So we didn't quite make it to our destination today... story to follow.
After the hellacious storms passed last night, we were able to check out the Laura Ingalls history in town. We walked the old streets of downtown and went over to the Surveyor's Shanty where the Ingall's first resided upon arriving in De Smet. We also saw the house in town that "Pa" built and a church that "Pa" also helped build. ( I never read the "Little House" books but I was a fan of the TV series.)
I was really eager to get on the road in the morning as we had the trifecta of conditions for the day - tailwinds, sunshine and moderate temperature. It was a gorgeous day for a ride! In fact, it was one of those days that you dream about when you envision bike touring. We had gently rolling hills, gorgeous scenery and the best part... we were rolling along at a 17 mph average. Nice!
Everything was idyllic until we arrived in Brookings, SD. On our way through town, Marc stopped suddenly and asked me to listen to his bike. It was making a clicking noise when he pedaled. After further investigation, he deducted that it was coming from his rear wheel's hub. It appears that the wheel could no longer handle all the weight that he was pulling. As he investigated the noise, I pulled out my phone and starting searching for a bike shop. Luckily there was one in town, unluckily it was not open on Sunday.
With a bad hub, you can't chance riding on it. So we had to forfeit our plans of riding the additional 35 miles to Tyler, MN. We were really bummed as it was the perfect day for riding!
We got a room at the local Super 8 and decided that we just take today as a rest day. Brookings is a beautiful town with the University of South Dakota campus nearby.
After checking in to our hotel, we decided to explore the town. Our first priority was of course... pie! We found the Perkins Restaurant and I had a selection of 12 or so pie flavors. I was quite tempted by the Strawberry Pie, but wanted to save that for my mom's so I chose the Caramel & Crumb Topped Apple Pie. It was delicious... not too sweet, with a lovely hint of caramel and sweet crumb over a tart apple filling.
After our pie break, we stumbled upon the University of SD Gardens which supposedly boasts the most beautiful 70 acres in South Dakota. I beg to differ as the landscape in the Black Hills and Badlands is much more scenic.
As we wandered around town, I stumbled upon a Goodwill thrift store and begged Marc for a few minutes inside. I have been so embarrassed wearing my WalMart Shoes, so I was thrilled when I found a nice black pair of Kenneth Cole Sandals to switch them out with. I also found a brand new Dolce & Gabbana T-shirt and just had to buy it! I love finding great deals - where else can you get designer shoes and a t-shirt for $6!!!!
So plan for tomorrow is to hit the bike shop at 10 AM and unwillingly lay out $150-200 for a new wheel for Marc's bike and then hopefully get on the road by 11 AM. Our new destination is Springfield, MN and from there we are off to Mankato to stay with the Lorentz's (my friend Jess's parents.)
Marc's Stats:
Total Miles: 44
Average MPH: 17
Winds - 15 -20 mph (tailwinds)
Riding Time: 2 hrs 41 minutes
Showing posts with label cross country bike touring. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cross country bike touring. Show all posts
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
Day 24: Pierre, SD to Miller, SD
We got up early this morning with good intentions of leaving early to miss the afternoon heat. But after packing the bikes, eating breakfast and then spending too much time shopping for shoes at WalMart, we did not leave town until 9:45. ( I ended up with an ugly pair of water shoes for $6.. I am so embarrassed to be seen in them. Don't tell anyone in South Dakota that I sell shoes for a living!)
Our ride today took us across the heartland of the state. We passed 70 miles of farm fields with wheat and corn. South Dakota has been hit hard by the rains and there have been huge ponds of water in many of the fields.
We stopped to eat lunch in the small town of Harrold - population 209. We picnic'd on the front steps of an abandoned old building in town. Its funny, almost every house in town had a for sale sign and the only activity was from the grainery and post office. We sat and ate our crackers and melted cheese (it was hot today) and watched the trucks pull up to the grain elevator.
The rest of our ride to Miller was uneventful - just hot with a 6-8 mph headwind. The headwinds felt nice as they help keep you cool, but annoying as they slow your pace by a few mph. Its tough to keep your mind occupied on these flat rides with not much to see. My thoughts tend to wander between what I'll write on the blog to what I want to eat for dinner. Today I thought about my doggies. I miss my little Sierra bug and Hunter-pants. It's pheasant hunting season in this area and I was hoping to see a few German Shorthairs out and about. Marc said one crossed the road right in front of us while we were headed to WalMart this morning. I must have been asleep at the handlebars, or something, as I completely missed that!
We did see a GSP (German Shorthair Pointer to the lay person) at Wall Drug. It was a tan colored one with white spots. I didn't even recognize it as one of the breed as they are almost always dark brown and white. Thus I was subsequently embarrassed when I asked the gentleman who owned the dog - "What type of Pointer is this?"
