We made it to the grocery store to stock up for the next 3 days. Being Sunday, it didn’t open until 10 am and so we had to sit and wait for a while which gave us ample to time to make a food list and go over the maps. The guide book said this grocery store in Concrete would be the last main supply for 80 miles, so we estimated we would need to take at least three days’ worth of food. It turned out they didn’t have the avocados I had been eating since we got to Seattle (one of my staple snacks), but they did have an old vegetable bin. So for .49 cents I was able to get zucchini, cauliflower, a potato and some mushrooms! Best bargain so far. I also couldn’t help but splurge on a kale salad mix, which I consumed over the next few hours. We made a slow climb toward Rockport and went to stop at the top of the hill to rest. I was shaking, our first major climb. As I pulled beside the shoulder of the road, I could barely snap my foot out of the clip and at the last second it released and I was able to grab my bike from falling. Just as I was straightening my bike, Matt came up beside me and had the same issue. He tried to pull his clip out, but he went straight over with the bike on top of him. I helped him up, but the chain had come off. He put it back on and we tested the gears. Everything was okay. I couldn’t help but laugh a little at our clumsiness. We rode off and took a right onto Rockport Cascade Road, a long 12-mile road that we had all to ourselves. We crossed over the Skagit River and stopped at a small gas station to fill up water for the night. I had phoned the campground where we were staying and they said there would be no water, and so we filled our empty vitamin water bottles, ate a quick tuna and avocado wrap and looked at the local weather report. Today reached 95 and is somewhat a heat wave to the locals. With that news, we headed toward our campsite. We stopped at the Cascades National Park entrance sign. There, a young girl was sitting on the side of the road with a cool towel over head. Her friends seemed a little distressed. I asked if she was okay and the friend said she overheated in the car. They were without air conditioning. I gave her some peanut butter and an emergency C and told them to take her back to the town of Marblemount to cool off in the single airconditioned restaurant. That is one thing Matt and I are prepared for, the hot weather. Maybe not the mountains, maybe not the biking, but definitely knowing how to keep it cool in 100 degrees. Our campsite was gorgeous. It is right along the Skagit River and getting into camp a little early, we both jumped in. The water was freezing, but refreshing. A two-minute soak was all we could handle and then we laid out in the sun to dry ourselves and our clothes and recharge our phone using the solar panel (still not much signal). My left knee started hurting during the ride, and so I raised my seat 1mm and now tried to soak it for as long as I could stand it. We went to bed again before the sun went down.
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