Touchet Valley Among Cycling Top 5

WAITSBURG - The Travel Section of the Seattle Times has selected the roads in the Waitsburg-Dayton area as one of the best five routes in the state for riding or driving.

In a piece called "Five Roads To Nowhere: The Best Of Washington's Boonies," guide book author Mike McQuaide selected " the roly-poly Dr. Seuss-esque hills surrounding charming Waitsburg and Dayton in the southeast corner of the state" as one of his favorite paddling and wheeling loops.

The others include Bad- ger Mountain-Waterville northeast of Wenatchee; Tanasket-Oroville northeast of the Methow Valley; Forest Road 51 north of Winthrop; and Tum Tum Mountain in northeast Clark County.

"The dry, rolling grassland hills north of Walla Walla are home not only to a couple of picture-postcard Small Town, USAtype places - Waitsburg and Dayton - but also some terrific low traffic cycling (and driving) roads," he wrote.

The author recommends cyclists head north on Lower or Middle Waitsburg roads and 'have a blast riding up and down the roller-coaster farm roads 'twixt Waitsburg and Walla Walla."

From historic Dayton, he suggests "an out-and-back ride" to Ski Bluewood that "scrolls through a dazzling progression of landscapes."

To eat and stay, Mc- Quaide picks the Whoopemup Hollow Café, "a Cajun eatery," and Pamela Jane's Vacation Rental.