The day started out cool and cloudy--perfect riding weather... There was just over 53 miles to our first control in Cumberland, a manned stop at a grocery store... Jack went in to pick up his "performance enhancing drug" (chocolate milk) and we met up with Jack's son and his family, including our newest grandson, born just 11 days earlier! We stayed for a few minutes chatting with them, but then it was time to get moving... We continued for the next 45 miles mainly on 2-lane roads with a "peek-a-boo" view of Mt. Rainier... I tried several times to get a picture--through trees, or the clouds surrounding it, succeeding only once with a good shot... On to the town of Eatonville, where we stopped at Subway for lunch... Most of the riders had stopped at the bakery, but we thought a quick sandwich and chips would hit the spot... Jack was able to get some better pictures of Rainier once we stopped at Subway...
After our lunch, we headed towards Packwood, our next control (mile 158), before we started our first big climb up White Pass--a 20-mile climb to 4500 ft. But before the climb, we came to what I believe will be my son's retirement community one day--the town of Morton (his last name)--supposedly the Heart of East Lewis County... A small, quiet town, perfect for just hanging out...
In Packwood, we stopped at our control, a Shell station, for water and some food before the long climb... Actually, the climb was great... We seemed to have a good pace going, and were climbing well... It was amazing--at times we were higher than the treetops, and it was a LONG way down... At the summit, we geared up for the evening, then descended as night began to fall... A quick right turn about 7 miles down, and we were headed to the Clear Lake control at mile 188... We fueled up on some food (Cup-a-soup tastes great when riding) then left to "follow the yellow line" (as our route sheet said to) on the road to our overnight in Naches... (pronounced Nah-cheese) The road was very dark, surrounded by trees, so I'm guessing the yellow line was great for navigation... Being on the back seat, I don't get to see too much of what's ahead of us! Once we hit Highway 12, we had a tailwind, which helped push us along to Naches... We made good time in the glow of a full moon, arriving at Naches Middle School at 12:25 am...
Time to eat, shower (not for me--the water was cold!) and sleep on mats in the gym for about 3 hours... Along with many other riders... Not too bad for my first "group" sleep, although I don't feel I slept all that much...
