One State Down...

........[I guess Ben's s**t really does smell like roses]

[A nice little waterfall along highway 20 in eastern WA]

[One state down - many to go]

[Crossing the Long Bridge into Sandpoint, ID]

I broke down and decided to buy a little netbook laptop. I found a cheap one at the Walmart in Sandpoint so I should be able to update this blog more frequently. The last two days have been pretty nice.

When I last posted we were headed to dinner in Colville. I must report it was very disappointing. We decided to go to a Chinese restaurant. While there was a large quantity of food, it was not necessarily Chinese. There was chicken with light colored gravy, what I can only describe as celery chow mein, and barbequed pork ribs. The only really enjoyable part of the meal was the egg roll and the service.

The next day we rode on to Newport, WA which is right on the border with Idaho. It was a nice ride of 87 miles. We encountered more wildlife during that stretch than we had seen the entire trip to date. There were many deer, including two young bucks (literally) that decided to race us for about a quarter mile, turkeys, hawks, squirrels and a grizzly bear. Ok, no bear, but we did see the rest of them. It was a pleasant ride in great weather and the last 30 miles was in the flood plain along a river. Finally we were able to get into a rhythm on flat ground. We stayed at the American Kampground which was cheap, friendly, and had showers and laundry. Finally clean and dry clothes. The only downside was it rained overnight and we had wet dirty tents the following morning.

Today we rode 64 miles to Clark Fork, Idaho. We are nearly in Montana and should reach Glacier Park in 3 days. It was really foggy and cloudy to begin the day, but within half an hour the sun was out and it was starting to heat up. It gave us a little idea of what is to come when we are done with the cool weather of the mountains. Other than the heat the ride was very enjoyable. The terrain was pretty flat and we rode through the beautiful city of Sandpoint. It sits on a very large lake surrounded by low mountains and is so picturesque that Ben is considering moving out here for a few years. After the hour long wait at Walmart to puchase this wonderful internet machine, we continued on to Clark Fork. Ben finished of the last 8 miles using what I'll describe as rocket propulsion. Apparently our McDonald's breakfast made him a tad bit gassy. We are camping in the backyard of a hotel where the manager was quick to mention that the fence behind out tents was electrified so if nature called use the bushes, not the line fence. We are heading to Mama's place for dinner. I'll let you know how it is. Hopefully it is fabulous because I'm starving and Ben is feeling a little peckish as well. The only downside to the day was that I lost one of my sandals. Now I either have to buy new ones, where my bike shoes wherever I go, or hop on my right foot. I'm considering hopping because I really liked those sandals.