May 30-31 to Goldendale and Back the very long way.
It really is true that friends are priceless! I have been fortunate to call Michelle Martin my best friend for over 40 years. Neither of us knew when we met at 13 years of age all that we would face together – trials and triumphs, health and sickness, times of plenty and times of scarcity. But I am grateful to say that we faced those times together and came out stronger as a result. It was my honor and privilege to visit Michelle for the first time at her new home in Goldendale, WA this weekend – and to get a TON of biking in both before and after –all of it in the sun!!
On Sunday I headed west to Goldendale to meet Michelle and two of her children and one significant other at the Dirty Cowgirl for lunch. My route took me East on Highway 14 through curve after curve of glorious views of the gorge, stunning rock formations, and mountain vistas. Swooping around corners and passing one body of water after another, I was struck by how lucky I am to live in such a beautiful part of the country. The lunch at the Dirty Cowgirl was wonderful as usual. Since I had just eaten brisket the night before I gorged on a burger with the mouth-watering homemade broccoli salad on the side.
After lunch, Michelle spent some time with her visiting children while I made a run for dessert at the Country Mercantile in Pasco. In my opinion, the Mercantile is one of the best candy stores in the country—filled with row after row of homemade fudge, truffles, brittle, jam, candy, and ice cream. I splurged on both ice cream and chocolate before heading back to spend a wonderful evening in Goldendale with Michelle and her family.
This morning, after more awesome time with Michelle, I headed west to North Bonneville to meet up with Grant Myers. Grant and I traveled west on highway 30 to Scappoose and then north on I-5 and west on highway 12 to Aberdeen. I was hoping to check out the town and find a good place to eat for my first stop on my trip this summer. After a quick bite to eat at a place with a great view that didn’t quite seem to live up to its reviews, we had a fantastic drive south on highway 101 and then east on highway 6 to get back to I-5. The backroads from Aberdeen to Raymond were my favorite part of the day as there was almost no traffic and I was able to swoop around curves in sixth gear. I dropped my bike off at Latus after hours so they can look into some troubling issues – rattling and squeaking sounds in addition to a warning light. I am crossing my fingers I get the bike back soon in better condition than I left it.
