I'm in Baker City, Oregon, baby!

Sweet! Thanks for all the comments. A little intro to the blog and some notes on Interesting Things:

I want you, as the reader, to get only the most interesting, most titillating bits of this trip. Because I see a lot of nothing even though I see everything. Telling the most interesting stuff makes my trip feel more substantial and hopefully will make me seem like a better writer. With that said:

I'm currently wanting to get away from the computer and stop setting up my blog because I have a date with the gas station. I am literally going to sit at any Chevron or Shell gas station next to my bike until someone talks to me. Then, I'm going to see if I can get a place to stay.

I rode through a thunderstorm today. It hailed for almost 20 miles, most of which thankfully were downhill. That also meant, though, that the rain hit me much harder than it would have normally. I remember thinking to myself: "Ow."

I shouldn't have rode through it, though. I should have stopped the second I saw lightning crack a couple miles to my right. No, I should have stopped when I saw all those bruised and angry clouds from the safety of Sumpter, Oregon's laundromat, where (ironically enough) I was washing my clothes.

Digression: I saved four butterflies at that laundromat earlier that day. They were flapping into the window and clawing at the glass. Some had given up and were just sitting there, barely moving their wings. It must be a really hard concept for an animal to grasp. Windows I mean.

But back to the storm. I always forget one thing. It doesn't matter what I'm doing, there's always one item that I neglect to bring, wash or pack. Today, I forgot to take out my gloves for the storm. My gloves live in my handlebar bag, which was tightly wrapped in a plastic turkey bag so that it wouldn't get wet. In other words, it was completely inaccessible if you're lazy and hope that the storm will let up in the next mile or so. The reason why this is significant: I've had a lot of weird hand/elbow/wrist pains in the last two weeks, but never have I lost the ability to move my fingers. After the rain/hail/wind of today, I could barely make a fist. It was really, really scary.

Other weird hand thing to note: I think I've pinched a nerve in my right hand because I go in and out of being able to feel my pinky and my ring finger. I'm worried that the damage will be permanent, considering the fact that I only have four hand positions on my handlebars and those four hand positions will never become eight or twenty. I tend to get paranoid about this kind of stuff. For a while I was convinced I had testicular cancer. Instead, it was epididymitis, which is not serious at all.

Stupidest thing I did today: Nearing my destination but still in the thick of the storm, I came across a truck weighing station. Every single truck weighing station I've come across so far has been closed and so was this one. But the thing is: the weighing device still works even if the station is closed. So, despite having seen a lightning strike less than a mile from the station, I turned around, got up onto it and weighed myself. The bike and I came out to 308 pounds. It was worth it.

I'm a little dizzy and feel like I've just woken up because I've been staring at this screen for so long. I'll make an effort post regularly. Thanks for reading.