Left turn Clyde!

Our campsite from the night before was on the John Day river, on BLM land and thus cheap and primitive. It was cold in the morning; after coffee and oatmeal we were on our way.
Eastern Oregon is dry. Either high desert or arid juniper forests. Following the river through Kimberly then to Long Creek, there was nearly no traffic this Sunday morning. In Long Creek the GPS said go right. Ok. I did and went five miles before I figured out we should have taken a left on Long Creek. No idea why the Zumo decided to ignore all the via points and take us to Baker city... So we turned around and went up to Ukiah on an extremely scenic and curvey river road.

From Ukiah to Baker City we took the back roads which the GPS thought was gravel... A more recent and accurate map showed it to be paved. At first this turned out to be a barren road through a new forest consisting of mostly sweepers. I took this opportunity to work on my form - getting my shoulders off the centerline of the bike and relaxing my arms. By the time we reached the Anthony Lakes ski area the road had narrowed and was undergoing construction, and we were encountering bicyclists. We followed one for a couple miles and clocked him at 45 mph!
In Baker City we went to the Safeway Bakery for bread, then to Fungs for unorthodox chinese. The egg roll was huge, deep fried several times, and then sliced. It had no flavor other than batter and grease. The sesame chicken was breaded and deep fried too. We were not impressed.
After lunch we rode down to Hells Canyon then up ID71, hugging the Brown Lee lake with constant 25 mph hairpins for ten miles. We stopped to read a plaque about gold mining and a ferry. For some reason we just couldn't get into a rhythm like on California - maybe it was the 94f or how the curves were linked. Maybe is the squaring off of tires, or the cupping or pulsing from the front Avon tire, or lack of feedback from the read Dunlop.
When we got to a rest area we turned right and took a break and set our clocks to mountain time and refilled our camelbacks. Leaving the rest area with a left turn, we had more 25 mph hairpins. For some reason Idaho put up a second set of historical plaques about gold mining and a ferry. Several miles later my GPS indicated I needed to take a u-turn - once again it was confused. We crossed the Snake river and were greeted as we entered Oregon. It wasn't until we passed the utility company barracks that I realized something wasn't right, and Paul confirmed I should have turned RIGHT out of the rest area. Doh! So we turned around and went the right way.

We had a route planned out to go across Idaho which brought us through 95 for a second time, which is fine with me as it is a very nice road, and on this Sunday afternoon traffic was light. Traffic enforcement was heavy though, so we took it easy until we reached the Payette national forest, saw a sign for a campground and followed a road full of coarse gravel to a secluded camp. No showers today either, but I can't smell myself yet, despite two hot days of riding.
After dinner we discussed tomorrow's route and realized were within an easy day's riding of the Pickle Barrel... And also Helena, where Chuck, Deb Jim and Ab were. We decided to make a stop on Helena tomorrow night and push the Grand Tetons stop out a day. That would mean we would ride hwy 12 over Lolo pass again, but that is no punishment.