Gig Harbor Washington to Bar Harbor Maine 2001

Well, it was too good to last. Gridley found some local news last night and knew that the wind would be 15 to 25 mph from the East today. I wondered why there were no knocks on the door at sunrise. I opened my eyes a few times and saw the sun trying to burn through the curtain, but then I closed them again. I felt like I was drugged. Garcia was out cold. When I finally committed to waking, I was sure it was 10 or so, but it was only 7:30.

I tried to write up the day last night, but fell asleep in my clothes on top of the covers. So I wrote some, uploaded some and finished my book. Indian Killer by Sherman Alexie is a great book. I'm going to read the end again tonight. I was a little leery of openly reading it in the laundromat the other day in Havre, since it was full of Indians. I was reading later in the park and an Indian little kid noticed and told me his mom was reading it too. Anyway, the only time the route left Hwy 2 today was on a road through a reservation. So I spent the whole day thinking about the book, Indians, whites, culture. I still don't have a clue, but I did ride by some guys picking sage along the road. I talked to them about it. As I left one guy said, "Have a safe ride, brother." Highlight of my day. An Indian called me brother.

Bit of a headwind.

Although it really did mean a lot to me, it was also the highlight because the day kinda sucked. There was indeed a strong headwind all day long. I rode with Garcia in the morning and he was suffering severely from riding 168 miles on a bent seat. We'd gagged down our cereals for breakfast and were looking forward to whatever food we could get in Nashua 15 miles down the road.

A pickup passed us much too close, then pulled into the store right ahead. Garcia sped up to give him an earful and I joined. He was a tiny guy in a big hat and enormous pickup. One of those. He was convinced that his lane belonged to him and we needed to get out of his way. We seem to be running into more and more of that mindset.

The cafe was next door. Burgers and ice cream, but it hit the spot. A couple on a tandem had been hiding from the wind for an hour. They live in the Virgin Islands and are taking a leisurely tour. We watched Gridley start to pull in the store, then head for us, then continue down the road into town. Kathryn saw us waving and came in. I'd sat enough and took off alone.

The wind was brutal, but I didn't mind too much. Other than moving slow, it was just a little tougher on my knees. There is more to see at 9 mph. The land is much greener than it has been the last few days. There were lots of birds to watch and listen to. One kind kept exploding out of the roadside greenery, making lots of noise and running in front of me, flying awhile, running some more, then veering way off. I'm sure he thought he was thwarting my efforts to find and eat his babies.

Not all the farming was successful.

I didn't see a car for hours and only a house or two. There were a lot of successful crops, also unlike the last few days, some sort of grain growing and hay being harvested. I had a good day, but I guess I spent it mostly in my head.

I finally pulled into Wolf Point about 6:15 and got some groceries. Then I saw Taco Bell! I'm not much for fast food, but I need my Taco Bell. After gorging myself for $5, I went back a couple of miles to wait at a campground. Gridley showed up after awhile, probably about 200 mosquito bites later. Needless to say, we found a motel. Then we went back to Taco Bell and stuffed Gridley and waited for the kids. A woman at the next table talked to us about riding and complained about a couple of bikes riding two abreast and when she honked at them, pissed because she had to slow from 75 mph, the guy shafted her. We had a pretty good idea who it was.

They showed up soon and were not happy. It had been a very hard day. Today's 60 miles was much tougher than yesterday's 168. They were pleased that we were hitting a motel and more pleased when we figured out that the wind was expected to last another day, along with thunderstorms. We'll probably have another layover day tomorrow

We ate again at the motel restaurant. We found something they weren't out of . Dinner salad and apple pie for me, after all that Taco Bell food. Good pie. Maybe I'll be able to find a new book tomorrow.