Enter Farmland

Day 40 - July 16th
23.1 miles
Total: 1605.5 miles

After waking to the sound of what probably was a skunk sifting through camp, the two of us struggled to sleep through the rest of the night. It was little matter though as we only had about twelve miles to Ashton, our next supply stop.

The road rolled through the farmland in gentle crests and troughs, as the green carpeted the landscape in what can only be described as a lush natural pillow. It is a nice change up from the endless ranchland and cow manure that has graced our presence since we started. Even the irrigation channels and industrial sprinklers added an interesting sight to our travels.

After a quick ninety minute ride, we arrived in Ashton to discover that the post office was closed. We had a package to pickup, and the hours listed Saturday as open, but it was not. As such, we get a forced (but appreciated) rest day.

On to the campsite, an RV park on the edge of town. The RV park is run by the neighboring hotel, so we stopped in the lobby to check on availability. We rang the bell for service, and this 50 year old frat boy strolled down the hall slurping the last of his coffee out of a big gulp, asking how he could help. I thought the guy was joking with us, so I asked if he worked at the hotel.

"Work here? I own the place," he replied swinging his empty coffee in a grand gesture of magnificence.

We asked about lodging options, and he told us he was booked up at the hotel, and the cabins in the RV park go for "one seventy, but the same thing in Yellowstone would go for four twenty five." After asking about tent spaces in the RV park, he said "I'll give you one for ten dollars. They usually go for twenty dollars, but you guys seem chill, so I'll do ten."

When we told him that we wanted a site, he said to his son, "let's get breakfast," and then wandered off. We concluded that he was actually a guest that was screwing with us. But he returned a few minutes later and told us he would take cash if that was fine with us. All too shady, but we have a tent site for the night. In the end, we concluded that the guy was just a super casual business person.

After setting camp and eating lunch, Apricots and I spent far too long hanging out at a laundromat. Ville had scored a shower at the swimming pool, a small service neither of us got around to, but we did a short ride, and had showers the night before.

At five o'clock, we met Apricots' cousin at Five 11 Main, a local pizzaria and ice creamery. Crystal lives south of Ashton in Rigby, and made the short drive to see Apricots. She spoiled us to both pizza and ice cream, and I was a happy camper. She even brought us some gallon zip lock bags, some macadamia nuts, and some marshmallows for Ville.

In the evening the three of us said goodbye at Crystal and went to the local market to buy some wine and tent stakes (or as I said, "beer and stakes"). No luck on the stakes, but Apricots found wine. She also found a host for us for tomorrow night. While sitting outside, a woman drove up to her and asked if the three of us needed a place to stay. The woman knew that the RV park lacked in accomodations, and was offering up her home for showers, laundry, and comfortable shelter. We took her phone number and intend to spend the night sunday evening.

The three of us returned to camp, where Ville asked an RV camper if we could borrow the lawn chairs to sit in (as our site had no picnic table, and the grass was a crude mix of dry crusty yellow grass and over sized thorny weeds). We sat in the newly acquired chairs, sipping wine as the sun turned the sky pink.

Live life at a slower place.

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