Ride Across the USA: 6/22/10 -- Whitefish to west of Essex, MT -- 59 mi, 741 total

Hmmmm ........ why does out map say 5,236' and the sign 5,216'??

Middle fork of the Flathead River

Unusual waterfalls, more off it to the left that you can't see

Isn't that cool? Trains and mountains make for a good mix!

Taking time to "smell the roses"

Good ride today with overcast skies and NO rain! We are doing the Marias Pass alternate route as Glacier & the "Going-to-the-Sun" road is not open yet. We ride along, talking about our turn-off remarking how good the roads are with no traffic. We also knew we would have 2.8 mi of gravel. Well, when the gravel is approaching 8 mi who finally realize you have not been too bright one more time. A guy was sighting in his muzzle-loader so Kirk asked him where we were because we had no idea ........ only about 12 miles from Canada. We laughed because we didn't have our passports with us. Turned around, flagged down a USFS truck and she not only helped figure out exactly where we were but hauled us back to the corner we missed. Good thing out of all of this? We saw some beautiful scenery that no other bikers saw! Enjoyed watching the trains along the Flathead River. And the gravel? It was exactly 2.8 mi and more like hard-packed mud. Nice campground, Stanton RV, but noisy with the busy highway + trains.

Ride Across the USA: 6/21/10 -- Libby to Whitefish, MT -- 126 mi -- 682 Total

Raining so hard you couldn't see how beautiful this area is......

Koocanusa Lake

More of Koocanusa Lake

Due to the rain we made an executive decision not to ride but to drive to Whitefish as we had ridden this route 11 yrs ago. It was a miserable day and it rained so hard you couldn't even enjoy the view. Here's a little trivia on how the name Koocanusa was derived: So named by a lady in a contest with Koo (from Kootenai River); can (from Canada as this lake extends that far) and usa (United States of America) ==Koocanusa.

Ride across the USA: Sat., 6/19/10 -- east of Heron to Libby MT -- 51 mi./ 556 total

Don't know why, but didn't take many pictures along this way -- too busy just enjoying.

The most beautiful day -- and riding a bike in the mountains. This part of Montana is absolutely beautiful just like it was 11 years ago when we rode this area. However, my bottom is still sore ..... my lack of ability to train in May has really caught up with me. But who wants to hear about that???? Kootenai Falls is a powerful, powerful sight. We met Candice & Michael from Connecticut, riding home. They arae really hauling a lot of gear and had spent the night at the rest area, just a few miles back. He had a tire leaking but he thought he could make it into Libby. I was having trouble on a good tire!

Ride across the USA: Fri., 6/18/10 -- Sandpoint, ID to east of Heron -- 43 mi. -- 505 total

The beautiful Lake Pend Orielle (pronounced Pond Oray) ..... it was just one beautiful moment after another.
Another view of the Pend Orielle



I'm out of order but it was probably one of those instances where we take a picture on the east end of the state because we missed the sign on the west end.

Just a beautiful tree-lined ride. Kirk likes it better when there are openings that he can see out.


The Maharry men hard at work ..... both taking a nap!




J & H hauled us to Sandpoint and we began today's ride from there. Partially sunny, no rain so this is good. My day started @ 4:30 a.m. when Lena, Jessica & Laurie called to wish me a happy 65th birthday! The nuts thought it was 5:30 a.m. Had several calls & messages, the ride was around the Pend Orielle (Pond Oray) Lake and it was one of the most beautiful days we had. We camped next to the Adventure Cycling group so we had fun checking out their routine. Made a quick run to check out the Noxon bar as we stayed in that little village 11 years ago.

Ride across the USA: Thurs., 6/17/10 -- Priest River to Sandpoint, ID -- 30 mi. -- 462 total

Guess what? It is still cold and still raining. And to top it off, my stupidity let me lose my partial, so called and was able to get into a dentist (which ended up not being too productive)in Sandpoint. Duane & Jerry hauled us to Sandpoint and then we rode back to PR in the downpour. It rained so hard we could hardly see at times. Traffic was dangerous and when we finally turned off onto a back-road I told Kirk to get off his bike, get on his knees and thank the Lord for getting us through that mess. We were dressed for the rain but it was coming down so hard that none of it did much good. The cold made it miserable. Tomorrow we have to ride, so let's hope for a break in the weather.
That ride from Sandpoint back to Priest River was only 30 miles and we didn't take any pictures because of the rain.

Ride across the USA: Wed., 6/16/10 -- Leo Lake CG to Priest River, ID -- 76 mi. -- 432 total

I wish we knew the story behind these. It was pouring down rain when I took this pic.


Another view of these fascinating rocks.........

This was what most of the day looked like. Actually, it rained so hard we couldn't tell what we were looking at some of the time.

Jan with her prized "Ruby". Who wouldn't consider this a prize???

Started raining as we were breaking camp so naturally we get in a hurry & don't get all our necessary gear. Rained all day with the temperature in the 40's so you ride hard just to keep warm. We would walk once in a while just to get feeling into our feet, forget the hands. At 45 miles we decided we needed to eat & found a shelter at a cemetary. Kirk turned around and in the middle of nowhere is this big, beautiful new wellness center, close to Cusick, ID. built by the Indians since we are on reservation land. God plunks help right down in front of you sometimes. We opted for the hot food at the deli instead of our normal PB, etc. and hung around for 2 hrs. letting some of our clothing dry. When we stopped, Kirk had to help get my helmet off, my fingers were so cold. We finally went on, still raining, to PR where we stayed with Duane & Jan Holter, friends of J & H. Was nice to not have to set up camper, do laundry and take a HOT shower!

Ride across the USA: Tues., 6/15/10 -- Kettle Falls to east of Colville, WA -- 40 mi. -- 356 total

Some of the equipment that picks up big bundles of logs and moves them to the correct spot.


Different angle ..... this hoist really moved along from one spot to another.

Another pretty waterfall......

Kirk checking out Lake Leo ..... it really was a pretty place with only one other camper there. Jerry didn't bother to tell us that soft-sided campers should be aware of possible bear attacks.

Looking across Lake Leo ........ pretty sight and cold, as well.

No cell service, again. Lots of traffice due to lumber mill @ Colville with logging trucks rolling along like crazy. We watched the activities @ the mill for a spell. Leaving Colville, we started our last major climb of the Washington Cascade mountain range. What started out as boring scenery turned into beautiful scenery. Met Joe who is the "guide in training" for Adventure Cycling's only northern tier tour. Cost $4300 to ride with the group, they pay for food but riders take turns at purchasing and preparing. Everyone hauls their own gear. I don't know how old Delores from NY is, but she is definitely an inspiration. There are 11 in the group. Camping tonight is at another Forest Service site -- no services, even the toilets were locked. We took our first outside shower (this little camper has everything) which is definitely the way to keep the bears at bay!