I’m pretty much back on my morning schedule, getting up at  5:00 – 5:30am.  At about 5;45am the tents start lighting up like mushrooms as the others awake.

The sun FINALLY comes up about 7:15am . . . and the temps are usually in the lower 50’s . . . not too bad if it is not raining!!!

Most riders start breakfast with their headlights on and by the time they are done it’s light enough to start taking down tents . . . most are on the road by 8:00am.

Oh, our chefs are taking care us veggie types, usually leaving the meat out until the end of their prep and then adding in either meat or tofu/soy products.

Gina is now 0 for 5 camping nights, having spent last night with her friend Robyn, who ended up only living about 3 miles down the road from our campsite. We’re beginning to think she has friends along the coast all the way to San Diego and may never spend a night in a tent.

Today’s ride started with a tour past Lake Mason, reminding me a lot of riding in northern Wisconsin. Beautiful lakes, heavy forest cover and nice cabins along the way . . . .

. . .  and they are looking out for bikers too!!!

. . . this gang may not like their neighbors!!!

We stopped along the road, about half way to Elma, for a little break. Fall colors are starting to pop in the hardwoods.

. . . and soon arrived at this little oasis, in the middle of a 25 mile stretch with nothing else around, and pulled in for an ice cream . . .

. . .  and had a nice discussion with MaKayla who was only in her third day of employment at the store. I asked her about her clientele and she said there was a bunch of ‘old people’ who stopped by every morning and spent about an hour drinking coffee and telling stories. I asked her what she meant by ‘old’ ??? With a coy smile on her face, she said  . . .”older than me”!!!

A wide selection of goodies , . . we all had something different.

More political signage. WA must be a red state, haven’t seen any Dem supporters.

We are getting into some heavily timbered areas and clear cuts are starting to show up.  Most of the areas have been replanted . . . nice!!!

Sure hope whoever had the little party along the road here was not driving near us . . . actually, I hope they were not driving at all!!!

This small engine shop had a FUN mailbox!!!!

The Elma Campground & RV Park was SUPERB. It had the best grass I have ever slept on during a bike trip. No weeds, no rocks, no brown spots, 3 inch long grass . . . felt GREAT walking around with bare feet.

. . . and Milt, the campground host, met us when we arrived giving us the code for the bathrooms and each of us a plastic bag with four freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Still warm!!!

One of the daily routines is for most folks to do some laundry either in the shower or a utility sink. Most state campgrounds do not have laundry facilities. Time to put up the clothesline. Problem in the Pacific NW, during the fall, is with the cool temps, rain and a short daylight window nothing dries before the sun goes down. But they do dry some . . .

. . . unless you are busy working on a journal then Denise’s Laundry Service will hand deliver your clean, folded wash, right to your tent!!!

Dave and Joe were supposed to cook tonight but Joe needed to head into town, so Anne and Liz jumped in to help Dave. Dave is ‘GREAT’ at taking instructions!

Great pasta, bread and chicken salad, served inside and with real tablecloths . . . and the heat was on in the building!!!

We had a rider joins us late last night, Sewartha, who rolled in about 9:30pm . . .

. . . and in the morning popped up like a mushroom from her bivy bag. Here is a ‘re-enactment’. She just graduated with a degree in environment micro biology, and having missing the deadline to apply for graduate school, decided to bike from Vancouver, where she is from, to Mexico. We’ll probably bump into her again as we all bike along.

The best campground grass, EVER!!!