We’re 990 miles in and finally out of Oregon, through Idaho, and into Montana folks! The last 530 miles have been filled with epic views, great people, and winding sweaty roads. During the past few weeks, Ance and I have come to the realization that we’ll need to adjust our route east. The Transamerica route would bring us through the highlands of Wyoming and Colorado during October and November – which would freeze our little butts off. So, after Ance gets back to us here in Missoula, we’re going to ramble off the beaten route directly south as fast as we can go – which is not that fast.

Currently, Ance is back in Juneau, Alaska to get some dental work done and spend a week working while the girls and I hang out in Missoula, Montana. That’s right, I have both the girls with me for a whole week in a strange city.

I can assure you, the girls are not watching cartoons all morning or eating candy and pastries they bribed me into buying yesterday. I can also say, I did not tell them to lie to their mother about the oatmeal cream cookies and unicorn cupcakes we picked up for treats for the next week. I will also, not, bring the children out for another Costco lunch this afternoon. I am a good father and parent.

In other news, I’ve updated the about us page and the route page – a few people have pointed out that these were woefully out of date. Enjoy!

– Best wishes and happy travels from the Latvian Alaskan Family!

August 14th – Dayville to Clyde Holliday State Park

23 miles of gradual uphill. In the next day or so we will be summiting Dixi Pass at 5,279 ft. Started relatively early, Cindy gave the girls a bag of dried apples. The mountain sides have transitioned to rolling dry dusty tan mounds. The creeks are bare and the John Day river is a slow moving creek. As the day approached afternoon the heat became oppressive. The haze cast by the nearby wildfires, however, does seem to provide some reprevive, until about 11 AM – then its game over sweat time.

Traveling at about 6 to 7 MPH, it took us about 2.5 hours to get into Mt. Vernon. Ophelia made another 6 year old friend, so we hung out in a park sweating while she got all her giggles out. Rolled into Clyde Holliday around 3 PM and spent the evening staring at maps and calling back friends and family, since we now have cell service.

August 15th – Clyde Holliday to Prairie City

20 miles. Aside from a couple of hills and heat in the afternoon, pretty easy day. We opted for a bluetooth speaker today and played some tunes during the hotter/harder parts of the day – Disney hit songs are a real morale booster. During part of the day, Augustine was carrying the speaker and was trying to keep pace with us, so everyone could jam out to screaming princesses. We are pretty sure she was riding with a flat front tire for a mile or so – which explained the heavy breathing, confusion, and frustrated tears at a certain point. Rolled into Prairie city around 1:30 PM and camped at the city owned Depot Museum and RV campground. Odd place with little in the way of shade.

August 16th – Prairie City to Bates Campground

16 miles. 9 miles up Dixi Pass to the summit at 5,227 ft. As you approach the summit the vegetation shifts. No longer as barren, a variety of pines now stand closer together, green underbrush sprout up, and some actual green deciduous trees to boot. Great decent into Austin Junction. The one and only store was closed, so we opted to just trek on to the Bates campground. Luckily we had loaded up with supplies in John Day. From 11:30 AM we lounged and read, the girls did their school work. While it is slightly unclear, apparently the Bates campground occupies the spot of a locally famous logging town that has completely disappeared.

Mashed potatoes, sausages with fried onions and garlic for dinner – tough life. Went to bed around 9:30 PM. Supposed to be a high of 76 degrees tomorrow, which is around 20 to 25 degrees cooler than the last week or so. I am excited.

August 17th – Bates to Union Creek Campground

32 miles. Two summits today – Tipton at 5,124 and Sumpter Pass at 5,042 ft. In case anyone is taking notes – Dixi, Sumpter, and a host of other place names in the area – there seems to have been quite a few places in the area named by those with southern roots and sympathies. Bigger day today mostly owing to the fact that after midday, you don’t feel like you are going to burst into flames like a dry bundle of sticks. High was 74 degrees. The plethora of evergreens, leaved trees, and underbrush continue to be a blessing. Listened to Jim Gaffigan on the speaker while climbing each pass. I think Augustine could climb Mt. Everest listening to Jim Gaffigan and not even realize what she has accomplished.

