With a strong tail wind, 62-year old Darby Roach and his best friend Mike Mann, cruise into Airway Heights on two wheels.  If you've driven Highway 2 in the past three days you may know who I'm talking about.  They're the two guys on loaded down bicycles, with the sneaky smiles and gusto of young men on an adventure of a lifetime.

Roach and Mann are on a mission to first bike across the United States and then the world.  The pair left Wenatchee Sunday morning and arrived in Spokane Wednesday night. In all, they've logged about 140 miles so far. Their goal is to get to Boston by the end of the Summer.  From there, Roach will fly solo to Europe where he plans to spend the next 3 years seeing the world. From the narrow streets of Paris to the snow covered peaks of Chile, Roach plans to pedal every mile of the way. 

What? Is he crazy? Who would do such a thing? All questions that ran through my mind when Roach told me about his ambitious goal. To understand this wild dream, you have to understand the wild man on the bike.  I don't think he'll mind my choice adjective, he raised me after all.

(Updated 12:13 p.m.) - Can you imagine the pancakes you could grill up in this Washington skillet? Or scrambled eggs or whatever you like to eat.

It’s a cast iron skillet in the shape of Washington. It’s the creation of FeLion Studios located in Madison, Wisconsin.

If somebody really wanted to cook up the envy of Washingtonians everywhere, it would fill the entire skillet with some sort of representation of the Olympic Mountains, Puget South, Cascades and of course Spokane.

How would it be done? Somebody out there has to have a strategy on how to attempt this. Share it with us in the comments below or email nicoleh@kxly.com.

Have you seen a helicopter buzzing around the Spokane area? We just got off the phone with Fairchild Air Force Base and the aircraft does indeed belong to them.

It's a UH-1 Iroquois, also known as a Huey. Fairchild public affairs say they're conducting standard proficiency training today to help personnel with orientation of the surrounding area.

Share: Snap another photo of the aircraft? Send it to us at nicoleh@kxly.com.