days 7,8,9 and 10

day 7: from Richland to walla walla the road was mostly flat, we had a great look at most of the areas drainage ditches. the ride was only 50 miles that day so i offered to sweep, which means staying in the back of the group to make sure we don't lose anyone. along the way the other sweeper and i took a wrong turn and went 2.5 miles in the wrong direction. after we got back on track i ended up having trouble with my chain which put us behind the rest of the team by about 30 minutes. once we arrived in walla walla we settled in at the "dome" at walla walla community center. as soon as we were showered i got a ride to the local bike shop so they could work out the damage i did to my wheel during the previous day with chain trouble. then, we left to attend a friendship visit where dinner was served. when we returned, some of the guys went out to see a movie but i stayed in to ice my knee and get to bed early.
day 8: a day off, on our first day off we were allowed to sleep in until 10 am, a nice break from 5:30 am. we were on our way to lunch by 11 am to a local delicatessen. after lunch we broke up into groups, the laundry group and the store group and once everyone was back we held a team meeting just to get everyone on the same page again. for dinner we went to Jim Peterson's house, who is the VP of administration at walla walla community college, he helped us obtain the "dome" as a place to stay. his house was a lot of fun, he had a pool that we could swim in and chickens that some of the guys tried to get eggs from, and the food was great. after dinner we just hung out in the field at the college playing football and Frisbee. i helped some with the decals on the vans.
day 9: the first century day. the ride from walla walla to Lewiston was 100 miles. the ride was mostly down hill so that made the 100 easier to swallow. on the first hill, 6% grade for 3 miles i hit my top speed of the summer thus far at 47 mph, but wasn't able to top that on any of the rest of the hills throughout the day. we rode over Alpowa pass and then down through Clarkston and up the hill to Lewis-Clark state college where we shacked for the night in their new activity center. we had a couple of hours to hang out and shower before another great friendship visit, this time with opportunities unlimited of Lewiston. their organization provides training and instruction on being self supported and independent. they provided an excellent dinner with more than enough food, then after dinner gave some of our guys a run for their money in a game of basketball. as soon as we got back to lodging everyone got into their "go out" clothes to celebrate one of our team members birthdays.
day 10: the narrow road to Kamiah. we woke up at 5 this day instead of 5:30 in order to get a jump on some traffic in Lewiston. highway 12 on the way to Kamiah is extremely narrow, and its primary traffic consists of logging trucks and vacation RVs which made this ride an interesting one. Todd and i were first in today about 15 miles ahead of the pack, we held an oddly quick pace today. even as treacherous as it was, today's ride was still one of the most beautiful ones we have had so far. when we finished the short 65 miles we went straight to a friendship visit with the opportunities unlimited of Kamiah then traveled the short distance to the local community center where we all took freezing cold showers. we will all be going to bed early tonight because we have another 100 mile day tomorrow on our way to Powell, ID