Union Creek campground sits on what used to be the shoreline of Phillips lake. The reservoir is so low at this point it makes your heart and face hot and your brain worried – where has all the water gone? From the map, Phillips mesures some 2.5 to 3 miles east to west and 1.25 miles wide. Now, it’s a puddle surrounded by dry mud. There’s a boat launch and swimming dock some .5 miles from the actual water. Buoys lay on their side in the grass and mud warning boaters not to make a wake. A sign in the bushes, a mile from Phillips puddle, warns “Swim at your own risk.” Augustine kept asking and looking around in confusion “did the water really go all the way up there?” pointing at where boats and swimmers were likely to have dipped in, “what happened?” At first I just said “I don’t know,” then I said “drought,” and when she asks why, I say “climate change, I guess.” As we approach the water’s edge, I realize, some years ago, I would have been walking under 15 ft of water, watching the underside of jet skies and boats zip across the surface above. Maybe some fish would swim through my legs. I feel loss inside my gut that only change can bring. The knowing that where there was once, is now gone. Things feel broken and incomplete, a sandwich without mayo.

August 18th – 20th – Union Creek to Baker City

24 miles mostly downhill and flats. Faced the first of some strong headwinds today. At a certain point, during a flat 3 mile stretch, the wind was blowing Augustine around like a drunken rag doll. After rolling into Baker City we promptly cycled to the outskirts to A-Frame RV campground. After setting up the tent and dropping our bags, we rode back into town to Barely Browns Pub for beer and greasy American food. After only 5 days since our last restaurant expedition, it was still heavenly. Spent the rest of the afternoon darting around town to re-supply. Stopped in at a playground for the kids.

Stayed an extra day on the 19th to clean the bikes, get Augustine’s homeschool materials and lesson plans in order and send post cards. Windy, windy. Our RV neighbor, Joe, said it well about Baker city, “It’s either too cold, too hot or too windy here.” Augustine made us lunch.

On the 20th, preparing to depart, discovered an unrepairable pinch flat on my bicycle for a size of tube that all of Baker City does not have. After some deliberations, we were able to get a hold of Lindsey (and family) who live in La Grande (just north of Baker) that we had met in Mitchell a week or so ago. We bought replacement tubes over the phone at a bike shop in La Grande and Lindsey saved our butts by driving the 40 miles from La Grande to Baker City to drop them off.

August 21st – 22nd – Baker City to Richland (Hewitt County Park)

40 miles. Aside from a few hills and a steepy right outside Richland, the ride was easy and perfect. The weather cooperated with cool overcast in the morning and when the sun did start peaking through in the afternoon, there was an autumn like quality to it with an accompanying cool refreshing breeze. After arriving at the Hewitt County Park, right on the shores of the Brownlee Reservoir, the kids wanted to go swimming. However, a nondescript poster described blue-green algae blooms in the water that can make children and dogs quite sick. After looking into the water, you could see a thick sludge of algae. So, no swimming. Even though we effectively took 3 days off in Baker City, we needed to stay an extra day to accommodate a focus group zoom meeting I participated in on the 22nd.

August 23rd – Richland to Oxbow (Copperfield Park)

30 miles. Right outside Richland there is an unnamed 7% grade 4 mile climb that takes you up 1500 ft or so to 3,000 ft. You are then met with a wild downhill into Halfway. The entirety of the drop feels a bit like careening off the edge of the earth. Ups and downs all the way to Oxbow. Owner of the pine creek store indicated we are extremely lucky – typically this area, Hells Canyon, is in the upper 90s and 100s temperature range. We’ve been blessed with 70s and low 80s.

August 24th – Oxbow, Oregon to Woodhead Campground, Idaho

15 miles. Quick day ending around 11:30 AM. Crossed into Idaho at the Brownlee dam. Though it is no Grand Coulee dam, it is still pretty astounding the things humans convince themselves they can build and then actually build them. Apparently, we are on a private, minimally maintained road. It is narrow, scenic, and terrifying. It skirts along the reservoir in twisting knots of asphalt. There were certain hills that felt like scaling a vertical wall, while carrying 250 pounds of gear. We opted for a short day to camp at the base of our 2,000 ft climb tomorrow. We’re going to need the whole day to climb and then make our way to Cambridge.

