Washington Adventures

Another 74 miles in the books. Guess what folks! I’m over 1/100th of the way done with the trip! Yippee! Today’s ride took me from my campsite on the north side of Rainier to Longview, Washington. Right on the border of Oregon. Can you believe I’m almost onto state number two? Crazy.

I’ve been doing a lot of pedaling these past few days, and today was almost completely opposite than Tuesday’s ride. On Tuesday, the ride started off with a slight drizzle, which eventually turned into a solid rain, only to clear up for the second half of the day. Likewise, the first half of the ride was filled with hills. Lots of them. While the last stretch was flat with only a few small hills. Not bad. Today however, the first half was rather smooth. No major hills, good pace. Just pedal stroke, after pedal stroke. However, after the halfway point, the hills came. Big ones. Little ones. Even a few long down hills which were certainly welcome. This time with no stoplights at the bottom like in Seattle. However, the rains came. And they poured. And then they poured some more. Oh, are you thirsty? Have some more rain! Yeah. It was a heavy downpoor. I was drenched. Soaked. Drowning. Whatever you want to call it, that was me. However, I just kept pedaling. Pedaling through the rain drops like Eddie Lacey runs through linebackers.

I survived my first night in the tent. It was awfully chilly. I purchased a lightweight sleeping bag for the trip, because every ounce matters. However, in doing so, the sleeping bag only is rated to 45 degrees. Now that shouldn’t be a problem for the entire trip, except for these first two weeks in the Pacific Northwest. I wore practically every article of clothing I had packed with me to bed, granted that’s not much, but still. I was cold. Shivering. The only way I could manage to stay warm was by pulling my mummy bag completely over my head and going full butterfly and tie up the coocoon. And ladies, don’t worry, I woke up as the smeliest butterfly with messy hair you’ve ever seen. Despite the shivering, I got a solid night of sleep. Though it was on and off at many parts. I managed.

I took the Yelm-Tenino bike trail to start off the ride and rode it for a solid 10-15 miles. It’s a gorgeous trail. Very well paved, with superb scenery. It’s part of the Rails to Trails program in Washington, and I was very impressed with the mile marker signs, as well as labeling cross streets that the trail intersects. Two things cyclists love on bike trails. There were also slugs everywhere on the trail. Must have been from the morning dew. I was constantly dodging them with my tire. Yes, I, like most other five year old girls, am disgusted by the premise of slug guts getting splattered on me. However, the trail made up for it by allowing me to pretend I was biking through a tunnel. Pretty sweet, huh?

I pedaled through a few other small cities on today’s ride. It’s one of the beautiful things of riding the backroads. Google puts me on these side streets and I am able to see the city’s people. They glance at me and friendly wave, and we continue on our ways. Likely to never cross paths for the rest of our lives. However, for that one moment, we both took time out of our busy days and lives to try and make the other’s day a little better. Now that’s pretty cool.

When biking you see a lot of cool things. Some that are just oddities that catch your attention. Like these tractors lined up on this property.

Then. While riding into Longview, I saw it. One of the most creative, and cute ideas I have ever seen. Seriously. Whoever thought of this should win the Nobel Peace Prize. It’s a bridge. For squirrels.

Right now in Washington, everything is in bloom. It’s green, colorful, and a mighty change from the brown that still exists in Wisconsin. Don’t worry Wisconsinites, I promise Spring will come eventually. While biking through the small city of Castle Rock, I snapped this gorgeous picture. Some of the pedals littered the streets, making for a gorgeous ride.

A huge shoutout to Clark who graciously opened up his home to me tonight. Along with Pete in Seattle for doing the legwork to find the connection. Seriously, I was anticipating having to bike out of the way to find a campsite. Adding miles to your route is never done with a smile. Trust me. Last minute notice, he graciously opened up his back porch to me for the night. I’m gonna be cozy. Though they did warn me of the opossum that periodically climbs up on the porch as well. I think I may be the one playing dead.

Tomorrow it’s another long day. I’m staying outside of Portland, so hopefully traffic won’t be too bad. However, it’ll be my first time to Oregon. So, that’ll be new state number 5 for me thus far on the trip. North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, and now Oregon. Welcome to the club! I’ve been impressed. As always, keep on pedaling, and go give someone a Hi5 because Hi5s are awesome. I’ll see you tomorrow.

Matt.