we rode smoothly into Riverton to visit an aunt I haven't seen in 15 years, Aunt Carol, and I met Uncle Charlie for the first time. They were awesome hosts, we were welcomed with cold beer and showers, and we had walleye they caught for dinner. YUM. We stayed in their RV trailer which was luxery in comparison to the tent. After some mapping help from them we were on the way the next morning planning a fifty mile ride to Crowheart. We got to Crowheart early and continued on our way to Dubois. That was some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever encountered! It was everything you think of when you think of the West all rolled into one! Amazing!
     After Dubois we had Togwatee pass, 9600 or so ft ahead of us. It was another beautiful day on the bike, and they had just redone the road so the slope up was so gradual it was hard to believe we climbed so much. We took a quick lunch break at the top and admired the first of many views of the Tetons. We began to descend and ran into traffic....and construction. There was a pilot line to get down the mountain, in line we were informed that we would not be allowed to ride down, but instead would have to ride down in the pilot car. We loaded the bike into the back and hopped in the cab with a very cheery man from Dubois. Once we began going through the mayhem I understood why. There was blasting going on, GIANT dump trucks everywhere, and apparently a consistent momma grizzly visitor. It was like being in another world. We got dropped off at the bottom, right next to a ranger station, and agian, we arrived early. We decdied to just coast the extra twenty miles into Grand Teton National Park.
     After paying an outrageous entrance fee, we went to find camping, to find that it was all full. We laid the bike down and sat on the ground to try and figure out a nearby camping area. I found one, I called a ranger and asked if there was water at that campground and she did not know, all she knew was that it was about twenty miles up a dirt road, the opposite direction than we would be heading. So we sat around and tryed to figure something else out. A ranger in a car passed us sitting on the side of the road about five times and never stopped. We finally gave up and called my parents in hopes they could use their super internet to find another option. Turns out my dad must have been in a great mood, because instead of simply assisting us in our search for a campground, he booked a cabin. After a roundabout the park we arrived. Tired and still steaming about the lack of help from the park service I was very  happy to get into bed and go to sleep.
     While in Teton Park we went for a hike around Jenny Lake and saw some waterfalls, and a momma moose and her baby along the way. The hike was a nice a break from the all the tourists in giant vehicles that were too lazy to get out and hike into the beauty.  Most people were just pulling over every five feet and taking pictures, I'm very releived we made it through the park in one peice. We had enough of the craziness, never go to a big park on a saturday, and high tailed it out of there and down to Jackson. We arrived in Jackson and tried to squeeze between the heinous traffic and parked cars, we gave up quickly. We locked our bike to the closest thing we could find and set off to Hannah's place of business. (Hannah is good friend of mine from NAU, a native to Jackson.) We walked by it right as she was leaving work, perfect timing! We went to Snake River Brewery and enjoyed a beer and some tasties before heading to my mom's cousin's house for the night. Chris, my mom's cousin, was singing at a wedding so we didn't meet her til the next morning. We met Chris as we came down the stairs from waking up, a strange way to meet someone for the first time, but fun nonetheless. We had breakfast and then went for a hike with her. The hike was beautiful, it was on the pass and up to a glacial lake. Wildflowers were everywhere! We had a picnic lunch of sandwiches that we picked up in Jackson, Chris' treat. mmm.
We quickly returned to town, chris had to get to work.  Before she left though she cooked us a fine meal of grilled chicken, corn on the cob, and an interesting almost asian flavored coleslaw.  She then left off to sing at the stage coach.  We waited a little while and had our friend Hanah pick us up and haul us over to "the coach".  At the stage coach we listened to some fun good old fashioned coutry music.  Chris palyed the bass and sang beautifully.  We were in the back listing, watching the dancing, and enjoying the beer, popcorn, and fries.  After listening for about an hour and a half we moved on to downtown jackson.  Here we got some frozen yogurt that was delicious.  Next we got some candy (I know sugar overload).  After that we explored jackson's city parks.  And man do they have some parks.  We played on a couple of playgrounds and went to their bouldering wall.  A city with its own bouldering wall with actual routes on it.  What a place.  They also had a memorial to those lost to the mountains.  This city has some mountaineering heritage.  The next morning we went out to breakfast with Chris at Norah's.  Hana had said this was the place to go if you have a hang over.  Well we weren't hung over but a big breakfast before Teton pass was in order.  It was Chris's treat because she wanted to "play parent" agian.  After breakfast we got a few supplies around town with Chris and said bye to Hanah. 
Now it was time for Teton pass.  Teton pass is a 10% grade road leading out of jackson into Idaho over an 8000 foot break in the Tetons. We headed out under clowdy skies hoping to aviod rain.  No such luck about half way up the pass it began to dump and thunder.  Well i'm not one to complain about a forced break from a killer hill.  So we hid out in a canyon and waited for the storm to pass.  It didn't take long until the sky's were blue again and we were able to slog over the last bit of the pass.  From here it is a ripping decent into Idaho.  10% up means 10% down and with a rig weighing in at over 400 pounds with us on it we gained speed fast.  Luckily enough we have a drag brake and were able to avoid break neck speeds through the mountains.  We popped out of the tetons into a beautiful valley in Idaho.  This little valley in the rockys still has views and access to the tetons but a LOT LESS people.  How awesome is that.  If i was going to move to the area it would definely be on the Idaho side. 
We found a camp spot in the town of Tetonia for olnly 10 bucks.  Sweet!  The next day we started across Idaho.  We got our typical start at about 10 am.  This was a bad call.  We road for 2 hours and then the winds began.  Idaho has to be the windiest place i've ever been.  It was a 20 mph head wind and it did not let up.  We went on and got to a place with a charming name of mud lake.  We beded down determined to get out earlier to beat the wind.  That didn't work as planned. We got across Idaho national labratory aka atomic city just in time for the winds to begin.  If your not familiar with INL it was the first place to produce nuclear power in the world it is also closely gaurded and has loads of radioactive waste that are aparently spilling into the ground water.  Mmmmm...  Anywho we trudged through the wind only making about 35 miles in 7 hours of riding.  We finally made it to our camp spot, craters of the moon national monument, and made dinner in the best camp spot int the house.  Site number 13 in tucked in to an alcove in the lava rocks.  It is walled all the way around by at least 4 foot high rocks except for a small opening to get in.  We again went to bed early determined to get up before the wind. 
This time we got up at 530 am.  We made it out by 830.  This gave us the start we needed.  We made it 50 miles by lunch and 75 to our destination at 3 with a long lunch break at a little dinner.  Now we are in Gooding, ID in the local library surounded by children.  From here we are moving on through Idaho and we hope to be in Bend, OR in less than a week!  Bend has become our new destination (plans change).   

