Day 3: Columbia Hills State Park to Crowe Butte Park

May 10, 2015

Today we were finally heading into uncharted territory. My expectation was for us to watch the miles fly by as we enjoyed flat terrain and a nice tailwind. The tailwind never really materialized, and I had forgotten all about the Maryhill area. It would have been nice to stop at the winery, the museum, and good ol' Stonehenge, but we had a lot of ground to cover. Anyway, we averaged about 12mph, and we reached our campsite with a couple of hours of sunlight to spare, which was an improvement over yesterday.

I had read about a mini-mart on this stretch of highway, but I wasn't sure where it was located. When we finally approached the little town of Roosevelt, we saw the sign. It advertised Pepsi in just 500 yards! But sometimes signs break their promises. The store was obviously closed but we pulled on the door anyway, just in case... At least the owner was nice enough to post their "seasonal hours" starting May 20. We were just a little too early.

None of us had logged quite this number of miles on a touring day before. It was challenging. It was fairly hot with no shade to be had all day. Luckily a slight haze took the edge off the sun's wrath. We all ran out of water a few miles before our destination. We once again rolled into camp exhausted, famished, and now thirsty. But all is well now as we head to sleep.

Tomorrow will be another long day but we have a couple of things to look forward to. First, If we get an early start, Hermiston is at a perfect distance for lunch. They do have a brewpub, and we may go there. We also have a bike-related errand to run. After repairing a slow flat in her front tire that she had been nursing, Amy punctured her rear tire. So we will go in search of spare tubes. She has a patch kit if worse comes to worst. But that's not the other thing we're looking forward to. That would be our first Warm Showers host of the trip in Pendleton. While it sounds like we'll be camping out on the floor, it'll be nice to have a roof over our head and to meet a fellow cyclist.

The end of the climb out of Columbia Hills State Park's campground (aka Horsethief Lake).

That's the campground in the background. It's as much of an oasis as it looks.

Outside Maryhill Museum. We wish we had time to see the art. Next time.

This captures the mood of the day. Flat tires, heat, and lack of services made us and our bikes a little bit surly.

Today's ride: 76 miles (122 km)
Total: 184 miles (296 km)

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