Friday, July 8, 2011

Across America Trek: Looking Back on Week Two


“Here's week #2! It's been another week for the Across America crew, so it's time for another weekly summary. This week's highlights were:

Day 8

  • Leaving Walla Walla (and, sadly, the cozy hotel room)
  • Seeing a sign for fifty-cent fries. Evidentally, the sign wasn't supposed to be up, but we got them anyway
  • Spending an hour looking for a town called Delaney; we never found it. Ghost town, ooooh...

Day 9

  • Morning climb to the top of Alpina (elevation 2600).
  • Eating knockoff triscuits for midmorning snack. Mmm, woven wheats.
  • Making fried rice for dinner

Day 10

  • Biking through scenic forests in Idaho, and doing 60 miles before lunch
  • Wading in a frigid stream, even though only one person braved the cold
  • Having someone offer to tow us across the US. We had to refuse… but it was tempting

Day 11

  • Hanging out at a gas station for three hours, talking to another cyclist
  • Finally making it to the top of Lolo Pass after climbing it for three days. The last three miles were the worst.
  • Celebrating the Fourth of July by cooking pea soup at 10 pm, and hiding all our food in the campground bathroom so bears didn't eat us.

Day 12

  • Talking to cyclists about to climb Lolo Pass. We wished them good luck, and were secretly thankful to not have to climb it again.
  • Finally getting cell phone reception and calling our anxious parents. "Why haven't you updated the blog yet?”
  • Visiting the Adventure Cycling office. Holy cow. The walls had photos of tons of other cyclists that had biked cross-country (one guy did it twelve times), and there were articles and memorabilia from the Bikecenntenial everywhere. The staff took our photos and let us stay in the lounge for a couple hours.

Day 13

  • Making lots of Made-it-Ade. "What?! Two bottles in one day? You're a fiend!"
  • Finding a road with zero cars on it!
  • Talking to a friendly couple from North Dakota with really strong Dakotan accents

Day 14

  • Seeing a crystal-clear lake as we climbed another mountain pass
  • Almost getting stuck in a rainstorm, but making it to Butte just in time.
  • Having the group leaders attempt to outlaw cookies. That wasn't a highlight…shame on you guys.

See you next week!" - Rebecca George, Teen Trekker

Follow the trip:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?authuser=0&ie=UTF8&hl=en&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=206781293978240337088.0004a66235ae4e48d4ce7