Day 5: Palouse Falls to Four Seasons Campground, Lake Sprague, 52 miles, 7hrs.
I woke up super well rested, I slept on a picnic table with my tarp wrapped around me. I decided to take the time to make some fuel food and it turned out delicious. Noodles, half the onion I found on the side of the road and a wedge of cheese. Threw some pepper and salt in and bam! I cleaned up and asked a group of guys camping next to me about their plans for today and continued to ask if by chance they could give me lift back to the highway. Super nice of them, they put my bike in their car and we we’re off! Thank you guys, it helps to get that lift sometimes. We stopped at Java Bloom in a small town, Washtucna. I enjoyed two hours of charging my devices and chatting with some of the locals and Julie the employee. Coffee, smoothie and a poppy seed muffin was fantastic. It’s after ‘day 3’ so I want to eat EVERYTHING. After leaving the town I quickly became in solitude of silence. I had to stop several times to get a hold of my thoughts. Being out there made me feel how alone I really was. I missed home, my friends and family. But I kept going. Slower than normal but my legs keep pushing and pulling. Once again it was very dry and I actually ended up breaking into my emergency water. At least the road was paved in the beginning! I found the Pioneers Trail, overgrown and horrific. I was supposed to ride that but opted for the dirt farm road parallel to it, I then rode the harsh gravel for the next 26 miles. When I finally found a paved road again, I stopped and could barely move to get away from my bike. Surly and I endured all that pain and we were one. A UPS man stopped and got out of his truck, he said, “I was waiting to run into you! I’ve been seeing your tire tracks for miles now. Good on you, it’s rough out here.” I just smiled and dug into my pannier for some trail mix aka lunch at 5pm. I was starved and drained, we got to talking about how I can find all the paved roads and he drew me a map of them. I began on paved and stayed on paved till I went underneath Interstate 90. But then after three miles I found another paved road, today was in fact a hunt for paved roads. My butt is so entirely sore at this point I couldn’t sit down anymore. I went to a gas station, solely wanting to buy a beer but not. It was confusing, I wanted it but didn’t so I didn’t buy one. I bought a sweet tea and beef jerky. I’m a vegetarian but I just needed it…after finding out I was still 14 miles away I almost broke down in tears. Today was the toughest of days yet – Mentally and physically. I set on though with the sun setting to my left. My bottom water bracket broke and I fell rolling over my water bottle. I picked myself up, breathed and noticed a small train coming. I took it as a sign, like I always do. It kept going no matter how small it felt. So I kept going. The Sun set and I had to put layers on, turned my lights on and rode on. Little rollers with gravel and not much sight was a bit scary and swervy. I crossed the interstate one last time and the huge lake was finally in sight! Another train was passing as I stopped to watch it just feet away from me. I rolled up around 8pm and Scott and Janie we’re outside welcoming me, I made it at last! Scott found me the perfect site, away from the wind behind a building and Janie dished me up some steamed veggies for dinner. It was absolutely reassuring to finally be here. This was where I was supposed to be. It rained a bit and the trains passed by almost every hour, honked 7 horns, for me that was so soothing.