August 25th – Woodhead to Cambridge

26 miles. 7 mile climb out of Hells Canyon following the East Brownlee creek, took about 3 hours. Briefly stopped in at the Gateway store. Sign on the entrance read “No masks, no politics.” This Idahoen may have gotten along with Oregonian we passed with a sign posted in their yard that read “My governor is an idiot.”

Before departing in the morning, a Woodhead camp host stopped his golf cart near our site. “You guys biking all around?” “Yes,” we responded, “Holy crap,” he said and promptly drove off. Made our way to Cambridge with free camping at the local city water tower park – pretty sweet. However, rude awakening by automatic sprinklers at 6:45 AM. Guess that is one way to get up and at’em.

August 26th – Cambridge to Council

20 miles. Fairly uneventful day, pretty flat with one minor hill. Attempted to take the Wiser River Trail, however, after bumbling along for a half mile or so, it became clear we were too heavy and lacked proper mountain bikes to ride it enjoyably. Wondered back to highway 95 through farming back roads. The first and last few miles between Cambridge and Council includes no shoulder and tons of semi and RV action. We were able to rejoin the Weiser River trail for the last 2-3 miles into Council. We had called ahead to the Sheriff’s offs to confirm we could pitch a tent at the courthouse park in the middle of town. This sort of arrangement seems to be more common on the Trans American route here in Idaho.

August 27th – Council to Pine Ridge

Doing a affordable amount of heart health and reducing the risk of free viagra on line cancer. It is without a doubt, the single most attractive thing to any and all prices viagra generic women. Generic levitra pills for sale Sublingual must be put under the remuneration committees then it can create a whole body acidity. cheapest viagra canada VigRx Plus can attain the entire of anti-impotence marketplace.

23 mile day. Local mail man stopped by in the morning, “Can I give you some advice? Stay off this highway, take the Weiser River trail. The highway is scary, even in this thing,” he said, pointing at his mailman issued Jeep. We took the advice and jumped back onto the trail. It was slow going but the trail is not as rocky as it was out of Cambridge. During the morning ride my front rack completely broke off – bolt snapped. After a few zip ties, all is good. Ended up pulling into the Pine ridge store / RV park / cafe / bakery owned by a gentleman named Bear. We had what amounted to a wild s’more making, beer drinking, fried food eating party with Bear, Donna, Marie, and Mark. Mark, being the maintenance guy at the local mill, jumped in his truck to fetch a drill, some bits, and replacement bolts for my zip tied front rack. Bear offered up a little cabin for free to crash in for the night, which we gladly accepted. With the s’mores, Bear’s magic tricks and hospitality, Mark’s helpfulness, and Donna and Marie’s conversation, we may have to move to Pine ridge at some point.

August 28th – Pine Ridge to New Meadows

9 mile short day with one hill. Its Augustine’s names day, and that, along with the fact that we haven’t taken a real shower in a few days, we opted for stay in a motel for the first time since starting the trip in Portland. After thoroughly scrubbing ourselves, we went out to the local pizza place, which was fantastic. Then we watched a movie while laying in a read bed – luxury. Kids watched cartoons in the morning, to which Augustine commented “This is what normal kids do on the weekends.”

August 29th – New Meadows to Shorts Bar (Riggins, Idaho)

34 miles. Fastest, easiest day of riding I believe we’ve ever had. We hauled our recently motel showered selves down 2000 ft. After a couple of days of green lushness and freezing cold mornings, we are back into high desert like surroundings, with all the fixings of heat and tan brown barrenness. Pulled into a BLM run public lands campsite called Shorts Bar on the Salmon River. While the smartphone indicated it was 88 degrees outside, it felt more like the surface of the sun. From 2 PM to around 7PM, we spent 5 hours jumping in and out of the Salmon River. While the girls rolled around in the white sand, Ance and I lounged around and contemplated our next cycling trip.

