One Third The Way Done!

Monday June 14th: We made it 65 miles to Kimberly, Idaho just past Twin Falls. We sleep in a church parking lot. Since we weren't allowed to put up a tent, all five of us crammed into the van full of luggage and two dogs. I was so tired it didn't matter much.

Tuesday 15th: Skyler's mom and grandparents lived in Burley so when we got there I took Skyler to the newspaper office so they could write a few things about him. Go to the link and scroll down to the article, www.minicassia.com/home.html That is the twelve newspaper that we have been in.

We went 71 miles to Malta tonight. We stayed with Jeff Johnson. He and his daughter are great people. He set it up for us to speak to a group of people in the park that night.

Wednesday 16th: We made it to Utah! And boy did we have a nice welcome-40 mph side wind. We were riding our bikes at about a 30 degree angle leaning to the side. The wind was blowing us all over. It made it even more challenging when a big truck would go by. Then we got rained on. But we still rode 85 miles today! And then Skyler went swing dancing (to be young again).

Thursday 17th: Skyler missed out last night. He went home while the rest of us slept in the van because it was pouring rain. We didn't want to bother getting our sleeping bags out of the cargo carrier (it is like sardines up there) and it was soooooooooooo cold all night. We had some appointments this afternoon so I had to get up at 5:15 to start riding and my bike had ice on it! The speedometer was cover in ice thick enough that I couldn't read it. I had to scrap the ice off the seat before I jumped on and took off riding. After half an hour of shaking I started to warm up. I stopped at the ATK Thiokol Rocket Display. Here they had booster for the Minuteman and Patriot missiles. The Shuttle booster was huge.

I went to my favorite town today, the town of Willard. It has my favorite mountain peak - Willard Peak. Also my favorite bay - Willard Bay (part of the Great Salt Lake). And my favorite cemetery...I could go on and on but I won't. I wonder if we will see any towns named something like Skylerville? Ironically the town named after me (even though it was established in 1851) is where my fourth great grand fathers, John Woodland, is buried. He is the one that came out west with the pioneers.

We took the bikes to where we bought them, Taylor's bike shop, for a tune-up. If you are in the Salt Lake area go to these guys. They are great.

We have been real blessed with no break down of flats and no big injuries. One day I did count 25 little blisters on one foot. I've been sore in various places but surprisingly my legs haven't really been sore until the last few days and lately I've been real tired. It could be due to the fact that the last four days we rode 65, 71, 85, and 6o miles. Before this trip I would have never thought that I would say that 50 miles is an easy day.

Friday 18th: We spent the night at Skyler's house. After a few minutes of riding today we hit one of the toughest short stretches of our trip. About 5 miles of a 40 mph head wind going uphill on the freeway (I-84) through Weber Canyon. My legs were killing me.

At 10:30 I called in to be live on an Evanston, Wyoming radio show. Then we made it to where I live, Morgan. Jim Francis, who originally was going to ride across America with us, was there on his three-wheeled cart. All three of us where escorted into town by the city firetruck. We went to the park to be welcomed by great friends and family.

I need to say thanks to our friends at Romero Graphics for putting our website on the van. It looks real cool.

Saturday 19th: Today was about 60 miles total to Evanston, Wyoming. There were some good mountains to climb but the 25 mph tail wind was very helpful. Most days we have a tail wind. We are staying the weekend with our good friends Bill and Julie Housely. Bill got us on the radio and newspaper and set it up for us to speak at an amphitheater at Bear River Park. The city provided refreshments and we had a camp fire. It was a fun evening and we got some donations for Shriners Hospitals.