June 30, 2023
To Roosevelt Park WA
Surviving
Ack! We slept till 9:30, must have been really tired. It's too late for the hot breakfast at the Quality Inn that I was so excited about. Oh well, the McNary Mart has decent breakfast options. The bacon and egg sandwiches that they made at 7:00 this morning are free now. Tastes fine to me.
| Heart | 2 | Comment | 0 | Link |
We finally get rolling around 11:00, rather late on what promises to be a hot day. The McNary Bridge bike path takes us back to Washington, the state where we've spent more nights than any other, 13 so far by my count.
The next 8 miles on Christy Road are quiet and easy with apple orchards, vineyards and nice views of the river. Then we're on Washington 14, the Lewis and Clark Highway for the rest of the day. The road is really fine, straight with a good shoulder and not much traffic.
Roosevelt Park where we're camping tonight has no potable water so we have to carry enough for today, tonight and tomorrow. At the Paterson coffee shop 20 miles in we fill our Camelbacks, a spare 3 liter bag and 3 bottles, 12 liters in all. I hope that will be enough. In a pinch I suppose we could filter and boil water from the river.
Barry wants to go on ahead and ride at a normal pace. It's a fine idea. I can listen to my book and everybody's happy.
By the halfway point my water is quite warm and there's a hot headwind blowing at 20 mph. It's an effort to keep turning the pedals. There's no particularly good place to stop for a break and no shade.
I'm thinking back fondly on some of the best days of the trip - Lake Koocanusa in Montana, Lake Coeur d'Alene in Idaho, the Palouse Scenic Byway. Surely we'll have some breathtaking days ahead in the Columbia Gorge. This isn't one of them.
As I get close to the turnoff for the park Barry messages me that he has set up the tent and had a nap, because of course he has. Then a mirage appears - a MiniMart, with all the water we could want. I didn't find it on Google but am thrilled to see it in real life. The ice cold Gatorade from the cooler is so good.
I find Barry with the tent up in a pretty spot, also a noisy spot. I figured a campground with no water would be deserted but we have lots of company tonight. There's a big party of Spanish speaking families having a picnic, playing volleyball and blasting mariachi music. I'm just happy to crash in the tent for awhile.
At least the restroom has flush toilets. While I'm sitting there I hear some girls come in and a little dog scoots past me in the stall. There's a first.
Dinner is a Shepherds pie dehydrated meal that we bought in Sandpoint three weeks ago and have been carrying ever since. Reconstituted with water, it looks like mush but tastes fine to me. The vegetables taste like vegetables, the ground beef like beef and it's not too salty. Barry doesn't love it but is mollified with cashews and oatmeal cookies.
The monotonous mariachi music is going strong after 10:00. I guess we've been spoiled by the solitude of our previous camp nights. Barry asks them to turn it down, without success. He falls asleep to the oompah baseline booming across the field. At 11:30 I pull my pants back on and walk over to make one more plea. The music gets a little quieter, enough to sleep with earplugs.
We'll rate this camping experience one level up from the mosquito ranch at Dorr Skeels campground in Montana. Living the dream.
Today's ride: 55 miles (89 km)
Total: 1,136 miles (1,828 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 4 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 2 |
10 months ago