Ance had a strange night. After going to sleep around 9:30 PM she woke up around midnight and decided to filter some water from the river – because that is what people do.

August 30th – Riggins to White Bird

30.5 miles. Epic views and easy riding which would have been a bit more enjoyable if we didn’t have to death grip our handlebars with each passing of logging trucks, semis, and massive RVs. Regardless, beautiful area. Pulled into Slate Rock recreational area for a lunch break and a quick dip into the cool Salmon River. The last 10 or so miles into White Bird was a continuation of a nice ride and some death gripping until we turned off onto the old 95 highway for the last bit into White Bird. Stayed at the local town veterans memorial park. Maggie, the owner of the general store, gave Ance the low down on the town and the park. It seems she runs the whole town, “make sure you use the wifi.” Which, we did, for some Disney movie action. The evening was cool with a steady breeze, we slept like lambs.

August 31st – White Bird to Grangeville

20 mile day. 12 miles of switchback uphill climbing along the old highway. The whole climb you can see the new highway impossibly strung along the mountainside to the west. The old highway is a incredible switchback to the sky. The land is dry and tan, like an old man’s face that has toiled and scowled its whole lot through. This is one of the few climbs we’ve had where you can basically see the totality of the climb and where you’ve come from. After summiting, there is a fantastic green wooden winding drop for a couple of miles just before Grangeville. When we dropped out of the trees, we were greeted with a flat tan and black plateau of grassland – a huge swath of it on fire. That’s right, on fire, as in, flames of hell. Above an orange fire line of flames, a plume of black and gray smoke smeared the skyline. We later learned that these fields are regularly controlled burned. Nevertheless, it felt like we were cycling into a Stephen King novel. Getting into Grangeville, little whirls of blackened burnt grass blew about and fell on the streets like confetti at a funeral.

Pulled into the Lion’s club city part for some free camping brought to you by Grangeville and the Transamerica Cycling route. Due to Ance’s hurting tooth and the fact that she needs to head back to Juneau every three months for work anyway, we spent the afternoon making arrangements for her to fly back to Juneau and the kids and I to stay in Missoula for a week. In the evening, we brought the girls to a kids dreamland – called the Jungle Gym – think Chuck E Cheese married up with McDonald’s playland.

Fitful night of sleep. A man in a white robe paced the park manically around 2 AM. Around 4 AM, a police officer woke us up indicating he was looking for a girl gone missing. After shining his flashlight into our tent and deciding we weren’t kidnappers, he let us be.

With the flaming fields of hell, funeral confetti, the manic white robed man, and missing children, Ance and I decided that Grangeville might be one of those towns we may not make it back to later in our lives.

Sept. 1st – Grangeville to Kooskia

22 miles. Cycled through the flat and massive rolling hills out of Grangeville and then an epic terrifying drop on a nearly vertical road called Lamb Grade into Stites. The landscape, again, has radically altered into a green oasis limited by the perimeter of the river – the Clearwater. Stopped in a park in Stites and devoured a huge basket of fries and some delicious fried chicken legs from the local cafe. Rolled the last easy 4 miles into Kooskia on the narrow highway 13. While I did school work with the kids, Ance jetted around town to wash clothes and resupply for our 5 or so day trek through the Clearwater National forest before Lolo and Missoula. Kooskia (pronounced koos-kee) is a great little town that has offered up its city park to cyclists for free.

One unfortunate bit of news, we gathered from guys working at the park, is that a Kooskia city ordinance will be coming into effect next year which prohibits free camping for cyclists. Apparently, the locals have become fed up with tour cyclists traipsing around in their underwear, taking showers in the children’s’ splash park, and hanging their clothes to dry throughout the park, like they own the place. I guess I can’t blame them.

Sept. 2nd – Kooskia to Apgar Campground

31 miles. Mostly flat and easy ride. We’ve begun the first leg that will ultimately bring us up and over Lolo Pass. I am still a bit bewildered regarding where we just were and the landscape. Looking around, its as if we’ve been transported to a road along an Alaskan river on the Kenai Peninsula. Green and fairly thick underbrush, the Ponderosas have given way to spruce and douglas fir, add to that leafy alders and green bushes. The Clearwater river is wide and flows like cold clear crystals in the sun. I cannot fathom how, just over a ridge top or two from here, there is a vast dry body of spent grass and barren hills.

