The day started with a nice cool ride south on US 95 in Idaho. The road was sparsely traveled, with just us, a few cars, and some logging trucks. The morning ride was pleasant.
A couple of hours into the ride, we turned onto Idaho SR 60 with the intent on following state highways into Yakima, WA. As luck would have it, we (OK, I) missed the turn that would take us directly to WA SR 26. We stayed on WA SR 27 way too long and ended up having to find an alternate route to WA SR 26. The ride was beautiful, but it got really hot as the day progressed.
We had a great lunch in Colfax, WA, at a cute little coffee shop called Fonk's. The latte's were perfect and the sandwich was wonderful.
We picked up WA SR 26 in Colfax and headed west. That's when the temperature started climbing. By the time we stopped for a rest when we crossed US 395, someone at the Rest Area told us that the temperature was around 103°. Wonderful. We rode to the Pacific Northwest this year to avoid the <bleep>ing heat.
The haze in the air was more visible today. At times, Donna said she could smell the smoke in the air. We found a little relief as we rode WA SR 24 into Yakima. The farmers were watering a bunch of crops, so the air temperature seemed to drop accordingly. For a while, it was almost pleasant -- then we rode back into the virtual desert that is eastern Washington state. After a hot and nasty afternoon ride, we finally reached our hotel in Yakima around 6:30-ish.
A few things surprised me about Washington agriculture. First, I didn't realize that so much grain is grown in the state. We passed acre after acre after acre of wheat fields along WA SR 27. As we got closer to Yakima, we saw apple orchards galore. (Made us want an apple.) We also saw grape vineyards, corn fields, and some other kind of fruit that was supported on a vertical trellis.
Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures today. It was too hot to want to stop much. I did get some video on the GoPro today, but I seem to be having problems getting the video to upload. I'll keep trying.
When we stopped in Yakima, we read the tragic news about Robin Williams. He was much loved and the world is a sadder place without his comedic genius.
Mileage today: 296.6
Jae's trip total: 2138.4
Donna's trip total: 2139.6
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