Today we are in West Yellowstone in a cabin at a KOA campground and it is pouring rain so we are sticking around here today and heading out tomorrow for Ennis, Montana. I am reading mostly, doing some writing, sending out emails, and I am going to work on the trailer if there is a break in the rain. I looked at the weather report for each town on the date we will be there through the end of the trip and it looks like tomorrow will be our last rain day, here’s hoping!

I am not going to ride the last four days of our trip. The afternoon that we arrive in Baker City, Oregon I am going to get picked up by one of the guys that is camped in Huntington, on the Snake river catfish fishing, and I am going to camp there with them for a week of fishing. So that means that the 22nd of June is my last day riding. That also means that I have ten days of bicycle riding left. So far on the 46 days of our trek I have not ridden for eight days, either we were taking a day off because of rain or I rode in the pickup because of bicycle problems or I was taking a rest day. That means that I will end the trip with 48 days of riding with an average day being 70 miles which calculates out to 3,360 miles of bicycle riding.

I now I have lost 15 pounds of weight and I am going to work hard at losing 5 more pounds before the end of the trip making a total of 20 lbs. That is only half of what my goal was, but I am always so hungry when we get into camp that I eat like a horse or a pig. But 20 lbs is 20 lbs and I am going to work very hard to exercise great self-control and lose 20 more in the next couple of months. I feel so much better when I keep my weight down under 200 lbs, though it has been so long since I have been under 200 lbs I can’t hardly remember how I felt! Do you ever get disgusted with yourself for not doing what you want to do, or doing what you don’t want to do? I experience that feeling often! I repent mentally afterwards, make goals, establish strategies, and mess up again! Sometimes it seems like two steps forward and then three steps back, or four or five! I am looking forward to the day I get my new, glorified body that won’t have a sin nature, wow! In the mean time I will run the race with endurance, pressing on to maturity, asking Jesus everyday to forgive me and asking for His strength. Living life is like being on a bicycle trip, just keep pedaling.

Today was one of those days that can make you grump if you aren’t careful. We got into Yellowstone and there were no campsites anywhere, and Yellowstone has a lot of campsites. I called, and I called, and I called some more, no campsites. So we decided to load all the bikes in the trailer and drive down to West Yellowstone, Montana and find a campsite and then drive back up tomorrow to see all the sites at Yellowstone. On the drive down it started pouring rain and we weren’t excited about camping in the rain so we rented a cabin for two nights. West Yellowstone is about 30 miles from Old Faithful so we are trying to decide if we are going to ride our bikes up or ride up in the pickup. I am voting for the pickup. A couple days break will be super!

Today was the most challenging day of the entire trip. It was 76 miles, which wasn’t that bad; we have had lots of days that long or longer, it was all day a steady uphill climb, but it wasn’t super steep like some days have been, BUT we had headwinds of 20 mph, with gusts to 30 mph most of the day as well. I hate headwinds; they are worse than a mountain. You put your bike in its lowest gear and barely plug along as you work like a horse. There is something about a headwind that wears you out psychologically and physically. I am now sitting in camp writing this blog feeling like a jellyfish!

Now that I am done with my whining, I will tell you about the rest of the day. We saw hundreds of antelope, many right next to the road. Tomorrow we enter Yellowstone National Park, we will be in it for three days, and we will be riding through it at 35 miles a day, so we will have plenty of time to see the sites. We are camped at the KOA campground in Dubois, and it is a very nice one. The showers were wonderful, and I stood in it for a long time and let the water give me a massage of my aching body. I am really hoping that tomorrow isn’t a repeat if today. We bike 82 miles tomorrow, but right now 5he weather man has the winds at 5 mph.

Most nights, we stay at campgrounds. There are private campgrounds, county and State campgrounds, and city parks and campgrounds. We have also stayed in four churches that have opened their doors to bicycle riders doing the Trans Am. The churches have been the best place to stay; they have showers, a kitchen, lots of room, and they are free. Of the campgrounds, the private RV campgrounds are the best. We park the pickup and trailer in the RV spot and set up our tents on the grass next to it or some time on gravel, which works because we have good pads. The State and County campgrounds often don’t have showers, pit toilets, and sometimes no electricity which makes it hard to charge our batteries. Also the private RV campgrounds usually have very nice showers and bathroom facilities. Tonight we are staying at a private RV campground called “The Sleeping Bear” and probably has the nicest bathrooms we have stayed at yet. They have six rooms and each one has a shower, a toilet, a sink, a bench, chair, and lots of room. They vary a great deal in price so we do a lot of negotiating. The place we are at tonight charged us $35 for all of us, which for as nice as it is, is a very good price. We are paying $70 tomorrow night at a KOA campground which are always nice and usually have a swimming pool and hot tub. I have several Apps on my Ipad that have every campground in the USA in them, and one that shows the “Hostels”, the churches, individuals, and businesses that provide a place for bicyclists to stay. One of the reasons we will have a fifty mile ride one day followed by an 80 miler is because of the placement of the campsites. We have gotten pretty efficient now in getting everything set up and then taking it down again in the mornings.

19 days left and this trip is over. I certainly will be glad to see Patty and all of you and sleep in my own bed, but I will miss the simplicity of life, the long hours of solitude, the all day exercise, and being immersed in God’s creation. The whole trip has been good and a great experience and adventure.

