Exactly how "uphill" depends on who you ask.

A very special shout-out needs to be made to Carol and Chip of Culdesac, Idaho.

Three tired and somewhat worried cyclists arrived at the Thunderbird Rest Stop at about 5:45 one October evening looking a bit desperate and searching for a place to stay the night. After getting a tad lost in Lewiston, Idaho, a lunch made up of some random snacks, some odd interactions with locals and a slow afternoon, we were fifteen miles short of our destination and there was no question that we wouldn't make it. We put our pitiful faces on and entered the store, hoping for a merciful shopkeeper. Lucky for us, our soon to be host Carol was working and there was even a bag of tortilla chips, some canned corn and pepper jack cheese. Dinner! Carol took one look at "dinner" and at us, and replied to our questions about camping with, "Well, there's the park, but its across the street from the bar... You don't want to do that." She must have been able to smell our disappointment, or just how dirty and sweaty we were, and followed up her statement with, "Well, you can camp in my yard, but its two miles away. And its all uphill." We were ready to take anything, and so we set off with a map drawn on a paper bag and our bike lights on. After cruising Main Street and waking up every angry dog in existence while trying to track down someone to ask directions from, we finally managed to find the right street. Uphill doesn't even begin to describe how steep this road was, not to mention how hard we discovered it was to power through a climb without being able to see grade changes, corners, knowing when to shift gears, and the fact that it had already been an all around tough day. And so we found ourselves huffing and puffing and pushing our way up the hill- no, mountain.

Much later, after debating if we should turning around, camp near a silo, or sit in the road to eat spoonfuls of cold canned corn, we made it to the house and happily crashed for the night. Morning came 'round, and Chip and Carol opened their home to us, helped us find our way (we were able to continue up, rather than backtrack and repeat our climb on the other side of the valley),  and showed us their generosity and kindness. We were SO thankful for their patch of lawn that evening, and even happier to wake up the next day to their beautiful view and their help. We even discovered that we had climbed 1,000 feet the evening before without really realizing it, though our legs and lungs definitely did. A few tortilla chips dipped in peanut butter later, we hit the road and climbed another 1,000 feet off the bat. We never would have made it without Chip and Carol Spencer and their willingness to take in total strangers. We continue to be amazed by these great people we keep meeting on our way who nonchalantly welcome us into their lives. Thank you, Carol and Chip! We so appreciate the great night's sleep we got in your front yard!