Day 17 Gooding to Burley 141 km Uphill 2984 FT Downhill 2378 ft

I woke up with a start at 5:30 a.m. The camp is alive, everyone is thinking about the 130km day and if we want to see Shoshone Falls it will add 10 more kms. Anyways, so much for my good intentions of an early morning start. It’s an awful feeling when you’re behind the 8 ball. You rush, rush, rush, gobble down breakfast, brush those pearly whites, pack a lunch, hurry and spray the legs and arms with sunscreen, grab the helmet, sunglasses, put on the bike shoes, grab the bike and finally BREATHE. It’s 6:30 a.m. and we’re on the road.

It was a bit nippy once we got away from the school, I’m glad I have my arm warmers. At 17km we had a quick stop at Cory’s spott-a-pot. Then just 2 km down the road, Barb had a flat. How providential that Julie (one of our wonderful SAG drivers) would pick that exact moment to drive past us. We flagged her down for another tube, borrowed the bike pump and were quickly on our way.

We’ve been invited to view Ted Miller’s dairy farm. It is on our route and I was interested in seeing this huge operation since I grew up on a dairy farm in Southern Ontario. Upon arriving we were treated to cold chocolate milk (great recovery drink). His son-in-law, Glen and grandson gave us a tour of the operation. They milk 1700 cows (only Holsteins…black and white cows). The cows are milked three times daily. The milking parlor is circular and milks up to 50 cows at a time. It takes 10 mintues to run the cows thru the parlor. It was difficult taking a photo of the parlor, so I went with a photo of the cows instead. I did take note of the manure pits, but didn’t notice any of that ‘fresh’ country air.

Next stop….Snake Canyon. We climbed over some rocks to get a better view. Wow, now that’s a sheer drop down. I feel so insignificant amongst such grandeur. A few photos later and we were on our way again.

The town of Twin Falls provided us with another view of Snake Canyon. From here we headed to the Twin Falls RCA church for a wonderful lunch (it’s only 10 a.m. but anytime is good for food). Subs, chips, choc, strawberry or white milk, watermelon and to top it off, ice cream bars. What a treat. The church provided with us with detailed maps how to get to Shoshone Falls, it’s a bit of a detour but we’ve heard it will be well worth it. A big thank you to all those involved in providing us with this wonderful stop. Shoshone Falls, now that was a sweet ride down, going back up was another story….granny gear the entire way. The locals compare this site to our Niagara Falls.

Barb started out ahead of us to take the climb up the Falls and then set out on her own for the remainder of the day. We waited at the top of the hill for Louie (once a preacher, always a preacher). From here we settled down to complete the final 70 km. The temperature is climbing (high 90’s) and I just want to get into camp. We arrived in camp at around 2:15. Total time on the bike 5:20 Average speed 26km

After a quick break we unload the gear truck. Just when we had all the bags out the sprinkler system went off. Now we’ve got this down pat….some people stand on the sprinkler heads (carefully) and the others move away the bags. Thank goodness the janitor was near by and he reset the system so that it shouldn’t happen again. I must admit that the spray off the sprinklers was rather refreshing. I quickly set up my tent, attempted to take a shower…..no water pressure in the girls showers so we take over one of the guys locker rooms, although this leaves us with only one toilet and two urinals…that should be interesting.

I found a cool, quiet spot on the upper level of the gym. Barb and I settled down to type up our blogs. After an hour or so, it’s time to wrap it up and call it a day. Supper will be serving in less than ½ an hour.

Till tomorrow, Cynthia