Day Five- Davenport to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

Wow, I have to start out by thanking all of you for following the blog. I am flattered that so many people are interested in our journey - and its inspiring to read your comments!

Today started out like most of our other days, wet and cold. We've now had rain four out of the five days. Its so hard to get motivated in the morning when you look out the window and see gray clouds, wet roads and the wind whipping through the trees. Thus we got a late start and finally rolled out of town at 10 am.

The first 30 miles sucked... there's no sugar coating it here. We had a side wind that whipped the rain into your face and as if we weren't wet enough, the passing trucks did a good job of soaking us thoroughly. To top it off, I had to pee about 5 miles into our ride. I didn't want to make us stop after just getting started, so I waited, and waited until it was so uncomfortable that I had to stop. (Ever try riding a bike while you have to pee? Its damn uncomfortable!) Unfortunately our route along Highway 2 into Spokane was a busy road with no cover. I'm really going to have to come to terms with my modesty and relieving myself on the side of the road.

After two bathroom breaks (yes I did use the bathroom before we left and only drank 1/2 bottle of apple juice), we arrived in Airway Heights. We were both wet and grouchy and had our first tiff, of many today, about where to eat lunch. Marc was ready to eat and I wanted to wait for Spokane. He rode on ahead and settled on Quinzo's for lunch. I rolled in behind several minutes later and discovered my first flat tire of the day! (Keep track of my flats as there will be a quiz at the end of our trip - if you haven't been counting, its number 4.)

Lunch at Quizno's was busy! I felt like an ogre walking into the store with my dirty, drenched bike clothing and grease covered jacket and hands. (Changing flats is not a clean job, especially when your bike in covered in wet road grime.) The older man behind the counter took interest in our ride and told us about his 9 years of traveling the country via RV. His advice - "Don't make motel reservations. You never know which town you'll like and want to stay longer."

The worst part about stopping for lunch is getting back on the bike. Fortunately for us, the rain had stopped briefly and the temperature warmed up to a balmy 50 degrees. I was eager to get going as Coeur d'Alene is one of my favorite stops on our route.

We rode on into Spokane and down to the Centennial Trail. This trail is a paved path that will take us all the way to Coeur d'Alene and beyond. We found the path easily ( last time I was in Spokane I walked a good portion of the downtown section of trail.) However, after following a short section of trail, we were dumped out into a parking lot of Gonzaga University. (Didn't even know that was a college!) By now it was raining again and our patience was wearing thin. We retraced our route looking for the path but couldn't find it. We decided to take the road along the river and finally I stopped at a bike shop and asked directions. Even after looking at a map and getting verbal directions, I still couldn't explain to Marc exactly where we needed to go. It was frustrating. I finally saw the trail when we were crossing a bridge and looked over to see a pedestrian bridge down the river. (What is it about bike paths and getting lost? We have no problems on the roads but when it comes to bike paths we are perpetually getting turned around!)

Once we were on the trail, it was gorgeous! Despite the pouring rain, I was really enjoying this section of the ride. We followed the path along the Spokane River for about 40 miles and pretty much had the whole trail to ourselves. Who else would be crazy enough to venture out in the stormy weather?

Bike trails are wonderful, but they meander. It look us about 4 hours to go the 40 miles into Coeur d'Alene. Granted we did stop a couple times to take photos and take off/put on rain gear. That's par for the course - well that and flat tires. The day wouldn't be complete with out another flat tire... yes, about 4 miles from our destination I got another flat! (Are you counting them?) I was so pissed off and hungry and tired! Poor Marc, he's the one that ends up fixing them for me. Tomorrow we are definitely getting the heaviest, most rugged tires that will fit on my bike!

We finally rolled into town at about 8 PM and 79 miles on the odometer. We took the first motel that we stopped at. (Note to Mom and Dad - its the same one we stayed at when we were here!) This motel seems like a palace compared to the last two places we stayed (and costs twice as much.) Oh well, sometimes you are just to tired to go any further down the road.

After cleaning the bikes and ourselves, it was 9:30 and we were hungry! Forget trying to find pie, we just hit the first restaurant we could find. We went to Cricket's. It was a fun place with live music and good local microbrew's. Marc is really enjoying the local beers (he's having much better luck with that than I am with my pie endeavors.) Tonight I am settling on a homemade pie (made by me) of nilla wafers and vanilla puddling. I'll call it "VaVaVoom Nilla Pie".

Arrival in Seattle

Wow! Our trip has finally started...after years of talking about it, months of planning for it and days of packing...we are in Seattle. This was our first time in the Emerald City and as expected we arrived on a cloudy, drizzly day. Our hosts, Sara and Dave, were perfectly amazing! Thank you so much Cindy (Marc's dad's wife) for setting us up with your sister's family. It was wonderful.

We were pleased to see that our bikes and luggage arrived safely. Marc spent a few hours assembling the bikes. Luckily we found no equipment malfunctions ... at least not with our bikes. I did have a wardrobe malfuction... my one and only pair of pants (just the ones I needed to wear every day for the next 70 days)lost their zip pull. (That's what I get for buying them at a thrift store.) Here's where I have to give kudos to Paul for saving the day and my pants. Thanks Paul for getting the zip pull back on the zipper for me! You saved the day and saved me $90 (the cost of a new pair!)

So overall, we couldn't have asked for a better start to our trip, we ate great food, had a nice cozy bed and wonderful company. Thank you to the MacDuff's for your warm hospitality and showing us your beautiful city! It was hard to leave your home especially on a cool, drizzly morning.