I woke up at 4:45am to temperatures that were in the low 40's. I didn't exactly feel compelled to get up and start breaking down camp in these temperatures. The daytime high was 80 degrees today, so sleeping a bit longer wouldn't result in riding in scorching temperatures later in the day. When I finally was up and moving, a neighboring camper struck up a conversation with me. He and his wife had driven here from Florida and were on their way to Anchorage, AK. In mid sentence, this gentleman stopped speaking and excused himself. Moments later, he returned and politely insisted that I have the two mangos he brought back. He explained that they came from their home in Florida, and they had a lot to spare. He added that I would need the sugar, which I couldn't disagree with. Before reaching Arco, I had them both and they were delicious! After the first 25 miles were in, I stopped for a late breakfast in Arco. While stopping wasn't a mistake, where I went for breakfast was. An order of eggs, sausage, and hashbrowns took about an hour to receive after ordering. What I thought would be a 45 minute stop was double that. By 11:30am, I was back on the road. About 20 miles away from Arco, I stopped at EBR-1, the world's first electricity-generating nuclear power plant. It was fascinating to see the inner workings of a plant like this. The historical significance, I thought, was neat too. Much like many other places along this trip, I wished I could've stayed longer, but I wasn't even half way through riding for the day, and it was nearly 1:30pm. The remaining 56 miles or so were very rural. Services and accommodations were nowhere to be had until reaching Idaho Falls. What was abundant were wide open empty spaces and a stubborn headwind for the final 30 miles. While the headwind was steady at best, riding against it for 30 miles was a little much. When I reached Idaho Falls, I splurged on a hotel room. It was about 6:30pm, and I wasn't leaving Idaho Falls until sometime after 10:00am (as I had already planned to stop at a local bike shop at 9:00am the next morning. This translated into sleeping in and having a full breakfast at the hotel.
