Pateros, WA - Making my way from Winthrop to the Coulee Dam.

Hitting the road around 5 a.m. in order to beat the heat and the headwinds; temperatures this week are expected to be in the 90s..

Took a break at the Rest Awhile cafe along Highway 153, just outside Pateros. Homemade desserts featured peach scones and strawberry rhubarb pie. Jackie swore to using oil in her pie crusts. "The dough is easier to work with and the pie crust is flakier," she said pushing her glasses atop her forehead.

Jackie,48, held the girth of a good baker. A floral apron hung from the back of her neck and thin, white bra straps creeped out the end of her sleeveless, white shirt.

"Been baking since I was 17," she said. "Learned how from a woman in Oklahoma who was meaner than a two-headed snake."

Up the road the senior center in Bridgeport took me in for the afternoon. The old ladies found me some laundry soap. My paniers smelled like something was suffering in there.

My plan to bike in two shifts is less than desirable. My feet ache by the time I roll into Grand Coulee at 8 p.m. After 97 miles I need to stretch but if I touch my toes I think I'll fart.

Father Bob Himes lets me stay at St. Henry Church in Grand Coulee.

At 10 p.m. I pedal down the street to see the laser light show. It's nightly entertainment where the city opens the dam and the water serves as the backdrop for a 30 minute light show.

DAY OFF...

Temps are supposed to reach 98 today. It's July 3 and I get a late start but make it a short 42 mile day to Davenport where Fr. Pat Mac Mahon at Immaculate Conception takes me in.

"You can just go in the church hall, the door's open," said Fr. Mac who is very Irish.

"One question though," he said before closing the door. "Why in the world the bike and West Bend?" I tell him I'm calling it vacation.

He waves me off in mock disgust, as if just looking at me makes him tired.

COINCIDENCE...

Many people ask how I can be on the road alone. It's hard to explain, that I'm not.

Today, after leaving Grand Coulee I stopped for breakfast at a little town cafe and sat with Joe and his dad O.J. "I got the name long before he did," said the 83-year-old referencing O.J. Simpson. The pair adopted me and gave me sound mapping advice.

After they left my waitress Bonnie asked for some details about my tour and then bought my breakfast, saying she was inspired by my effort.

Within five miles of leaving the diner, an RV past me and the passenger waived. They slowed to a stop and here it was Deb and Terry from Diablo. "Want some water? We've been keeping an eye out for you," said Terry.

Just think of the timing of that meeting; the last I saw them was two days and more than 170 miles ago and now here we were both headed east on Highway 2 in Washington.

July 4, Saturday

Davenport, WA - After 44 miles Friday from Grand Coulee to Davenport and a welcome stay at Immaculate Conception church, I leave at 5:30 a.m. to make it 85 miles to Newport and possibly 115 mi. to Sandpoint, Idaho.

The first 60 miles were good. Nice shoulder on the road and plenty of generous directions as I skirt the city and find my way north on Highway 2.

Just outside Spokane, about 20 miles near Elk the traffic picks up to risky levels. The shoulder of the road is still good however the 4th of July nuts are out.

Three teens are loading cases of beer into the front seat of their car. A man in his 40s is bragging to his kids how 'no other dad let's their kid ride his Harley.' 

It's a scary display of reality TV and humanity.  

A motorcycle shop near Diamond Lake is a good distraction. I'm in the mood for a break... and an engine. 

Jake and Hun run the shop. He's busy getting in her way; she's focused on searching the web for real estate.

"You're welcome to stay the night," said Jake handing me a glass of ice water. It's 2 o'clock in the afternoon and he's already celebrating the fourth; his hand is wrapped around a small can coozie that looks like a Jimmy Buffet shirt.

A man resembling Jerry Garcia walks through the door pushing it open with his stomach.  He admires the can coozie and says he has a blowup mattress at his place next door if I want to stay.

Inviting, in a Sanford & Son sort of way, but I down my water and opt to push along.

Before I go, Craig who is covered in sawdust but seems the most normal of the bunch, offers me homemade lemonade. He fills up a water bottle and brings me an icy mug chaser with a perfectly round slice of lemon floating on top.

I reach Newport and am in desperate need of some motel therapy.

The Newport City Inn just had a cancellation and owner Nina Garroute gives me a 10% discount for paying cash.

A room for $46 on the fourth of July is truly lucky. 

LETTERS ON THE ROAD..

Some interesting notes of encouragement I've received while on tour.

"Hi. I so look forward to your stories. I just saw the movie People Across the Lake where they chopped up all these people and threw them in the water. Be safe." Jayne M.

"Judes, Be sure to stay well hydrated. Gatorade is good, you need the electrolytes. Another thing, no bartering with the kids over the price of Kool-Aid. Just give them their nickel, honey." Julie L