Day 5- Tall Grass

Wow, using the highway really does make a huge difference. I traveled close to 90 miles today.
On my way through ritzville this morning, I stopped by Zips and the gas station right next door. Luckily they had postcards, hidden behind two spinning stands of course. So I went to the post office and then headed out to the highway. It was pretty smooth sailing from there. For the entire trip in general, I had planned on listening to audiobooks and podcasts the whole way, but so far I had felt too nervous to do so with cars passing me and I was either too busy trying to figure out where to go or was simply enjoying the view on the backroads, so I hadn't even tried it yet, until today. I think I got through about 6 hours of lectures.
I did get one flat tire today, so that makes two in five days... Not very good statistics. The first one was totally my fault though, but even if you take that out and round it up, getting a flat every week is not acceptable. I'm going to visit a bike shop tomorrow in Hermiston, Oregon to see if they have tougher tires or tubes or something.
I was planning on staying with a host on warmshowers.com, but I underestimated how far away she was and I also got a bit lost in Kennewick, which slowed me down a lot. I decided to peddle down the highway until I found a spot, but on a whim, I took a random right and lo and behold, there was a "Road Closed" sign in front of a 20 foot road. Beyond it was a small hill (which sucked to get my heavy bike up, by the way), and at the top of the hill was a tree and some bushes, perfect for hiding my tent. Second best of all: no private property signs. And first best of all: an amazing view of the sunset behind some mountains over the city lights, with the crescent moon off to the left. If I'd have gotten there a bit earlier I'm sure it would have been even better. I bet the sunrise will look great too, but I'm definitely sleeping in tomorrow.

Time to get up.

Nice shoulders!

The perfect view from my campsite.

Day 4- Outside Cheney

I survived! The wind and the coyotes howling in the distance kept me awake until like 2 am, but I did get some sleep and was able to sleep in. No cop this time. The wind was pretty brutal when I got out of my tent. I had to battle with it all day, since it was going east and I was going southwest. The pavement quickly turned into dirt. But I trusted that Google would find me some pavement soon. It did, but that turned to dirt quickly too. After miles and miles, and going through what I'm pretty sure was private property, I should have forgotten Google and headed to the highway, but oh no. Once I finally made it to the main trail that google wanted me to use, I discovered that it was made of a bunch of large, sharp rocks- great for walking, impossible for a bike.
At this point I could have continued on the dirt trail all the way to the highway- a long treck but I would be golden once I got there. However, I was really sick of dirt roads and I figured backroads would be more safe, so I turned back and headed down the paved road, making my own way towards Pasco. It took me through this awesome little town. There was a high school and a car shop, but that was pretty much it. Just after this town, the road turned to dirt again. Fantastic. Again, I thought about turning around, but I didn't want to waste time, so I just kept going. I passed by an abandoned house, which I had to check out. It ended up not being too exciting. It was full of bird poo. And slightly bigger poo, from who knows what. After continuing on for what seemed like forever, I finally found out that there was no way to get to the highway or Pasco without going north first and going through Ritzville. To make matters worse, once I got close, I called a rv/campsite to see how much staying the night would be. Turns out they only take rvs, and everyone else in town does the same- no tents.
So after this crudy day of peddling against the wind, on dirt roads with frequent hills, and going north when I needed to go south, I finally found a spot to camp on the side of a road outside Ritzville. It's fairly well hidden behind bushes and there aren't any no trespassing signs, so I should be solid. I may have only gone about 60 miles today, but I'd say that's pretty darn good considering the cirsumstances.
As a side note, my legs finally figured out how to feel sore. Whenever I stopped for bit, peddling again was tough. I will be eating lots of protein tomorrow.

I felt so professional with my cheap Amazon.com tent with a tarp over it.

Such a beautiful sky!

I'm pretty sure this is the coolest welcome sign I saw the entire trip.

The abandoned house full of bird poop.

Day 3- Private Property

I've already told you how it started (once I figure out how to add pictures, I have some good ones), with a cop giving me a warning for camping on private property. About an hour after that, I made the newbie mistake of trying to jump a curb. Instant flat tire. I was pleasantly surprised about how long it took to fix- maybe ten minutes and I was back on the road again, being much more careful. Unfortunately there were tons of curbs in Spokane, so it took me forever to get to the Bicycle Butler. I was in and out quickly- great, I can head to Cheney. Just a few blocks down, I was crossing at a crosswalk and someone didn't see me. They slammed on their brakes, as did I, so really there was no chance for danger. Buuuut the person behind the first car didn't have the same reflexes, so he hit the first car. I was actually thinking about that that very day. I wondered when I would see my first accident, since I've heard all the statistics about how common they are. I didn't want to be the one who indirectly caused it though... Hopefully I won't see too many more. Traveling through Spokane continued to suck after that. I was getting hungry so I got a large pizza from Pizza Hut- a poor choice. I've heard of people eating rediculous amount when bike touring, but I could only eat 3 slices. The box was easy to strap on the back of my bike though. From there I headed to my friends' apartment in Cheney to recharge my batteries, take a shower and do some laundry. Thank you Tiffany, Jessie and Kristen! I am now camped outside of Cheney, in a place where I didn't see any no trespassing signs, and a good distance away from the road. Mosquitoes attacked me as I set up my tent, but somehow none made it inside. As I put the tarp over it, I heard a really long howl off in the distance- coyotes. This should be a fun night.

