7-5 to 7-9-10, Idaho Falls to Casper, WY

The days keep flying by--a month from today we'll be biking into Portsmouth, NH! If anyone would like to
come to our celebration on August 9, please send me an e-mail separately, and I'll e-mail you the specifics
as soon as they come available! We basically live on a day-to-day basis--we are given our route sheets with instructions the night before
the next day's ride. We left Idaho on July 5 and biked into the state of Wyoming--the third state, so far on this tour that I had never been to. The Tetons are as spectacular as I had heard--but climbing the Teton Pass Summit (8,431') nearly did me in!
It was quite steep for the last three miles of the climb--10 to 15 % grade. Well, as Teddy Kennedy said, "I don't care if it takes us all day to climb this hill....." Earlier that same day, I was climbing a smaller summit (Pine Creek Summit 6764') when two deer appeared on the right side of the road--they seem to be waiting for me there, looking straight at me. They ran along beside me for a little while, then crossed the road, and scampered up the mountain on the left side of the road. It was a very moving experience...one I haven't related to anyone yet as how can you describe a magical experience? The next day we biked through Teton National Park--that's where the picture on the right was taken (if it doesn't stop moving around on me!) I spent a little too much time there soaking it all in and taking pictures--as we still had the Continental Divide to climb that same day (Togwotee Pass 9658'). After we had biked several slow miles of the climb, we came upon road constuction. The state of Wyoming has declared it unsafe for cyclists bike through the construction, so they provided a flatbed truck for us to ride through the bumpy construction--the ride leader told me to hold onto the truck with one hand and my bike with the other hand--and this was safe?! It was part of the adventure; my bottom received a nice massage and I was glad to get off my bike seat, and best of all, I didn't have to climb those 8 miles where we were shuttled through construction! I haven't been sagged by America by Bicycle yet--although it's been tough at times when I feel pushed to my physical limits. Most of the other cyclists are faster and stronger than I--but everyone has been supportive. Yesterday, we biked from Riverton to Casper, WY--121 miles of almost entirely open space with desert and sage brush and not much else. The highlight of the day was stopping at Hell's 1/2 Acre, where the Indians reportedly pushed the buffalo into the canyon for slaughter. Today has been our rest day in Casper, WY--I did my laundry, cleaned my bike, took a nap, and will have a massage in a little while. I'm proud to report that I've biked 1,385 miles so far--and thanks for the posts, I'm not sure about how to reply to them, but I do enjoy e-mails, even if I don't have time to answer them! Tomorrow we bike to Lusk, WY and then on to South Dakota the day after!