Mood:  not sure

Before going to sleep last night, Karen and I went over the itinerary once again.  Let's see, I was to camp the next night, then stay Wednesday in Sandpoint, Idaho.  Then a couple of camping days in western Montana, ending in Missoula, and a day of rest.

As I recalculated the mileage of the third and fourth day of this leg, it came to me that I had misadded earlier.  Day three, a fairly remote area in the Bitterroot Mountain Range was 89 miles, not 64 miles!  Oops.  Well, that won't work, especially since there were no towns around.  So I had to figure out something different.  The simplest solution was to head south on 395 into Spokane.  Then take the Centennial Trail, a 40 mile paved bike trail, into Couers de Lane (I can't ever remember how to spell it), Idaho.  Interstate 90, which passes through Couers.... goes directly to Missoula, so I just need to figure out how either to parallel I-90 or ride on it directly, if it is legal.

Today was bittersweet.  Karen and I hung around until 10 AM, hating to part, but she needed to get back, and I needed to get going to Spokane.

The first several hours were into a moderate headwind.  One loses a couple of miles per hour, which adds an hour of pedalling by the end of the day.  The mileage, 70 miles, was a little longer than I like. The terrain was rolling and very pretty.  Rain had been forecast, but it looked like I was going to dodge that bullet.

It started pouring buckets about 20 miles outside of Spokane, then traffic stopped for 1/2 hour because of paving.  The rain eased up right as traffic started moving again. 

One of my first sights, upon entering Spokane, was a bicycle shop!  Picked up a bike path map, and directions to the posh Apple Tree Inn.  It was old, but perfect for my needs, and there must be a dozen or more restaurants within a three block radius.  Restaurants become an important item at the end of a long day of pedalling, especially restauants within walking distance.

Tomorrow will be a short day, probably somewhere between 40-50 miles, and most of that on a traffic-free trail.  Still on schedule.  We'll see how long that will last.  Long, I hope.

Will McMahan