now were talkin'

I'm on the last day of the ride east, tonight I will sleep at my Mom's. It's nice to see Idaho finally looking more like Idaho and less like Eastern Washington.

woo hoo!

I'm getting ready to head out of Colfax. The news reports T-storms in the area as well as extreme fire hazard...weird. The cones that hold

out of order

I'm out to dinner with Farlito at Wells Diner. Believe me when I say that the Wells peanut butter hot fudge milkshake brings all the boys to the yard! I figured out due to intermittent cell coverage my entries won't always post in chronological order; many pardons.

hot 'n' dusty

It's an absolute scorcher today! Luckily I came across the Dusty Country Store. Dusty being the name of the town and not the contition of the shelves. There was a table in the back where I ate lunch and was briefed, by the women minding the store, about the local gossip regarding the grocery store in nearby LaCrosse where the owner's daughter-in-law had got caught stealing Sudafed and lottery tickets. Although I had no reference to anyone she mentioned I listened intently because it reminded me of the small town news I used to hear during my time in Mullen, NE. Btw, the phone number to the DCS is 549-BEER; they sell shirts tautting the fact. Where would we be without thwart simple pleasures,

posse up

I'm almost ready to hit the road to Colfax, WA where I meet my friend Farlito. Yesterday, was a near perfect day. Great weather, beauftiful campground that I had all to myself, I got to go swimming in the river, had a hot coin-op shower, and was actually able to sleep in this morning. I was out some friends the night my friend Carmen found out about the trip I was planning. Upon hearing about the trip she exlaimed, "EAT BEANS!" Everyone at the table stopped and looked one another and asked Carmen what she was talking about. "Beans!" she replied excitedly, "You must eat Beans!" At this point she had everyone at the table mystified as to what she was on about. Like someone suffering from bean-centric dimentia she just kept saying "Eat beans!" After some ribbing Carmen did go on to expound on the nutritional merits of beans. Last night I ate beans, and they were nice. Thanks Carms!

back in the saddle

My roommate Seamus dropped me off to resume the ride this morning. I didn't get and pictures but the dilapidated houses out in the middle of nowhere made me think that if we stayed too long we would surely hear dueling banjos or perhaps the rip of a chainsaw...spooky stuff.

this and that

Hot breakfast ain't all that when you've got all this.

Monday, Monday

This post is dedicated to Nurse Ratchet who warned me of the incongruities between maps and actual roads. I got lucky this time because the error proved to be in my favor and resulted in a very short day of riding instead of a long day. I'm staying at a cool little tiered capmground. It reminds me a lot of terraced gardens. Tents on top, then RVs, then the resturant/camp store, then the marina. The pic was taken from the end of one of the docks. The bridge isn't all that spectacular but it brought to mind things like Stand By Me, Butch & Sundance, and a whole slew of train songs. The bridge made me happy so, I thought I'd share it.

Tuesday mourning

Alrighty then, trail mix and peanut butter it is...

Tuesday morning

I have a pretty nice view from my campsite yesterday. I'm about packed up and ready for some breakfast. I missed out on supper last night because the although the sign on the resturant said open until 7 the were closed at 5:30 when I went down to eat. Hopefully, the same laws that govern closing won't govern when they open and I won't be stuck with peanut butter and trail mix again. ;-)

king of the hill

See the garage in the background? That's about where the road went from being a road to my nemesis.

party on Wayne!

Okay, so after a few nights back in PDX and a trip to REI I'm able to get back on the road. Before I post again from the road I feel as though I should give a shout out to Wayne, owner of the Skamania General Store. I had no cell service while at the general store and was planning to use the pay phone only to find out that it had been removed a week earlier. Wayne was kind enough to allow me to use his phone to call for assistance so; I wrote him a little jingle.