Wyoming

Well it's been a little while since our last post and a lot has happened. From the Koa we stayed at we flew with the help of a tailwind into the badlands national park for the fourth of July. The bad lands are awesome. After breaking off the frontage road we descended down the "wall" into the badlands. It is a several hundred foot wall of steep gray mud hills that are devoid of vegetation. We rolled into our camp ground and set up camp. Then we went a few miles into interior SD. There we rolled through the town of 67 people to the local store. We picked up some supplies and a six pack of bud to celebrate America's birthday. Back at camp we watched the fireworks at the interior rodeo from afar. The next day we rolled through the bad lands. A great ride with steep hills going from the lower and upper prairie separated by the " wall".
We were now on our way from bad lands to wall SD. Wall is a little stop over on the way to Mt. Rushmore for most people. It is also the home of wall drug. Wall drug once a little drug store is now a huge tourist trap with delicious donuts and pie. We got sucked in and also wound up buying books. What can I say I'm a sucker for a tourist trap. Leaving with a little less money we rolled on to the little of new underwood and a night in the city park.
Upon our exit from the badlands and entrance to the black hills, we saw more and more and even more chincy propaganda concerning Mt Rushmore and crazy horse and the attractions began to seem more like Disneyland than a majestic peice of art carved onto a beautiful slab of granite. This made Custer State parks scenery of natural beauty much more appealing. We decided to dodge the playground and find some tranquility in a little mountain campground in the park.... Or so we thought.... And for a premium. The park was everything we've hoped for, gorgeous, but the camping was a reminder that we were in tourist country. There were more cabins and rv hookups, not to mention RVs than tent sites. On a Wednesday we snagged the last open spot. We were treated to a neighboring camping family's campfire jamboree, definately Willie nelson fans. And next to our humble bike camp parked the largest rv trailer I've ever seen. I never did see them leave that thing. Anywho, the next day may have been primarily climbing, but extremely beautiful! We climbed into custer sd, then up into the hills, then through jewel cave national park to an amazing overlook. After all that climbing we were rewarded. We coasted all the way into wyoming and into Newcastle. Camped out at middle school, we mentally prepared ourselves for the next days trek. The next day we rode 70 hot and windy miles across thunder basin national grassland...aka..nothing....except for the continents largest surface coal mine!!! Wow, all I have to say. I had never been so happy to see a town as I was that night. The next day was more nothing, but prettier nothing. To a town of 400 with one police officer. We attempted to call this officer to find out where would be ok to set up camp, no answer, so we went to a rec center and asked them if they knew of a spot, lucky us, the woman we spoke to was his wife! She called him and we were set up with a football field. Today we are in Casper resting out some body aches at a days inn...aw a bed.

