Rain Delay

Today is an unplanned but well-deserved day off from biking, after yesterday's nightmarish ride. The weather continues cold and rainy, so we're holed up in the motor home hoping the weather will clear by tomorrow.

Note to anyone who may be planning to meet us en-route: This will likely delay us by a day down the line. We'll keep you posted as we go along.

This morning Rich discovered that the bike rental business at our KOA has a bike shop, and that the proprietor is a wonderful semi-retired gentleman named Ben, who was happy to allow us to use his shop to clean up our bikes, replace brake pads that had been work down by all the wet road grit on yesterday's final descent, and generally get the bikes ready for tomorrow.

This is a good opportunity to talk about Chuck Boehme, the third rider in the group (here seen on the right, with Rich, overlooking Utah Lake). Chuck and his wife, Janet, live in Spokane when they are not traveling somewhere around the country or the globe. Chuck is a retired high school assistant principal. Earlier he taught business classes. He is also retired from the US Naval Reserve, where he was a navigation officer on submarines.

Chuck and Janet are both experienced bicycle tourists. They have done numerous tours in the US and Europe. Chuck is a strong rider and a gentle soul. Most often on our riding days he brings up the rear, riding solo, but he always finishes each segment with a smile, and is "doing fine." He never has a complaint, and admonishes us multiple times a day not to wait for him -- yet he never seems far behind. Janet invariably stops whenever she passes us in her van, making sure we are OK and seeing if there is anything we need. Every afternoon she pitches their tent in our campground, and every morning they break camp and pack up before our 7:00 departure. (Today, blessedly, they are waiting out the rain in a motel.)

The Boehmes are also experienced RV operators, since they drive their motor home to and from Tucson every year, where they escape from the Spokane winters. They have had numerous tips for us novices, which have proven very valuable as we learn motor home life. And not the least of the blessings they have brought us is hosting many pre-dinner social hours in our campgrounds.

Chuck and Janet, I'm really glad you're a part of this trip. We'll be sorry when you leave us in Billings.