Day 78 - Umatilla, OR

after enjoying an awesome sleep under the stars without the tents, we awoke to a beautiful, sunny warm morning in Walla Walla.  this was our first day in several that we could dress light, no jackets or rain gear. winds were looking to be mostly cross and tailwinds, so our spirits were high this morning !  we stopped at a safeway grocery store for a starbucks (first time all tour) and road snacks (bagels, granola bars, the usual fare ...) on our way, passed several local wineries; too early for wine tastings. we headed on generally flat terrain toward the Columbia River, along which we will ride for several days, looking ahead to the notorious fierce headwinds. BUT, for today, the winds would be at our backs, so we enjoyed motoring along ! my momentum was stalled by a flat rear tire, of the hard to repair on the road slow-leak variety. replaced the tube instead and was on my way. our goal today was a shorter day to Umatilla, a relatively short day of 50+ miles; laundry and library (PC access) were on our minds, but we second-guessed ourselves, partly wanting to keep going with the rare tailwind. made camp, did the laundry and library things, had a fun cookout and another fun camp evening.

just before turning in, I discovered ANOTHER flat, this time up front. fixed one spare tube after dinner, so now running on fumes without any spares. not good. Grrrr...



today: 64 miles
to date: 4304