Washington
As I left Spokane, I quickly realized it was not going to be a fun day. Whether it's a wheat field or an expanse of desert wasteland, Eastern and central Washington are barren of trees and therefore quite windy. All day long I had to fight a steady 20 to 30 mph headwind. Because of the wind and the constant up hill grade of the state, I had my head down the majority of the time looking just ahead of my front tire. After only about 25 miles I glanced up and saw that I was coming into a tiny town. I looked back down and began pushing the "mode" button on my new bike computer to find out what time it was. Then next thing I knew I was smashing into the back quarter panel of a silver car that was parked on the shoulder of the highway and went crashing to the ground out in the traffic lane. Luckily the huge dump truck that had been approaching quickly saw all this happen and hit the brakes before turning me into a grease spot on the road. As I am cursing myself and getting up off the ground, I see the word "Police" written down the side of the the car. I simply couldn't believe what I'd done, and how I didn't see the shiny silver brand new Dodge Charger parked on the side of the road ahead of me. So, the officer stepped out of his car and couldn't believe how dumb I was either. Turns out, in the tiny city of Rearden, WA I rear-ended the chief of police. How's that for irony. Well, the chief was able to punch out the dented quarter panel from inside the trunk, and said that he could probably buff out all the scratches on his bumper, but he still took my information, called another cop to see the damage, took pictures and told me he'd still have to turn it into their body shop. I haven't heard anything from him for a couple weeks, so I'm hoping I'm in the clear. My only question is, how long do I wait before I contact him and ask for the damage photos so that I can post them on my website?
After the accident I continued on and made it only to Wilbur, WA where I got a cheap motel room and cleaned up by bruised and scraped body. The next day, I set out to make it into the Cascades. For about 90 miles it was all desert and canyons, even Niger had more trees than there. Then, as I had big decent into a winding canyon, I popped out next to a big river at the base of the mountains where there were endless orchards of fruit trees and every half mile there were huge fresh produce markets and stands. I felt like I stumbled upon the Garden of Eden. This was the area just North of Wenatchi, WA. I made it 111 miles to Cashmere where I decided to grab another motel room. I was burning through my funds but needed some good rest and didn't feel like finding a suitable camp site.
Going on the advice of some of the locals I changed my route from highway 2 through the cascades, which was said to be quite dangerous, to taking highway 92 down to Interstate-90 and follow that all the way into Seattle. I had to go over a pretty long climb up to Blewitt Pass in order to get to I-90, but I had lost the ability to shift into my easiest gear when I wrecked into the cop car. My derailer was bent and would knock into my wheel spokes, therefore I had to climb in a lower gear making it much more difficult. Once over the top of the pass, I was looking forward to the decent where I could rest a little. Unfortunately, Mother Nature never likes to play fair or make things easy, so I was greeted by a strong up draft of wind coming up the mountains making me actually have to work to go downhill. When I finally made it to the bottom of the mountains and into a valley basin the wind had only gotten stronger and was blowing from every direction but behind me. I was tossed left and right and couldn't go faster than ten mph. It was 54 miles before I got to a town where I could have lunch and I was about to cry when I got to Cle Elum because of how hard the wind was making my day. But I ate a good meal, took a little time to recover, then went back out for the rest of the afternoon. I had to stop for the day at the top of another smaller pass, because the sun was going down and it had started to rain up in the mountains. Since I didn't want to set up camp in the rain, I once again tapped into the funds and got a room.
The next day I was very excited because I only had 54 miles to go until Seattle and there I could relax and rest with a couple of my friends from the Peace Corps. I saddled up and didn't stop until I got there. Rolling into town was a great feeling. I had cycled almost 5,200 miles at that point from the Southernmost point in the US all the way up to the Northwest corner of the country. Seattle was the turning point to the home stretch of my journey. I spent a little over a week visiting with Danielle Sewell and Lulu McCourt. Lulu took me up to the San Juan Islands across the Puget Sound and to this very beautiful place called Deception Pass. It's a gorgeous water way that is very dangerous to maneuver with high rock cliffs on both sides. We visited this state park where they had tide pool estuaries and trails that went up to the cliffs of the bluffs. On the way back, we took a big ferry across the Sound, which was a first for me. Later in the week, Lulu also took me canoing in Lake Washington in Seattle. I visited two Rotary clubs while I was in town too. During my time in Seattle, I was able to meet a bunch of my friends' friends and see a lot of the city. Down in Pike Place Market there were street musicians, magicians, jugglers, and artists. I went to the famous fish market where they throw the salmon to you from twenty feet away, that was pretty entertaining. The one thing I didn't do that I'll have to go back for was going up into the Space Needle. I took pictures from below it on my bike, but never made it inside. Over all, I truly enjoyed my time there and am very appreciative to all my friends who helped make my visit memorable. I really needed the smiles and good recovery time after the difficult journey across the state, and it definitely helped improve my opinion of Washington.
