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-Keith Pelczarski
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Day 2: Twanoh State Park to Elma in the rain
Last night at Twanoh was quite pleasant. After writing yesterday's post I went off to sleep in the tent. It was pretty comfortable, and I didn't have any random soreness in the morning, neither from the bike nor from sleeping on the ground.
Unfortunately, it was raining in the morning, so I lazed around hoping it would clear. I fired up the camp stove again and made the rest of the sausages from last night along with some eggs I picked up yesterday.
Eventually, I got myself all packed up and it was still raining. I was a bit daunted, but set off anyway. Going was a bit slow and windy, and the detour I set for myself to avoid backtracking to the ACA path was a bit hillier than I'd like. I kept on cranking, though, and made Shelton around 4:30. It was only 19 miles, but with the hills and breaks they demanded, it took me two and a half hours.
In Shelton I stopped for some pho, which wasn't quite the preparation I'm used to in the Bay Area, but it was warm and savory and the owner of the place was super nice. While I ate, I checked on weather and hotels down the road. After much hemming and hawing, I decided to go out in the rain again and try to make the 25+ miles to Elma before dark.
It was raining pretty well as I hit the road again, and I immediately started second-guessing the decision. I gave it a third guess after I missed a turn on the map and ended up climbing halfway up a big, heavily trafficked road before I realized. I didn't give in, though. I got back on track and kept cranking the pedals.
Happily, the hills mellowed out and the clouds parted a bit, and I made good time. I did 27 miles in two and a half hours. I would have made better time, but there were some big hills on the way into Elma. I'm starting to develop a theory that towns in Washington are situated in close proximity to big hills.Once in Elma, I checked into the Microtel, as a reward for pushing 46 miles through the rain today. The lady at the front desk gave me a whirlpool suite for $10 more than their cheapest room. The hotel is really clean and seems pretty new. They really weren't kidding about the whirlpool -- it's huge!
I had a personal pizza and chips from Toad's next door, had some mixed nuts and turkey jerky, did laundry, took a shower, then whirlpool and stretching. Finally, I scratched out this post. Now, it's just about time for bed. Tomorrow I hope to really get near Mt. St. Helens. There probably aren't many big hills near there, right?
The forecast is for clear skies tomorrow, so I'll definitely load up in sun screen. Today I managed to get a little burn on my face even though it was cloudy and raining for much of the day.
It feels good that I upped the distance covered from 36 to 46 miles today. assuming that I'm not super sore tomorrow, I'll see if I can pass 56 miles tomorrow. Look out, Lewis & Clark State Park!
:: Keith 01:13 [link] :: ::