Day 12, Halfway-58 miles

A day of rest was just what the doctor ordered for this old guy and with renewed vigor I departed Baker City and set off for Dayville Oregon. It had been raining consistently all night and hadn't let up through the morning. It rained on me for the first two hours.

I made good time at my designated lunch spot in the town  of Richland, about 42 miles into the trip. That only left about 16 miles to Halfway, but waiting for me on the other side of Richland was a steep 4 mile grade that rose 1800 feet from the valley floor.  I gobbled up another cowboy breakfast plate and attacked the grade fully fueled. It hurt a bit but the views as I ascended out of the valley were very much worth it.

Waiting for me(so to speak) in Dayville was my host for the night, Inga Thompson and her son Tyler. I arrived at their ranch a couple miles outside of town and met Inga on the porch. To my astonishment and joy, Inga was putting the finish touches on a batch of moonshine from her still which was situated right there on the front porch! After introductions she handed me a hose running into the still and asked to disconnect the coupling because it had gotten stuck. No problem.
Inga showed me my sleeping arrangements and I took a nice hot shower while she continued fine tuning her  "Shine". After I climbed the stairs to my bedroom and noticed pictures on the wall of Inga cycling in what looked like a pro type race. After I  inquired about the photos on the wall Inga divulged who she was. My host for the night just happened to be a three time Olympic cyclist for the US, competed in multiple world championships and one of Americas greatest female rode racers during the eighties and early nineties! Any thoughts I had about impressing her with cycling prowess vanished as fast as Malaysia Flight 377!

Inga Thompson is tall and slender with a sinewy muscularity about her. Even though she has been off the bike for many years, she looks like she could get on a tricycle and kick your but. She's been ranching in Halfway for 20 years, tending cattle and horses and hosting touring cyclists who happen through Dayville on their quest to wherever.

During the afternoon hours Inga gave me a lesson in the world of horses. I watched her chase a misbehaving visiting Mare around the field. She also called her huge stallion over to say hello to me. His name was Felix and when he approached me there was no doubt who the Alpha male was in the pasture! One of her Fresha horses gave birth the day before and I got to see a one day old foal wobbling around her mother. I was also provided the opportunity to watch Felix the stallion engage in Love equestrian style when Inga put him the corral with a mare in heat. It was 30 seconds of fun for the stallion but I don't think the mare got a whole lot out of it! I think the long used phrase has been used incorrectly. Its, "wham Bam thank you mare!"

Inga made some seriously delicious homemade pizza later and we drank moonshine. We were joined by her son Tyler, a talented young man who will graduating high school next week and then on to the University of Nevada Reno. The shine made me all warm and I forgot how to pronounce words longer then one syllable. Eggs and Potatoes in the morning ala Inga and then back on the road to my next destination.

I enter Idaho tomorrow.