When driving highway 14
and you hit mile marker 33
Pull over and take a load off
and check out the deals that Wayne's got
Like fishing tackle, road maps, and waxy chocolate donuts
coffee in a can, domestic beer, and Spam
candy and gum of all sorts,
and gasoline and carports...
It's the Skamania General Store
and Cook House Cafe
in the Columbia River George
where breakfast is served all day

fallen soldier

So, looks like there may be a change in plans... One of the clips that holds the saddlebags to the bike sheared off so now half of my gear is dangling off of the side of my bike precariously. I limped back to a store/cafe that was a few miles back. Now I wait for 'roadside assistance' from my friend and guardian angel Jes. I'm not sure what this means for the long term but, right now, after setting up camp in the dark and getting only four hours of sleep, I'm going to need to regroup prior to any further action.

DAILY STATS 8/23
Distance: 47 miles
Avg Speed: 8.9
Max Speed: 32.6
Vertical Feet Climbed: 2050
Caloric Burn: 6658

up up and away

Here's the view from the top of Cape Horn. The climb was about 1500 verical feet over about 3 miles. At every turn the road just kept going up. After the 11th bend I gave up thinking that 'this has to be the last climb', and put my head down and cranked it out.

And away we go!

I'm heading out and I'll meet you back here when I stop for lunch.

So less than two miles in to the trip I find myself across the street from DQ changing a flat tire. Some would see this as telling but, I

in-tent-city

I will be camping with some friends at Horsethief Lake State Park just across the Columbia River from The Dalles. I'll be there Friday night through Sunday morning (24th-26th).

Sound like a good time? You should come along!

Holla back if you wanna kick it.

blog and roll

Q: How many people with A.D.D. does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: Hey, lets ride bikes!



Thus far, I haven't really done much with my summer; no camping, very few shows, 2 BBQs, only 1 bicycle scavenger hunt, and no trips out to see my mom. My schedule recently opened up so; I've devised a way to catch up on a whole slew up summer fun at once. I'm gonna go for a bike ride to see my mom in Coeure D'Alene, ID.

The route out is:
The route East is a pretty straight forward route following the Columbia River Gorge, through the the tri-cities area, and up to the pan handle of Idaho.

For a more detailed view click here.





The route back will be:
The route West will take me down the Idaho pan handle to the Nez Perce Nat'l Forest and Hells Canyon area. From there I cut back towards the gorge and will eventually dip back south to encompass Mt. Hood.

For a more detailed view click here.




The 1100 mile trek commences on Thursday the 23rd. I will be maintaining the blog from the road and hope to hear from you often!

blog and roll

Q: How many people with ADD does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: Hey, lets ride bikes!



Thus far, I haven't really done much with my summer; no camping, very few shows, 2 BBQs, only 1 bicycle scavenger hunt, and no trips out to see my mom. My schedule recently opened up so; I've devised a way to catch up on a whole slew up summer fun at once. I'm gonna go for a bike ride to see my mom in Coeure D'Alene, ID.

The route out is:
The route East is a pretty straight forward route following the Columbia River Gorge, through the the tri-cities area, and up to the pan handle of Idaho.








For a more detailed view click here.







The route back will be:
The route West will take me down the Idaho pan handle to the Nez Perce Nat'l Forest and Hells Canyon area. From there I cut back towards the gorge and will eventually dip back south to encompass Mt. Hood.






For a more detailed view click here.



The 1100 mile trek commences on Thursday the 23rd. I will be maintaining the blog from the road and hope to hear from you often!

Down by the riverside

Under the bridge downtown is where I rode my bike. Under the bridge downtown, I could not ride enough...

Snowy Goodness

Two of the really nice things about riding the Springwater Corridor:

The gorgeous view of snow capped Mt. Hood on the way out

...and snow cones at Sellwood Park on the way back.

Frenchbread for thought

I saw this on my way home from tonight's ride painted on a loading dock down by the waterfront. The originality more than makes up for the lack of aesthetics. I sent this to a few people as an MMS. Boyfriends, girlfriends, and singles agreed unanimously that the statement is indeed true.

*Poll Time*

Please take a moment and post your vote* for true or false with a brief explanation of what you feel justified in your stance on this hot-button issue.



*Atkins devotes need not vote. You have forsaken the goodness of bread and for that you shall be disqualified from this poll. Please keep checking back as you may very well be eligible for polls concerning media mind control and/or cult worship.

This is a test

This is only a test of the emergency blogcasting service. In the event of a real posting you would actually be given some real information...