Day 69 Libby, MT to Sandpoint, Idaho 83.6 miles Total 3,386.0 mi

 Off to Idaho!  A final goodbye to Montana.  At Troy, Steve stayed on Rt 2 towards Bonners Ferry and Sandpoint.  I turned off on Rt 56 to loop south around to Sandpoint.  We both saw fire camps  full of tents and equipment.  Steve saw the fire burning on the mountainside.



I saw beautiful stands of immense trees along the road, with mountains glimpsed ahead.




The early morning was a fine time to spot lots of deer, but I didn't manage any photos.


Bear Mountain

We both crossed into Idaho!


I passed through a cute little town called Clark Fork.  I also noted the mountainsides are changing. At one point there was chipping away at the rock.  Also at that point there was what might be called a vehicle graveyard.  Not junky at all, but very organized and picturesque,









After Clark Fork I was driving along Lake Pend Oreille.  I had looked it up before, so I knew that it was possibly named by a Canadian fur trapper for the fact that the local native Kalispel Indians wore ear pendants.  Its 43 miles are shaped a bit like a human ear as well.  After a bit of pondering, I surmised that the name was probably pronounced in americanized french, like pond-oray.  I was close.  When we were nearing Sandpoint, we came across the town of Ponderay!

Most of the lake frontage is undeveloped, but it becomes a boating destination near Sandpoint.  The city of Sandpoint has a large City Beach right downtown.


  

We spoke at 9am  (time change to Pacific Time) and Steve was feeling great after riding for 4 hours.  I checked on him via the app and saw that he was near Bonners Ferry. I went to the City Beach and checked again.  It showed only 1 mile difference from what it showed before, but I had moved.  I got nervous, because I knew there was little phone service out here.  Having nothing planned, I decided to go check on him.  I plotted his location, because I knew I would lose tracking as I went toward him.
Anyway, I finally found him on the side of the road, on a steep hill, behind the guardrail which guarded a very steep bank down.  He was changing his inner tube, after a flat caused by a very large staple.  He was happy to see me with the big pump.  After he patched the tube, he was reassembling the tire for the second time.  As he put it on the bike, I heard air rushing out yet again.  At that point, given the heat, the sun, the traffic, the time, and the tube failures, we put his bike on the truck and went to our motel in Sandpoint.  There, Steve went to wok on the bike.  I went to a hardware store, 2 bike shops and a sub shop, all within walking distance!  Success all around.  I was quick, but Steve had fixed everything.  We loaded up again, and while Steve enjoyed his spicy italian sub, I drove him back to that horrible spot on the route.  

On the right, about center of the picture! I hated this.

When he toiled away up the hill and seemed to be fine, I continued away from Sandpoint towards Bonners Ferry.  I had heard from a lady in the Sandpoint Quilt shop this morning that the Bonners Ferry quilt shop was the only place closer than Coeur d'Alene that carried embroidery floss.  I didn't have a signal to locate the shop, but I used my quilting radar and drove right to it.  Unfortunately, it was just 3pm and I found the door locked.  At that point I had a signal, so I called and explained.  They were still in the shop, had just then closed for the day, so they sweetly let me in to buy my one strand of floss!  I regaled them with my tale of having to rescue and transport Steve and the fact that I can't envision a sewing shop anywhere near our routing from here west.  

Eventually I returned to the road and caught up with Steve at a gas station about 13 miles from Sandpoint.  He got a call from Lee Cooper, the rider he and Nancy and John met in Illinois(?).  Lee just finished and is in Anacortes!  We are so happy for him and congratulate him on a successful ride.  He had to make changes in his route due to fires, and we may well have to do the same.

In Sandpoint, showered and hungry, we walked to a nice restaurant.  On the way, I saw this sign on a bookstore door....











I

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 4: Conquering the Kank! Tot: 175.4 mi

Image
The day was bound to be a memorable one. We spent a restful night in Center Conway, New Hampshire knowing that our ride the next day would take us up and over Mount Kancamagus, the towering gateway into New Hampshire's White Mountains.  Looking at the White Mountains from the Kancamagus Allane and I have driven the Kancamagus Highway many times going from one place to another and it was always the kind of ride that the climb of the highway was the highlight of that particular journey. The "Kank" is one of those roads that conjures up a memory from whomever you are talking with, at least in New England. At a get-together with friends one of our group said, " What are you doing? Judd, it's the Kank!" I should note at this point that Judd has recently had both of his hips replaced.  The climb is memorable for its sheer length and grade, but it's the mix of beauty of the woods and rivers that frame the experience.  How one is supposed to pronounce Kancamagu
Read more

Day 34 Davenport, IL to Dubuque, IL 83.4 miles Total 1,609.0 mi

Image
 Steve was up at dawn and left to ride starting in the less hot part of the day.  Allane slept in a bit and then packed up.  A visit to a local bike stop for some extra tubes, and a stop at the post office, and then on toward Dubuque.  Steve had ridden against the wind all morning.  He rode 9 miles on a crushed gravel road that shook his bones, finally choosing to get on the side of the highway for a few miles.  There are more hills than in Illinois, long and rolling.  After 48 miles, we met at the City Limits family restaurant in Maquoketa, a town whose name we have no idea how to pronounce.  The waitress was no nonsense, but obviously took pride in her ability to anticipate our wants and needs.  She definitely wins the top spot for Best Waitress so far on the trip, and she set a very high standard. Steve set out again, with 35 miles to go in the over 90 degree heat and relentless sun, hoping to find paved roads all the way to Dubuque. Allane stopped at Walmart for some more powdered
Read more

Day 78 The FINISH! Snohomish, WA to Brackett's Landing, Edmonds, WA 22.2 miles Grand Total 3,820.5 mi

Image
STEVE HAS FINISHED HIS RIDE!!!!!! Son Ben, with great grandson Chip, grandson Elijah, granddaughter Briana, Steve, grandson Jacob, DIL Alison, granddaughter Alyssa and Allane celebrate at Brackett's Landing Steve dips his tires as Ben narrates for the Zoom participants and Brian Soergel, the editor of the Edmonds Beacon newspaper, gets the story. Like 67 other mornings this summer, Steve woke up and got ready to ride.  It was not a long ride, but it certainly was a momentous one.  I actually left before Steve for the first time, intent of finding my way to Brackett's Landing in Edmonds and ensuring a parking spot.  It is indeed a busy place for walkers, beachgoers, Tai Chi practicers, and scuba divers.   When the wildfires west of Winthrop forced us to find an alternate route through the Cascades, Steve elected to come through Stevens Pass along Rt 2.  We needed to find a place (originally supposed to be Anacortes) where he could dip his tires into the waters on this western si
Read more