Anxious to get to Seattle, we got up and got ready at the crack of dawn. The ever-present Perkins Restaurant & Bakery was right next to the motel, so we stumbled over. I had what most normal people have for breakfast: eggs and homefries. Chuck had one of his most favorite things in the world: apple pie. Yes, folks…he’s weird. The waitress didn’t seem too surprised by his order, so I guess there’s other people out there eating pie for breakfast, but it’s just not my thing. After another cup of coffee, I mounted my bike for another day of riding. Getting to Route 17 was a little tricky. The main road in Moses Lake is definitely NOT bike friendly, but after dodging a few cars, I turned left onto Route 17, headed for Ephrata (pronounced Ee-fray-tah).
It was another hot, sunny day, but the early start helped a bit. The forecast predicted temperatures near 100, and Chuck was worried about me riding in that kind of heat. 30 miles was all I could squeeze out today. Route 17 is a wide, divided highway with a huge breakdown lane, which was nice. The scenery was pretty boring to start the day. Lots of trailer parks, strip malls and not much else… Washington was starting to look like North Dakota at this point: flat, flat and more flat. No sign of the Cascades yet. But I am pleased to report that a designated bike lane was being constructed on the north side of Route 17. I’m always thrilled to see this. My next cross-country trip will be that much easier!
Finally, WAY off in the distance I started to see something that looked like it might be mountains. But they were pretty far away. Still, it was something to look at, at least! Finally (it seemed like a long way, but it really wasn’t) I saw the sign that said “Ephrata, Soap Lake Jct. ½ mile). I turned left onto Route 282. Chuck caught up to me at this point and brought me a snack, which was much appreciated.
He drove on to Ephrata, and I continued my ride. As I neared Ephrata, I was treated to a free air show. It was pretty cool – a biplane repeatedly soared up high into the sky, turned around, and headed straight for the ground. Just at the last minute, he pulled up and then did it again. I called Chuck and asked if he was witnessing the show, but he couldn’t see it from the town apparently. I passed an artsy metal sign strung between 2 rocks that said “Ephrata” and I knew I was in the home stretch. Chuck wasn’t having much luck finding us a place to stay, so I said we’d look together when I got there. I knew I had arrived in Ephrata when I saw a Dollar Store and a Walmart.
After a little confusion, I found Chuck and we had some lunch at an Asian restaurant on the main road. It was a nice atmosphere, but a HUGE space and I couldn’t imagine how they did enough business to pay the rent. The service was a little too much “in your face” too. After that, we went to look for a cheap motel. It was near 100 degrees and thunderstorms were predicted, so a campground was not an option for us. We stopped at the Ephrata Inn Motel. I told the owner about my ride and asked if she could give us a discount. She said “No.” We got in the car and started to drive away, but she ran out of the office and flagged us down. She named a price that was slightly higher than our budget, but we agreed.
After unpacking our things, we took a nap and then walked around town. I found a bookstore that was going out of business, and they were practically giving away their entire inventory. Wild horses couldn’t have kept me away. I headed straight for the cookbooks, but unfortunately two men had beat me to it. They had a huge box and were just throwing everything in it that they could get their hands on. They were also completely blocking anyone else from even getting near the shelves. It was tough for me to watch all those books I would have loved to own disappearing into the box. I did manage to get a couple of books. I got “The Day Diana Died” which was one I’ve been wanting to read for awhile, and also a great biography of Kathryn Hepburn, called “Kate”. Both were hardcover and I got them for $1. Not bad!
After that, we went to a thrift store and I found a pair of jeans which I love, and they were $3! I’d say we did pretty well for the day. Looking forward to a cool room and some much needed sleep.
