DRINKAMUGAMILKAMEAL

So it says on the back of the shiny silver milk hauler I pass in Sunnyside. I've got growing pains. My skin is raw. My heart aches. I don't know if I can endure 10 more months of this kind of personal growth, this stretching, before I can take a year off to recuperate.

91°

Well the air conditioning in the car has died, about 20 miles east of Yakima, and it's 91 degrees outside. Aaaaarrrgggghhh! The guy at the Shucks auto parts store in Naches sticks his hand under my hood (oh, that sounds naughty) and says it's probably not a quick fix to get it running again. So, I decide to go over Chinook Pass, S.R. 410, because it might be cooler, and because it is a staggeringly beautiful day with bright blue skies and friendly fluffy clouds. The views of the tips of Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier that I can see from the Yakima Valley are amazing. I figure they'll be even more beautiful up close.

90°

Time to cool off. I see a Historical Marker sign that turns out to be a traditional Native American crossroads, now a public fishing spot on the Naches River, hidden over an embankment. I take off my clothes, think about skinning dipping, chicken out, put on my bathing suit and a tank top, and dip my entire body in the blissfully cool river. I stop into the Naches Ranger Station to make sure the pass is open. Good to go. An adventure on my way home today. Ten miles out. It's already dropped a degree.

88°

This is one of those hidden blessings. If my A/C hadn't croaked, I probably wouldn't have tried the detour. Soul restoring. Recharging my batteries.

82°

I pass Whistling Jack Lodge. Next Services, 52 miles. The song on the radio is "Figaro!" from Barber of Seville. My windows are already rolled down, because I'm trying to get air, I’m blaring this opera, and people are staring. I laugh out loud. The river runs beside me. This is stolen time. I'll be exhausted working the next three days and writing the article. I'm thankful for this moment of grace.

66°

At the top of Chinook Pass. As achingly beautiful as I had hoped. Beyond real. Part of the mountain is behind clouds, part is shining in the sun, part is in the shade. My camera can only capture a fraction of it's impressiveness.

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