Day 4- McKenzie Bridge to Prineville

I had an excellent start to the day: I left the motel and promptly set
off the wrong way down the highway. Luckily, the motel owner saw this
happen, and knowing it would have taken me a long while to figure out,
he came chasing after me in his car to point me the right way. Woops!

So there's a mountain range called the Cascades in Oregon, and I think
I went over it today. The first 40miles of the day took me over 4
hours! I was so happy when I got to the top of the Santiam pass, as I
knew most of the remaining miles went downhill. I stopped for lunch
at a resort by the side of this gorgeous little lake. The pasta of the
day was chicken BBQ- sounds strange but was so tasty! Thankfully, the
lunch was of American proportions, and I am learning about the joys of
free soda refills... Content and full, and with the knee finally
giving up its complaints, I went on towards Prineville. The landscape
around the highway really changed at this point, instead of lush green
forests the landscape looked more like a desert with a few bushes
scattered around.

As I had cycled to within 10miles of Prineville, I noticed a rather
ominous looking cloud heading my way. I hadn't heard any thunder yet,
so I kept going, hoping I would make it to the motel in time. Around
5miles later though, lightning struck just a few hundred metres behind
me. I jumped off the bike, laid it flat on the ground and went to
crouch low on the side of the road. As loads of cars were passing, I
tried my luck at hitching a ride at the same time. A guy stopped, and
his car was- unsurprisingly- big enough to fit the bike. He dropped me
off in Prineville, and minutes after I reached the motel, thunder and
lightning struck the town, with massive winds, rain and even hail to
go with it! I'm glad I was inside by then...

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