Days 5, 6, & 7

Two days ago, Sunday the 13th, was day five of my trip. It wasn't actually a century ride, we only rode about 90 miles, from Grand Coulee City to Spokane, WA. It was a beautiful ride, proving once again how diverse the state of Washington is. We rode up hills and through wide open crop fields:


Oops, I forgot to mention the night before we went down to the Grand Coulee Dam for a laser show in the dark. There was accompanying music and a storyline telling the history of the Columbia River and the dam itself.

So anyways, the next day we rode in to Spokane, which is a pretty big city in eastern Washington. Here is a picture I took of some falls on the way in to the city:


That night we drove to a house outside the city where a couple, Joel and Honor Sears, sponsored our dinner. They had a pool and a hottub and a really cool patio area, so it was a great place to relax after a day of biking. They cooked us grilled chicken and it was delicious. I played a pretty intense game of pool basketball with Matt and Kent against Rob, Craig, and Nick. Here's a picture of the Sears' backyard:


We stayed at a community center church youth group church recreational facility type place. I have no idea what it was but there were lots of toys and stuff there. That night was one of the guys' 22nd birthday so I went out with them to a bar and played some pool.

The next day, day number six, was a day off of the bikes, but we still had a very busy day. We slept in until 8 and went to McDonald's, which sponsored our breakfast. From there we went to the Ronald McDonald House, which interestingly enough only recieves 5% of their funding from the McDonald's corporation. The group split in two and half of us got a tour of the Ronald McDonald House and the Shriners Hospital across the street. The other half of the group went down the street to Sacred Heart Childrens' Hospital. We all met at Sacred Heart for lunch and then switched, but the tour guide at Sacred Heart had already gone home. At the Shriners Hospital we met a little girl who had scoliosis which curved her spine. She was in a wheel chair that had a contraption above it, from which hung a metal halo that was screwed into her skull to help stretch and align her spine. Seeing someone like that makes any problems I'm going through seem like nothing at all.

For dinner we went back to the Ronald McDonal house where volunteers cooked us a delicious spaghetti dinner. We met a little girl named Anecia (I think that's how you spell it), who was being treated for cancer. She wasn't shy at all, and wanted to take pictures of every one of us with all of our cameras. We all had a blast playing with her and the other kids there, and it was a bit sad when we had to go and she asked us if we could play with her again.




We stayed in Spokane again last night and then rode over the state line into Coeur d'Alene Idaho:


It was a short day, with only about 40 miles of biking, most of it on a bike path. There were come confusing contruction detours, and we ended up walking across a soccer field, up and over a dike onto a highway and then across a bridge to get back onto the bike path.

Today we didn't have any programming, and got to spend the whole day at the Kroc Community Center, where we are sleeping:


It is a really cool athletics and activity complex, with pools, a giant slide, a huge hottub, bsketball courts, a fitness center, a rock climbing wall, a game room, and a million other awesome things. In the late afternoon we walked to Red Robin and I attempted to break their unofficial record for the most free refills of strawberry lemonade (11). It would have been fine but I had already eaten four baskets of free refill fries and a big burger, so I only made it to nine. Here is a picture of me by a sign on the way to dinner:


After dinner we watched the Celtics game (game 6 in LA). The first game I get to see of the finals and it's a blowout in the Lakers' favor. Lame.

Oh yeah, two days ago my back tube burst just as I was rolling my bike inside the building we were staying in. I changed it last night, and I think I might need to get the wheel re-taped because there is a sharp piece exposed where the tape ends.

I don't remember what else I wanted to say. It's weird because so much is going on, and I try to just make a mental note to write down later what I want people to hear or what I am going to want to remember.

My farmer's tan is coming along as expected: burns on the upper arms where my jersey ends.

I've started taking pictures of license plates; I might try to get a complete state set:


Tomorrow we are riding about 55 miles to a tiny town in Idaho. I might be racked for tomorrow. Well, I am racked, but I might get un-racked tomorrow. More details on that later.

I think that's about it.

Peace.


- Posted from my iPhone