Day 3 - June 25th - Easton to Odessa

The winds in the Gorge kept tugging at our fabric homes for most of the night. I was familiar with this local trait after my stays at Lincoln Rock campground on the RedSpoke ride. Lincoln Rock is approximately 75 miles north of Vantage but the landscape and weather patterns felt the same. It usually dies down around 3am - becoming uncommonly still.

We clusterd once again at Blustery's, this time for breakfast, and then slowly made our way - as one big cycling community - across the bridge spanning the river. Once on the other side, we were joined by early morning vehicular traffic, making the steady climb up the hillside. The view was a tremendous distraction. Especially with the early morning light, shining over our shoulders, intensifying the contours of the stone walls on Blustery's side of the Columbia. Look over, look down and ahead. Look over, look down and ahead.

I had established a good climbing pace up the hill and ended up riding witha couple of the Big Ride's greyhounds: Chuck and Tony. We stuck together to Ephrata, where Tony and I stopped at a cafe. Chuck's legs, however, told him to continue. The latte (Tully's, but acceptable) and fresh scone, were reviving. Tony and I then galloped on to Odessa. The scenery was "scrubby", with a sameness that I'm sure that locals define in more exact and varied terms. We pulled into Odessa shortly after noon. Main street seemed to be the laser-focus of the sun. Hot and dry sidewalks and streets. Nearly deserted. We were told of a good local cafe a few blocks away from the school grounds where we were camping that night. The cafe was cool, shady, and very homey. The waitress didn't seem to mind that I ate my packed PB&J sandwich while mulling over lunch items on the menu. Tried a chicken sandwich and my first stab at raspberry-lemon pie. Once is just fine.

The afternoon was spent setting up camp, learning how to operate the showers, and settling in. With those basics completed, several of us sat on the grassy slope, sipping beer while evaluating the tent selection and assembly operations of others. What a change from a workday!
After dinner in the cafeteria, we had some free time to mingle or read, make phone calls or listen to music.Then the PB&J station was opened up for 20 minutes. Time to make a sandwich, lick the jelly off your fingers, and get some shut-eye.