Ode to Buhl Idaho

Some towns we can't wait to get out of.  Some towns we don't want to leave.  Iuka MS was one of those towns we would have loved to ride around all day, as was Wray CO and Buhl ID.  Maybe it's the four letter towns that rise above their names.

We rolled into Buhl on day 77 and stopped at the Country Store.  A cashier personally bought us jerky, insisting we get 2 packages.  Eighty year old Willy was putting gas in his truck when we rode up and came inside the store to visit.  Turns out he used to ride unicycle and had a brother-in-law who also rode, built unis and tried to start a unicycle club in Buhl back in the day.

On the hunt for a coffee shop, we were directed to Broadway Java, which is an amazing place!  A sign on the cash register read, "Your God can move mountains", an inspirational verse was hand designed on each cup sleeve and great music was playing.  Stepping in there was a much needed breath of fresh air.  The owner not only made us the best salted carmel and Mexican mocha's known to man, but gave a huge donation to the refugees!  Soon we were joined by Willy, his brother-in-law Greg, and a recent high school graduate Jacob, who had received a handmade unicycle from Greg and was now tearing up the roads and trails with it.  We had a great visit with them.  They called the local paper who sent a reporter to the coffee shop to interview us and take pictures before we left.

A few blocks down we got word that our support vehicle was catching up with us.  We rendezvoused in Cloverleaf Creamery parking lot which turned out to be a delicious meeting point.  Everyone going in and out of the shop talked to us and another reporter from the same paper came over and did a second interview.  As we were finally wrapping up to leave, Dustin got into a conversation with the owner of the Creamery and we couldn't turn down her generous offer of "killer chocolate" ice cream in homemade waffle cones PLUS a half gallon of their fresh skim milk in an old fashioned hefty glass bottle!  And enjoy we did!  

Thanks Buhl for the encouraging response to the RefugeRide and for your support and prayers!

Lava Hot Springs and Support Team!

What a treat to have our route take us through Lava Hot Springs Idaho!  We were blessed by a wonderful stay at the Serenity House which included beds, breakfast and road side assistance.  The owner Jack lived just down the road and came by to meet us and bring us special bread.  When our van wouldn't start the next morning he drove over to give a jump start to get us on our way.  He also sent along delicious dried fruit and cookies he had made.

When we first arrived in Lava Hot Springs we met Mike and Darla walking their dog.  Darla invited us to stop by Blue Moon Bar & Grill the next day for the best cheeseburgers around.  She has worked there for 27 years and wasn't joking about making a mean bacon cheeseburger!  Wow!  As an avid cycler, runner and swimmer, she appreciated the challenge of unicycling across America.  When we arrived at The Blue Moon she even gave us a bag full of energy gel, chews and bars!  When Dustin brought his unis in to get a picture, another customer asked to see him get on.  Dustin hopped on and rode around the bar for a little demo.  Darla announced to everyone in there about the Refuge Ride and the need of Syrian refugees.  Thanks Darla for blessing us along our journey!

Can't forget to mention that we were able to enjoy the actual hot springs in Lava Hot Springs!  They had many pools varying in degrees from 112f to 102f.  I don't think we made it past 105f degrees.  Super relaxing and about zapped us of all energy for the night!

We are so thankful to have Dustin's mom and step-dad with us these days!  It's been over 2 weeks now and we are still enjoying each others company.  Many of their friends think they are out on vacation but we have really put them to work.  Each day they drive us to where we left off the previous evening.  They patiently wait for us to stretch, apply sunscreen and muster enough umph to get on our unis and head out for the day.  They pray with us then off we go.

They drive our route for the day scouting out the roads and services along the way and report back to us their findings.  On a few really cold and rainy days they have stopped with us every few miles to let us jump in the warm van for breaks.  Heading up and down some long mountains with low visibility they have driven slowly behind us, with flashers flashing to ensure cars pass us with care.  They drive ahead to our lodging for the night, check in, put our bags in our room, stock our fridge and set out snacks.  We are getting spoiled!  It is so encouraging to see their friendly faces throughout the day keeping us encouraged and laughing.

We get an email each day from Katie's dad telling us where we will eat dinner that night.  He spends time calling restaurants each day finding places that will donate meals for us, helping cut costs and allow more money raised go to the refugees.  Such a blessing to have dinner decisions taken care of!  He has also been contacting media along the way, which has resulted in numerous radio, newspaper and TV spots.

And we know there are countless more praying with us and sharing about this project and giving generously!  For all this we are thankful!  Keep it up team!

Darla at the Blue Moon

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'...

As we were riding on I80 into Rocks Springs WY things got exciting.  Dustin took a tumble off his uni rolling away from traffic thankfully, resulting in some nice bruises.  Then we jumped off our unis to avoid a semi crossing the white line into the shoulder behind us.  Next a Wyoming Highway Patrol officer pulled up behind us.  Officer Weitzel was super nice and just wanted to see how we were faring on the interstate and if we had enough food and water and how the ride was going.  We met his brother back in Laramie and his brother had called to let him know we were coming and to keep an eye out for us.  The officer said they kept getting calls from people saying, "There are two unicyclists on the interstate!"  He would tell them, "Ya, OK..."  As if, what's your point?!  They thought they were turning us in but he and we knew it was perfectly legal for us to ride the interstate in WY.  Crazy, but legal.

Riding from Little America to Kemerer WY the other day, a car passed with an Ohio plate that read EZ PHOTO.  It stopped on the side of the road ahead.  A guy got out and videoed and photographed us with various fancy electronics.  Turns out Ed Zirkle is driving around America working on a documentary capturing the lives and stories of those he meets along the way. He happened to pass us that day and captured our story and that very night uploaded it to CNN iReport.

