Finally riding on 2

There is more traffic on 2 than the last road I was on, but the road makes up for it by having an enormous, silky smooth shoulder. I'm ready to make that trade-off. My bum is happy, but my lungs and ears are sad.

Weather conditions were great all day, with the exception of an occasionally fiesty headwind. I make good time, and roll into Spokane, ready to complete my tour of REIs of eastern Washington. Spokane seems fine on paper. There is a well marked bike map as I enter the city limits, and the routes are fairly well marked for cyclists, although one stretch of road on the "bike route" had no shoulder and was so pitted the safety cap shook off the top of my bear mace! Thank goodness it didn't deploy. I crossed the river via a nice park with great views of the roiling water (no cars here!) and found REI. All of the customer service people in this city are friendly and helpful, but, with few exceptions, I got nothing but grumpy hostility from people on the street. It made me really dislike the city. You know, this description of the city and its inhabitants could be of Seattle. Is it possible that my short exposure to small town life has already made me jaded?

There are a couple of places to camp around the edges of the city, but I decide I'll like this place better from behind a deadbolt, so I get a hotel room, and have a shower. Ahhh. I run some errands and get a book, finally, so I can ditch that book of lame crossword puzzles that are easier than the ones in TV Guide. The more time I spend walking around the city the nicer people seem and the more I like it, so maybe it was just culture shock after all. Or maybe pedestrians like other pedestrians more than they like bikers.