Blowin in the wind

June 4, 2023

Run Forrest Run

Quote of the day: Improvise/Adapt/OVERCOME !!!!! Frank Sowa

So I didn’t get out of Ellensburg this morning till around 10. I went to the local UPS store, which was thankfully open on Sunday. I mailed off 6 1/2 pounds of unwanted stuff, well, I might want it later on, but right now I just need to get rid of some weight. Of course, I traded all of that for four bottles of water, four packets of tuna, 10 packets of instant oatmeal, Two packets of instant mashed potatoes , and two packets of dried pasta meals. So even with all that added weight, I guess I’m still 6 1/2 pounds lighter than I was before.

Getting out of town was a bit worrisome. There was a stiff headwind going through the back street to the UPS store. I was hoping it wouldn’t last when I got out on the route, and it didn’t. In fact, I had a tail wind, or at least a wind off my port stern. It must’ve been blowing at least 15 to 20 miles an hour and I was thankful i wasn’t going into it. I did not take the gravel trail today. I stuck to the road. it was flat until I got to the hills leading to the Columbia river. I was told I would have to climb some hills but I really didn’t believe it because usually you go downhill to a river. But this time I had to climb about 500 or so feet before passing over a peak and heading down to the river. It seemed like I would never get there and in fact I had to walk the last mile or so till I got to the top.

I have to wonder about all these renewable wind turbines. There were dozens of them along the ridge that I had to climb and maybe five of them were in operation. That’s hard to believe since it was so windy. I’m not convinced all the solar and wind renewable jazz is going to help at all. I think unless we go to nuclear there’s no way we can power all these little Teslas driving around. Speaking of Teslas, there was a slew of charging stations near the motel where I stayed last night. I just can’t imagine driving around and having to sit at a charging station for half hour/45 minutes waiting for your car to charge. I think I would just take a generator and stick it in the trunk.

Anyway, climbing up the hill to get to the Columbia river was not a lot of fun, and I kept thinking I 90 is only about 2 miles south of me, I can still rent a car someplace and drive home. What the heck am I doing out here. This is crazy. I’m not even halfway across the state of Washington and I have probably 4000 miles yet to go. Why? And then Bob Dylan reminded me that the answer is blowing in the wind. And he was right. I had to tail wind, so I figured I might as well take advantage of it and see how things go. Maybe I’ll luck out and have a tail wind all the way to Iowa. That would be great.

So after I reached the peak of the hills leading to the Columbia river, I started downhill. I figured I’d go downhill for maybe a mile or two. Then back up. Then down. But no, this hill went on for 9 miles. There was a 3 to 4% grade all downhill with a tail wind. I topped out at 36 miles an hour. That’s not bad considering I had a lot of wind resistance with the bags I’m carrying. The area at the bottom of the hill is a recreational area. And people are fishing and boating. You would think there would be at least a couple of small restaurants or fast food joints But all there really is a gas station with cold drinks and gas. And so I headed on towards the Beverly bridge. On the way I noticed the Washington state campground, so I stopped and checked the map. The next available campground is in Othello. That’s 50 miles away. So even though I only did 30 miles today, I called it a day knowing there’s no way I can make another 50 miles by night time.

It was only around 1 PM when I got in, so I’ve been sitting around waiting for the sun to go down. They have hiker biker campsites, so I took one of those. Luckily, there’s a couple of shaded areas with trees, and I took cover underneath those. I’m right next to the bathroom but of course, like the last Washington state park that I stayed at, the bathroom is broken. They do have kybos out front. For the uninitiated, a kybo is Iowan for spot a pot. I am told it stands for keep your bowels open. Luckily, I am not downwind.

Getting back to the wind, there was a slight breeze for most of the day down here by the river and then, as the sun went down the breeze picked up. Right now it’s probably blowing 20 miles an hour. The river here is Dammed, so this is a huge lake. There are whitecaps on this thing just like at home on the Chesapeake. I got to check the weather for tomorrow and see which way the wind blowing. Hopefully Bob will again lead me in the right path. Speaking of BOB, I have not seen him yet. I am starting too late in the day. Maybe I will catch him tomorrow.

A little glitch blew my way today also. I’ve got some noise coming from the spokes on my front wheel. It is out of alignment a little bit, and I suspect the spoke tension needs to be tweaked. I did what I could to true the wheel but I really need to get to a shop that has the right tools. Closest shop to me is about 200 miles away in Spokane. So instead of going to Coeur d’Alene I probably need to go to Spokane first.

No rain is expected tonight, so I am cowboy camping. Besides, it’s too windy to set up a tent.

Oh yeah, here’s some pictures.

I can’t get the pics where I want them. Oh well.

Today's ride: 30 miles (48 km)
Total: 175 miles (282 km)

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