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DAY 1: Portland, OR to Spokane, WA 368 miles Stops: Hood River, OR; Boardman, OR; Kenniwick, WA; Ritzville, WA; Spokane, WA. |
DAY 1
I don't know if day 1 could have gone any better. I slept in until 5:00 AM so this enabled a relaxing start to the day. We were pretty well packed the night before so final last minute preparations were not an issue. Barb rolled out about 6:00 AM and proceeded to clean the house.
At 7:30 AM I rolled on the throttle and we left Wilsonville, OR. The morning was overcast and cool so we decided to stop after an hour of riding and warm up at the Hood River Starbucks. Once we got east of Cascade Locks the sun had come out and it started to warm up. There were plenty of wind surfers and kite surfers already in the river. I am glad we were getting through the gorge early to minimize the impact of the strong winds.
Riding on the super slab went well and traffic was light. Our next break was the rest area in Boardman, OR. We are trying to take a break every hour and a half. On to Kenniwick, WA to refuel and eat lunch. The next stretch of US 395 up to I 90 is straight and fast.
My biggest challenge is staying awake after lunch so we stopped for coffee at Ritzville, WA. We rolled into Spokane at 3:15 AM. Ben, Sarah, Sammy, and Noah were all there to greet us. We walked to the neighborhood park and played and later went out to a new pizza place for dinner. After dinner Sammy and I rode the carousel. The down town river front park is very family friendly. That night we read to the kids and got to say good night. Barb and I consider ourselves the most blessed grand parents a live.
What a wonderful day!