Today we rode 61 miles and it was mostly flat and very comfortable. It was wide open spaces with antelope in every direction you looked. We are camped tonight in Lander, Wyoming, and I am sitting in the city library typing this blog and writ8ng some other letters and stuff. I am sitting in this very comfortable chair and I keep falling asleep.

Tomorrow we will have a hard day of riding. It will be 82 miles and it is all uphill going up over 5,000 feet in elevation.

We are camping tonight in a church in Jeffery City, Wyoming. The town has a population of 35 people. It used to be a big, booming town when the local uranium mine was in total production, but when it closed, the city shrunk to local ranchers and a few businesses to support them. The church is all set up for bicyclers with six rooms with beds, showers, and a full kitchen in the basement, and all for free. There is a little cafe in town, and they told us we could come up tonight at 7:00 pm and watch the Warriors – Celtics game on their big screen; wow, how good is that.

I am always thinking about weaknesses and character flaws that I need to work on and grow in, and asking God to help me see them in events that happen in my life. In a conversation with another bicyclist who is doing the same trip as we are he made fun of me because I was riding an “e-bike”. I wanted to come back with a smart reply to put him in his place, but I couldn’t think of anything to say back. Later as I was riding I said, “ thank You Lord for pointing out my problem with pride,” you would think that with the huge number of similar events like that, that I would be the most humble man on earth, but no, it is a very slow growth process for me to become a person who walks humbly with his God. “

Today we had an easy day of riding in the first half of the day, the road was flat, there was a slight tail wind, and we saw at least a hundred antelope as we rode along. The first half of the day we were riding almost straight north, but then we started going straight West and the wind changed and picked up speed and we were riding into a 15 mph headwind. You put your head down, shift it into low gear and plug along. We made it to a nice KOA camp with a covered eating area and a great place for tents.

We saw a number of other riders today doing the same route that we are, and we had a great conversation with them. They were from Brooklyn, New York and we had some fun with their accent. We probably will see them some more on the trip.

We have conversations everyday with people at the campgrounds, the restaurants, and at gas stations when we stop to use the bathrooms. They see our bikes and immediately start asking us questions about our journey. Most think we are crazy😀

One of the disciplines that I am growing in is motivating myself to do things on my list of goals and disciplines when I am tired to the bone. We get into camp, get everything set up, eat, and then there are four or five hours to read, memorize, and write, but all I feel like doing is nothing, just sitting in my reclining camp chair and being a zombie and it is easy to justify too.

There are just 22 days left in this bicycle trip, my oh my, how the days have flown. I have already been thinking about next year’s trip. I have now done three coast to coast trips. The first was across the Northern States and the second was across the Southern States and this one has been across the middle. They have all been fun and a great way to see the country. One of the trips we did a few years ago was from Jefferson to the Grand Canyon then to Yellowstone and then back home. It was probably my favorite trip in terms of scenery. I want to do another “out and back” kind of trip, so I am thinking about a circular journey that would take approximately 30 to 40 days. On this trip, we have averaged 70 miles a day, but I am thinking that next year, we will average 60 miles a day with no day being over 70 miles. I am getting older, you know! I will also schedule a rest day on Sunday and plan on attending a local church.

We are in Wyoming tonight so we have now bicycled through Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado with Montana, Idaho and Oregon to come.

There are only 22 days left 😢😢😢. I am always sad to see theses trips end, but they do, everything does sooner or later, except our life after death, that will never end, we will either be in heaven or hell, forever.

Today was a beautiful scenery day with mountains, mountain meadows, big open spaces, rivers and creeks. We saw antelope, elk, deer, a couple of moose, and a beaver. We traveled 76 miles with a couple of hills to climb, but not real bad ones. There was a little tail wind, no head wind, no dogs, no mosquitos, no rain, overcast so relatively cool and comfortable, no rumble strips, and fairly light traffic with careful and polite drivers. We are in Cowdrey, Colodado tonight and tomorrow we will be in Wyoming..

I am feeling good physically and slept really good last night. I have even lost 15 pounds so far. Today I was thinking as I was riding that I don’t want to lose my physical conditioning that this trip has brought about. I am thinking that I will start running again, and I know myself well enough to know that I have to have a goal and an upcoming event to motivate me. I think I am going to register for the half Marathon in Albany on November 24th, Thanksgiving day, “Gobbler’s Revenge.” If anybody wants to run it with me let me know.

Today the scenery is gorgeous as we have entered the Rockie Mountains.

As I wrote yesterday we are camped at 10,000 feet tonight at Fairplay, Colorado, and tomorrow we will ride all day with that view or better. Tomorrow we will be in Kremmling, Colorado camping at 7,000 feet so we get to go down 3,000 feet on our bicycles tomorrow. The descent takes place over 40 miles so it won’t be ripping fast speeds but I bet I don’t do much pedaling for that 40 miles.

I got pretty sick last night, diarrhea all night and an upset stomach. We went and ate at a Bar and Grill last night and I ate a huge Patty Melt and fries, but feeling better tonight.

We haven’t had too much in the way of excitement the last two days. Everybody’s bike seems to be working well but I had another flat tire bringing the total to five for the trip.

65 miles today with a lot of climbing and 82 miles tomorrow with 20 miles of climbing at the start and then gradual downhill the rest of the way in camp.