Day 57

Park where we all camped.

68 Miles
We were up early. I don't recall waking up at all during the night. We set out after a quick breakfast. I had water on my cereal, in case you were wondering. The first stop of the day was at a small store/museum. The store wasn't open when we got there. Outside there were some pictorial histories of the area. It was all very fascinating. We spent more time there then we would on a normal break. I did manage to get my phone charged. Outlets were far between out here. I didn't have any service, but I was glad to be getting a little charge.
After leaving the museum we started a climb up a giant hill. Its curves were plentiful. I was getting a real taste of the kind of climbs that I would get over the next week. It was a slow steady climb. I didn't even use my granny gears. I was feeling pretty proud of myself. After the initial climb there were a lot of ups and downs. There was lots of newly chipped pavement. This wasn't the best conditions for riding. It added extra friction and slowed momentum. Also, it made me more cautious because stopping would be more dangerous with loose gravel. At one point I passed a bar where I spotted several fully loaded bicycles. I didn't stop since the riders didn't seem to be outside. They were probably riding East anyway. This proved wrong as while stopped along the side of the road to eat some crackers I was approached by three gentleman on the previous spotted bicycles. They introduced themselves. They were from the Netherlands. Their names were Han, Hans, and Robert. They were riding from Maine to Washington. I chatted for a bit before they rode on ahead. I ate some more crackers and set out. The dutch men were pulled over eating at one point I waved and rode past them. There was a great downhill into the next town. I zoomed down the hill. It brought a smile to my face.
I found Lily with a little work at the next towns grocery store. We bought a little food and headed to the next town with the idea that we would find a place to camp. When we got to the next town we looked around for places to camp. We went to the library. Lily got super excited when there was a loaded bicycle outside the library. The bright yellow panniers were hard to miss. She was about to go into the library the owner of the bike showed up. Joe was from Thailand and was riding all the National Parks. He directed us to a camp where he was camping.
We found it and set up camp. Shortly after the Dutch men showed up. Lily chatted with them. Then Joe showed up. The Dutch men already knew him. There was some talking and planning by all parties of where the next day would end.
Tomorrow would be the first of five peaks. I was finally excited. And I was just days away from the Pacific. There were less than 400 miles left in my journey. It's strange how that number once seemed so big. Now it seems like such a tiny one.
I found an outlet after dinner and fully charged my phone. I finally had service and made a few phone calls. It was nice to hear some familiar voices.
I went to bed excited for the next few days.