94 degrees, 4 mile climb, 8% grade and a very unusual “ticking” sound that had me puzzled for most of my ride up Alpowa Pass, elevation 2,785 feet. 94 degrees is a bit warm for a leisurely ride in South Eastern Washington state, but with no humidity to speak of, I was quite comfortable. You can’t see the rock cliffs I rode past in the above photo, but as I pedaled along at 3.5 mph, I kept hearing the above mentioned “tick-tick-tick” sound. As soon as I got past the cliffs, the sound stopped. I made it to the top of the pass and pedaled on towards Pomeroy without determining the source of the “tick-tick-tick” sound.

Due to the distance to the next town, 46 miles, I decided to be lazy and stop in Pomeroy, WA after riding only 35 miles. With a free afternoon, I asked Ms. Google for information on things to do in Pomeroy. She suggested a visit to the Garfield County Museum which was a short ten minute walk from my motel. Upon entering the “Donation Only” Museum I was greeted by a museum volunteer and one other visitor. As soon as I mentioned I lived in Alaska, Gary, the other visitor, asked, “You ever hear of Selawik, Alaska?” Sue, the volunteer then asked, “Have you ever heard of a man named John Binkley? He is married to a relative of mine.”  We chatted about Selawik and also about John’s multiple visits to Whittier for tours he lead on Princess cruise ships.  Gary and I “hit if off” immediately for some reason and I learned he was a long time rancher in the area and had been a photo journalist for FFA at one time.  (Gary was sent to Selawik by FFA to do a story on the area many years ago.) After a few minutes Gary said, “It is too hot for me to spray my fields today, so if you have time, why don’t we hop in my truck for a drive around the area!” For the next two hours Gary drove me all over town pointing out historic landmarks, a few other local museums, and even drove me out to his own ranch. Gary’s commented over and over about trying to think of ways to attract young people to move to Pomeroy. His son works in IT and had just returned with his wife, a doctor, to live in Pomeroy. The area is slated for a gigantic solar farm and the town council is attempting to secure funding for ultra high speed internet service to attract “work at home families.” Towns such as Pomeroy must discover ways to keep young people in the area, or the towns will simply fade away. We also discovered that both our daughter-in-laws graduated from “Cougar College” in nearby “Pushlady!” (Jackster, my grandson in Anchorage, can you write a comment that will tell everyone what I am talking about with the word “Pushlady?”)  😘 My afternoon with Gary Bye and the Garfield County Museum will be near the top of my Best Memories list on my amazing Journey. (The photo above is a small glimpse of the spring wheat field on Gary’s ranch.)

The above baby crib was in the hospital section of the museum. Any idea what this baby crib, complete with a retractable covering, used for in a hospital? Nobody on the museum staff had the answer. A cover to keep cats out of the bed was one suggestion.

Outside the museum was a row of about ten hanging baskets, all about the size as a hula-hoop! What a fabulous idea, a hanging basket filled with plastic flowers!

As I pedaled west from Pomeroy, I noticed a cloud of dust off in the distance. As I drew nearer I saw a combine harvesting what appeared to be wheat. As I was taking a few photos the rancher walked over to visit. The rancher told me his name, but at the same time he said, “I was born and raised in Kenai, but moved here when I was thirteen!” Unfortunately I only heard Kenai, and missed his name. Hopefully Kenai will visit my website and refresh my old brain and give us his real name. Anita has always told me stories of wheat harvest and how the workers get covered with itchy wheat dust during the harvest. I was covered with wheat dust in the few minutes I stood talking with the rancher, so now I am an official wheat farmer. “Kenai” and I shared memories of Alaska, I gave him one of my Cycle Cards, and as I started to leave “Kenai” said, “Thanks for stopping. You so remind me of my own Grandpa because he was also an avid bicyclist.  Seeing you on your bicycle brings back happy thoughts of Grandpa!” As Robert Krol would say, “Cool!”

This post is getting too “wordy” so I am going to stop story telling and just add photos.

Windmills are a huge business here in Washington.

The view from a pullout on the highway yesterday. Started the day way off in the distance.

Where are all the other trees?

Same lonely tree, but from a different angle.

Mock-up of a turn of the century classroom in Pomeroy.

When Gary and I were driving to his ranch, he pointed out some of his cows. They were in the bottom of a deep ravine just happily munching grass. I asked, “So, how do you round up the cows, with a horse or a 4-wheeler?” His response, “Well neither. Horses are too expensive to keep for just riding so we don’t keep horses on the ranch. The terrain is too rugged and steep for 4-Wheelers to maneuver, so we just catch the cows when they climb out of the ravine looking for better grass. Besides it is too dangerous to walk in the ravines due to the rattlesnake problem. Rattlers love hanging out in rocky cliffs like those on the sides of the ravine. Roll down your window and you can probably hear the rattlers since we are so close. Listen for a fast “tick-tick-tick” sound!”

Yikes, the mysterious sound I heard riding up the highway were rattlesnakes letting me know that I was invading their territory! No more running into the bushes for me on this Journey!

Poor WiFi tonight, so maybe this will upload and maybe not! Saw this sign today as I approached Umatilla, Oregon:

I can’t smell the Pacific Ocean yet, but next Saturday, as my friend Carol said in a resent comment, “If the good Lord’s willing and the creek don’t rise,” I will be in Seaside, Oregon with the love of my life, Anita.

Cheers and hugs!

Greg