Boise, ID Day off Ontario, OR

Boise, ID Day off Ontario, OR

Ride to Boise was short and sweet, lots of downhill, 38 miles, avg mph
for everyone was pretty close to 20, and we arrived there by 10 am. So
it was like we had two days off really. I spent some time napping and
reading by the river and then we got some pizza after exploring
downtown Boise a little. It's a very cool town, the most civilization
we have seen in over a week or more. That night we recieved some very
sad news from the Bike & Build office. Paige Hicks, a leader on the
Providence to Seattle trip, was hit and killed by a truck earlier that
day. Now I don't know if you've picked up on this from reading my
blog, but Bike & Build is a family. Even though only two people from
our group actually were aquainted with her, we all felt as if we had
lost a sister. This is B &B love. We talked, cried, prayed, hugged,
cried more and attempted to comfort each other in our loss. I cannot
imagine what their team and her family is going through right now.
Keep them in your prayers and thoughts. Paige's energy and legacy
lives in through us. We ride for Paige.

On our actual day off we slept in! In the morning everyone was still
quite somber, and we took it easy. I enjoyed expiring the local co-op
and then a picnic by the river. The Boise river and park in which we
ate was beautiful, and I spent a lot of time reading and journaling.
Then I was able to explore the Anne Frank memorial, which consisted of
quote walls! Including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights-which
I love. I sincerely enjoyed the whole thing. Then coffee shop then
bakc to the church for dinner. After dinner we started discussing our
grant applications. This is going to be hard, selecting who get money
and who doesn't and how much and who can use it best but also who
needs it most and how it will make the biggest difference. I'm excited
though, this will be great.

Ontario, OR 62 miles
Our last state!!!! This is insane how far we have come. We biked here
from Virginia!! From the Atlantic ocean!!!! Crazy!!!! Anyway, it was
nice and flat all day with no headwind! Emma and I were rather unlucky
however and had to change 5 tires between the two if us before the
state line! And then, after a stop at McDonalds my rear tire was flat
again, but not very so I thought I could just pump it up and ride the
remaining .25. Wrong. My tire developed boils all over, it was the
strangest thing. Dime size bubbles appeared all over, bummer. I still
rode it to the church because we were so so close and didn't feel like
changing any more tires. The culprit of the many flat tires turned out
to be thorns, and almost everybody got flats today. No worries however-
I put on a differen tire and hopefully everything will be good as new
tomorrow. Mail day was today! Thank you to Aunt Dianne and Uncle Don
and Summer for your letters, they were very encouraging. Also we
finished up reviewing the grant applications and we start makin
decisions tomorrow evening. Oh boy! Only 9 days left!!!!!!! Eeeeeeek.

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