Sunday, June 29, 2014

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.

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