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July 12, 2000 Hi Brenda & Bill, 70 miles, Mitchell to John Day, Ore., 100 degrees Today has been a relatively easy day. We had a great breakfast at the Little Pine Cafe run by Hugh, Dalene, and daughter Krista. Servers in Oregon don't take any crap off of Duc and Don. They dish it right back — which makes for a lot of laughs. We said goodbye to those cyclists heading west and we headed straight up — 6 miles. Tough climb to Keyes Creek Summit. Stopped to see a dead rattler — Duc regrets not cutting off its rattle. After that first climb, it was a pretty flat day. Just HOT! Little shade. We stopped once where an irrigation nozzle was blowing onto the road and I stood in it and got doused. It refreshed me for many miles. Stopped in Mt. Vernon and talked to 2 old men who sit there all day visiting. One was Bob and had been to Louisville, though not the respectable establishments. They were funny. In Mitchell, we got to watch the local bear — Henry — being served breakfast. Bears purr when happy. Love, Paula.