The Route
Today's ride was sweet and simple...6.5 hours on the road, 3 states (Idaho is skinny up here) and it got me connected with my planned route in Kettle Falls (after dropping my visit to Glacier National Park).
It took a while to get out of Missoula. I stopped right after getting out on the highway to put on another coat. It turned out to be colder than it had seemed. I-90 from Missoula to Coeur d'Alene and on to Spokane is just plain pretty. A Salmon BLT for lunch on a downtown sidewalk in Coeur d'Alene, ID was great.
It was a short hop to Spokane where I turned north to Kettle Falls. I was down to 1600 ft elevation there and temps were breaking 80F. The summer jacket came out again.
Kettle Falls was the entrance to the Sherman Pass Scenic Byway, which crosses Sherman Pass, a mild 5500 ft affair through a lovely woods. I lived in Portland for 3 years starting at age 5...and the memory of those smells of those Pacific Northwest forests all came flooding back.
The road out of the pass descended gently into a central Washington farming valley. Temps rose steadily to just past 90F by the time I reached the night's destination, Omak, WA.
I was thinking it would be a great camping night...but to my surprise the campsites I had read about "in Omak" were actually 20 miles back the way I had just come. So, its $50 motel night again. The Nicholas, to be precise. After unloading I toured the main drag of Omak in search for a non-burger dinner. I found the Breadline Cafe and had a great Steak Cob Salad.
So...here's what I have learned on this trip (so far). $50 motel rooms are pretty OK. The furniture is cheap and the decorating ranges from non-existent to hilarious but the proprietors are nice, earnest folks. And even in these out-of-the-way bergs, when somebody opens a restaurant they make really classy, good food. No more city boy snootiness for me.
Today's ride was sweet and simple...6.5 hours on the road, 3 states (Idaho is skinny up here) and it got me connected with my planned route in Kettle Falls (after dropping my visit to Glacier National Park).
It took a while to get out of Missoula. I stopped right after getting out on the highway to put on another coat. It turned out to be colder than it had seemed. I-90 from Missoula to Coeur d'Alene and on to Spokane is just plain pretty. A Salmon BLT for lunch on a downtown sidewalk in Coeur d'Alene, ID was great.
It was a short hop to Spokane where I turned north to Kettle Falls. I was down to 1600 ft elevation there and temps were breaking 80F. The summer jacket came out again.
Kettle Falls was the entrance to the Sherman Pass Scenic Byway, which crosses Sherman Pass, a mild 5500 ft affair through a lovely woods. I lived in Portland for 3 years starting at age 5...and the memory of those smells of those Pacific Northwest forests all came flooding back.
The road out of the pass descended gently into a central Washington farming valley. Temps rose steadily to just past 90F by the time I reached the night's destination, Omak, WA.
I was thinking it would be a great camping night...but to my surprise the campsites I had read about "in Omak" were actually 20 miles back the way I had just come. So, its $50 motel night again. The Nicholas, to be precise. After unloading I toured the main drag of Omak in search for a non-burger dinner. I found the Breadline Cafe and had a great Steak Cob Salad.
So...here's what I have learned on this trip (so far). $50 motel rooms are pretty OK. The furniture is cheap and the decorating ranges from non-existent to hilarious but the proprietors are nice, earnest folks. And even in these out-of-the-way bergs, when somebody opens a restaurant they make really classy, good food. No more city boy snootiness for me.
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| Westbound on I-90 |
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| Still going... |
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| and going... |
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| and going... |
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| and going... |
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| and BOOM, you're in Idaho. Home to the steepest piece of Interstate I have ever seen. |
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| but it is pretty... |
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| and curvy... |
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| Going north out of Spokane. |
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| A perfect day for a ride. |
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| Lacy clouds |
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| Almost to Kettle Falls |
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| Aaaand Stop. |
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| Crossing FDR Lake on a bridge undergoing repairs. |
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| Climbing toward Sherman Pass |
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| Much more variety in this lower elevation forest than I have seen at higher elevations. |
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| Threading the needle |
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| And back down we go |
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| How did I get this funky shot? |
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| Looks like the High Plains |
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| The Nicholas |
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