He responded, "A GSP."
"Oh a GSP, we have two of them!" I acknowleged sheepishly. (Now don't I look like the idiot!)
We arrived in Miller around 4 PM and boy I was glad I made a reservation for the motel. Both motels in town were booked solid. We are staying at The Dew Drop Inn. ( I love that name!) Its an old 1960's ranch style motel with very friendly owners. I love the mom & pop motels as the owners always seem so nice. He said the motel has been full for weeks and we got one of their last openings. We were lucky as the next motel would have been another 45 miles away (at least a 3-4 hour ride.)
For dinner, we headed down to the Virginian Inn. The restaurants in South Dakota seem to have slipped into some sort of time warp. They all have circa 1970 decor and 1970 menus as well. Marc and I both got a good laugh out of tonight's salad bar. Our selection consisted of a large bowl of "white" lettuce and for toppings we had shredded cheddar cheese, bacon bits, croutons and 4 types of dressing. And that's it! No vegetables at all - no carrots, no onion, no cucumber, etc. You could either have a plain salad or shredded cheese salad. We both opted for the shredded cheese as you just felt like you had to put something on the salad.
For dessert I had a slice of crumb topped apple pie. It was definitely homemade with thick chunks of granny smith apples with a buttery crumb topping. Delicious!
We are headed to bed early tonight as we'd like to get a good start tomorrow. The forecast is calling for afternoon showers and a hefty headwind of 10-15 mph. (Where are the tailwinds?) We are riding straight east -78 miles to the small town of De Smet, SD. The town is famous for Laura Ingall Wilder's "Little House on the Prairie". I'm eager to visit the museum and other attractions. Hopefully we can get there early enough to enjoy them.
Our ride today took us across the heartland of the state. We passed 70 miles of farm fields with wheat and corn. South Dakota has been hit hard by the rains and there have been huge ponds of water in many of the fields.
We stopped to eat lunch in the small town of Harrold - population 209. We picnic'd on the front steps of an abandoned old building in town. Its funny, almost every house in town had a for sale sign and the only activity was from the grainery and post office. We sat and ate our crackers and melted cheese (it was hot today) and watched the trucks pull up to the grain elevator.
The rest of our ride to Miller was uneventful - just hot with a 6-8 mph headwind. The headwinds felt nice as they help keep you cool, but annoying as they slow your pace by a few mph. Its tough to keep your mind occupied on these flat rides with not much to see. My thoughts tend to wander between what I'll write on the blog to what I want to eat for dinner. Today I thought about my doggies. I miss my little Sierra bug and Hunter-pants. It's pheasant hunting season in this area and I was hoping to see a few German Shorthairs out and about. Marc said one crossed the road right in front of us while we were headed to WalMart this morning. I must have been asleep at the handlebars, or something, as I completely missed that!
We did see a GSP (German Shorthair Pointer to the lay person) at Wall Drug. It was a tan colored one with white spots. I didn't even recognize it as one of the breed as they are almost always dark brown and white. Thus I was subsequently embarrassed when I asked the gentleman who owned the dog - "What type of Pointer is this?"
He responded, "A GSP."
"Oh a GSP, we have two of them!" I acknowleged sheepishly. (Now don't I look like the idiot!)
We arrived in Miller around 4 PM and boy I was glad I made a reservation for the motel. Both motels in town were booked solid. We are staying at The Dew Drop Inn. ( I love that name!) Its an old 1960's ranch style motel with very friendly owners. I love the mom & pop motels as the owners always seem so nice. He said the motel has been full for weeks and we got one of their last openings. We were lucky as the next motel would have been another 45 miles away (at least a 3-4 hour ride.)
For dinner, we headed down to the Virginian Inn. The restaurants in South Dakota seem to have slipped into some sort of time warp. They all have circa 1970 decor and 1970 menus as well. Marc and I both got a good laugh out of tonight's salad bar. Our selection consisted of a large bowl of "white" lettuce and for toppings we had shredded cheddar cheese, bacon bits, croutons and 4 types of dressing. And that's it! No vegetables at all - no carrots, no onion, no cucumber, etc. You could either have a plain salad or shredded cheese salad. We both opted for the shredded cheese as you just felt like you had to put something on the salad.
For dessert I had a slice of crumb topped apple pie. It was definitely homemade with thick chunks of granny smith apples with a buttery crumb topping. Delicious!
