The morning was chilly again. Glad to have my nice new fleece (bought in Missoula). Erin had her 2nd thorn-related puncture. We parted ways as I stopped in Richland for breakfast, and actually I haven't seen her since, though she was spotted eating ice cream in Baker City by the guy in the bike shop.
The road to Baker City took us from meadowland, over a Pass and up a narrow and hot creek to a rather bleak, semi-arid scrubland called Virtue Flat. Such an extreme contrast came by surprise: I'd been expecting green, but instead got dust brown and khaki scrub plants for as far as the eye could see. The thing that sticks in my mind was a beautiful prairie dog lying dead on the road. Not the first roadkill I've seen on this trip, not by a long way, but it looked so perfect and undamaged I half expected it to get up and walk away. I arrived in Baker City with the intention of taking a rest day. I found another cute art-deco cinema and went to see, umm... The Nanny Diaries. Oops. Back at the motel, switched off the alarm on my wristwatch and was asleep well before 10:00pm