Location:East E Street,Casper,United States

Little bike on the Prarie

Howdy folks!

We have finally made it out of the great state of Nebraska! Sad to leave behind the best and most abundant camping yet, but excited to enter "the west". Actually we crossed the hundreth meridian in Nebraska but then went to south Dakota along it. We stopped at a state park/national scenic river: the niobrara. Since it wavers on where the east meets the west it apparently is home to the most numerous species in the US. It was quite scenic as the name implies, and pictures of it and the waterfall we camped near shall be posted at the end of the trip. The day we left the park we rode onto the Rosebud Indian Reservation in south Dakota. We were greeted by the obligatory reservation casino, where we would have stopped if we had known better, apparently there was a major pow wow being held for the fourth weekend. But of course, we were informed of this party twenty miles later. We arrived in Mission, a bustling town of 700-something, to find we were in a typical run down rez town, with no camping to be found. After speaking with the police we were directed to what appeared to be a campground sandwiched between the trailer park and the highway. There was another group of folks setting up as well, some Sioux folk whom with we made friends, and we got to camp for free, not so bad, except for the incessant firework show from the preschoolers in the trailer park. It finally did stop so we could sleep thanks to a late night thunderstorm- the first time I was happy for one. The area we are in is absolutely beautiful and there is no end in sight. Never thought I would like the plains so much. Big grassy knolls covered in wildflowers, vast valleys with little rivers and creeks bordered with cottonwoods, and plenty of cows to moo at. Currently we are in belvedere sd and should reach the entrance to the badlands tomorrow night.

Location:Nebraska-South Dakota

Howdy from Nebraska

Since our last update we've made it further into Nebraska.  We are now in the sand hills.  With a tail wind we have been able to fly from town to town at a blazing 17 miles an hour.  This has allowed us a little time to explore.  We have found that many a town in this state happen to have city campgrounds.  What a relief to roll into town and find a 5 dollar camp site with showers.  Our last stop in Neligh was quite nice.  We got in early enough to stroll around town a bit and explore the old mill, the river, and a quaint little downtown.  We have also visited Nebraska's irish capital O'neil.  Turns out that town wasn't very exciting but it did have the worlds largest shamrock in its main intersection.  Last night we stayed in Atkinson.  Atkinson it turns out just bought the state recreation area outside of town where we camped.  Turns out the state of Nebraska is broke like everybody else.  After finding our campsite we went to the local pool and cooled off.  It quite the relief to get into the water, go down the water slide, and shower. Besides that it has been pretty standard out here lots of cows and grass and endless land in a word pretty.  On another note heading west I'm beginning to notice the land drying out a good bit.  We are now in ground water pumping territory.  That means we don't have to worry about dew on the tent anymore and our things actually dry!  How great is that. Now we are on our way to the Niabrara river.  Just a couple more days in nebraska and we'll be in South Dakota. Thats all for now.

