Today was my last (planned) rest day, a chance to catch up with my grandparents, recover from the last few days of riding, and prepare for the final leg of my trip: a four day journey up the Columbia Gorge to Portland.
On my riding days I get up early to beat the heat and wind and to make sure I have plenty of sunlight to get to my destination, but today I slept in till 8.
I didn't accomplish much today, by design, except for skyping with Rachael, writing a blog post, and talking with my grandparents.
For dinner we went out to a (well, the) Thai restaurant in Pendleton. They wanted me to recommend some dishes, so we shared green papaya salad, massaman curry, and pad thai. Maybe next time they'll try a Thai iced tea, too.
After dinner we stopped off at my aunt and uncle's house to say hello. Lori asked me if I'd gotten any flats, which I'd been avoiding mentioning so as not to jinx myself. No flats so far, 536 miles in. But maybe now I've been jinxed!
Tomorrow I ride up into Washington to follow the Columbia River on Highway 14. Interstate 84 on the Oregon side is the more direct route, but I don't want to ride on the freeway. I'll cross back over into Oregon at Biggs Junction in a couple days.
This post is part of a series on my bicycle tour around Oregon. You can find my other posts here.