A Pacific storm wound up during the night and the rain started somewhere in the middle of it. It rained steadily until about 1pm. I guess this is the Pacific Northwest after all.
Today we did a short ride of about 15 miles to Sandpoint, followed by an afternoon in town and a night at the 
K2 Inn, a fine budget motel. The ride was not easy. The rain continued as we pulled out of the park and intensified as we turned north onto U.S. 95, where the traffic was fast and intense. A steady stream of logging trucks, SUVs, and semis roared past us at 60 to 70 miles an hour, blowing spray and scaring the hell out of me. I tried to concentrate on survival, staying at the extreme far end of the shoulder of the pavement and watching for rocks, bolts, and glass.
After about four miles of this, we were saved by a bike path. North Idaho Bikeways started building bike paths in Bonner County, ID ten years ago. They have now completed ten miles of bike paths that are separated from the road, including a stretch along US 95 that seemed like a lifesaver to us. Thanks!
Sandpoint, the birthplace of Sarah Palin, is an upscale resort town surrounded by a traffic-clogged retail center. It is on the shores of Pend Oreille Lake, a glacial monster that is 1,800 feet deep with 250 miles of shoreline. It’s a beautiful lake, but I was soaked and in no mood to enjoy it right away. We checked into the K2 (that’s the Kersting camper in the foreground of the photo), and we each started a checklists of the things we needed to do before we hit the road again tomorrow. Bill’s was bike repair, ultimately successful; Jim, Sara, and Catherine enjoyed the town. I wanted to get a massage, and by luck I found an outstanding therapist, Suzanne Guibert.
Jim, Sara, Bill, and Catherine went out on the town, but I stayed behind to 
do laundry. Then I had a drink with 
Mike and Ed, two guys on Harleys in the room next door; and, amazingly, Kevin Bradbury, a state park manager from Portsmouth, Ohio who rode in on a Surly Long-Haul Trucker with full panniers at dusk and is on the same route we are (l-r in the photo: Kevin, Ed, Mike).
Ed said in a matter-of-fact way that he used to ride competitively for Schwinn and has ridden across the US with an average speed of 22 MPH while pedaling. We’re averaging about 12. Ed said he would take in 10 to 12,000 calories a day on the ride and sleep one hour a night. He would hang out with people who could ride across the U.S. in a little more than a week. We’re taking two and a half months. But he seemed impressed anyway, or at least interested. He has a really nice Harley now. Thanks for the Bushmills, Mike!
Brad Edmondson 