Oops. Wait! Wow I didn't notice it before... It doesn't say no trespassing :p

State number 3!

Thanks for letting me stop by, ladies!

Gorgeous sunset in Cheney, where I spent my college years.

Day 2- Deer

I couldn't write this last night because there was a thunderstorm and I couldn't find a place to camp. It was getting darker and darker so I simply had to pick a spot. It wasn't great- I had to move a couple of pine cones because I'm sure those aren't very comfortable to sleep on. But it did the job. I slept with my tarp over my tent- my tent is supposed to be waterproof, but one: it isn't and two: my tarp is green, so it should have helped me blend in a little better. When I woke up, I found out that the tarp actually has two sides to it- the other was brown. Not as stealthy, but still not too bad. Unfortunately that didn't really even matter, because right when I was about to be done packing up camp, a cop showed up. I camped 20 feet directly behind a private property sign... Oops. Luckily I just got a warning.
Shoot, I guess I should back up a little and actually talk about day 2. I started a bit late, around noon. I had to go over two passes, which were tough when going uphill, but the downhills made them worth  it. I randomly found a post office, but I hadn't bought a postcard yet, so I had to keep going. I found another once I made it to Coeur d'Alene, the most difficult to spell city in the United States. After that, I was simply following the trail, but it crossed the road funny so I got lost right before it started raining hard. I found the nearest roof, a bar, and there were people coming outside so I was like eh, no. So I kept going and found a pet care building- perfect. While I sat there and waited, I looked on my phone for nearby places to stay. The nearest hotel- half mile away. Price: starting at 175 per night. Screw that... The woods in front of the building looked great, so I headed over there once the rain calmed down. Tons of private property and no trespassing signs. Fantastic. So I kept on biking and got trapped in an apartment parking lot. Google told me to turn around and go back, but I saw a shortcut. Unfortunately I didn't see the train tracks. But there was a small dirt trail that I figured would quickly lead to another road. It didn't. But I kept walking along. There were some woods to the left, but they looked too creepy. Finally I gave up once I reached another small road. I figured that sure, people might be able to see me, but that might be for best if there are any creepy people out, which was terrible logic considering there was currently a thunderstorm going on.
But laying in my warm sleeping bag as it started to rain again, I did the math, and somehow I magically went 85 miles in about 10 hours, even with crazy hills, many stops and a bit of rain. I fall asleep with more confidence than ever.

Haha, how ironic!

No biggy.

Some great views, and I'm just barley getting started.

Yum.

Day 1- Cheney

30 miles in 4 hours. I'm perfectly happy with that. It ended up being mostly downhill. Tomorrow is going to be a long day, since I'm going back the way I came. I was hoping to find a shorter path to California, but following i90 is short enough and a lot more simple and safe. If I'm lucky, I will make it back to Washington tomorrow.
2 states down, 48 to go.

Let the adventure of a lifetime begin.

Fuuuun...

State number 1!

They've got everything!

I totally did not realize this was so close to Cheney... This was a favorite stop for us when we went on vacation.

Eating brownies and enjoying the sunset... Thanks Jessie, Tiffany and Kristen!

Time to fly.

Back over.

State number 2!

http://www.datapointed.net/2012/08/fastest-route-to-visit-all-fifty-united-states/

Here is the path I plan on using. I will likely veer away from it a lot though.

Here are some other people who went on crazy bike trips:

http://thegreat48.us/ - These five guys are currently biking around the United States. They started in South Dakota. They plan to average 60 miles a day for 10,000 miles.

http://www.kpho.com/story/20227425/az-man-bikes-all-50-states-to-aid-stricken-children and http://fraank.org/events.html - This man took 220 days to bike through every state capital.

http://www.giveabike.blogspot.com/ - This couple biked through every state. They took about a year. Here is a brilliant quote from the site:

"Have you ever heard it? It’s like this constant knock, not at your front door, but from somewhere inside, telling you you’re meant to do something different. It’s something that makes people tilt their heads in question. It’s something that makes your mom shake her head after supporting you through years of college and graduate school. It’s something that means leaving your cushy teaching job, your opportunity at a career after graduation, your comfy, dry, warm home, your friends, your family, and maybe your dog, too."