When I left Seattle, I took one of the big ferries across the Sound and went down the Olympic Peninsula to the capital, Olympia. I arrived just in time for a five o'clock Rotary meeting and met some very nice people. One lady in particular was the president of a different club in Olympia that met at noon and I missed it. She actually had a flier printed up about my cause with info and pictures from my website and she passed them out at their meeting, took up a collection, and was able to raise over $150 for the campaign and I never even came to the meeting. And the president of the evening meeting club was so supportive he had gotten me a room at a hotel downtown and took me out to a delicious seafood dinner. Needless to say, I was impressed with the Rotarians in Olympia, WA.
I decided to take Interstate-5 South from Olympia 111 miles to Portland, Oregon. Typically, the interstate is a safer option than state highways. There is a wide shoulder and usually a rumble strip that is standard next to the white line letting cars know they are drifting. The only real draw back is all the debris from truck tires you have to dodge. Unfortunately, for me, I-5 had several areas of construction with no shoulder and some big bridges too that required me to ride actually in the interstate lane. Last Wednesday was in the top 3 most dangerous days on this trip, for sure. But I had my guardian angles looking over me, and I made it to Portland safe and sound. I actually got flat tire on my back wheel right at the exit I was taking into town and found over a dozen pieces of metal and glass stuck in my tire. So I pulled out all the trash, and replaced the tube. My good friend from the Peace Corps, Ben Grace who I visited in Florida back in April, is from Portland and he connected me with his dad, who agreed to host me for a few days. I've spent the past couple days checking out the city, trying different restaurants and met a couple of Ben's old friends. Portland has a lot of character and I'd love to come back sometime when Ben is actually here, so he can show me all the good spots only locals know about. His dad showed me a couple in their neighborhood, including an old Coney Island hot dog place, and the Baghdad Theater that's been around since the early 1930's.
Tomorrow, I head South 123 miles to Eugene, OR where I'll get to visit Katy Miller, another good friend from my team in Niger. I plan to spend a couple days hanging out with her before jumping out to highway 101 and riding down the West coast to sweet San Francisco. I can't believe I'm almost there.
After the accident I continued on and made it only to Wilbur, WA where I got a cheap motel room and cleaned up by bruised and scraped body. The next day, I set out to make it into the Cascades. For about 90 miles it was all desert and canyons, even Niger had more trees than there. Then, as I had big decent into a winding canyon, I popped out next to a big river at the base of the mountains where there were endless orchards of fruit trees and every half mile there were huge fresh produce markets and stands. I felt like I stumbled upon the Garden of Eden. This was the area just North of Wenatchi, WA. I made it 111 miles to Cashmere where I decided to grab another motel room. I was burning through my funds but needed some good rest and didn't feel like finding a suitable camp site.
Going on the advice of some of the locals I changed my route from highway 2 through the cascades, which was said to be quite dangerous, to taking highway 92 down to Interstate-90 and follow that all the way into Seattle. I had to go over a pretty long climb up to Blewitt Pass in order to get to I-90, but I had lost the ability to shift into my easiest gear when I wrecked into the cop car. My derailer was bent and would knock into my wheel spokes, therefore I had to climb in a lower gear making it much more difficult. Once over the top of the pass, I was looking forward to the decent where I could rest a little. Unfortunately, Mother Nature never likes to play fair or make things easy, so I was greeted by a strong up draft of wind coming up the mountains making me actually have to work to go downhill. When I finally made it to the bottom of the mountains and into a valley basin the wind had only gotten stronger and was blowing from every direction but behind me. I was tossed left and right and couldn't go faster than ten mph. It was 54 miles before I got to a town where I could have lunch and I was about to cry when I got to Cle Elum because of how hard the wind was making my day. But I ate a good meal, took a little time to recover, then went back out for the rest of the afternoon. I had to stop for the day at the top of another smaller pass, because the sun was going down and it had started to rain up in the mountains. Since I didn't want to set up camp in the rain, I once again tapped into the funds and got a room.
