After a warm and sunny day in Sandpoint the weather turn a turn for the wet. We thought about leaving on June 5 but the rain was dumping and the wind was howling so we elected to wait it out a day as the 6h was supposed to be better weather. We enjoyed the local library for email and a brew pub downtown for Happy Hour at 3pm for $3 pints!
Woke up and the 6th to more rain, it had rained hard most all night, and the wind seemed to have picked up about 15 mph and temps in the high 40's. Obviously we were not going anywhere and didn't want to spend the day in the tent so we broke down and got a motel room where we were able to dry everything out, take a shower and enjoy TV for a change. Next morning the 7th dawned with blue skies and calm winds and we headed out to enjoy Northern Idaho and spent the night camped in a wet field just off the highway about 75km from Sanpoint on Hwy 20. Quiet spot and showers during the night, next morning was threatening rain so hurridly ate and packed and hit the road. We missed the rain all day despite a big black cloud the NE of us. The night of the 8th found us at "Crystal Falls" where we were able to find a small spot just away from the scenic overlook. Beautiful night with starts until about 3 and then next thing we knew at 5 was rain. Slept till about 7 and packed in the rain / wind and headed off again towards Colville, WA.
Pulled into Colville about an hour later and had breakfast in the local bar - seems to be the only breakfast spot in town! The rain had pretty much quit by the time we finished so we headed off south thru beautiful woods and meadows all day long. Very green here and not sure if it's typical or just because we have hit such a wet spell. Winds picked up in the afternoon and we ended up camping just off "Roosevelt Lake" beyond Rice, WA. It is a long lake backed up behind Grand Coulee Dam miles downriver. Beautiful sunset on our camp overlooking the lake.
Next day, the 10th, we made it to Ft. Spokane and we were down in the dry Ponderosa forests and sagebrush, a very welcome change. Camped at Ft. Spokane, splurged and spent $10 for quiet spot along the river and a picnic table! It's been great to finally have some dry, warm weather and enjoy the sunshine. Actually it got much warmer, bordering on hot, as the next day we baked on the ride to Electric City, WA and Grand Coulee Dame. Didn't stop at the dam but did find a nice spot just off the highway, next to a local park that closed down at 10pm. No camping inside the park but since we were literally about 30' away and sheltered we had a nice spot on Banks Lake with use of a table and bathroom.
Leaving Electric City on the 12th we traveled south thru a beautiful canyon on Hwy 155 to Coulee City and then down Hwy 17 to Soap, WA stopping just before town to camp where we had a year before when borrowed Marlin & Christine's classic RV on a road bike tour of WA/OR. Again we had horrendous wind all night except this time no rain. We should have just collapsed the tent and used the sagebrush for a windbreak in our bags as we didn't gt much sleep.
Wind was still howling at 7 when we finally decided to get up, pack and hit the road hoping to find a diner along the way for breakfast. Finally stopped in Quincy for breakfast and a short break from the wind. Knowing we wanted to get to Wenatchee and house for the night we pushed on and battled crosswinds headwinds for the next 40 miles or so finallly getting to Marlin & Christines about 5pm. Unfortunately they were/are in Colorado but we have enjoyed the FULL use of their home. It has been great to spend a few days resting up out of the wind enjoying the town of Wenatchee. There is a lot going on in the small town but a thriving downtown business section, a really good bike shop: Full Circle Bicycles (changed out the rear cassette, front sprokets, chain and rear detrailer cogs on our bikes yesterday - just a bit worn after 13,000km) and every Friday during the summer a free concert in the park downtown. Last nights concert was really good with "Eddyville" and "Gideon's Daughter", first night in quiet awhile that there wasn't any wind.
Tomorrow we leave for Puget Sound via either Highway 2, probably, or south and skirt Mt. Rainer on Hwy 410. It''s been good riding on nice roads here in WA/ID but we are also looking forward to putting the bikes away for a few days once we get home to AK, still three weeks away.
No comments:
Post a Comment