Wild Rabbit

Doug named this blog post in honor of a wild rabbit that we spotted in a field of vegetables by the side of the highway during our 4:30pm chocolate milk snack break. I'm starting to think that chocolate milk is a miracle pick-me-up food, since for two days now, we've had it in the late afternoon, and it's given us the boost in energy & spirits that we need to ride another 20+ miles! (It's not the ONLY thing we ate for those 20 miles, but it fueled our decisions to continue riding!)

Since a few of you have asked what we usually eat in a day, here's a tour of today through the lens of our meals:

9:00am: First breakfast in Crow Butte State Park. Oatmeal with Gatorade.

* Snacks interspersed every few miles throughout the day (Clif bars, trail mix, gummies, water)

11:30am (15 miles ridden): Second breakfast in Paterson, WA (see first photo), where we were deeply disappointed to discover that the gas station, mini-mart, and cafe were all closed. We scrounged in our food supply and came up with three chocolate pudding cups, canned pineapple, and more Gatorade. I spilled pineapple juice on the pavement in my eagerness to hydrate.

2:15 pm (30 miles ridden): After hours of hot riding through agricultural lands (second photo), we crossed the river and had lunch in Umatilla, OR (pop. 5000), which seemed like a veritable metropolis after the last 2 days. We went big on lunch: grilled cheese & egg sandwich (me), omelette (Doug), salad, juice, and cottage cheese. The nice waitress gave us tons of ice for our bottles, too. Also stocked up on groceries here.

4:30pm (35ish miles ridden): Chocolate milk gave us the energy to continue on for a total of 59 miles to Madame Dorian Park in WA, 30 miles west of Walla Walla (tomorrow's destination). Scenery got spectacular again (see 3rd and 4th photos)-- after a lot of flat farmlands, we got to see another 15 miles of gorge, which was gorgeous! (Sorry, couldn't resist.) Ironically, given yesterday's saga, I spent the last 25 miles of today's ride begging the gods for a cold shower. It was amazingly hot today. I kept stopping to douse my head scarf in water to stay cool, and sadly, my thighs are sunburned enough that I decided to bike in long tights this afternoon, even though it pained me to add an extra layer in the heat. Those of you who've asked me if I ever tan would laugh to see the tan lines I've developed: weird dark lines at my wrists (from bike gloves) and the obligatory line at mid-thigh. Doug also has funny tan lines midway down his fingers since he didn't get much sunscreen on the tips of his fingers. (Bob, don't worry - his gloves cover his whole hand, so no weird circle tan like last time!)

7:45pm: Dinner of lentil soup, applesauce, grapes, tea, Gatorade, and Take 5, our new favorite candy bar! We arrived at Madame Dorian tired but proud - 59.6 miles before sunset! Only one snag: no water at this campsite. No sinks, no drinking fountains, no toilet water, nada. Only a sludgy-looking part of the river that we weren't desperate enough to try. I'd gladly take last night's cold shower right now if I could! But baby wipes will have to suffice til we reach Walla Walla. Luckily, a nice gentleman let us fill all of our water bottles from his large water cooler, so we won't melt on our morning ride tomorrow.

Whew! Each day surprises me more and more. I'm looking forward to cleaning up tomorrow. :)

Thanks for all of the comments, too! For those who asked about how to post, all you need to do is click on the comments link at the bottom of any post, and you'll get a box to add a comment. I switched the options so that everyone should now be able to post comments without needing any sort of log-in name or ID. I love hearing your responses, and Doug reads them, too!