Boise, not bad

I've got a little time to kill today, so I might actually be able to put in the effort to write a proper post. Up until now I've been throwing them together while fighting off sleep after a full day on the bike. All in all, things are going really well though. Now that I'm a few weeks in the initial anxiety I was feeling has given way to genuine excitement. It doesn't hurt that the weather has really taken a turn for the better; nothing but blue skies and sunshine since Iowa, which has been key. It's amazing how dependent your mood is based on the weather when you are on a motorcycle. Hopefully things keep up like this for a while.

After leaving Wyoming I made pretty good time crossing the mostly barren landscape of Idaho, getting into Boise with a few hours to spare. I killed time by stopping at the Levis outlet to pick up a new pair of jeans. As you can see in the picture below, I took this pair about as far as they would go. I was a little disappointed because this was my favorite pair of jeans, and I've had them for less than two years. I even bought a cheap sewing kit and patched them up a few times, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be. At the very least I was hoping to keep them on life support until I made it to San Francisco where I could stop by Levis headquarters and complain to Chip Bergh (former Gillette President, current Levis C.E.O). At least then maybe I could have gotten a refund, or a sweet Canadian tuxedo out of the deal.

Crotch Shot (Warning: Adult Content)

I've got to say, Boise was a pleasant surprise. I wasn't sure what to expect, but my parting impression is that its a pretty cool city. To be fair though, I am probably a little bit biased due to the fact that it was gorgeous weather and I had an amazing couch surfing host. It was my first ever couch surfing experience, and it really couldn't have gone better. My host Jaimie was so incredibly friendly and accommodating (not to mention super cool). She's set the bar pretty high, so I'm hoping I have similarly great couch surfing experiences in the future. Mostly I hope she makes good on her promise to come visit Boston though so I get the chance to hang out with her again.

Jaimie and I posing for a selfie.

Once Boise was behind me I was quickly into Oregon and passed across another time zone. It's funny how our preconceived notions about unfamiliar places are mostly shaped by TV and Hollywood. Case in point, I was expecting Oregon to be nothing but pine forests as soon as I hit the border. In reality I didn't see a single one until I was three or four hours in. Instead, it looked more like I would expect Utah or Nevada to look, with lots of rock formations and prairie. Eventually I did make it to the greener side of the state, but this trip has been educational to say the least. I ended up arriving at my randomly selected campground with an abundance of daylight hours thanks to the time change. I've got to tell you, I hit the jackpot with this campground through pure luck. It was nestled behind an absolutely gorgeous, pristine blue, man made lake, and it was early enough in the season that I had my pick of the open campsites. I didn't even bother putting my rainfly up over my hammock for the night since there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Definitely a good night.

Entrance to Cove Palisades State Park (please excuse the smooshed bug guts on the lens of the camera).

Home sweet campsite.

Onward to Portland! Stay tuned for my first impressions of this hipster mecca.