June 2, 2017
Today was a day where the soul was fed; Michael Stutzman is with me and we rode through farm country.

Yesterday Michael was picked up at the Portland airport, by Angie Yoder’s father, Harley, and driven over one hundred and seventy miles to where is was staying.  It sure was nice to see both Harley and Michael, someone that I knew!

After putting his bike together we settled in to watching the CAVS; disappointing!

This morning we left at 7:00.  We rode on interstate 84 for three miles and then headed north on 730 toward Umatilla and McNary.  The sights were great!  At McNary, we picked up 37 south, towards Pendleton.  On 37 we ran into large farms where they were growing vegetables… onions, potatoes, tea, and other things we could not identify.  The terrain was rolling and beautiful. We also saw large farms with farmers working the fields.  It looks like their wheat is two months out from harvest. 
Today was warm.  We covered over sixty miles with the last forty miles having nowhere to fill out water bottles. I ran out of water and Michael only had a little left.

We are in Pendleton, which is petty good size town.  We were able to find a great place to eat.  Michael brought enough clothes to put on a fashion show.  He soon realized that weight matters, so this evening he sent a few things home.

Speaking of weight, Sheryl sent some thing out with Michael for me and I soon realized I needed to discard some weight.  I finally decided my hair was the most expendable, so I had my head shaved.  It should grow back by the time I get home.

Tomorrow is a big day.  Because of the heat we will leave early, trying to get a jump on a ten mile climb over the Cascades into the high desert.  I think we are both nervous and excited.  We need to ride to La Grande where we will spend the night.

Good to be alive!




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