Thanks Wyoming for all the good times!   At the border we stopped to take pictures by the "Welcome To Utah" sign.  We met a guy from Boulder who had planned on parasailing in Utah off a mountain we could see in the distance.  He said usually the winds come from the west which would have been perfect for his sail.  However, he said there has been this weird storm system over the area lately causing the winds to come from the east!  Sorry about your canceled parasail sir, but we believe God is shielding us and guiding our journey with favorable conditions overall!  We continue to marvel at God's hand along our way.

Wild Wild West

The RefugeRide continues through Wyoming. We have seen countless prairie dogs scurrying from hole to hole and even encountered a big rattle snake taking up the highway shoulder right in front of us. Antelope seem to shimmer in the sunshine and deer walking right through town is the norm around here. We've seen rainbows several days lately as bright sunny blue skies and dark rain clouds comfortably share the great expanse above. The vast open spaces and high plains are beautiful and riding under the huge sky all day makes us realize how small we are, yet how big God is.

We have had our first experience unicycling on the Interstate here in Wyoming. I 80 has been good to us. Though it's noisy with lots of semis rushing past at 75+ mph, the shoulder has been wide and smooth and we know we are getting lots of attention.  Most professional truck drivers will move over to the left lane to pass us, while many motorhomes, U-Hauls and cars will not.  Sinclair WY was on our I 80 route, home to Sinclair Oil Company, the West's most modern refinery. This was exciting to ride through since Katie's maiden name is Sinclair.

As we were riding from toward Rock Springs on I 80 literally in the middle of nowhere, we rode up to a car broken down on the shoulder. Luis was on his way from Mexico to see his son in Salt Lake City UT when a belt broke on his Toyota Yaris. His phone was dead so he used our phone to call his roadside assistance. He had limited English so we wrote out what mile marker he was at and how far he was from the next town. He wasn't having much luck with them since they kept thinking he was in Michigan then said they would send a tow truck from Kearney Nebraska for $600. We got Katie's dad on the line a few times to help us communicate with Luis since he knows Spanish. At several points Luis had both our phones to his ears, on hold with the insurance company on one side and talking to Katie's dad on the other. We waited an hour and half with Luis until a tow truck finally came. It was surprising to us that in that whole time, no one else stopped to see if we needed help. Luis said maybe this happened so we could all meet.

We are very reliant on our little rear view mirrors that stick out from our helmets. They help us see what is coming up from behind and Dustin will stick out his bright yellow glove if it looks like someone isn't moving over. We are so used to those mirrors that often in the evening, when we are walking to dinner or a store, we have both found ourselves looking up to where the mirror usually is to see if a bike or car is coming up behind us. Silly us!

Colorado Recap

We've gone over 2,300 miles now and are still going strong!  About 1,000 to go and almost feel like we are on the home stretch.  We know there are still many adventures on the road ahead so keep on rolling with us!

We had some great times in Colorado!  The flat eastern side of the state was enjoyable with massive cattle feed lots and endless farm fields.  We even got to meet Nolan Stone, General Manager of the Five Rivers Cattle Feeding in Kersey, home to 80,000 cattle.  He heard we were riding by and drove out to the entrance to take a picture.

As we were eating breakfast at the amazing Doc's Bed and Breakfast in Wray we saw a guy ride by on his unicycle.  We were very excited since this is the first uni rider we've sighted on the Refuge Ride so far.  Lance is Wray's resident unicyclist and it was neat to meet up again with him, his wife and 2 kids that evening for dinner. 

In Wray we also met a neat couple, Dick and Marty.  Dick is still an avid cyclist and he and his daughter used to ride lots together.  They gave us contact info for their daughter who owns a great pizza place in Greeley.  When we got to Greeley we looked up Tracy at Fonta's Pizza and she and her husband Troy graciously personally delivered an amazing calzone dinner to us at our hotel.  Such a tasty blessing and fun connection! 

Katie celebrated her birthday on the 31st en route from Greeley to Fort Collins.  It was a treat to ride part of the way on the Poudre River Trail and it almost seemed like a fun activity that we may have chosen to do on a birthday anyway...almost. :)   A donated dinner had been pre-arranged in Fort Collins by the great Dave Sinclair at Texas Roadhouse, one of our favorite places.  The manager had spread the word about the Refuge Ride and after we had been seated, dozens of servers and staff came to our table, sometimes in groups, to thank us for what we are doing and ask us about the ride and project.  It was a very encouraging experience and we were so blessed by our thoughtful server "Moose", Keenan and the rest of the gang there.  They even made Katie's birthday super memorable and had her sit on a horse saddle, wear a pink cowboy hat, tipped the hanging light in her direction and had her swing a napkin in the air like a lasso while they sang and cheered.

Fort Collins began a new phase of our ride.  Support arrived all the way from Minnesota!  Dustin's mom and step dad are now driving with us through the hills and wild west of WY and beyond.  It has been an incredible blessing to be able to unload the weight of our racks and bags with them and not have to ride from hotel door to hotel door, since it's difficult to find hotels in this neck of the woods within our daily riding average of 50 miles.  We saw some beautiful scenery climbing out of Colorado into Wyoming.  Riding to 8,000 feet was challenging but we made it and the view and terrain were breathtaking

Thanks to everyone in Colorado who supported the Refuge Ride!  Off we go into the wild blue yonder.  Refuge Ride or bust!