Be sure to check out photographs from the road- we just added photos from Washington, Oregon and Idaho today! See them at our Photoshelter page!
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Category Archives: Washington
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Dayton, WA to Hells Gate Park, ID
We left early this morning from Dayton, WA and climbed slowly most of the day towards the Snake River.
We passed pretty much nothing but farmland all day and amused ourselves trying to figure out the patterns of the fields, which are really beautiful.
Most of the day this type of country extended as far as we could see in all directions.
But after about 65 miles we hit the Snake River and followed it into Idaho! We crossed the river and rode the bike path down to the Hells Gate State Park where we nabbed the last tent site! We had forgotten that it’s Memorial Day weekend and tons of people are out enjoying the beautiful weather for camping!
Tomorrow, we take off across Idaho. We start hitting some good climbs pretty much right away, so we’re drinking lots of water tonight to help stay really well hydrated in the heat. We’re not sure where we’re going to lose Verizon service (and therefor stop being able to access the blog), but we know it will be in the next couple days… so if we don’t update, well, hang in there- we’ll be back with stories of the mountains shortly!
Walla Walla to Dayton, WA
We had a great breakfast this morning at Merchants Delicatessen in Walla Walla and when we were about to get on the road, they brought over to-go bags for us with bagels and snacks for the road! How awesome is that? We rode through rolling farms for about 15 miles before coming up on this little town nestled in the hills.
It was Waitsburg- a town of a little over 1,000 with one of the cutest Main Streets that we’ve seen all trip. We ended up getting a great interview with the two town librarians about their summer reading program and it’s environmental conservation twist.
From there we rode along route 12 to the town of Dayton where the Weinhard Hotel offered us a free place to stay for the night! We’re loving this Washington hospitality!
Tomorrow we’re going to try to do a big day and cross the border into Idaho. We’re hoping for more amazing scenery on the way out of Washington and I don’t think we’ll be disappointed!
Birthday Break…
After a beautiful night in Crow Butte State Park we rose bright and early in attempts to beat the heat. The forecast for the 18th was sunny with highs in the 90’s. When we set out our plans were to make to a primitive campground 30 miles outside of Walla Walla, Washington. The next morning we would ride the 30 miles into the city to rest and celebrate my 25th! We felt really great as the day progressed even with the temperatures in mid 90’s for most of the ride. Arriving at our campground at 2p.m. we had enough in our tanks to make the 30 extra miles into Walla Walla. On top of that a local bed and breakfast offered to put us up for the evening. With the motivation of sleeping inside we jumped back on our bikes, riding by the vineyards that support Walla Walla’s tourist industry. That evening we spent the night in a wonderful bed and breakfast near the downtown called Fat Duck Inn. The day ended up being our longest ride of the trip so far at 85 miles so it felt good to sleep in a bed.
Both of us were completely surprised at the scenery in this part of the state. Dry, bare, hills sit on either side of the river. Traffic was light so we got the chance to really enjoy the views.
The colors in the morning were stunning. Highway 14 cut through the gorge right along the river, making the riding easy. All day we were riding on gentle rolling hills or flats.
At one point directions told us to ignore the dead end sign and continue riding. This brought us to a bike underpass. It was really interesting but both of us were nervous about rattlesnakes. We were told that they like to stay cool around there during the day and we had seen one on the road right before entering the tunnel.
We planned a couple days rest to celebrate my birthday before having to tackle the mountains just ahead of us. It just so happens that Walla Walla is known for making amazing wines. The industry started around 1988 and has been booming ever since. After completing some administrative work and getting interviewed by the local paper we set out to do a little wine tasting. In total there are 160 wineries in the area we ended up trying 5, before calling it quits and going bowling. The rest of the evening we walked around downtown chatting with locals and relaxing. Walla Walla was a great place to rest but we are excited to hit the road again tomorrow!
I was channelling my old bowling skills (I bowled in high-school), and Mo learned quickly that a 12 pound ball was a bit too heavy for her.
Heat!
We woke up bright an early this morning eager to beat the forecasted heat. Right out of the campground we hit a bit hill and at the top was this sign:
No problem for us, but the heat started being rough right away. By 7am it was 80 degrees and it was in the high 90’s for the rest of the day. We rode 61 miles in the heat on this road cutting through the hill. If you look closely, there’s a white 18-wheeler in the photo. That’ll give you an idea of the scale of this gorge. 
There was only one little quick store all day, so we stopped there for lunch and met another cyclist going across the country with his wife driving their minivan as a SAG wagon. Having a SAG wagon seemed like a pretty good idea to us today… someone to meet you with cold water somewhere along the way… oh well, we can dream.
