July 11, 2003 We are now in Umatilla, OR, and we are under 300 miles from Astoria. We rode today from Dayton, WA, had a good ride but it was hot. This is getting pretty exciting! We jumped back on Highway 12 at 6:30 this morning. Our intent was to beat the heat and the wind - we failed on both scores. However, we had a good ride. The first 60 miles were the same rolling hills through wheat country that we had yesterday. We had a couple of pretty good climbs, but it was generally flat. At 20 miles, we came across a detour that gave us fits. We got some directions are were able to recover with only four miles lost. We then continued on Highway 12, skirted Walla Walla, and continued west. At about 64 miles, we came to the intersection of Highway 12 and State Road 730 - we took a left turn to go to Umatilla, and ran smack into the Columbia River. The river is backing up against a dam located right outside Umatilla at this point, so it looks more like a lake than a river. The north side of the river is bounded by very high, tan colored cliffs, and the south side is protected by very large hills where the grass has turned brown. The scenery is incredible, as you can see from the photos LaValle took and included in the photo section. We had to stop to just soak up some of the feeling generated by the river. It is awesome and beautiful! We rode right along side the river for the next 20 or so miles, and the cool breeze off the river was a welcome respite. With about 10 miles to go, we cut inland, and had to enjoy the heat for the rest of the ride. The weather today was very nice, but hot. it was 58 degrees when we left Dayton, and it warmed very quickly. At about 11:00 it was 89, and when we stopped it had reached 100 on the road. The wind was our friend for a while in the morning, but turned against us after about an hour. It intensified as the ride continued, and then died off somewhat after we went inland. However, bright sun, hot temperatures and an unfavorable wind make for better character. Correct? The bike did well today, and the Team held up very well in the heat. We are having to tell ourselves to keep our cool and focus, and think of the finish only after the day is done. We don't want something dumb to happen at this point. If you check our schedule, you probably think that we are a couple of whimps. Tomorrow we go to the Dalles, Sunday to Portland, have a rest day and then take two days to go the 100 miles to Astoria. It does sound light, but you have to remember the other 4000 miles, and that we are beginning to tire. We also want to really enjoy the last two day's riding. This will be the time to really soak up what we have done, what it means and what we want to do with it. We simply can't believe that we are this close to finishing this wonderful trip. It has been awesome! Only 282 miles to Astoria! Ron wants to take some time over the next few days to thank the people who helped make this trip possible. Today, I will thank two people, however: Firts of all, there is Bill Anderson. He has done so much for us. He sends us shipments every rest day, so that we don't have to worry about having our on-bike food and other necessities. In addition, if there is an emergency, he goes and buys stuff, and ships it to us overnight, so that we can keep our schedule. In addition, he has been most supportive of LaValle's being out here as part of this team. Bill, you have done a wonderful job for us, and thank you very much. Secondly, I want to thank the person who has been most important in making this trip a success and most enjoyable - my tandem partner and biking buddy, LaValle. She has not only handled all of the motel reservations, the uploads of our information to the web site and taken and processed all of the photos you and we have enjoyed, but she has done a most professional job on the bike. She does all of the navigation, sees that we eat and drink at the right times, pedals her little heart out and is a second set of eyes and ears. This has truly been a team effort, but LaValle has gone above and beyond what one would expect. Thanks, Lint! Well, that is enough for today - besides, I need to shift my ice before my hamstrings freeze! Ron Note from LaValle... In order to get such an early start, we walked to breakfast about three blocks west of the hotel. Ray's opens at 4:30 and although we weren't there then, we did arrive between 5 and 5:15. The wheat farmer who came in later was quite interested in our trip and told us about the winter, spring and fall wheat crops. Staying cool in hot weather takes a great deal of effort and you're not always successful. I've been soaking down my cap and it usually only takes about 5 minutes to dry out. Complaining about the heat does no good (trick I learned from my son who has had more heat than I and never complains). So I've been playing numbers games with my Celsius readings from the cylcometer. 1.8 times the current temperature in Farenheit and then add 32. Some of my favorite numbers are 20 and 30. The multiplication is easier. Getting reservations in Umatilla was made most difficult because of a Jehovah Witness Convention for at least this weekend. Several motel clerks have talked about the impact this group has, especially since they witness 4 weekends in the summer. And a special thank you to Ron, the one in the front who does all of the driving and manhandling of the tandem. Ron keeps us safe and has gotten us to this point. He has my most sincere appreciation... And thanks to all of you who have provided us with support along the way, especially the crew at Nor Cal Bike Sport who have sent us packages directly and also spent time helping Bill get the right tire or tubes for his shipments to us. You all are great....