After a hearty breakfast at the Golden Harvest restaurant in Vantage, we were under way again at around 7am. First up on the agenda was back on I-90 and a scoot over the Columbia River Bridge--unlike the previous I-90 mileage, this bridge has a one-foot shoulder for bikes. I played Woody Guthrie's song over and over in my mind as I "rolled on" across the Columbia. Even with the semi's whizzing by, it was still quite a thrill. To their credit, the traffic, particularly trucks gave us a wide berth. The thrill was short lived as we began a ten mile climb up the gorge toward George. One of my ridemates, Vern from Minnesota, and I (lower picture) were able to visit the bust of George Washington that has been strategically and respectfully placed next to driveway of the Union 76 station.
Until now the temps have been in the 80's. We stopped for fresh cherries and were having a good old time rolling along through metropolitan Ephrata, until--we hit the long stretch of rock and sagebrush between Ephrata and Odessa. Between the rock walls, we estimated temperatures to be in the mid 90's. But, of course, it was a dry heat. Not Fun.
We concluded our 85 mile day at the evening's camp spot on the field next to Odessa High School (top picture). The H.S. cafeteria staff made us some wonderful lasagna for dinner that evening. Somehow I don't remember high school food being that good.
More to come,
Marty
1 comment:
Ouch! (referring to the post title, of course)
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