Well howdy folks, we are back on the road after a hiccup, but now we are living the good life!



We left Leavenworth on a gusty day into a headwind but with a smaller milage goal it wasn't so bad. We made it to Hiawatha that night and slept near a lake. Since it was Casey's birthday we went into town that night and ate some mediocre food at the towns best restaurant..... Hiawatha's no foodie haven. We were on our way to Nebraska the next day, but not before a stop at McDonalds for some coffee and the local senior citizen crowd's barrage of questions, which is generally the highlight of my day. We stopped in Nemaha for lunch, a tiny, but very friendly little town where a man informed us, "it isn't the end of the world, but you can see it from here." that night we made it to Tecumseh Nebraska. Home of ? We slept through some thunder and lightning behind a baseball field, awoke, looked for the library, met the mayor, found the library, and headed off to Omaha. About twenty miles from town we hit Syracuse and finally cell phone reception. With a helpful tailwind we rode 45 miles in about 2.5 hours. We cruised along just as well for the next ten until we hit the city.... SCARY. We rode on a sidewalk til it ended then finally found a back road the last five miles. Aunty Jeanne greeted us with Popsicles, boy does she know the way to my heart. We hung out with Sammie the dog on the porch, got cleaned up and had a delicious dinner. It was nice to see Jeanne and we watched a special on tornadoes which turned out to be fitting for the next day. Aunty Jeanne made us some tasty coffee cake and packed us some sandwiches for lunch...mmmm. We were off later that afternoon and pulled into Fremont around five thirty. We ate dinner and watched the locals play soccer. Then we were properly greeted by dark skies and a tornado siren, we made a run for WalMart where they had us join everyone in the back. Luckily there was no twister, just a nasty electrical storm. Wally world isn't a bad place to wait one out. We bought some cake and explored the aisles. Slept in the city park and woke up just before summer camp began. We received some strange looks fromeveryone as we cooked breakfast in our fire on the table stove, but all was well. We found a brownie specialty store and some coffee, of course, never without the senior breakfast club and questions. :) Tonight we grabbed a beer at the only watering hole in Pilger nebraska, a town of 300-something. We were lucky enlugh to enjoy the drunken gossip of the farmers, quite the easedropping experience. Tata for now. We are busy enjoying the aroma of stockyard USA.



Strange clouds post crazy storm in Fremont.

Corn Belt Blues

Well its been a few days since we got to Illinois.  It has been windy windy windy.  As well we've come to the land of flat and corn.  Small towns became the norm.  We rolled into many a place with 200 people or less.  Needless to say all these places only had a grain tower and a bar.  So its been getting me down.  So how do you kick a case of the I want to quit so bad because of this stupid wind and never ending corn blues... skip it.  I, Casey, had a couple of days of seriously wanting to just go home sit on a couch and eat donuts all summer.  These thoughts would generally come at the end of a hundred mile day in corn country with never ending westerlies.  So Rae and I discussed it about 20 miles from Springfield, IL.  We decided to just rent a car, get to Leavenworth, KS and spend 4 days on our butts.  So we camped in a city campground outside of Sprinfield and slept through some good old fashioned midwest thunderstorms.  Waking in the morning we road to the airport and dissassembled and stuffed our tandem in a compact car.  We then spent 4-5 hours in car doing what felt like flying across the country side.  Being on a bike and not driving for 4 weeks made a car seem like a spaceship.

So we've now skipped Missouri and half of Illinois. I am bummed to miss riding over the Mississippi river but my spirits have already been buoyed.  We are spending some quality lazy time in kansas.  So where do we go from here?  Well we are now back on schedule (after a little cheating cheating pumpkin eating but its better than just giving up all together).  We will head out from here this thursday on our way to nebraska.  I know what your thinking at this point nebraska means more corn.  Well yes you are correct but since we are now on schedule we can stop riding 100 miles days.  We can instead ride 60 a day and still get to Oregon on time.  This will be manageable.  If we ride 70 a day or two then more rest days.  So the word is we are still going to be having fun and bike touring all summer we just needed a break half way through to get us across.

