KETTLE FALLS, WASHINGTON: What a Crazy Mix of Nature, Military Might, and Good Cycling

July 31, 2019

Sorry about writing two posts concerning one day, but I had already completed the first page before I went to Kuk's. You see, I don't often eat at restaurants while touring. I usually prepare my own food, munch on nasty processed snacks, or eat stuff straight from the grocery store. So I hope you can grant me some leeway for my excessive exuberance over last night's dining experience.

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Let's move on to a new day--TODAY.

I felt fully refreshed from a good night's sleep. I remember watching an old episode of The New Adventures of Old Christine and the next thing I knew, I was waking up six hours later with the TV still on. The drone of a dismal infomercial was responsible for that.

I wrote most of that account of my time at Kuk's Tavern this morning before I left the cabin. When I started riding, again somewhere around 9:30, it was already hot out there. That's alright though because I usually deal with heat pretty well.

State Highway 25 is a Rand-McNally dotted road, and rightly so. It runs along the east side of the great Columbia River, and this section of the great Columbia River is part of the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area. And yes, I know "recreation area" usually means boating and fishing and crap like that, but to me it's all about the scenery. If today's 35 miles are any indication, I'm in for a real treat for the next 56 miles of the national recreation area.

I should mention that if any bike tourist is looking at a paper map--like I did--and is thinking of this route as a nice, flat riverside ramble, he or she will be in for a rude awakening. A good portion of the time will be spent going up and down hills away from the river. Nothing as scary as the hills I experienced yesterday, but hills nevertheless. I loved every mile of it.

Some of the time you will see pastoral sights like this.

Some of the time you will go through view-blockers on both sides of the road and you'll feel compelled to take a picture of it while riding your bike.

But the real reward is when you get views like this . . .

I could have taken a hundred such pictures today. But I didn't. I just rode my bike southward into a negligible headwind. There wasn't a great deal of traffic, but a high percentage of the traffic there WAS consisted of big trucks--including those menacing high-speed logging trucks. Only once did I have to bale off the road. That's when I saw a truck coming from ahead and heard a truck coming from behind at the same time. I wouldn't do that if I had a respectable 3-foot shoulder, but here the shoulder is about 1-foot wide.

My most exciting highlight of the day, I must admit, had nothing to do with natural splendor. It had to do with a military fighter jet screaming past me through the Columbia River gorge. Literally. SCREAMING! Those incredible jet engines came out of nowhere and almost scared me right into the guardrail. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"

Once I got my bike back under control and caught a glimpse of what the hell it was, I couldn't believe it. The jet engines were even LOUDER after it passed and then, within seconds, it was gone. I pedaled on with a story in my head that almost nobody would believe. I couldn't believe it myself . . . until it came back about 20 minutes later. This time it was taking a curve in the river gorge with its wings straight up and down, as if showing off to me. I assumed the pilot was some kind of rogue, Top Gun-like hotshot. This time I heard those engines proceeding off in the distance like rolling thunder.

Almost as interesting as military jets are farm animals. Like cows I've met all over this country, these cows just stared at me. And I stared at them.

I could see myself relocating to the Columbia River valley, and I have to believe this fixer-upper could be obtained at a pretty fair price.

I rolled into the town of Kettle Falls with the intent to buy some food and drink before continuing on down the dotted highway to a riverside campsite in the National Recreation Area. First I stopped at a little city park to rest for a few minutes.

To my good fortune, the city park had a small campground and it was close to all of the food and services of a small city. And it was FREE. Plus, there was a Kettle Falls Visitor Center across the road and it provided a wi-fi signal strong enough for me to update my journal. What else could I need?

One night is all I need, Kettle Falls. Thank you.

The Visitor Center has wi-fi. And scenery too.

Heart

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Today's ride: 35 miles (56 km)
Total: 174 miles (280 km)

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