"We're friends," the little freckle faced girl announced to me, as we paddled around in the chilly Snake River under the strong evening sun.
I hadn't actually met her before, but I was willing to just let her ride with her assumptions; I was feeling too happy in that refreshing water to jade her young perception of life and break to her the hard reality that in fact we were not friends.
It's hard to imagine that only 2 nights ago I had finished my last blog post by the church where we had set up our sleeping bags and was waiting in dread for the sun to go down and for my imagination to run rampant.
Let me give you a word of advice: if you intend to bandit camp anytime in the future, DO NOT become a fan of "The Walking Dead". I lay awake for over 2 hours staring at a grove of trees, waiting for zombies to stagger out and eat me. And once I'd finally convinced myself that this was ridiculous, the coyotes starting howling. Sleep? Not happening.
Fast forward 48 hours, and I'm still alive. We took it easy today: slept in, I cooked up pancakes and rhubarb compote (growing in the garden of the house we were staying in, what luck!) and then we strolled around the small town of Pomeroy until it was time to pack our bags and head out again.
After hours of rolling through nothing but hills and sky for hours upon hours, Pomeroy, with its population of about 1,000, seemed like a happenin' place! Its grocery store had more than 3 shelves and there were 2 grain towers.
Having just crossed the state line into Idaho this afternoon, we're about to head into the mountains towards Missoula.
This can only mean one thing: more canned chili! Paired with a steaming pot of instant mashed potatoes, chili has become our road meal of choice. You can find it even in the most god-forsaken high desert mini marts, it's cheap, and it's leg fuel.
I never dreamed that I would eat chili from a can 3 nights in a row and consider myself blessed, but yes, I have and I will.
(For those of you who need a reason NOT to be jealous of us as we jaunt about the country, I offer you the chili reason.)
Buy earplugs!! :)
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