Tired. We opted for a $20 hotel room with air-conditioning vs. a $10 spot on the hot, hard dirt in a tent. The hotel room is a bit…questionable (see pictures) but home for now. Dairy Queen welcomed us into her doors for a delicious Full Meal Deal with a Peanut Buster Parfait dessert. Today was a very early morning with a 4A wake-up and 4:45A start. Early morning climbs helped warm us up during the very chilly morning. The desert-like scenery buzzed by on the descents. It's over 90 degrees in Vale. I feel like I am already in Idaho (since the local news is Idaho news…) but we will enter Idaho early tomorrow morning.

I discovered that cowboys are still alive and well in eastern Oregon. I guess there is a large cowboy belt that runs from Canada's southern border to the Gulf of Mexico. No wonder Dubyah's cowboy boots were such a big hit. I guess Howard Dean just needs to start wearing more tooled leather.

We have moved off the well wheeled path and are venturing into lands less bicycled. Moving further away from the oceans seems to bring with it a people who are more anchored to the land. Less change, less fluctuation. I'm so curious to see what the middle of the country will be like. I'm excited to get off of the Adventure Cycling maps and move on our own route. It's a bit more satisfying.