Today was the first day that I did not pass through a town. Had to climb over 3000 feet up to Medicine Lake. On the way I stopped to have a look-see at some ice caves beside the road. I saw an old looking 4WD-wagon pull up so abandoned my look-see and went back to my bike. The father of the family Paul introduced me to his wife Gail and their two kids. They were from Oregon and were on a month and a half holiday for the school holidays (Gail was a teacher). Paul handed me a lovely peach “Corporate fruit” and generously tried to get me to take some tins of fruit salad they had. Paul could tell a great story, knew a helluva lot of history, and they offered to load my bike onto the car so that they could take me to see some other caves. I told them I’d meet them at Medicine Lake for a swim later and continued riding. Half an hour later on their way back from the caves, they pulled up in front of me. Paul got out with a rope determined to tie my bike to the roof of their car.

I refused and insisted I’d get to the lake soon enough.

When I got to the beautiful lake I headed straight to the beach to find them. We swam a while in the cool water and they invited me to hang out for some lunch that was healthy and gluten-free. Paul told us some great stories of his younger days and his hitchhiking adventures in Mexico. He didn’t quite make it to Guatemala because of an enormous earthquake that killed twenty thousand people. Before we left, Paul ended up giving me a brand new book that he hadn’t even read yet and more fruit. They gave me their address in Oregon and told me to stop by when I got up that way.

“We’ve got an old car that Paul’s been working on that you can have if you like”.

Wonderful people.