week one: seattle to kennewick, wa

this past week was tremendous, full of ups and downs (literally and figuratively) and there is much to be thankful for. day one was full of anticipaiton and celebration before we got on the road. however, i was the first recipient of the tour's flat tire count, getting a mere 2 miles down the road. day two started out with an easy 20 mile ride the the northwest rainforests with several swollen rivers interspersed. then we started to climb. it was another 20 miles until the summit of stevens pass, and what a feet that was. i pushed myself harder than i should have, and when i made it to the summit i slept for an hour or two... i'm not exactly sure of the time, but i woke with a nasty sunburn on my eyelids. day three was a great descent down the canyon, going next to an overfilled river with ominous rapids but it offered refreashing a cool misty breeze. day four blew. i was picked up by our RV SAG driver walter around mile 20 because a terrible pain in my knee, probablly from two days of hard climbing. day five was a rest day for me, another trip with walter helped to heal the knees. and what a help it was. day six, saturday, back in the saddle again, everything felt great. i took it easy at first, but once i was warm and stretched out i pushed myself a bit and the knee never felt better. day seven, our day of rest, was filled with activity. we had a big reception from our three host churches and gorged on a mass banquet of NON DUTCH food which was a surprise. despite the unfortunate knee strain the first week went well. no major accidents, but several falls and damaged egos.