Deja Vu All Over Again

What a fantastic day!  The ride into Colville, Washington was advertised as 72.7 miles with one 13 mile pass to Chewelah Peak.  Total climb for the day was 3,900 feet.  Yes, a challenge.  By comparison, the 13 mile climb to Peak's of Otter on the Blue Ridge Parkway was nothing compared to the grades today, a steady 11%.

The first part of the day was just one of those perfect riding days.  Nothing hurt, the spin was easy and it felt like you could ride forever.

Temperatures were in the 50's leaving Priest River, and at some point we re-entered the state of Washington.  I'm not sure what it means, but neither Idaho nor Washington advertise nor memorialize the occasion with any signage.

The route today took us along  Pend Orielle River.  When we made the turn it was one of those feelings that we had been here before.  Along the way memories of last year's ride came rushing back.  I'd sat at that the corner for Bear Paw Camp in the heat waiting for riders, and it was memorable.  But still, Colville, Washington didn't mean anything until we went through the last traffic circle in town today.  Yes, we had been here before too.  The chef's theory, who was also on last year's trip and didn't remember being here either, is that our brains were all fried from the heat.  Maybe so.  I do remember wild fires last year burning over the hill just behind the motel.  At the end of the ride, the guide admitted she had made sure all the vehicles were full of fuel and parked appropriately for a quick exit in the event one had been necessary.  No such issue this year.

Temps at the end of the ride today were near 70, but after crossing the pass and getting down the very awesome 8.5 mile descent there were intermittent periods of very light rain.  Enough to finally put the vest and arm warmers back on about 10 miles from the end.  

I rode for a time today with Suzy, who rides with a stuffed bear, Joseph, given to her by her children (he had rain gear too).  We stopped in front of a farm house as the rain got a little heavier, and a really nice guy came out of the house on the porch to ask if everything was okay.  He told us it was raining because he had cut hay earlier.  Made sense to me.  This was his mailbox --



Needless to say, he had horses too.  Which, probably explains the hay.

We saw a lot of hay and wheat today.  I'm not sure how they get anything to grow, though.  There's been no visible irrigation.

Not Iowa

Sometime after returning to Washington, there was also a large group of bee hives in the yard of a shed full of hay.  Seemed a little random, but perhaps it's where the bees are most productive.

On today's route we rode through Chewelah and Addy before arriving at Colville.  Once in Colville, some of the riders stopped at Ron's Drive In, a true drive in.  I need something other than SAG food so really enjoyed a plain hot dog.  One of the customers came over to ask what we were doing, where we had been and where we were going.  Folks are usually pretty surprised especially to find out the group is all women.

Tomorrow we enter Canada.  It will be a 55 mile day with another 13 mile climb.  We will try to cross the border as a group.  There is disagreement as to whether this is the best approach.  I personally think the tour company has done this more than I have, so why not. Plus I have entered this way on another tour and didn't seem to have any trouble.  So, we'll see.  We ride with our passports ready for anything.