We slept well last night...it’s so quiet in the woods. I was the first to wake up. I got out and started making coffee. Andrew was aggravated because I was making too much noise. Payback was my only thought to his comments, hehe. Once the coffee was finished, Andrew made breakfast while I washed my hair. After breakfast, I washed the dishes while Andrew switched some things from the Ellsworth over to the Norco. We filled up the solar shower container, knowing Andrew wouldn’t be able to ride another day without taking a shower. Yesterday’s fresh wipes could only contain so much…he sweats a lot.
We made our way to the trail head again and Andrew got his gear together. I stayed near the car, working on blog stuff, thinking of a small business for myself and keeping an eye of the solar shower we had sitting in the sun to heat up. I walked down to the creek for a bit and noticed several people cleaning off from their trail run, hike, or bike ride. The sand here is extremely different than we’re used to. Lev from Cogwild described it as moon dust. You take a step and it goes poof. A big cloud forms under your feet. Needless to say, your feet get dirty very quickly. As I watched these folks clean off, I decided I might as well shave while I’m here. Yes, you read that right – I shaved my legs in the creek. Don’t judge me. There are certain things that drive me crazy in relation to hygiene. One is greasy hair and the other, hairy legs. I can go several days without a full shower and not complain, but if I get an opportunity to take care of those two things, I am taking it.
Andrew made it back in about the same time as yesterday’s ride. He changed out of his biking gear and we headed out to find a place for him to shower and cook lunch. We found a dirt road to pull off on and found a place to back in to. Andrew worked on setting up an outdoor shower between two trees and I focused on cooking left over spaghetti. I had this view while heating up the food.
Once we finished up there, we headed back to Cogwild to drop off the map. We thanked Lev for being so kind to us and picked out a shirt for the rec room at Mulberry Gap. He wouldn’t allow us to purchase one and on top of that, he gave us a sticker, trucker hat and pint glass! Good stuff.
We headed to Safeway to grab a few more items then drove into downtown to walk around and explore a bit. We walked into a few stores and admired local artists’ designs, crafts and art. It was hot outside and we knew there were several breweries in the downtown vicinity. We came upon Deschutes Brewery first, the older brew pub in Bend. Andrew ordered the Inversion IPA and I ordered the Nitro Obsidian Stout. We had to get the sweet potato fries too!
Our waitress came over a few minutes later and asked us if we were going to see Ben Harper tonight. Being the unaware tourists that we are, I said no, probing for more information. She grabbed a map and showed us where he would be playing tonight and a lawn area we could sit at outside the amphitheater to hear the music for free. Sounded like a pretty good idea to me. We had intended to hit the road after we finished here, but figured we might as well stay for a few more hours and experience a free concert and relaxing night.
We found a parking spot and started walking toward the concert area. We walked by Deschutes main brewing building. Eventually, we found a spot near the Old Mill shopping district and took a seat. It was dark by now and we had worked up an appetite. Andrew ran back to the car to grab some food and a blanket to sit on. We had a nice little picnic while listening to the music. Garlic & herb goat cheese, crackers, fresh picked blueberries and blackberries and cibatta bread. Yum! Right before the concert ended, we packed up and made our way to the car, not wanting to get caught in traffic.
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| Some wild flowers growing next to the road. |
We stopped at a gas station to fill up, and then started the 16 hour drive to Moab, Utah. Andrew drove until 4:00am because we couldn’t find a place to pull over. We didn’t even pass a gas station for about 100 miles. Somewhere along the way, I fell asleep. Eventually, Andrew found an exit with hotels, and we pulled into a gravel lot begin it and fell asleep.
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