We are headed to bed early tonight as we'd like to get a good start tomorrow. The forecast is calling for afternoon showers and a hefty headwind of 10-15 mph. (Where are the tailwinds?) We are riding straight east -78 miles to the small town of De Smet, SD. The town is famous for Laura Ingall Wilder's "Little House on the Prairie". I'm eager to visit the museum and other attractions. Hopefully we can get there early enough to enjoy them.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Day 24: Philip, SD to Pierre, SD
I tried to get Marc to write the blog today as he had a much more eventful day than I, but he's in bed already. He hit the wall way to early in the ride and could not recover.
It was hot and windy today! I originally thought that our ride from Sheridan to Gillette would be the most isolated ride of the tripbut today tops it. We rode 90 miles today and only had one town with services at mile 20 and that's it!
All I can say about today's ride is that it was boring and the crosswinds were brutal. I think I wore down the side of my tires today as I was tilted sideways so I wouldn't topple in the wind.
We left our hotel in Philip around 9:30 this morning after a breakfast of potato salad and a banana. (There were no breakfast restaurants so we picked up some food last night.) We stopped to eat our packed lunch of summer sausage and melted cheese (it was so hot today) at the town of Midland. Luckily there was a large park in town with a water fountain, as there was practically nothing else in town. According to the placard in town, Midland was a boom town back in the early 1900's when the government was selling parcels of land for $100. Now its more like a ghost town consisting of an Ace Hardware, a bank and a 5 room motel.
After we left Midland, there was nothing but hilly prairie land for the next 70 miles. This was one of those days that you need to keep your mind positive and busy or the boredom will drive you crazy - if not the boredom - the 20 mile/hr winds will do that for you.
I kept my cool today, but Marc did not. He had a horrible day. He said this day was the worst of the trip for him. He said " If there was a Sag Wagon - I'd be on it." ( A Sag Wagon is a support vehicle for cyclists for those that are wondering.)
Poor guy! I kept waiting for him and then I got sick of waiting as I just wanted to get to our hotel and jump in the pool. We finally arrived in Pierre around 6 PM or actually 7 PM as we crossed the time zone when we crossed the Missouri River. Pierre is a beautiful town with not much going on. Its the capital of South Dakota and has gorgeous government buildings, but the restaurants and stores leave something to be desired.
We ended up walking about 2 miles to find a restaurant. We ate at Mad Mary's Saloon and Steakhouse. It was decent food - no pie though. I ended up eating a Mrs. Freshley's Blueberry/Blackberry Pie from the convenience store. I left it in the microwave way too long and had a gooey mess to eat. It was still good. Kind of like a cake donut wrapped around a blackberry-blueberry pie filling.
Our hotel, the Capitol Inn, is surprisingly nice for the price - only $45/night and they have a pool and free breakfast. Things in South Dakota are cheap!
I hope Marc has a better day tomorrow - I was ready to get my own hotel room (the way he was acting), especially since the price was so cheap. (He's in a much better mood now, but he was a crabby boy today!)
Tomorrow we are off to Miller, SD. We were going to try to push to Huron, SD but its a 113 mile ride and tomorrow is supposed to be hot and windy again. Ugh!
It was hot and windy today! I originally thought that our ride from Sheridan to Gillette would be the most isolated ride of the tripbut today tops it. We rode 90 miles today and only had one town with services at mile 20 and that's it!
All I can say about today's ride is that it was boring and the crosswinds were brutal. I think I wore down the side of my tires today as I was tilted sideways so I wouldn't topple in the wind.
We left our hotel in Philip around 9:30 this morning after a breakfast of potato salad and a banana. (There were no breakfast restaurants so we picked up some food last night.) We stopped to eat our packed lunch of summer sausage and melted cheese (it was so hot today) at the town of Midland. Luckily there was a large park in town with a water fountain, as there was practically nothing else in town. According to the placard in town, Midland was a boom town back in the early 1900's when the government was selling parcels of land for $100. Now its more like a ghost town consisting of an Ace Hardware, a bank and a 5 room motel.
After we left Midland, there was nothing but hilly prairie land for the next 70 miles. This was one of those days that you need to keep your mind positive and busy or the boredom will drive you crazy - if not the boredom - the 20 mile/hr winds will do that for you.
I kept my cool today, but Marc did not. He had a horrible day. He said this day was the worst of the trip for him. He said " If there was a Sag Wagon - I'd be on it." ( A Sag Wagon is a support vehicle for cyclists for those that are wondering.)
Poor guy! I kept waiting for him and then I got sick of waiting as I just wanted to get to our hotel and jump in the pool. We finally arrived in Pierre around 6 PM or actually 7 PM as we crossed the time zone when we crossed the Missouri River. Pierre is a beautiful town with not much going on. Its the capital of South Dakota and has gorgeous government buildings, but the restaurants and stores leave something to be desired.
