August 11 Crossing America

Belfair, WA – Elma, WA distance 57 miles all on my bike
Total distance through today 4,160 miles, 3,494 of them by bike.

On the road at 7:00, the first 6 miles were easy riding with the Hood Canal on my right and a steep forested hillside on my left.  “Steep forested hillside on my left”, my next turn is going to be left will I be climbing that hill?  I kept hoping not but as I came to Trails Road I was greeted with a 15% grade snaking its way skyward.   The grind up wasn’t nearly as difficult as I thought it would be but as I slowed to about 3 mph I began to do my wobble and weave routine.  Not good I thought to myself as this road is a narrow two lane with no shoulder and a guard rail to prevent vehicles from tumbling down the hill side should they slip off the roadway.  I envisioned myself being squished between the guardrail and a speeding motorist; guess I’m still car shy
since the encounter with a motorhome in Carson City.  After a couple of pickup trucks came roaring past me with their loud pipes blaring “I’m going to squish you bicycle man” my nerves couldn’t take it any longer and I dismounted.  I walked about a 1/8 of mile until the grade
dropped down to about 8% before remounting Spirit.  I didn’t ride a quarter mile when I came upon a road construction zone.  OH  GEES!  They were laying new asphalt, a very oily wet type which my tires quickly threw oil and small stones up onto my frame, drivetrain and me.  The road was closed to traffic on one side andI got a laugh out of the traffic control guys allowing me to go through by myself while holding motor vehicle traffic up while I made it through.  Probably didn’t score many points with the drivers of those vehicles who had to wait for me to go the ¼ mile.
After the road construction the road leveled out somewhat and I found myself cruising along at a good pace with gentle rolling hills between mature cedars and Douglas firs with beautiful Mason Lake off to my left.  Though there were many homes, most likely summer homes, along the shore, I was passed by only 3 motorists in 9 miles.  About ten o’clock I rolled up to a small country store and decided it was time for a snack.  Going inside I was greeted by a cheerful gal
named Tammy.  I asked if she had any sandwiches to which she directed me to the first refrigerator case.  There were two Turkey sandwiches on multigrain bread, I asked her if they were fresh and she said delivered every two days.  So I purchased one of them.  Tammie asked if I’d like Mayo for my sandwich and I said yes.  Opening the sandwich up I discovered two meager thinly sliced pieces of turkey.   I didn’t say a word but Tammie noticed and
said, “Oh my gosh!  I didn’t know that’s all the meat on those sandwiches”.  Then she disappeared a few seconds later came back with a whole 8 ounce package of ham to add to my sandwich.  I only took half the meat but Tammie insisted I use all the meat as riding a bicycle I needed plenty of protein to go with the carbohydrates of the bread.  OK, fine with me and it made for a delicious sandwich.  Talking with Tammie as I ate, I learned she and her husband ride Yamaha motorcycles on weekend and weeklong charity tours, which they had one coming up this weekend.  As we visited other customers would come in and Tammie greeted each one as a friend, very cheerful was she and a pleasure to listen to her interact with  customers so well.  I also learned one of the owners of the store
is an MS victim for the past 15 years and is beginning to deteriorate.  I told Tammie of listening to the Professor from Stamford and he is confident there will be a cure for MS within the next few years as so much has been learned these past few years thanks in great part
to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s funding of research.  It will happen Tammie, I can feel it in my gut and I will do my best to help make it happen!  I left this little country store with a good
feeling from having met another wonderful person.  Interesting how many gals I’ve met with the name Tammie who are some of the nicest folks, it is a good name.

This old home has seen better day

Next stop Shelton, ten miles further up the road, and my planned stop for lunch.  This time I found Blondie’s a local café favorite of the locals.  I wasn’t disappointed with a BLT (Bacon, Lettuce and  tomato) sandwich with loads of bacon in it.  Finished my lunch with a piece of triple chocolate cake which was to die for good,  recommended by the waitress owner Blondie herself.  If you come through Shelton, WA be sure to stop at Blondie’s as it has great food, reasonable prices and great conversation with the owner.
On my way out of Shelton I managed to get myself lost on the westside of town.  The map’s detail drawing was confusing as it named three Streets but they were all together at one corner.  Finally a Fed-X truck came along and I learned from the driver this corner is called 5 points as 5 streets intersect at this corner.  It would have been much easier had the folks at Adventure Cycling listed only the road needed to get out of town instead of three.    Of course, I got lost after having climbed the steepest hill in this town, same as what happened in Bremerton yesterday and I climbed the damm thing a econd time, too.

Interesting Mail box, found the Route 66 interesting as this is over a 1,000 miles from the route

The final 24 miles into Elma was reasonably flat and I cruised in right on schedule at 2:00 pm. Maybe I am getting stronger at least on flat terrain to moderately rolling hills.  I phoned Denny who was already in Elma and we met up, loaded up Spirit and headed to Seattle.  We enjoyed reminiscing more about our youth and the hijinks, this time mostly those of his older brother Joe and George’s older brother Jim.  Those two definitely had their fair share of hijinks in high school.
The two hour drive seemed to be over before it started.   Arriving in
Tacoma Denny and I said our farewells, I had to give him a big hug before letting him go.  Denny and Nancy are wonderful folks.   These past two days have been great and it was as difficult saying goodbye to Denny as family.  Nancy and Denny, thank you for your kindness, generousity and most of all your friendship.
Denny wasn’t gone ten minutes when Larry arrived to pick me up.  I had figured to wait for a hour so it was a pleasant surprise.  I was concerned Larry may have left work early but he assured me he  hadn’t.  Larry is the kind of guy who will give you the shirt off his back or the last dime in his pocket.   Charis shared with me Larry thinks a lot of me and had learned much while he and I worked together.  I can assure you I learned as much from Larry as he ever learned from me.  He’s a good man with a great heart!

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