Yakima to Kennewick

Because we haven’t been able to get internet access for a couple of days in camp, here’s a two day summary coming to you from a Starbucks in Kennewick:

JULY 4: Today was another easy day: 59 kms. Distances traveled depend a lot on places available for such a large crowd to stay overnight. I rode in a pace line of 5 persons today and what a difference it makes in terms of your speed. Since I was the oldest in the group by quite a few years, I had to work extra hard to keep up the pace, but my pride fueled my pumping legs! On the way from Yakima to Sunnyside we made a stop in Zillah, where Faith Community CRC provided us with coffee, juice, and fruit.

We are currently in the Sunnyside Christian High School, and are looking forward to a pork and beef roast provided by the CRC community here, as well as fireworks tonight and ice cream. It is, after all, July 4, Independence Day, which is a huge event here. It reminds me of a comment Will Willimon made in one of his books when he said that if you’re willing to die for your country they call you a hero, but if you’re willing to die for your faith they call you a fanatic. Wow, there’s my deep thought for the day!

Diane and the cooks get the day off today, and you can see from the attached picture that she had a blast today riding with Bill Den Harder, our camp supervisor (from Aylmer, ON), who supports the tour on his awesome Harley Davidson. She’s now convinced that we need to buy a motorbike as a second vehicle, both for the gas we’ll save and the fun we’ll have. We’ll see what she thinks when we come home! I’ve also posted a picture of Betty Terpstra (Chilliwack), one of the cooks, showing how they mixed up the Waldorf salad they made for supper yesterday.
That’s it for today. We appreciate all the comments, both because it’s fun to know you’re following along, and it keeps us connected to people back home, especially family and friends (but you’re all welcome and loved!!).

JULY 5: After another relatively short day – only 80 kms – we are currently camped in a huge park along the Columbia River in Kennewick, WA. The trip today was through rolling countryside that again resembled parts of the Okanagan, with the main crop being cherries, and the labour force being almost exclusively Mexican. In fact, if you’re reading Shifting Gears, you’ll remember that the population of Sunnyside, where we stayed yesterday, is 73% Latino. It felt like you were in Mexico, except the living conditions were better.

I haven’t had a flat tire yet, but have assisted in repairing 2 flats of others. It is expected that you stop to help someone in need and do not behave like the priest and Levite in that well known parable. Which reminds me of the boy who in response to his pastor’s question, “Why didn’t they stop for the man who had been beaten and robbed?” replied that it was because they saw that he had been robbed already, so there was no point. Ouch! But on tour everyone helps everyone else and that’s the way it should be.

The food on the tour, by the way, has been great. The cooks are a hardworking bunch, and one of them is particularly good looking…. Today Diane went shopping at Costco with 2 others: total bill was just over $4000. I hope to get a picture of their purchases so you get an idea of how food goes into these cyclists.

We also went swimming today in the Columbia River. The water was very cold for those wimpy Easterners, but of course for us Westerners used to ocean temperatures the water was positively warm. It sure cleared any cobwebs and soothed tired muscles. Which reminds me, the first week of the tour is past, and everyone survived. While many wondered if we could actually do this, we now realize that God has given the strength and ability and stamina to pull this off. It feels good, and it also feels good to settle into the rhythm of camp life. A number of people are being billeted tonight in the homes of CRC church members, but we’ve chosen our air mattress and tent over a comfy queen size bed. We might feel differently next weekend, we’ll see.

The weather was hot again today, but for the last 3 nights there have been brief thunderstorms. The rain is badly needed here, however, so no one is complaining, and it really hasn’t lessened our enjoyment of the tour. We expect rain some days, and are prepared for it. Alright, Diane is just finished her work, so it’s time to kick back and relax before sleep. Tomorrow is a rest day, with church at 10:30 a.m. here in the park, then lunch served by Kennewick CRC folks and an afternoon float on noodles down the Yakima River. Until tomorrow night….