Day 61
Last night we had seen a potential gap in the smoke that might have allowed us to ride all or part of the distance from Baker City to John Day. We had all gone to sleep knowing that a ride was a possibility, but unfortunately it was not to be. When we all woke up in the morning, Maaike did her usual check of the AQI and it was right on the edge of what we consider rideable. Then, we stepped outside and the air still smelled of smoke which was clearly visible too. That was enough to say that today was going to be another day in the van. For some of us, we were just feeling the urge that it was necessary to get out of teh stayovers and van and do something with physical activity. A group of around 10 decided to go out on bikes a make a quick lap of Baker City. We even found Maaike, who was on a run, at the local high school track and decided to have some fun riding our bikes around and racing on the smooth, grippy surface.
Once we had finished fooling around, it was time to prepare ourselves and the van for the first shuttle load. We also needed to make sure that our stayover in John Day knew that we were coming. Luckily, they were able to accommodate us early and we started carrying supplies and people out there. Those who went enjoyed the company of our lovely hosts at the St. Elizabeth Catholic Church and took showers at the Grant County Fairgrounds while those who stayed, took the extra time to rest or play games similar to yesterday.
Other than our ride in the morning, the events of the day were relatively subdued until after dinner. By the way, dinner was donated to us and we had an awesome selection of pastas, bread, and salad. After dinner, around 10 of us again got online to play Among Us and had a good time playing and playfully arguing when someone one or lost us the game. Tomorrow will certainly be a shuttling day too, but we will go all the way to Bend. It’s going to be a long one, so we will get some rest and check in tomorrow.
Day 62
For some, this day ended around noon, for others, not until 9 pm. The trip form John Day to Bend was around 3.5 hours by car which we would have to cover in two journeys to Bend in order to be able to carry everything that we need for our trip. Those of you good at mental math will see that with no stops, someone would be in the van for 10.5 hours today and adding stops to load and unload, get fuel, and just take a bathroom or mental break would take that near 12 hours. Max and Nishk were courageous in offering to be the duo that made the transfer back to John Day and therefore would be in the car the longest.
We started our drive at 8:30 am and Cole, scheduled to be the driver if this were a normal day of cycling too took a few bikes and all of the team with the exception of Tada and Aadit who offered to stay behind in John Day and be the drivers on the final leg returning to Bend with the second load. For this first leg, we decided to take a route that was far away from the active wildfire location at the expense of a little extra time in the van. This would not be the same decision later. Overall, the drive was quite pretty out of John Day and through the mountains, then it turned into easy straight roads the rest of the way into the city. We dropped everyone off at a coffee shop and smoothie store (Anthony was very happy about the latter of these) and then Max and Nishk went to grab a quick bite to eat before getting back on the road.
During the afternoon, while most were in locations to go and explore a little, we each had our own activities. Maaike and Lauren ran off to a bookshop. Ren, Sam, and Ehsan stayed around the coffee shop. Cole and Anthony grabbed large smoothies to enjoy. Ved and Parker went to look for food. Back in John Day, Tada and Aadit were going for a short 10-mile bike ride to see the area. Of course, Max and Nishk were driving.
Once the van had been loaded for its final trip of the day, the four in it decided to try to cut some time off the drive and go for the more direct route, which was open but through locations where the wildfires had recently been. They were able to see fire crews working their way through the area, trees and shrubs that were still smoldering, and in patches, fire off in the distance. That was a sad and humbling sight.
When everyone finally made it to the stayover at the First Presbyterian Church of Bend, we were mostly tired and ready to go to sleep. After planning some activities for tomorrow (look forward to that), we got down to rest and were excited by the prospect of having some clear air to be outside in.
