In Memory of Warmer Summers

Dayville, OR to Ochoco Lake, OR

Friendly horn taps: 1

Miles: 78

Total miles so far: 4,386

Ride update:  One week remains until we are expecting to arrive in Astoria, Oregon.  Please consider our fundraising and help us achieve our goals!

Picture Gorge in Grant County, Oregon

I’m a dog person.  I have nothing against cats, though for some reason I am allergic to some, not all cats.  One fall, I was without a dog and I was thinking about getting one to fill that empty dog bed in my home.  I found myself pulling into a truck stop in Rock Springs near where I lived, and this young black lab approached me as I was fueling my Jeep Scrambler.  I had seen the dog begging hot dogs and other treats at the door of the truck stop, and I figured her for a stray.

The dog came over and sat.  She was looking first at me, then at the back of my truck with these golden brown eyes, and I said, “Do you want in the truck?”  In a blink, she did a flat-footed jump over the side of my vehicle and was in the back of my truck.  She didn’t have a collar, so I thought I’d take her for a ride to the lumber yard and bring her back.  She seemed right at home, and like most dogs, enjoyed the ride.  During my return, some lumber had shifted and I had to stop and readjust things.  I got out of the cab and as I was walking to the back of the truck when my hat blew off in the Wyoming wind.  Like a flash, the dog jumped out of the truck, bounded through the sagebrush, and caught my hat before it hit the ground.  She turned, and ran back to the truck, jumped into the back, and handed me my hat.  That was the first day of a relationship that was to last for some twelve years.

I had no idea that the dog I named Sadie would later become such a critical member of my family in the role of being the ever constant companion for Carlie.  They were glued to each other at all times.  Although Carlie had “an invisible sister” imaginary friend, it was Sadie that grounded her in every way.  Carlie never stood for a photograph without insisting Sadie be in the shot, most of the time, you could tell that wasn’t Sadie’s idea of a good time, but she always went along with things.  Here’s a good example:

No picture will be taken without Sadie

Sadie’s job changed dramatically after Carlie’s death.  She became my overwatch as I struggled.  I spent what I call “my five years in my cave”, Sadie was with me for four of those, until her life ran its course.

I was thinking of that dear dog today.  Perhaps she knew I was going to make it, and knew she could leave and I would be OK.  I’ve never been sure, but I can’t underestimate a dog that won our hearts so well.

Riding through Picture Gorge - so named because of the Native American pictographs on the canyon walls

A shoe tree in the middle of nowhere, on Route 26 in Wheeler County, Oregon

An east bound rider called this section of the ride "desolate". We found it rugged, but beautiful.

Home for the night at Ochoco Lake. $5 each for a campsite and great showers. You can't beat that!

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Tomorrow’s ride is dedicated to Brandon Faust

Brandon Faust

Brandon Faust was killed in a drunk driving collision on February 19, 2009.  He was 22 years old.  His friends and family published a memorial piece in the paper that mentioned how he was, “…so suddenly taken from us.”  They wrote also, “There are no words that can express how deeply you are missed.”