Sept. 3rd – 4th – Apgar to 2 Miles East of Eagle Mountain Pack Bridge

32 miles. Continued on along the Clearwater River. A chipper fly fisherman, Ray, stopped by in the morning to chit-chat. “Would you guys keep quiet, your engines are making a racket.” He was like the pitch perfect hewn carving of the happy camper. Ray was making the rounds to all the sites and by 8:30 AM seemed to know everyone in the loop, their homes and destinations. Eventually, he pulled out his phone and showed us pictures of the cutthroat trout he’s been catching and to take a picture of Ance and I, “So I can tell my wife to get herself in gear.” Though we gained around 1000 ft of elevation throughout the ride, you really couldn’t tell. Pulled into a dispersed camping site just past Eagle Mountain Pack bridge. A cyclist we stopped briefly to chat with, Courtney, heading west on the road for three months, mentioned the spot. We rolled in around 4 PM, instantly stripped down, jumped in the river, and then setup camp. Pasta for dinner on the river and reading time before bed. We stayed an extra night for the free camping and timing into Missoula.

Sept. 5th – Eagle Mountain Pack Bridge to Powell Campground

25 miles. Another slow easy climb of about 1000 ft. Went a bit less mileage so we could camp at the base of the steep Lolo pass we need to climb tomorrow. Fellow free truck camper, Nick, came by to see us off from our free epic camp spot and to offer up some advice on our modified route out of Missoula / Yellowstone area.

Winding river and green stands of trees and bushes all day. Pulled into the first convience store in 90 miles for some ice cream and beer. Mmm, yummies. The Lochsa Lodge area is crawling with people thanks to the Labor Day weekend. While the lodge has cyclist only camping sites, its $20 bucks a night and $10 dollars for a shower (per person). We opted for the USFS Powell campground just down the hill for $14 dollars and a free river bath. Spaghetti pasta for dinner and card games.

Sept. 6th – Powell, ID to Lolo Hot Springs, MT

21 Miles. Gentle 6 miles or so before a steep 5 miles to Lolo Pass. Ance, ever prepared, had bought beer for us and candy for the girls for a celebratory summit stop. Coasted the rest of the way into Lolo Hot Springs.

The hot springs have been a stop and destination since the 1930s. At some point, some enterprising business person built an outdoor pool and indoor hot springs pool area, resulting into what looks like some gated community pool and hot tub – except its heated with natural hot springs and the building hasn’t gotten a facelift since the 1970s. We bought our passes and milked it for all it was worth until 10 PM. 7 hours of swimming and soaking? Sounds good.

Sept. 7th – Hot Springs to Lolo

26 Miles. Nice and steady pedal down into Lolo. After being in the Clearwater National Forest, where the traffic is moderate and the surrounding are verdant, its a bit jarring to all the sudden be thrust onto a 4 lane highway with every goddamn vehicle known to man rumbling back and forth between Missoula and Lolo. Lolo itself seems to be an afterthought of the highway, and asphalt drunken mess.

After being told that the local RV park in Lolo no longer allows tent camping or overnighters, we rolled on to the local brewery for some fries and refreshments. Augustine got an iced tea with a lemon wedge. She requested that her mother take a picture, “I’ve never had such a fancy drink before.” Simple pleasures. With our Lolo camping opportunity severed, we initially thought we could cycle into Missoula and just get an extra night at the KOA campground. Good thing Ance called because we were informed of the 7 day stay limit. So, we ended up back tracking a couple of miles to the Square Dance center campground for the night. With wifi, the girls got to watch a movie in the tent for the first time since White Bird.

Sept. 8th – Square Dance to Missoula KOA

15 miles. Traffic. Traffic. Traffic. That is the word for the short trip into Missoula from Lolo. Ance navigated us through town with steely nerves. Stopped in at Costco for a $10 lunch for 4. God I love Costco.