Leaving Richland (Day Five)

Part 1: Waterfront Trails and Sacajawea Park.

Out of our box in Richland we went on a tour of town; sunglasses from Goodwill, fixing unexpected flats, and stopping at Greenie's for air and an unforeseen stem replacement. Now Laura is riding in style with her tall stem. From there we crossed the Columbia again and picked up a mostly deserted waterfront path. The smooth asphalt led us to the ancient shipping and industrial district and finally to Sacajawea Park - A green oasis at the confluence of the Columbia and Snake rivers.  The WPA-built museum had us smelling dried soup and testing a buffalo scapula hoe as we were led through Lewis and Clark's journey to the Pacific Ocean. Realizing it was 4 o'clock we set out to complete the majority of our miles for the day.

Part 2: Onions, potatoes, corn, and wheat

Finding the highway out of town, we were momentarily stumped by a 'road closed' sign. Before we had a chance to attempt plowing through the ditch, a friendly construction worker in a big white truck yelled in passing -  "the detour is short, just around that green building". With this pertinent tip, we were on our way. Countless miles through smooth rolling hills bordered by hundreds of thousands of onions, millions of potatoes, and billions of wheat kernels. Our sojourn along a high ridge near the Snake River dropped us into the canyon proper as the sun sunk low. Tall, happy trees brimming with birds, placid river and golden light made for a great campsite. Till morning, only the occasional outboard motor, lumbering trains, and earwigs' passion for Kevin's personal space scratched the peace. 

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