July 24 - 99 miles of CURVES in Idaho

The sign said "Curvy Roads, Next 99 Miles"  

It sure was 99 miles of BEAUTIFUL scenery as the road followed the Columbia River.

I guess that's not so easy on Cooper when it comes to sleeping on the bike because he was BEAT when we got to bed at night.

313 Miles

July 23 - The Ole' Scale House

Another beautiful day with nice weather and incredible scenery.  What can I say?  It's just what we've been blessed with.  The days are so enjoyable and no matter how much we ride, there is always something new to see.  Animals, farms, old buildings from an un-determined time.  I just blindly click and click my camera with the hopes of getting a few good pictures in the end.

We started feeling hungry, and it was getting to be time for a pee break for Cooper.  Jesse spotted a neat looking little place on the side of the road.  We pulled in to check it out.  I love to stop at fruit stands, but this place was SO MUCH MORE.  It was called the "Ole' Scale Houes" and it was exactly that.  There was an old trucking scale between two buildings.  One building sold fruit, vegetables and antiques.  The other building sold ICE CREAM!!!!!  

We stayed for an hour talking to Lori, the woman who worked there.  She was very generous with lots of answers to our many questions.  There were a couple of rooms to browse/sniff through.  We took our time.  I wonder what Cooper smells on things like this that are antique and in original condition.  Do some of the smells from their history still remain?

We got an ice cream and sat in air conditioning while we ate it.  Lori even put an old table style Juke box on for us to listen to.  Cooper had some ice cream too and he enjoyed sitting in his own comfie chair. 

We were done with out ice cream and went back out to find Lori.  Jesse sat in a rocking chair looking through an old book.  Cooper and I walked around one more time, then we decided to buy some cherries and be on our way.  Lori gave us the cherries, NO CHARGE!  I was shocked!  I don't know how she stays in business.  I don't know why she gave the cherries to us.   I wish I could have bought something from her, but to buy something means I have to figure out how to bring it home.  On a bike that's not always easy. So we took our free cherries and thanked Lori.  Cooper was happy because of all the walking he got to do, so with a quick pet on the head he was happy to be off too.

274  Miles

July 22 - Part 3 - Meeting Matilda

As we were riding away from Crater Lake, with the riding conditions being at their best, we needed to stop and get gas.  We stopped at a gas station, pumped our gas and went inside the store.  I usually bring Cooper in the store with me, but this time I un-clicked his seatbelt so he could move around and left him on the bike.  He's never happy when I leave him.  He watched my every move.  

I bought drinks for me and Cooper and talked to the man at the counter.  He saw Cooper on the bike and started to tell me about his dog, who he said was in his car.  She is like Cooper.  She never likes to let her owner out of her sight.  She stays in the car while he works, free to get out to go to the bathroom or wander around when she wants, but mostly she just waits for her dad.

We walked outside and the man called her out.  Her name is Matilda.  She came out with her tail wagging to see us.  I called Cooper off the bike and he came running too.  They had a great time for about 20 minutes just hanging around with each other, sniffing and peeing.  

Matilda is a hugger.  She loves to press against you and just get lots of love.  She liked Cooper a lot.  It seemed as though she was showing him around to all the best smells.  Everything she would smell, he would smell while Matilda watched.  Then she would move on to another smell and he would smell it too. 

This went on for a while.  They got along great.  I hated to move on, but customers came so the man had to go back to work, and Jesse was done with his conversation with the other man who worked at the gas station.  It was time to go, so I called Cooper back to the bike and we were off.

190  Miles