Stage 9 - Take it Easy

Saturday, June 15, 2013
Nampa, Idaho, United States
"Take it easy. Take it easy. Don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy." (The Eagles)

I couldn't believe it when Dennis opened the door to take Jetson outside first thing in the morning and the bright sun shone into the room. Was it really time to get up? I was still so tired from yesterday’s long ride, that I almost didn’t feel very well. We hadn’t scheduled a rest day in our ride, and had discussed taking today off, but were all agreed to ride today and see how we did. I think I may have been doing better than Dave – we were at breakfast at 7:40 and discussing how busy they were, and he commented on its being only 6:40 am. He’d never set his watch back the day before, and so all morning had been taking his time, wondering why we were getting such a really early start!

Rode out from the motel about 8:20 and within five minutes had crossed the Snake River into Idaho. Because we were going up a hill, we never thought to stop and take a picture. On we rode, south out of the Ontario area on Highway 95. The air was cool, it was a bright morning, and we cruised pretty well through the farmland. I’ve never seen anywhere that grows so many onions! Once I was riding, I felt better, and we made pretty good time. We arrived in Parma, mile 20, at 10:00. Just before that we passed what we didn't know still existed - a still operating drive in movie theater! Our goal in Parma: Boy’s Better Burgers where they make terrific milkshakes. Unfortunately, they only make them after they open at 11:00. So we ate our granola bars and drank some water, then headed off again. Highway 95 has the best shoulders I’ve ever ridden on – wide, smooth pavement, and no debris – except for a few miles where they decided to narrow the shoulder to about 2 feet and put a rumble strip between it and the lane. That was challenging riding, until we decided there was so little traffic they could go around us and we rode in the lane. The road had some ups and downs, and a lot of pretty flat land in between.   If I’d had more energy, it would have been a great ride. As it was, we reached Marsing (which Lea kept calling "Parsing") at noon, 40 miles into the day. There was a little drive-in there which, it turned out, also made fantastic milkshakes, so that made up for not getting one in Parma. Ate our sandwiches, fries, shakes, and watermelon on the grass beneath some huge trees.

Headed out again, still on Hwy 95, and I still didn’t feel too great (maybe I ate too much!). It was getting hotter, and we left the nice farmland for a not-very-steep climb into really arid hills. That’s how the afternoon went – up and down from the river valley to the barren hills. Then, in the middle of nowhere, we see a sign for “Visitor Information – 1 mile.”  Information about what??? Then a yellow warning sign: “Congestion Ahead.”  You need to realize that this was on a back road that wound through the apparent desert with only one car in either direction every few minutes! A mile further on we came to Givens Hot Springs, a picnic and camping area that was pretty crowded. Looked like a neat place, a green oasis in the desert.

By now it was about 1:30, pretty warm, and I was almost falling asleep on my bike. I ate some Sport Beans, which have caffeine, and we rode for another half hour or so until we had logged 60 miles for the day. The goal had been 73 miles, stopping at Murphy, but Lea called to say there was no motel or anything within miles, so we’d have to drive to find our beds anyway. So we decided to call it a day. Besides, Dave’s bike had been making some funny noises and he wanted to have it checked out before we left the more populated Boise-Nampa-Caldwell area. We went to Nampa, and drove right to the bike shop on the way to a hotel that we never did find. It was 2 minutes to 3:00, and he closed at 3, but stayed open to check out the spokes on the bike, and tighten things up. God just takes care of things like that. We then found a Shilo Inn, after calling multiple hotels that only had full beds, not queens – why would that be?   It was pretty reasonable, and it had a pool that was not too cool and not too warm. That’s where we all headed as soon as we had things unloaded, and it was wonderful! Now we’ve had an early dinner, are relaxed and planning to play some pinochle, and get an early night! Hopefully, I’ll be more awake tomorrow!


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Comments

Glenda
2013-06-16

My old stoppin' grounds....home to Tom and me for over 20 years! Gives me warm fuzzies knowing you're traveling through. May your rest be deep and restorative tonight!

2025-02-15

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