In Awe of Neita

Day 155 & 156, September 3 & 4, 2011, In Awe of Neita

Route from Jackson Hole Campground to Twin Falls, ID KOA and onto Reno, NV KOA

Worst Moment – It was more than a little disheartening to leave Jackson in Ruby instead of on a bicycle.  I’d been looking forward to either cycling into or out of Jackson, and as things turned out, I didn’t get to do either.

Best Moment – I am looking forward to getting to California tomorrow, doing some cycling and hopefully healing enough to be able to continue the ride from there.  (I could still complete 75% of the perimeter.)  I’ve always wanted to cycle across the Golden Gate Bridge – so I’ve got that to look forward to.

We got a bit of a late start leaving Jackson.  It seems that the hydraulic jacks that help stabilize Ruby and work to keep things level didn’t want to retract.  After a good spray of WD-40, they went right up.  Too bad that we didn’t try that sooner.  Neita had complained about how reluctant the jacks were in going up.

 Duncan's ready to travel

We drove along the Snake River all of the way to Twin Falls.  It was a very scenic drive, and not much longer than we would have driven had we decided to tackle Teton Pass.   The Snake flows into the Columbia River and provides Idaho with source of water for the irrigated farmlands that were ripe with wheat and full of the famous Idaho Spuds.

The Twin Falls KOA was amazing.  When I checked in, I was told that we could order dinner delivered to our site from their own cafe – who would have ever considered room service at a campground!?!?  (The special was meatloaf.)  They had lots of activity for families during the Labor Day weekend.  There was an opportunity to tie-dye t-shirts, go to an ice cream social, and even make s’mores at their campfire.  Pretty cool, but the ice cream in Hayward, WI was still much better.    

Today was a long day for Neita.  We drove nearly 500 miles from Twin Falls, ID to the KOA west of Reno, NV.  She drove Ruby through the construction zones, through the traffic in Sparks and Reno, on the Interstate, and on the narrow two-lane road.  She is a pro! The scenery was desert boring until the Reno area.

After such a long driving day, we took the campground’s shuttle to the Boomtown Casino for dinner at their steakhouse.  The dinner was great and there were lots of people to watch at the casino.  Fun.

Tomorrow’s Guerneville!!

If you would like to donate to my ride, my link for the Lance Armstrong Foundation is http://grassroots2011.livestrong.org/billsbigride197.  I really appreciate your support.