Day 54, Aug. 8, Chief Timothy S.P. (near Clarkston) to Lewis & Clark S.P. (near Dayton)

After we left the library, things got messy.
We went to the grocery store. We wandered around the grocery store for almost an hour, debating what to do. See a movie? No we have to go up a mountain. Get a hotel? No, what do we get for dinner? See a movie? Maybe. I'm getting a peach, do you want one? No, what do we get for dinner? Should we just go get some coffee and come back? Let's look at maps. Crap, they only have Rand McNally maps. Dinner? And on and on, until we were totally hungry and at the end of our wits. We bought stuff for dinner and snacks, bought some fruit to snack on then, and left the premises, where we were greeted with just a wave of thick thick heat.
We needed to be inside again. Not the grocery store. But somewhere.
Fortunately, there was a visitor center around the corner. We went in and were saved by the nice friendly faces of the ladies there and the bicycle map and other literature we were given. After graciously, we hope, taking their advice and sympathy, we also took their recommendation to head down to Rooster's on the water for a restbit until the heat passed a bit.
Roosters was the restaurant attachment to an RV park overlooking the Snake River and it was just what we needed for a little revival. We calmed down, perused the maps, were silent, talked a bit, and finally headed out to Chief Timothy S.P., just about 7 miles out of town.
The ride there was most pleasant. An unusual cloud covering/sprinkling rain storm kept us relatively cool and we were just in love with the river and the rock formation and the huge golden pyramid mountains flanking the sides of the river.
The SP was actually on an island between the Army Corps of Engineers dammed lake and the Snake River. We grabbed a spot right on the water, then headed down for a very quick and chilly swim in the water and an ice cream bar. We weren't really hungry so we didn't cook the dinner we had made. We tried to start a fire, but couldn't keep the wet wood going and eventually gave up. Andy stepped on a rusty nail, but fortunately caught himself before it went really in, and fortunately he had gotten a tetnis shot when he almost chopped his fingers off a few years back. At some point the mood became ominous again and we went to bed.
The morning was a little better, but neither of us slept very well, our throats still hurt and Andy had a pounding sinus headache. We couldn't find our matches and borrowed a lighter.
We got off about 7:30, keeping in mind to be patient with ourselves as we had to climb about 2000 feet in the next 15 miles to Alpowa Summit. We had been told it was steep (but fortunately that is not according to Appalachian standards) and although the ride was pretty intense, it was also wonderous scenic and different from what we were used to. Andy, God Bless him, took over my role as flat-getter and popped our first in Washington (that covers all states except for NJ and possibly Oregon). After fixing it on the very skinny shoulder with some kind and some less-than-kind drivers flying by, we made it to the top. Although it wasn't so hot yet, we had both sweat gallons, and felt like maybe we sweated some of our toxins out.
The ride down the other side was chilly but refreshing. We stopped in a little town called Pomeroy that was bigger than I thought and smaller than Andy expected and had a soup and sandwich at the Soggy Bottom Coffee House. The meal was tasty although the server was on her cellphone the whole time, and we whet our pop culture/political appetite with Obama articles in Rolling Stone.

When we left at about 11:15 it was definitely hotter than it had been previously, but still doable. The first 20 miles to Dayton were swell and I felt myselft smiling most of the way, enjoying this strange surreal land. People gave us the thumbs up, got out of the way, and some motorcyclists gave us some good conversation. Then of course, it was close to 1 and the heat hit as well as the ascents. It was painful and we drank a ton of water, all of it that we were carrying, but ultimately a large cloud came, covered up the sun and gave us some relief.

And now we are happily restored in Dayton which seems to be a gem of a town. The first person who spoke to us, an older farmer who reminded me very much of Uncle Pete, told us that "the President probably wouldn't like you two doing that, not buying any gas." The second person we spoke to gave us directions and sold us o.j. and fig newtons. The third person we spoke to told us that Broughtons owned most of the county. Go figure, probably English Broughtons though.

After we explore a bit more and it cools off, we will head about 5 miles down the road to Lewis and Clark S.P. to camp for the night and Saturday into the Tri-Cities area.