Day 3 (June 8, 2022)

After riding to Portland on 6/7, we spent the night at Becca's house, and several of her friends came bringing bon voyage dinner and a royal send-off. 

Yesterday Becca's route took her on the Columbia River Gorge Historic Highway, a beautiful, windy, popular road with no shoulder. While lovely, it is potentially dangerous because of all the tourist traffic and nowhere to pull off.  As luck would have it though, the government has decided to issue permits to drive through, so only a limited number of drivers can be on the road at a time.  This turned out to be a huge benefit for Becca, who was able to enjoy the views of the waterfalls and gorge without the risk of getting run over by tourists.

I was able to get in a hike at Wahkeena Falls, a 4 mile loop trail that went straight up but had some rewarding views.  When Becca and I met at our next campground in Cascade Locks, she had ridden about 50 miles and actually arrived before me. The last part of the ride was on a bike trail, which involved a bunch of stairs at one point.  This challenge had her scratching her head, but another friendly biker helped her unload the panniers and carry them down the stairs.  

In order to avoid leg cramps, Becca has endorsed a folk remedy that might or might not have some actual validity--eating mustard.  So, while I sip on a glass of wine, Becca chugs a mustard cocktail!