Day 8: Cataldo to Harrison, Idaho

July 10, 2015

Since today was to be our longest day, we woke the kids up early - 5:15. They were good natured about it, though Avi did stay bundled up while I disassembled the inside of the tent around him. Avi probably wishes he had stayed out of it a bit longer, because sitting at our slightly rickety picnic table he was the victim of a knocked over thermos of hot coffee. Dodie and I sprang into action immediately, grabbing cold water and flooding his arm. Avi was quite brave and after a while was sitting comfortably with Violet, getting hypnotised by a kids video on the tablet. He was wearing an impressive "cast", made from a cold water soaked cloth and a velcro band.

Avi is not happy, after having boiling coffee spilled on him but he is being brave

Note Avi's "cast" as he and Violet resort to being hypnotised by the tablet

By mid day, the arm showed little sign of its burn trauma, but we are hoping some marks will hang on to show Momma.

The other victim of our early morning start was Violet, who after a while just could not stay awake. It was very disconcerting watching her little head bobble about in the WeeHoo from behind. More to the point, bobbling about unbalances the bike, and we ended up having to secure her helmet into a straight forward position.

Later, though, dragging a totally "dead" weight Violet was wearing Dodie down. So we swapped Violet onto my bike and put the powerful Avi behind Dodie. Normally, Avi is an indifferent pedaller, since I am able to get by without him. But Dodie asked him to make a special effort behind her, and indeed, her whole rig took off. Ironically, the swap (or the nap) enabled Violet to wake up, and she decided that we (the new team) ought to blow away the also new Dodie and Avi match up. It turned out that Violet too was capable of adding a fair bit of power. She reminded me of a chainsaw engine - small but powerful, and in most circumstances a lot less noisy.

Powered and patched up in this way, our little expedition moved through probably the most fetching section of the trail. We followed the river, now placid and broad, for much of the time, with fragrant pines all along the trailside, and views of marshes and ponds when we parted from the river. This is the stretch too where the path runs directly through marsh land, and where in 2011 when we passed through on our way across the country, floodwaters had been right up to the level of the asphalt.

This trail is of course on the cross country track of the Northern Tiercle route, and today we encountered two serious cyclists, retired brothers from Norway, who were on the verge of completing a Boston to Seattle crossing. Naturally we enjoyed comparing notes, discussing Rolhoff hubs and the like, and listening to their enchanting accents. I found that talking to these two gave us renewed energy - showing that it is hard to be completely self-motivated all the time.

Another source of motivation did continue to run by all day long, and that was the extreme beauty of the trail, and the occasional encounters with wildlife. We did not see any further moose (though the Norwegians were very enthusiastic about having seen one - yesterday, I think), but we did see ducks, geese, chipmunks, herons, and even a random alpaca!

Close to Harrison we entered another region that we remembered from the past - march land rich in water lilies. Not all were in bloom, but we did see lots of red, pink, and white ones.

The little town of Harrison has a small park as its focal point. On one side is a swimming beach on Lake Coeur d'Alene, while such restaurants and stores as there are are arrayed nearby. One if these is a ice cream shop claiming the biggest scoop in Idaho. This turned out to be likely very true, and I looked on amazed as the server worked to pack in more and more ice cream for my $3.50 "single serving".

Harrison has a municipal RV park and campground,. but this has been lately closed to tenting because of heavy metal contamination in the soil. the lagacy of the mining industry in the Silver Valley. So we had been forced to switch over to the pricey "Osprey Bed and Breakfast", which came in at $165 before tax. In a way it is worth it. The B&B is in a large house built in 1915 that at one time served as the town hospital, and at other times as a boarding house for lumber workers. What is now the breakfast room has a white tile floor, because it used to be the operating room!

Our own room is huge, and contains two large beds, plus antiques and knick knacks. The whole house is furnished in a similar way, and is generally scented with potpourri. It's a bit of a tough environment for the kids, since everything is definitely in the "don't touch' category, but the proprietors are very kind and have made us feel at home.

We walked down the beach by the park, where a wooden float offers diving into deep water, but inside a protected walkway. The kids did some jumping from the float, with me waiting in the water for them. It took them a while to build up the courage for this, but their swimming lessons over the Winter have been very helpful. It was actually me that spoiled the fun, since I found it too tiring to be treading water and being in the "catcher" position. This despite having a rubber raft nearby that had been lent by another family of swimmers.

A restaurant nearby came up with personal pepperoni pizzas for the kids that were well received. We adults chose a "mango chicken" dish that was surprising for its excellent quality and flavour. It featured grilled chicken in a mango pepper salsa, and a variety of grilled vegetables, including highly yummy green beans. Idaho continues to surprise us with quality home cooked meals in out of the way places. This one I will actually remember for a long time.

After a week of sunny and scorching days, we have a forecast for tomorrow that holds a 60% chance of thunder storms through the day. If this comes true - and we will have a look at it from the luxury of our operating theatre B&B dining room, where a multi course breakfast will be on offer - we may decide to blast through to Plummer, where our van is stashed, or if the weather is really severe, to send hapless Grandpa blasting through to Plummer, to then bring the van back to rescue the rest of the expedition. On the other hand, if the weather permits, we may carry on with our original plan to shift down to the Heywood State Park, and enjoy one more night in the woods. For now we are climbing into our big antique beds and not worrying about a thing.

A beaver lodge among the extensive areas of lilly pads

This herron was spotted by Avi and Violet among the lillies

Large servings, low prices, good quality

Great bed, but Avi wanted to know where the pool is

Today's ride: 43 km (27 miles)
Total: 128 km (79 miles)

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