“Get back on your bike. Now!” It’s the first time we’ve been shouted at since school. The US border guards are not happy with us – or anything we say – for no apparent reason. So, like school kids, we think ‘whatever’. We’re not that interested in riding through the States anyway, while poking our tongues out (hidden by the helmets, of course).
We had just ridden through Canada, which we loved, and are excited about Mexico. So, the States would just be a quick transit between the two. Plus, the 45°C heat isn’t helping. Sweaty, scorned and now only mildly excited about entering a new country, we ride into Washington state. Our attitudes will change.
SECOND INTRODUCTIONS
Soon after we hide for a week in an air-conditioned RV in Idaho to escape the heat. An incredibly kind family give us the keys and a crash course in American culture and hospitality – including biscuits and gravy for breakfast, visits to the local Harley-Davidson dealership (to try and tempt us off our Honda CRFs) and guns at the dinner table.
But every day the sky ages and greys with a thick smoggy haze. Forest fires lay blankets of smoke over Idaho. Coupled with the
