Today’s journey for the first 20 miles, was nothing more than some rolling hills and more “desert wheat”. Soon afterwards we came to the oasis of Coulee City and lake. This was a small town with a huge RV and Campground right next to the lake. Next, we climbed 4 miles to the top of the ridge before things re-leveled. Once again the wind was more on my back than in my face which I was thankful for. The temperatures were a very cool 60° considering what it could have been. I really had no idea how far I could get today because there was over 3000 ft of vertical climbing in today’s ride.
After a long morning, eventually we made our way into Waterville. Here there was only a single restaurant available for eating. We were 20 minutes early so we sat outside in the car before the doors opened. Arriving inside, there was only one poor young woman who was the bartender, the cleaner, the waitress, the cook, and she begged for grace. Of course! We were no hurry so we ordered food and patiently waited. While waiting, two gentlemen, Lewis and Leo came in, inquiring who was from Michigan. They obviously saw our license plate. They were so intrigued with my journey they asked if they could sit with us and have lunch. Yes Please. So the four of us conversed and heard each other’s stories. We had a great lunch together and eventually got a picture outside. After lunch, temperatures had risen to a solid 100°. I knew I had a few miles before a super long descent back to the Columbia River. Up the small climb and coast to the bottom. Amazing how quickly the scenery changed.
My goal today was get to that river, and a safe point where I could restart in the morning. Upon reaching the Columbia River US-2, which up till that point was a very easy comfortable ride, turned in to nothing more than ugly with a capital U. Making quick work of a few miles before hitting a bike trail, we called it quits for the day. I was so glad to get out of the desert, aka the desert wheat fields and see civilization along a major waterway to the Columbia River. We had a great dinner sitting outside listening to some live music in a heavily populated marketplace that was highly recommended by one of our locals.
Insights from Lisa Marie
Left our little town of Wilbur, Washington early to try to beat the traffic on US-2. At first I was thinking here we go more yellow and primitive roads😂. I was pleasantly surprised when we drove into Coulee City where there was a large lake and yes small hills. Leaving Coulee the hills became mountains and all the way into our lunch stop the scenery got better. One little town Douglas was 12 mailboxes all in a row with a general store. Nothing else around so pondering for the day where do the 12 people whose mail I assume gets delivered to said boxes live? 🤔 Anyway our lunch stop was in Waterville. The only restaurant in town was a cute little tavern where we met a couple of older men who ended up eating with us. They wanted to hear about the journey. After Waterville we drove 6 miles down through a canyon. Gorgeous drive to the bottom where we ended at the Columbia River. Driving along the river on both sides of the highway were apple orchards for miles. We stopped outside of Wenatchee and had a wonderful dinner with freshly made food and live music.