Well folks we are out of Pennsylvania...and out of Ohio. This post will mostly be a retrospective of the great state of Pennsylvania: home to the Amish, Appalacian hicks, the Poconos, and the most adorable and nicest folks. We left the Wilkes-barre/Scranton area in hopes of hauling ass out of that state..... Over a week later.... After being broken down with the best possible folks in Huntingdon we were actually on our way, but not without more ridiculousness. We found the best bike shop ever, a real gem, which had been open since the seventies. This shop had a great selection of modern merchandise but also had stock from their earlier years. Casey got a fantastic retro hat and I a Sesame St handlebar bag with the full cast on a bike for five. Eventually we did make it out and into Ohio.

Ohio: we cruised into Youngstown which was incredibly ghetto from our point of entry. No businesses for about three miles in and definitely not a place to whip out the handy dandy iPhone, even for directions out. Just in time we hit downtown which had been gentrified and went into a coffee shop for liquid energy so we could push into the night a bit to a state park. A man outside commented on the bike and then said to us, "I think you'll like it here. About twenty minutes after leaving we heard and saw a huge rainstorm. We waited in a McDonalds and watched it dump on poor Monty, the bikes name. We finally rode into the campground a little after midnight as tired as can be. We awoke early the next day to avoid paying the camping fee and were off to find a laundramat. That night we were cooking dinner in a gazebo and were offered hospitality but stupidly turned it down in hopes we would ride further that evening, but alas, it was cold, we were tired and sketchily camped on the outside of rifle range. We awoke to find out we were in Amish country! What a score!

The Amish: Picture a homely lady in old dress and in a bonnet with big ole butter churning arms.... Her husband with long beard who makes furniture and their children. Oh and the horse and buggy. WRONG! Well partially false. Like the rest of America they love their doritos and minute maid, the only difference is they do it with style. They can't drive right? No they can't, but they can ride in your car. We watched several of them get into a truck with a regular man to go do construction work. Imagine an electrician who supposedly is not allowed to use this modern convenience. Weird. However I still enjoyed them and definitely their baked goods, they make a mean muffin in that electric oven!





Ohio part II: Ohio is the most sterotypical picture of America. This state can be summed up so easily: farms with big beautiful picturesque barns, and the most well groomed suburbs you could imagine. Perfect little houses with American flags, well trimmed yards, and terrible lawn decorations. Despite it's plain-ness, I really liked it. It truly is "small town USA". We were a site to see to these farmers and townspeople. Everywhere we went people slowed down in their cars and gave us a good stare down and most were very friendly and would wave and shout something nice to us. Upon telling one man what our plans were he said to us, "I ain't ever heard nothin like that before." Besides blowing the minds of these people we also blew through the state thank you to roads like pancake st. We also had some help from a few bored farm dogs. We were just the right speed for chasing!

So happy for Ohio

Well I never thought I'd say it but... I'm stoked to be in Ohio. After spending over a week in PA it was time. Good bye PA we had some good times but really we both knew this day was coming. Additionally we needed a break from the hills and Ohio offers just that.


We have also been hitting some rain and we have to hide from this in Youngstown OH.

