Friday, August 30 - Sunday, September 1, 2019
We only spent two full days in Idaho. I'm sorry I neglected to take more pictures. Often I get too caught up in the moment and forget to get out my camera, especially when hanging out with wonderful people like Debbie and Tim, and Toby and Michael, the two couples who hosted us during our Idaho interlude.
We took an easy day on Friday, August 30, riding just 46 miles to Hope, a short distance from Sandpoint, Idaho. The plan was to arrive in Sandpoint in the late morning or early afternoon on Saturday to give ourselves a half day to explore the town.
The riding was mostly flat and we easily put in 40 miles, making it to the small town of Clark Fork for lunch. We found the library with a couple chairs outside under an overhang, which was fortunate because it started raining just as we arrived.
While we were eating our lunch we chatted with an older gentleman who was sitting outside working on a tablet. He lives in Hawaii and was visiting a daughter who lives in Clark Fork, with two grandkids. He was keeping an eye on the one inside the library while his daughter, a teacher, was getting her classroom ready for school to open next week. His wife was at Burning Man. I got a real chuckle out of that. I said, "Grandma is at Burning Man while Grandpa watches the grandkids."
The town is unremarkable, with its library and high school on one side of the highway and several shops on the other side. But one of those shops was a terrific bakery and deli with an enormous selection of breads including everything huckleberry. Rob and I both had a huckleberry milkshake and picked up a small loaf of lemon huckleberry bread.
Our Warm Showers hosts Debbie and Tim live about six miles past Clark Fork in a beautiful home overlooking Lake Pend Oreille. Tim started out his working life as a carpenter, then designed custom jewelry, and now spends his time woodworking beautiful bowls and furniture. He built the house they presently live in. It had a rustic, open feel to it with huge windows letting in so much western light. We stayed downstairs in our own studio apartment with a fridge stocked with beer.
When Debbie found out we didn't have a reliable place to stay the next night in Sandpoint, she made phone calls and sent texts until she found someone who would take us in. And the food she served was delicious, especially the marionberry pie ala mode for dessert.
I was sorry we didn't have an excuse to stay longer than one night. I only hope that Debbie was serious about her invitation for us to come back to ski and that we find the means to take her up on it.
Saturday morning Rob and I rode 26 miles into Sandpoint where we found the home of Toby and Michael. They were out for the day but had left their house open so we could drop off our stuff before we headed into town to explore. Their only request was that we not let the kitten out, a challenge because that kitten was sneaky. The minute I opened the front door she was right there.
We enjoyed wandering around downtown Sandpoint, with its eclectic collection of shops. Like Whitefish, we thought it to be a very liveable city.
After dinner we visited with Michael and Toby, both gregarious fun people. They just sent their daughter off to college and took in a foreign exchange student. They also had a little one-year old great-niece with them who they'd been babysitting for the day. They have 3 dogs and a kitten, and numerous neighborhood cats that think of their place as home. The two big dogs hung out in the garage and outside. I mistook the other, small dog for a cat. Having us drop in on them at the last minute seemed to be just part of their lifestyle.
Sunday, September 1, started out great, turned rather problematic, then resolved itself to a happy ending.
We got a later than usual start, 8:15, because Rob was talking to Toby and I was getting some computer stuff done and we both lost track of the time. We paid for it later. The riding was fast and fine for the first 20 miles, then it got hot and hilly over the next 15 and my front gear cable broke.
We arrived at a Safeway in Newport, Washington, both of us hot, tired, and grumpy. The crowded store didn't help. Don't people have better things to do than spend a beautiful Sunday, one of the last days of summer, on a holiday weekend, going grocery shopping? We had a lot to buy and we were bitching at each other and the lines were slow but we finally got out of there.
The town was deserted on a Sunday afternoon but we did find a grassy park in the middle of the downtown with sheltered picnic tables. We ate lunch while I replaced my gear cable. But we were both tired and decided we needed to reevaluate our plan for the day which originally had us riding 70 miles. Instead we set our sights on a closer campground about 15 miles away.
It was already three o'clock but we needed ice cream before we could leave town. We couldn't find any local ice cream shop so we resorted to McDonalds for milkshakes. Mine worked magic. The hills disappeared and I cruised along, enjoying myself immensely. Rob, maybe not so much. I could keep on going to our original campground, anothert 20 miles away, but Rob insisted we stop sooner, at a Washington State campground,. We got to it by riding about half a milesdown a dirt road and when we arrived it looked pretty deserted, only two campsites occupied. I said, "Let's make sure there is water." There wasn't. Fortunately, we still had enough time to ride 20 miles to the US Forest Service Panhandle Campground on the Pend Oreille River. No showers, but we don't need one when we can go for a swim in a clean refreshing river. Rob got a couple beers from our neighbors and we had a satisfying dinner of Ramen noodles with tuna and tomato.
A short and happy visit to Idaho ended and our visit to Washington State had begun.
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| Friday, August 30, heading to Clark Fork. |
We took an easy day on Friday, August 30, riding just 46 miles to Hope, a short distance from Sandpoint, Idaho. The plan was to arrive in Sandpoint in the late morning or early afternoon on Saturday to give ourselves a half day to explore the town.
