July 29, 2019
Ione - Newport, WA
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We had a nice memory foam mattress last night, covered with a rubber sheet. In the wee hours we were both sweating enough that I pulled the rubber sheet off and remade the bed. Depart time was 8:30. It was 53 degrees, but felt warm already in the sun.
I've been looking forward to today's ride. In 2016 we went the opposite direction. It's an enjoyable ride on good pavement, no traffic, flat, good scenery. What else can you ask for? Climbing. Jacinto says he's going to be bored to death today and he wants some climbing. He figured out a different end to his ride that included climbing. The checkout time was noon, which I thought he would take advantage of. Jacinto said since his ride would be 64 miles, he was going to get out early. Early for him being 10 AM.
We were down the road with plans to eat at a restaurant in Usk that Jim and Genny remember fondly from their previous trip. The mile markers conveniently counted down the numbers for us. The scenery of the day continued with tall pine trees. There weren't as many ferns and flowers and they were getting dried out. It appears to be a drier climate here. I'm just fine with that!
Genny and I pulled in at a roadside rest area. Jim was out front. Usually he's quite considerate and pulls in first at the rest area. We figured he would be waiting for us somewhere along the line. It took a couple of miles, but here he was, riding back towards us. He had totally missed the rest area.
We rode onto the Kalispell Indian Reservation. They have nicer land than most indians received. The houses were large and looked prosperous. At mile 32 of the ride, we rode across the bridge into Usk to the cafe which was now a bakery. The actual food choices were quite small. A hamburger with a variety of add ons such as the usual cheese, the sometimes seen choice of a fried egg, and the never seen before (by me) choice of pineapple. Genny and I both order taco salads. I wasn't impressed with mine. It had Dorito type chips and American style taco meat on top. I ate most of mine and Jim finished it off. Their baked goods were tasty. Getting the food took quite some time. I checked on Jacinto while we waited. He was at Pow Wow Road and closing in fast on Usk. Would we cross paths? Guess what? We did! Just as we reached the end of the bridge, there he was on the road. We turned right, presuming he would follow along, but he turned and crossed the bridge. By the time I figured out he was gone, he was really gone. Well heck. I would have said hello. That must have been the turn for his climbing route.
After turning back onto our route from Usk, it was the invasion of the flying grasshoppers. I couldn't swat them away fast enough. A couple of times the swarms were large enough and in my face enough that I was on the edge of panicking. Thankfully we rode out of them after a few miles.
From here the miles markers said 17. We could knock that out and get to town. It was definitely warming up out here. The road continued to be almost deserted. We saw the occasional logging truck. Genny and I rode side by side for quite a while. About mile 4 she shouted to Jim that she would have a shade break. On the left I could see a pick up truck and a bunch of gallon jugs. Maybe it was a spring and I could get cold water? Yep, the cold water hit the spot. The man filling his jugs said he drove over from Davis and the water lasted about a month. The bakery didn't have ice, so I was extra happy for cold water. Today was the only day of this trip that I've wished for the Hydro Flask of ice.
Today I saw my first 0 mile marker. Usually the mile markers count down to 1 and that's it. But we had a mile marker 0, then across the bridge. Bertha was talking to me earlier today. Maybe she didn't like the big break in Usk, but when we got to Newport, there was complete silence except for written cues. Hmmm, I don't think I'm going to trust her tomorrow to ride my own route. I guess I'll go with Jim and Genny.
I recognized the Safeway and the Mexican Restaurant close to the Antler Motel. Jim checked in. Genny and I stood around outside in a stupor and gulped water down. My phone says 85 degrees at 4 PM. So it wasn't terribly hot, except we've been riding in the cold for so long, it feels hot.
Our room is in the corner and not near as nice as I remember it being last time we stayed here. It's off of a hallway that has the coffee. I hope it's not noisy in the morning. My bike is in the room and Jacinto is going to put his in right before we go to bed. He's gone now to Safeway for a pop.
The internet here is dismal. The clerk says it should be best in our room because that's where the router is. Nope. I hope I can get this page to load.
We are going to Mexican food at 6 PM. To my memory that's where we ate before and it wasn't that good, but we haven't had Mexican food in so long, we are willing to eat anything.
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Today's ride: 53 miles (85 km)
Total: 876 miles (1,410 km)
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