Location:Industrial Rd,Youngstown,United States

Broke down in Huntingdon

Well we were making good time and hoping to be in Ohio by tomorrow, but bike touring has a way of changing the most well layed plans.  We came into Huntingdon, PA from a cute little campground in McVeytown to get a cup of coffee and wound up doing some laundry.  After our americanos  and lunch break we headed to a bike shop picked up some chain lube and white gas, hit a grocery store and we thought we were on our way out of town ready to do another 40 miles to where we would camp.  As we pulled out of the parking lot the bike would not pedal like the chain had fallen off.  Turns out our 18 year old edco freehub had decieded to give out.  We walked the bike the couple of blocks back to the bike shop and asked what they could do.  As it turns out edco hubs don't really exist anymore so finding parts is not just hard its pretty much impossible.  To make matters worse we are running a drum brake which is now antiquated technology and a 160mm rear hub spacing which is specific to Santana tandems.  Evan, the shop mechanic, feverishly looked for parts for a freehub for our bike, but alas after making a call to Santana it turns out the parts have been gobbled up long long ago.  So our only option is a new Shimano hub lace up.  Then we were stuck in Huntingdon with no bike for a few days.  We asked around the shop where we could camp for free and a few people threw out ideas and then one of the guys at the shop, Jake, offered us his futon in his apartment upstairs.  This was amazing.  We are staying in town, above the bike shop.  We went upstairs to the apartment and changed our clothes, Apt #6, Rae's favorite number.  After changing, we met Jake's girlfriend, Erica, who has a cat blog.  She was just popping in to the apartment between one of her three jobs.  We went downstairs and then met Quinn, Jake and Erica's good friend who was in town for a little while.  They offered us a dinner of scallion pancakes and told us they could meet them at the restaurant/bar a few doors down from the shop, where they would be hanging out for a little while.  In the mean time we got Rae a T-shirt, she lost hers, and explored the town a little bit.  After that we went to Boxer's and got some beer and french fries.  Then we went up to the apartment to get some scallion pancakes, Delicious! Especially the dipping sauce.  When the food was ready some more friends arrived.  We met James, a friend who did wood work and Brook who were both locals to the area. After dinner the apartment was hot and stuffy, so we went swimming out in a branch of the local river, the Juniata. The name of the college in town where Erica, Jake and Quinn went to school.  It was a walk to get our there.  We walked across Huntingdon and then followed the railroad tracks out into the night.  There was a large cable swing that put you high above the water.  We hung out in the moon lite, swam and enjoyed a small fire.  We made it back home around 2 AM and got onto the futon for bed. 
Now we are in town waiting for our part and drinking coffee.  We should be on the road again tomorrow afternoon.  Our hub is being overnighted from Santana and Evan will build it up tomorrow.  For now we are just enjoying our forced break.

-Casey

Rae's comment on Caseys blog:

What LUCK! ...to get stuck in this town. It really was lucky, Rothrock is probably the best bike shop in the area and Huntingdon is a very cute and quaint little town. The people are a plus as well. The folks at the bike have been more than wonderful and accomodating. Erica and Jake graciously put us up for the few days and have been fantastic hosts on a whim despite their busy schedules. After talking to the two we have much in common: they will be in the San Francisco area at the same time as us later this summer seeing some of Jake's family, and also will be moving to New York afterwards, albeit they will be headed to Brooklyn for Erica to go to grad school in photography. Also we get to use nice computers free in a lovely atmosphere.... the coffee shop! What a pleasant stay it has been! The bike couldn't have broken at a better time. Also couldn't have broken closer to a bike shop!

Amish country

Well we've finally arrived in Amish country. This is the only grocery store I've seen with horse parking.

Location:Railroad St,Burnham,United States

Dinner spot and rae's roadkill list

This is where we ate dinner last night in PA


Rae here, Since I cant see over Casey I spend a lot of time looking at the side of the road....
Rae's roadkill list:
•six deer
•raccoon
•rabbit
•squirrel
•mice
•turtles
•porquepine
•bluejay
•groundhog
•birds

Location:N Market St,Selinsgrove,United States

Hudson river

Casey and the bike on the bridge over the Hudson.

