Up at 315 AM, out at 430. And we still didn’t have total darkness. Yes, there was an amazing Super Moon lighting the sky, but the sun was also coming up already. At 430 AM!?!? It makes sense since we just left Idaho for Oregon and at the border crossed into the Pacific Standard Time zone yesterday, and the sun had been rising in Idaho around 530 AM. But still, I hadn’t done that simple math in my head and out of habit was thinking we’d have an hour of darkness to ride in if we left at 430. Anyway, the beauty of a ride through rocky, barren, dry, mountainous country (in my opinion) is in LARGE part dependent on the time of day and the angle at which the sunlight hits the earth…and at dawn and for a couple of hours afterward it was really gorgeous out here in Eastern Oregon’s canyon country. But once the sun got higher and the light hit the land more vertically in late morning, it was way less pretty and far more just ugly, scrubby, unforgiving land that was ONLY interesting to look at because of the shapes of the hills, mesas, and mountains on the distant horizon. We only had 41 miles to Baker City but the ride FELT like it took forever because the terrain was so bleh and unchanging, and the latter part of the day was a lot of climbing directly under the (fortunately not yet blisteringly hot) sun. When we came to the peak of the final long climb and saw Baker City in the distance, and the stark contrast between the lush land we’re entering and the harsh terrain we’re leaving, we were thrilled and that’s the point I started to really feel like I’m getting to Oregon. We rode the 5 miles we had left into town, stopped in a GORGEOUS city park with a billion big shade trees and a velvet carpet of perfect grass where we got to work trying to find a motel online. We had to call multiple motels because as it turns out there is a big festival in town this weekend and many were fully booked. While awaiting a callback from one motel we found a bakery and had a yummy “breakfast grilled cheese” sandwich which had crème fraiche scrambled eggs and two kinds of cheese on a nice, hearty, thick-sliced rustic bread. It came with a tiny bowl of 4 banana slices, a thin orange wedge, 6 small red grapes, and one small chunk of not-yet-ripe cantaloupe; we’ve had so little fruit on this trip that I felt like that tiny bowl was a massive fruit salad and I was thrilled to get something that was not another Nature Valley Oats and Honey granola bar or convenience-store pack of peanut butter crackers! Speaking of that, we hit the dollar store on the way to the motel and bought all that same stuff again - it fits the need for a not totally unhealthy, not totally expensive bike snack food. Great for out here but I can’t wait to get home and eat real food. Honestly, what I crave is a huge SALAD…especially one of Vanesa’s awesome salads that have everything in our fridge thrown in and somehow taste spectacular. We got to the Baker City Motel at 1200 PM; the lady doesn’t show up on site until 3 so we can’t check in yet, but she very kindly left the door to our room 103 open so we could get in early to shower/sleep/whatever and said we can drop in and pay her later. We must’ve gotten the last room because the “No Vacancy” sign was glowing when we arrived. So we came inside, and the room kind of sucks and is overpriced for what it is (quite dated and the AC unit and the shower curtain smell a bit mildewy), but the beds are comfortable/clean and we just need a roof, AC, quiet, and to not have to camp outside in the 95 degree heat is awesome. We’ll sleep early again so we are rested and ready to leave in the wee, early hours of the morning tomorrow. We have either an 80-mile or a 67-mile ride tomorrow (hopefully we make it to 80 because it sets up the following day’s ride length nicely) and there’s a series of three steep 1000-foot climbs back to back to back in the middle of the ride that we want to get to before it’s too hot (yes, you’ve heard this before).