day 8: old fort townsend state park to potlatch state park

it's been one week since we started so let's start with stats i'm going to make up on the fly. 

miles cycled: 277 

salami sticks consumed: 2.5

blocks of cheese consumed: 3

# of times we've camped: 5

# of times we've slept on a bed: 3

favorite power drink: chocolate milk

number of conflicts: 1

so... 

64 miles today. dude. i'm so tired. had to pee so freaking bad near the end that samuel covered me with his bike so i could go on the side of the road. then, found out we had 4 more miles to go when i thought we were nearly done. oooooo, that made me so angry. i wanted to be done so bad. the neverending rolling hills were...how do you say, OBNOXIOUS. 

the day didn't start that way though. we were holding hands for short portions and having a doll of a time. we steadily climbed our giant mountain in olympic national park and stopped at quilcene's post office for lunch under a shady tree. you could even describe our ride as romantic. 

hours passed, as well as dozens of hills, and i started singing a very vocally animated rendition of hakuma matata. uh oh. 

"no worries...for the rest of my days?" yeah, i don't think so.

from there, i spiraled down fast. mostly, i felt infuriated that we weren't done and felt like a major victim - i.e. "samuel is making me do this! omg, i really really dislike him right now!" turns out, i was hangry = hungry+angry and he was the only one in sight to feel my wrath. poor thing. we reconciled, but i was not a pretty sight. 

oh, here's something we've learned about washington's state park system: it sucks. hard. they don't take care of their facilities very well, the campsite maps aren't clear, and there are a bajillion mosquitos. (okay, that last one can't be helped. they were sent by the devil himself.) honestly, i am very much looking forward to getting out of this state. we have heard numerous times that oregon has their state park system together! i bet they've eliminated all their mosquitos too. ;-) 

oh! (again.) i also started using, "may i _______?" to ask for stuff from strangers, mostly to use the bathroom. it has worked EVERY time! who would've thought that being polite can get me access to one of the most precious resources on this trip! ha!

tonight, i'm grateful for samuel being kind to me by setting up our tent, blowing up my pad, and getting my sleeping bag out while he let me take a hot shower first. it was such a huge service to me, even though he was just as tired and he had to put up with a grumpy me.