Days Inn and the Acquaviva's

After a nice rest day, we only rode thirty miles that day, and stayed in the woods off a trail behind the city hall of Madbury, NH. It was the cutest tiny town that had a doublewide as the library snd there were several old dudes on road bikes through the area. We had breakfast at a picnic table in a town baseball field and then pushed out a ninety mile day. Towards the end of that day we went through a huge sketchy rustbelt city which I wanted nothing to do with so we skidaddled on out of there as far as we could to find a pleasant place to eat dinner. Turns out the park I eyed on the map looking for a picnic table was just a very large stand of woods and we were exhausted so we pushed the bike in just til we were hidden from the highway and scarfed down some trail mix and bagels in the tent to hide from the mosquitos. We slept there and ate oatmeal out of the package to avoid the bugs yet again and then rode on until we got to Amherst. We pushed up some lonnnnnng hills and then coasted about eight miles down at scary speeds until we hit Amherst. Sine we had ridden forty miles pre lunch we figured we deserved an afterlunch pastry at the black sheep coffee house. Amherst was a beautiful town and sight for sore eyes after Fitchberg. We took off our cleats and walked around in sandals for a bit...ahhh. Ready to go we headed out of town but not before stopping at a gear shop for a pactowel so we could finally dry off after showers. Next we took an awesome rolly neighborhood road til we hit the the Hamptons. North Hampton had a cutesy but never ending downtown. We stopped in Southhampton in a park to cook some soup then we were off to find a campsite. Easier said then done cause we shortly reached the sprawl of Springfield Mass. and ended up riding about twenty more miles than planned to escape it and camp illegally in Granville Gorge. We got out quick the next morning to avoid getting into trouble and had breakfast at a DunkinDonuts to make some calls to get the bike fixed. A place down the street in Southwick fixed it for free and gave us the tool we needed free as well and told us he hoped we'd find lots of kindness down the road. While we were in New England Bicycles a couple with another Santana tandem. Diane and her husband were very friendly and gave us some good advice. After stopping for a donut at a suggested bakery we pushed on into some very steep hills in Connecticut. We camped in a state park that night by a lake and actually breakfasted outside a a picnic table that evening. The next day we crossed into NY and crossed the Hudson as well. We dined in a city park for dinner and camped in a State forest that night. The next day was rough we climbed non stop after hitting PA and into the poconos. We had had a terrible headwind all day to boot so gave up early and tucked into some woods for camp. Earlier that day we found a european deli where I bought spaetzle and gravy mix which we had for dinner that night...mmm. It got cold that evening and the next day wasn't much better, uphill and windy. We took it ten miles at a time and eventually made it to our second warmshowers stop. Tony and Mary Alice were the sweetest couple. They cooked us a delicious dinner and fed us dessert too. They told us about how wonderful the bed and breakfasts in San Francisco were but I bet they didn't compare to their hospitality. We slept in comfy bed that night and Mary Alice cooked us eggs from their hens in the morning. For dinner we had some asparagus from their garden as well...very tasty. They were looking after some adorable little kittens which we had the chance to hold and two exuberant lab mixes. For our rest day today we rode about twenty five miles to a hotel to rest up before the Appalacians. Once we get through those we will push on nonstop to my parents house.

Tour of Maine

Well we finally made it out of Maine. On Monday we started at 5am on the farm in kansas. We then flew first to laguardia and then on to Bangor. Both trips were on tiny little planes but Rae and I sat next to each other on the flights so they were enjoyable. We then hopped a cab to the bike shop where we had shipped our disassembled bike. We put it together and got out just before closing time. We then called our warm showers hosts. They weren't home but let us stay in their great old house. We woke up the next day and Rae felt terrible. So we only made it about 20 miles. There we got a camp spot for way too much money but it served its purpose by allowing Rae to feel much better. The last few days have been a blur of ice cream, lakes and cute little tourist towns. When we left the camp site we took somewhat of along way through Maine somehow forgetting that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line not straight west and straight south. But Maine was beautiful and most of the roads seem to have wide shoulders. If you looked at the location at the top you probably noticed that were in New Hampshire. Yes we finally made it out of Maine today on our rest day. We did laundry today and took some showers. Hopefully we'll make it to massachusetts tomorrow. Well keep you posted.
Casey

Rae on the front dipping the tire (she's not up there much)



Me conquering what Maine considers a SMALL ice cream cone.

Location:Locust St,Dover,United States

Packing list hope we got it all



The car all loaded I don't think anymore would have fit


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Motel Six

Flagstaff farewelled us with sleet and snow and a late start; we were further delays by a carsick cat and an escaped dog in Winslow. After a long two days of driving in an overloaded car we arrived in Leavenworh, Ks and hung out with my family for a few days before our flight to Bangor Me in the morning. We packed everything for the tour then checked the pack list; the only thing we will be leaving without is the soap, we will get some shortly I'm sure. Tomorrow will mostly be spent flying and putting the tandem back together before the short twelve mile ride to Winterport, then the real fun shall begin on Tuesday.
-Rae/Meg