July 14th Boise to Mountain Home, ID

After church yesterday some of us went on the beautiful bike paths that encircle Boise. Amazing what water can accomplish in the desert! There are many, many cyclists in Boise, as the traffic on the path indicated. Along the streets there are also 3' wide lanes dedicated to cyclists, which I felt made cycling in the traffic so much safer!
I got up this morning with some cold symptoms, but feeling cheerful after the first night in 10 days that I slept nice and warm, due to the fleecy blanket that Gayle graciously let me borrow. My legs felt heavy today and energy low, especially climbing, as my lungs felt constricted and I kept sneezing and coughing at times. Leaving the flourishing city of Boise, we soon hit a long climb over those barren hills and into the "desert". The hill is worked as a sand pit/quarry and huge heavy trucks kept passing us at such close quarters on the narrow road that it felt quite intimidating. One came to the very verge of pushing me off the road and into the thick gravel, which would have send me sprawling. About halfway I caught up with Claire Elgersma and Joan Doorenspleet, and riding with good company made the rest go quicker. "Mountain Home" is an oasis in a simmering semi desert. The name is interesting, as this town may be "home" but there is definitely no mountain in town, except for those distant ranges! The land is as flat as a pancake, but we were slowly climbing for the best part of the ride, which was uneventful and passed by little farms and fields full of sage brush, tenaciously competing for every drop of water. We passed many trailer homes, or dilapidated older ones. Occasionally there would be properties that are filled with junk and old cars.....I'd be hard pressed to be happy there. .... The harsh nature has a beauty of its own though. It seems many people here are otherwise employed than in agriculture. The distant mountain ranges were very lovely to look at...especially the varying hues of blue, according to the distance from the eye of the beholder. I guess that a person that was born and raised here could be happy here and that the love for this dry landscapes of rugged earth can grow in one's heart! This town, like Boise, has enough water to provide for lovely gardens and huge trees. It is HOT here, and I feel sorry for those of us that are still out on the road in the heat. At times today we had a tailwind...ahhh, it felt great. Again lots of us beat the gear truck to the school where we are to stay, so we came to cool down in the public library, blogging. Coming into town, I had a novel experience at the bike shop, meeting a short stocky guy with a Penny Farthing! (modern version). as I took a picture he offered that I can try to ride it, which I promptly did after watching him demostrate how. I started off somewhat whobbly until I discovered that you have to relax your upper body, as the steering and propulsion are all connected to the same big wheel. Somewhat similar to riding my tricycle when I was a little girl! Some other cyclists also tried it, and cheers followed their courage! Great fun!