The alarm went off early signaling the start of the final week of the trip. Tires were checked, fuel drink was made, and sunscreen was applied. There will only be 4 more times that these things will need to be done.
We had scoped out a café last night, so we rode the 7 miles there and had a wonderful breakfast. The cichlids in the fish tank gave us something to talk about and enjoy watching.
The morning was not getting any earlier so we left. The McNary Dam was the first of the dams that we would see today.
We then crossed the river on a nice bicycle path and half way across we came to this sign. It would almost seem as if we are lost and don’t know where we are goin gor don’t know how to read the maps that we are carrying with us.
Not really the road that we are following leads us from one side of the river to the other for the next few days. I am not sure that Lewis and Clark cross and recrossed this often but we are just following the signs on the road. Maybe it is just a sick joke. Okay maybe not.
The river and road ran lazily side-by-side like an older couple out on a Sunday afternoon walk. The river was in no hurry to flow through the dam and the road well it wasn’t going anywhere. The people driving on the road were more than courteous, which is a nice surprise since a man whom we met on the road a few weeks back warned us that OR truck drivers seemed to go out of their way to hit cyclists. We have found just the opposite to be true and we have felt safe the entire time we have been in OR.
Our first break of the day was at the base of this hill with this unique house perched at the top. No town meant a less than 4.5 minute rest. Research has shown that lactic acid seems to have a great effect if you stop longer than this and is nearly nonexistent if you stop for less than this. It really seems to hold true for us. Good research guys!
I have noticed that at about 9:30 the wind really picks up and last for the rest of the day. Right on queue the wind picked up the pace and try as we might we just could not keep the nice pace that we had set earlier. I had to keep reminding myself that we have had headwinds on other days and we have made it to the end so no matter how slow it feels we are going, we would eventually reach the campground.
The second stop of the day was in Roosevelt, WA at a little diner where we got our daily allotment of ice cream and Gatorade. We did not stop long and it was a good thing. We had not been back on the road long and the girls passed us. They pulled over and we got to see them and make final plans for the evening. I love seeing those guys no matter for how little of time it may be. We again returned to the road and Dad noticed a soft ticking sound coming from his bike. We stopped and noticed that his wheel had a few spokes that had come loose. We decided to ask the girls to come back and switch out wheels, which they graciously agreed, and we would fix it tonight. We only had 30 miles to go but it ended up taking us just over 2 hours to complete.
About 5 miles from the end, we ascended the longest and steepest hill of the day. The climb was good and challenging and gave us a spectacular view of the John Day Dam.
We turned on Stonehenge Rd and came by a neat War Memorial that we all came back to visit later and continued to Mary Hill State Park. What a beautiful park with trees galore and beautiful green grass. The city of Maryhill, WA is not much of a town but is more of an area.
The area is filled with orchards, vineyards, and other beautiful green irrigated land surrounded by what would appear to be desert. The soil must be able to support any fruit or vegetation but the key is WATER!! It is nice for them to be on the river and draw from it to grow fine fruits, vegetables, and flowers.
After naps we went to see the Stonehenge War Memorial. It has a full scale replica of the Stonehenge that can be seen in England as it was originally constructed. It was nice and I decided to save myself time and money and not feel the pressure to go to see the original.
Mary Hill, for whom the city was named, was not as famous as her husband Sam Hill.
He built a mansion on top of the hill for his wife and daughter and after they shunned it and never stepped foot in it he turned into a fine art museum. He also may very well be the brunt of the saying “What in the Sam Hill is that?” He was a friend of Queen Marie of Romania during World War I and is kind of like the patron saint of this region in the Columbia River Gorge. I think the name of the bridge here crossing the river is the Sam Hill Bridge.
My day ended with a very happy stomach. We bought fresh peaches, apricots, and blackberries and had them on a glaze over ice cream. It was nice and will be good stored calories to be burned up tomorrow!
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