We spent so much time planning this trip! It wasn't all wasted by any means, but if you happen to be following our itinerary you may not see quite what you expect.
Friday was supposed to be 85 miles, then we realized it was actually more like 100, so we came up with an alternate destination. We got out there and discovered that it was really quite a nice day. The predicted rain never happened, at least, no more than a few drops a couple of times. The route was flatter than it looked on the Adventure Cycling profile. We reached our third state shortly after an early lunch. The views were great. We passed more of Pend Oreille Lake, then followed the Clark Fork River for quite a while. In our new state, Montana, where we will be for a long time, we saw meadows, mountains, lakes & streams. Bruce was loving the views but he was tired. I had recovered thanks to my massage in Sandpoint, so it was all feeling great. I wasn't sure how Bruce would feel about it when I told him I felt like continuing on to Libby. We had finished 75 miles and another 25 sounded just about right. Well, he was delighted. We were going to meet Aline and he could hitch a ride in with her and shorten today's ride by 15 miles. So I rode the last 15 miles on my own and was rewarded by discovering it was almost all downhill.
I did stop about four miles in & joined Bruce & Aline at Kootenai Falls. With all that rain & snow those falls are raging! I am so glad I stopped.
The adjustment we are making came up through intermittent conversations all day and a longer discussion at dinner. Our original plan was to head north to Eureka today - lots of climbing - and go on to Whitefish for a rest day the next day. Aline has a map, though, and we can see it's shorter to head to Whitefish on Rte 2. We will ride in that direction for several hours, then Aline will pick us up, then she will bring us back Sunday morning so we can ride any remaining distance. We will stay in one room for three days, which sounds quite luxurious after changing places almost every night for ten days; we will climb a lot less; we will ride a few less miles. Overall we will make our transition into full-time cyclists a bit gentler.
A few bits & pieces about the last few days. If you happen to be in Colville, Washington, be sure to eat at Stephani's. It is not quite Cordon Bleu, but it offers good variety and some creative ideas and very thoughtful service. The B&B we stayed at in Newport was very comfortable. What made it most interesting was that the family had 15 children. Wow. The parents looked amazingly young and serene. Most of the kids are grown and out of the house. The ones still there were cheerful and pleasant. Then the Lodge at Sandpoint was wonderful. I think the room they put us in was about 900 square feet and was right on the lakeshore with a little patio where we could sit and gaze out at the water. It has a very nice restaurant, too. Yesterday we had lunch at the Clark's Fork Pantry. It looked nice, a little different from the outside, and it was different. It is a very good little bakery with all sorts of baking materials and candies, and we were served by very pleasant women who, I think, were probaby Mennonite. They wore the little hair coverings and long skirts. If it were near home I would be there regularly for the cookies!
The one thing we don't see enough of is fresh produce. Here we are wandering through farm country and there's hardly a vegetable in sight. We will have to fit more supermarket time into our days, although even tjere it can be hard to get quantities small enough to carry on the bike.
Miles yesterday: 99
So far: 569
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