i am willing to turn around and meet anybody in Roosevelt, WA who wants to pick cherry's for a couple days in 105* sun.

i was trying to get peddling earlier than i did. oh well. still need to get the hang of packing up the bags the night before and only things out needed for the morning. it was something like a 60 mile push to crow butte park. people were telling me it was going to get warm so i had 4L of water in bladders and 2 tall bottles on the bike. the goal was a bottle a hour; i try to sip at least every 10 min. (beep from computer) it also reminds me to check my posture and change positions. 

i had to cross the columbia on a narrow 2 lane bridge with no shoulder; what do i do? throw the chain when my hand slipped and threw my barend shifter all the way down. luckily no big rigs were trying to cross and traffic was light due to being early. chain back on and climbing right off the bat into Washington. one state down! that sign was the only shade it seemed the rest of the day. 

i just kept drinking water and peddled down the road. I had no idea that it was above 100* for awhile. it wasn't too bad as long as you were moving. when i stopped to pee was when it became apparent that it was so hot. i was trying to stop about every hour to stand, snack, refill bottles, etc. i think i found another sign, a tree, and the market in Roosevelt for shade.

it was 40 miles into the small town of Roosevelt, WA. my map said there was a restaurant here; their sign said 'Mini Mart.' either way i was hungry and wanted some choc. milk. i walked in and it was both. one side was a restaurant and one side one of those 'camp' style markets with mostly processed foods and camping goods. i was thinking they must of honed in on being the closest store to the campground i was headed to. i got some choc. milk and sat outside to cool down in the shade before getting something from the restaurant. i was out there a good 20-30 min. observing.

3 cars and a big rig running outside. man loading bag after bag of ice. family returning to running car with bags of chips and bottles of soda. young pregnant woman returning to car with a big bag of chips. young kid buying two big bottles of soda, paying with dimes and nickles. white trucker ordering a burger, can of dinner sausages and soda. i get to order a burger and choose to fill up my water bottle from the bathroom sink. Their soda fountain didn't dispense water. ONLY SODA. *slap across the face*

oh yeah!! one thing i mentioned in my mission statement was nutrition. i was thinking it might be about me.    

my goal is not to offend anybody. this is what i am observing and processing internally. you might see the same thing and process it entirely different. it might hurt because not too many people are willing to say it. hell, i am not sure why i am going to.

while enjoying my meal inside the cool building, i got to observe the other side of this town. i was looking at my map, checking my phone and listening to and learning about the town from the 'white' side. not trying to be p.c. here. this is pretty serious to me. right now in town it was cherry season and the native americans were catching fish. oh and -fill in blank- got kicked out of the army and married a woman with 3 children.

so who was on the mini mart side and who was on the restaurant side?

i am going to go out on a limb and compare current corporate advertising to adverting used to promote baby formula over natural breast milk in uneducated parts of south america. i feel like people are almost conditioned to find the best deal and quickest, easiest -fill in blank.-

a mantra i will keep bring up over and over is : think different

not much i say is original and most times can't remember where i heard it

it pisses me off that whole, fresh foods are noticeably more expensive than the thing you can just pop in the microwave. we have to get back to work as quick as possible you know. we need to pay for the stuff that we think we need. 

so back to the very top. i will pick cherry's with you for a couple 8,10,12 hrs days in the 105* sun. that is just the day time. let's live in the communal squallier shack; were we eat, sleep, rest, EVERYTHING. in the same communal room without our own bed or single occupancy room. we just make it work for a couple days. it sounds doable to me. oh and no A/C.

why should i care how they live? i wonder sometimes. they are probably 'illegals' anyway right? i love that argument. they are ruining this country as i search for fresh fruits and vegetables. i am not suggesting this because i think i am better than anyone and i suggest you sit through a college level macro economics course for a term. it was highly informative to me and enlightening. 

 a piece of the cycle: SUPPLY AND DEMAND

why aren't the farmers who demand and pay them persecuted the same as the people who are coming to work? do you want to go do that work? the truth is that some people are unemployed because they are too good to accept some forms of work. 

i know.... i know..... i too believe that the government enables abuses to the social welfare system. more could be done. we have to think different. 

what about the corporations that have exploited local, family farms and businesses? the banks that took advantage of capitalizing on the 'American Dream.' everyone wants to be able to own the house with the white picket fence and have 2.75 kids right? why not just sign on the doted line and trust what you are being told? 'oh did we forget to tell you that in 5 years your house payment will double, triple, quad.?' oops sorry and thanks for the bail out.....'

as you can tell i am frustrated. it is so much bigger than just coming to the US 'illegally' or if you pay taxes or not. guess who else doesn't pay taxes? i wonder why people fight so hard against something that effects them so very little? 

back to the distractions at hand though. so and so married a woman with 3 kids. i have 20 more miles to peddle to the campground.

my body had already setup camp by the time i started to pedal again. it was hot; and no sooner did i run into freshly laid chip seal. except they hadn't fully sealed it yet so there was loose rock everywhere. besides doing a number on my tires i think, it was flying around every which way from cars and trucks. it was a good 5-7 miles of this before reaching the turn off for the campground. 

there was shade!! i was expecting a desert like setting and all the shaded spots were occupied. i had a couple different people offer me a place to set up my tent. i choose a spot right by the bathrooms; still drinking water and didn't think about the spot lights that would come on at night.

i jumped in the river and cooled off for a bit before rinsing some clothes and making dinner. the shade was so nice after spending the day in the hot sun. i do some yoga and decompress. thoughts come and go. don't let them stick and control the rest of the day. while some of the above is passionate, i can detatch from it as well and not let it control my life.

experence. the. fear.