Day 9 - Something (June 10th, 2024)

City to City: Mitchell - Prairie City

Miles: 82

Miles Total: 523

Flats: 0

Video: https://youtu.be/fIB7bkQG2Yw?si=-cVmIyVDxZisLS-c

First mountain climb of the day

Getting my dad's wallet back

Playing horseshoes

As we were packing up to leave, a bus dropped a biker off. After talking about cycling terms and each of our journeys, the biker set off.  About fifteen minutes later, we set off.   We immediately began climbing over a thousand feet in elevation on a mountain.  Halfway up the hill, we passed the biker and took a break at the top at the elevation of four thousand three hundred and sixty-nine.  From the top, it was 25 miles downhill to Dayville.  Henry and I flew down the mountain, and my dad, wiser and more cautious, coasted down more slowly.  All during the long downhill, we were in a valley, curving this way and that.  With dry mountains with dry plants looming over us, we descended until we reached a small creek that bubbled gently downstream.  It was very sunny with only the mountains for shade.  At Dayville, we stopped at a gas station for lunch because that's the only public place with wi-fi.   For a tiny town, many people came in and out of the gas station.  Since we were sitting outside, everyone stopped to talk to us and ask us what we were doing, to which surprise and well wishes followed.  Among the people who stopped to talk were older men who mountain biked as a hobby.  After chatting briefly, they mentioned they'd be in Baker City for a while, to which we replied that we would also be passing through.  The men immediately said they'd be at a pub if we wanted to find them in Baker City.  Afterward, a farmer pulled up in a pickup truck with two dogs in the back.  He first told us, "Please don't pet the dogs; they'll bite, and all they know is how to work.  They don't like people."  After promising not to touch the dogs, we watched them while they watched us back.  A minute later, a FedEx worker passed too close to the truck, and immediately, the dogs barked at her.  She jumped in surprise, and the farmer yelled from in the store for the dogs to shush.   After the farmer left, the biker we had met in the morning came in and stopped right next to us.  After talking for a while, we started off.  

    We needed to make it to the post office in John Day before the post office closed.  The lady who had found my dad's wallet sent it ahead of us to John Day.   My dad had also left bike clothes at Gary's house (warm showers host) and asked for the clothes to be delivered to John Day.  When we arrived, the lady at the desk asked to see my dad's ID before handing over the package with the wallet.  Well, the wallet's in the package!  My dad then said, "Can we open the package?"  The lady laughed, realizing it was impossible to verify my dad without opening the package.  The lady handed over the packages, and everything was returned to my dad.  We then biked to Prairie City, got groceries for the next few meals, and went to our campsite.  Well, we got there, and there were no signs saying which spots were for RVs or for tenters.  We finally just found a table and sat down to eat.  Halfway through the meal, an employee pointed us in the right direction for tenters.  It turns out that the spot for tenters is a spot with grass and no pathway.  After setting things up, Henry and my dad played horseshoes.