Living Well With Diabetes

Today, I left Washington behind me. I crossed the Columbia River mid-morning at Umatilla, Oregon which is the same place I crossed back in 2006 during the Dream Tour. Who knew I would ever come back and ride that same road again?

Washington had some of the best — and worst — of the riding during the tour. At least so far. Highway 2 through the Cascades is a low point, despite the beauty of the mountains.

Washington had some things I really liked about it too. For example, when I had an opportunity to read a newspaper or watch some news on television, I heard about Washington’s new “Hands-free” cell phone usage law. Basicallly, it makes using a cell phone while driving illegal unless you’re using some sort of hands-free device (I assume that means a speakerphone arrangement of some kind).

Another example of a great thing about Washington, Seattle actually, was discussion of a 20 cent charge for a plastic bag in a grocery store. Walk or bike ride a couple miles along any road in this country and make note of how many of those plastic bags you see discarded along the shoulder. It’s not just plastic bags though; there’s all kind of junk, and lots of it, littering our roadways in this country. Believe me, I know because I’ve been riding past it all at about 10 miles an hour for the past six weeks. If a 20 cent charge on plastic bags helps clean it up, I say “Bravo, Seattle!”

Half of today’s ride was spent on very busy roads and the other half was on the Old Pendleton River Road which was a delightfully lonely 30 miles along the Umatilla River. But, it was a difficult ride too, because of the heat. The high temperature in Pendleton today was 96 and tomorrow, they’re expected to beat that by six degrees. I’ll be headed south on Highway 395 into the Blue Mountains. Hopefully, the elevation and the forest will provide some relief from the heat.