The riding was mostly flat and we easily put in 40 miles, making it to the small town of Clark Fork for lunch. We found the library with a couple chairs outside under an overhang, which was fortunate because it started raining just as we arrived.
While we were eating our lunch we chatted with an older gentleman who was sitting outside working on a tablet. He lives in Hawaii and was visiting a daughter who lives in Clark Fork, with two grandkids. He was keeping an eye on the one inside the library while his daughter, a teacher, was getting her classroom ready for school to open next week. His wife was at Burning Man. I got a real chuckle out of that. I said, "Grandma is at Burning Man while Grandpa watches the grandkids."
The town is unremarkable, with its library and high school on one side of the highway and several shops on the other side. But one of those shops was a terrific bakery and deli with an enormous selection of breads including everything huckleberry. Rob and I both had a huckleberry milkshake and picked up a small loaf of lemon huckleberry bread.
Our Warm Showers hosts Debbie and Tim live about six miles past Clark Fork in a beautiful home overlooking Lake Pend Oreille. Tim started out his working life as a carpenter, then designed custom jewelry, and now spends his time woodworking beautiful bowls and furniture. He built the house they presently live in. It had a rustic, open feel to it with huge windows letting in so much western light. We stayed downstairs in our own studio apartment with a fridge stocked with beer.
When Debbie found out we didn't have a reliable place to stay the next night in Sandpoint, she made phone calls and sent texts until she found someone who would take us in. And the food she served was delicious, especially the marionberry pie ala mode for dessert.
I was sorry we didn't have an excuse to stay longer than one night. I only hope that Debbie was serious about her invitation for us to come back to ski and that we find the means to take her up on it.
Saturday morning Rob and I rode 26 miles into Sandpoint where we found the home of Toby and Michael. They were out for the day but had left their house open so we could drop off our stuff before we headed into town to explore. Their only request was that we not let the kitten out, a challenge because that kitten was sneaky. The minute I opened the front door she was right there.
We enjoyed wandering around downtown Sandpoint, with its eclectic collection of shops. Like Whitefish, we thought it to be a very liveable city.
 |
| Anyone left in town over the Labor Day weekend was enjoying the free public beach on Lake Pend Oreille, which sat right on the edge of downtown. |
 |
| We stopped for a beer and an early dinner at the Trinity overlooking the lake. When the maitre'd asked about our weekend and I told him we were bicycling he shared stories about his father's bicycling adventures. Some time into the conversation he made the connection that Debbie had called him the previous night about us needing a place to stay because Debbie needed his father's phone number. The father was out of town and Justin told us that, had he thought it through, he could have put us up. Sandpoint is definitely a friendly town, worthy of our consideration. |
After dinner we visited with Michael and Toby, both gregarious fun people. They just sent their daughter off to college and took in a foreign exchange student. They also had a little one-year old great-niece with them who they'd been babysitting for the day. They have 3 dogs and a kitten, and numerous neighborhood cats that think of their place as home. The two big dogs hung out in the garage and outside. I mistook the other, small dog for a cat. Having us drop in on them at the last minute seemed to be just part of their lifestyle.
Sunday, September 1, started out great, turned rather problematic, then resolved itself to a happy ending.
We got a later than usual start, 8:15, because Rob was talking to Toby and I was getting some computer stuff done and we both lost track of the time. We paid for it later. The riding was fast and fine for the first 20 miles, then it got hot and hilly over the next 15 and my front gear cable broke.
We arrived at a Safeway in Newport, Washington, both of us hot, tired, and grumpy. The crowded store didn't help. Don't people have better things to do than spend a beautiful Sunday, one of the last days of summer, on a holiday weekend, going grocery shopping? We had a lot to buy and we were bitching at each other and the lines were slow but we finally got out of there.
The town was deserted on a Sunday afternoon but we did find a grassy park in the middle of the downtown with sheltered picnic tables. We ate lunch while I replaced my gear cable. But we were both tired and decided we needed to reevaluate our plan for the day which originally had us riding 70 miles. Instead we set our sights on a closer campground about 15 miles away.
It was already three o'clock but we needed ice cream before we could leave town. We couldn't find any local ice cream shop so we resorted to McDonalds for milkshakes. Mine worked magic. The hills disappeared and I cruised along, enjoying myself immensely. Rob, maybe not so much. I could keep on going to our original campground, anothert 20 miles away, but Rob insisted we stop sooner, at a Washington State campground,. We got to it by riding about half a milesdown a dirt road and when we arrived it looked pretty deserted, only two campsites occupied. I said, "Let's make sure there is water." There wasn't. Fortunately, we still had enough time to ride 20 miles to the US Forest Service Panhandle Campground on the Pend Oreille River. No showers, but we don't need one when we can go for a swim in a clean refreshing river. Rob got a couple beers from our neighbors and we had a satisfying dinner of Ramen noodles with tuna and tomato.
A short and happy visit to Idaho ended and our visit to Washington State had begun.
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