The next day I was very excited because I only had 54 miles to go until Seattle and there I could relax and rest with a couple of my friends from the Peace Corps. I saddled up and didn't stop until I got there. Rolling into town was a great feeling. I had cycled almost 5,200 miles at that point from the Southernmost point in the US all the way up to the Northwest corner of the country. Seattle was the turning point to the home stretch of my journey. I spent a little over a week visiting with Danielle Sewell and Lulu McCourt. Lulu took me up to the San Juan Islands across the Puget Sound and to this very beautiful place called Deception Pass. It's a gorgeous water way that is very dangerous to maneuver with high rock cliffs on both sides. We visited this state park where they had tide pool estuaries and trails that went up to the cliffs of the bluffs. On the way back, we took a big ferry across the Sound, which was a first for me. Later in the week, Lulu also took me canoing in Lake Washington in Seattle. I visited two Rotary clubs while I was in town too. During my time in Seattle, I was able to meet a bunch of my friends' friends and see a lot of the city. Down in Pike Place Market there were street musicians, magicians, jugglers, and artists. I went to the famous fish market where they throw the salmon to you from twenty feet away, that was pretty entertaining. The one thing I didn't do that I'll have to go back for was going up into the Space Needle. I took pictures from below it on my bike, but never made it inside. Over all, I truly enjoyed my time there and am very appreciative to all my friends who helped make my visit memorable. I really needed the smiles and good recovery time after the difficult journey across the state, and it definitely helped improve my opinion of Washington.
When I left Seattle, I took one of the big ferries across the Sound and went down the Olympic Peninsula to the capital, Olympia. I arrived just in time for a five o'clock Rotary meeting and met some very nice people. One lady in particular was the president of a different club in Olympia that met at noon and I missed it. She actually had a flier printed up about my cause with info and pictures from my website and she passed them out at their meeting, took up a collection, and was able to raise over $150 for the campaign and I never even came to the meeting. And the president of the evening meeting club was so supportive he had gotten me a room at a hotel downtown and took me out to a delicious seafood dinner. Needless to say, I was impressed with the Rotarians in Olympia, WA.
I decided to take Interstate-5 South from Olympia 111 miles to Portland, Oregon. Typically, the interstate is a safer option than state highways. There is a wide shoulder and usually a rumble strip that is standard next to the white line letting cars know they are drifting. The only real draw back is all the debris from truck tires you have to dodge. Unfortunately, for me, I-5 had several areas of construction with no shoulder and some big bridges too that required me to ride actually in the interstate lane. Last Wednesday was in the top 3 most dangerous days on this trip, for sure. But I had my guardian angles looking over me, and I made it to Portland safe and sound. I actually got flat tire on my back wheel right at the exit I was taking into town and found over a dozen pieces of metal and glass stuck in my tire. So I pulled out all the trash, and replaced the tube. My good friend from the Peace Corps, Ben Grace who I visited in Florida back in April, is from Portland and he connected me with his dad, who agreed to host me for a few days. I've spent the past couple days checking out the city, trying different restaurants and met a couple of Ben's old friends. Portland has a lot of character and I'd love to come back sometime when Ben is actually here, so he can show me all the good spots only locals know about. His dad showed me a couple in their neighborhood, including an old Coney Island hot dog place, and the Baghdad Theater that's been around since the early 1930's.
Tomorrow, I head South 123 miles to Eugene, OR where I'll get to visit Katy Miller, another good friend from my team in Niger. I plan to spend a couple days hanging out with her before jumping out to highway 101 and riding down the West coast to sweet San Francisco. I can't believe I'm almost there.
DREW!! Biking on the interstate in illegal!!!
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