We’re exhausted from riding today and about to hit the sack (yes, it’s 6:30 here) but we wanted to leave you with a shot Alan took today. Every once in a while along this road you turn back and you can see Mount Hood looming, snow-covered in the distance. It’s a reminder of just how quickly the climate changes around here.
Portland and beyond
Last night we stayed with our new friend Alex, a middle school history teacher, and his three roommates in Portland and got an amazing night’s sleep on their very comfortable couches. They were all amazing and we had a great time hanging out. Thanks guys!
We headed out in the morning to grab some breakfast before the bike shop opened. We decided to use some time today to get new tires and rear brakes on both bikes before we head to far east towards the Rocky Mountains. It turned out to be a good call because we met a fellow cyclist named David at the bike shop and he helped us out with what we needed and steered us towards some cool cycling websites and magazine (we’ll check them out when we have more battery power). Then we headed over to a small record shop where we got a fantastic interview with a woman who works there.
Around 2pm we headed out of Portland, enjoying the amazing bike friendliness that abounded. Here I am crossing the two mile bridge back into Washington.
Nothing quite as nice as a full bike lane over a big bridge. Anyway, we got into Washington and got a little lost… we finally found our route again, but we didn’t make it as far as we had hoped to. We did meet some awesome firefighters here in Washougal who let us use their showers and camp in their yard. Thank you guys so much! Tomorrow, we press on and start to hit some of the “rolling” 900 ft hills along the Columbia. We’ll eat a big breakfast and get an early start!
Portland!
Today was another rainy, rainy day- but it didn’t hail! We rode the 30 short miles to Portland where we spent a little time exploring the downtown… though not as much as we would have liked. The weather definitely put a bit of a damper on the explorations. Portland is an amazingly bike-friendly city though. We felt incredibly safe as we rode around. There are bike lanes everywhere and around 5pm we even got caught in a mini bike-traffic jam from all the commuters- even in the pouring rain!
Anyway, we ended up at our host’s place, where they are all making dinner and graciously providing us with hot showers to warm up. The rain is supposed to continue tomorrow, but there is hope for tomorrow afternoon drying up. That would be fantastic because our tent feels like it will never dry. So we’ll head out tomorrow and hopefully get some photos of Portland to post here. Today was so foggy and rainy it was hard to see anything more than 20ft ahead. Not to mention our general hesitation to open our bags to retrieve our cameras and subject the rest of the contents to the downpour. Sorry…
But yes! Tomorrow, photos of Portland, details of our stay here and hopefully some more eastern progress!
East!
Today we woke up to pouring rain and debated briefly the merits of staying in our sleeping bags all day versus riding. Riding won out and we headed south towards the Columbia River. We were soaking wet within about 10 minutes of riding, and after about half an hour we were treated to intermittent hail storms. We crossed the Columbia on a very scary bridge that all the logging trucks use so the shoulder is covered in debris. Fun stuff. BUT…
We crossed into Rainier, OR and turned east!!! Holy moley. Last direction change of the trip- hard to believe. We rode on a bit and picked up the Lewis and Clark Trail, which we’ll be following to Missoula, Montana. 
Tomorrow we head into Portland, which we’re excited to see. Outside of Portland, however, is definitely logging country. There are giant logging trucks everywhere and we’re hoping to soon get an interview with someone in the industry! 
Towards the Columbia River
Today we rode further south towards the Columbia River. All day we rode great backroads and every once in a while you could see Mount Saint Helens peaking out under the clouds.
We rode by farms all day- this one stood out a bit.
The best part of today was that a few farms we passed had horses that were foaling. So cute on their wobbly legs!
Tomorrow we cross the Columbia and start heading east! We’re excited to ride through the gorge, but tonight it’s sooooo cold and windy! It’s also threatening rain again. But we’re bundled up and we’ll be ready to hit the road early tomorrow morning to get some miles in towards Portland!
Rainier!
We spent yesterday exploring Rainier with our friend Gretchen who works there.
The park was absolutely beautiful and we had amazing clear, warm weather. We haven’t seen snow since we went back Northeast for the holidays, so it was a welcome sight.
Gretchen showed us all around the park and we even got to trek around in the snow a bit.
We saw a couple kids sledding down the mountain above the visitor’s center and Gretchen had some plastic bags, so we decided to give it a shot. Here I am flying down with the peak of Mount Rainier in the background. 
We had a great time with Gretchen and got to spend the night at her friend Sean’s house in Centralia, WA. This morning we took off again and hit the road headed towards Oregon. We had beautiful weather again today made it to Toledo, WA. We put the tent up quickly because it looks like rain, and called our moms to wish them happy Mother’s Day! Hopefully tomorrow we’ll have decent weather, but they are calling for rain- so we won’t hold our breath. A huge thanks goes out tonight though to Gretchen- we had a blast exploring with you. Thank you!