We ended up walking about 2 miles to find a restaurant. We ate at Mad Mary's Saloon and Steakhouse. It was decent food - no pie though. I ended up eating a Mrs. Freshley's Blueberry/Blackberry Pie from the convenience store. I left it in the microwave way too long and had a gooey mess to eat. It was still good. Kind of like a cake donut wrapped around a blackberry-blueberry pie filling.
Our hotel, the Capitol Inn, is surprisingly nice for the price - only $45/night and they have a pool and free breakfast. Things in South Dakota are cheap!
I hope Marc has a better day tomorrow - I was ready to get my own hotel room (the way he was acting), especially since the price was so cheap. (He's in a much better mood now, but he was a crabby boy today!)
Tomorrow we are off to Miller, SD. We were going to try to push to Huron, SD but its a 113 mile ride and tomorrow is supposed to be hot and windy again. Ugh!
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Day 17: Sheridan, WY to Gillette, WY
Long, long, long day of riding...111 miles. Please excuse my typos as I am half asleep as I type.
We woke up really early, hoping to get a early start on our long day of riding. Of course it was raining and thundering and windy. Ugh! We puttered around long enough until the rain let up to just a drizzle. So we suited up in all the cold weather gear and the rain gear for our ride. On our way out of town we stopped at Safeway store for some munchies and by the time we left the sun was shining! So after 3 miles of riding, we were now undressing and taking it back down to just shorts and a short-sleeve jersey.
The weatherman forecasted 15-20 mile winds in our favor for the day. We were lucky enough to ride those tailwinds all the way up the foothills out of Sheridan. It was fantastic! (For those of you that don't bike, tailwinds are the cat's meow of weather forecasts. You feel like you have bionic legs and can go 5 mph more than usual with the same effort.)
We rode those tailwinds for the first 35 miles or so. Once we got up in the hills, the winds seemed to slow to a stop. Bummer! However, the scenery did not disappoint. This was one of the most scenic routes yet. There has been an usually large amount of rain in Northern Wyoming so the mesas and hillsides were emerald green with an abundance of wildflowers. It was a very hilly route with basically no services the whole ride. We packed our bikes full of food and took 7 water bottles, 1 bag of water (about 6 cups) and 2 gatorade bottles. Marc said the trailer was heavy!
Along our ride we passed a fellow bicyclist, he was riding from Rapid City, SD to Oregon. He told us that he got caught in a hail storm yesterday and some kind stranger allowed him to stay at in their home. Poor guy!
It was a tough ride into Gillette. Our tailwinds dissapated in the hills but when we came down onto the plains the winds were roaring. For the last 15 miles or so we had to fight 20-30 mph crosswinds/headwinds and go uphill into town. Of course, Gillette is the only town that has to be on a hill!
By the time we got to Monahan's house, we were dead tired. So thankful to have such friendly, wonderful host's for our night in Gillette. Thank you Bill and Diane for opening your lovely home to us. We are so grateful!
(No pie today... I'm just too tired to care. Sorry to disappoint - I'll be sure to eat two slices tomorrow to make up for it. I did eat a huge delicious slice of orange cake with cream cheese frosting.)
We woke up really early, hoping to get a early start on our long day of riding. Of course it was raining and thundering and windy. Ugh! We puttered around long enough until the rain let up to just a drizzle. So we suited up in all the cold weather gear and the rain gear for our ride. On our way out of town we stopped at Safeway store for some munchies and by the time we left the sun was shining! So after 3 miles of riding, we were now undressing and taking it back down to just shorts and a short-sleeve jersey.
The weatherman forecasted 15-20 mile winds in our favor for the day. We were lucky enough to ride those tailwinds all the way up the foothills out of Sheridan. It was fantastic! (For those of you that don't bike, tailwinds are the cat's meow of weather forecasts. You feel like you have bionic legs and can go 5 mph more than usual with the same effort.)
We rode those tailwinds for the first 35 miles or so. Once we got up in the hills, the winds seemed to slow to a stop. Bummer! However, the scenery did not disappoint. This was one of the most scenic routes yet. There has been an usually large amount of rain in Northern Wyoming so the mesas and hillsides were emerald green with an abundance of wildflowers. It was a very hilly route with basically no services the whole ride. We packed our bikes full of food and took 7 water bottles, 1 bag of water (about 6 cups) and 2 gatorade bottles. Marc said the trailer was heavy!
Along our ride we passed a fellow bicyclist, he was riding from Rapid City, SD to Oregon. He told us that he got caught in a hail storm yesterday and some kind stranger allowed him to stay at in their home. Poor guy!
It was a tough ride into Gillette. Our tailwinds dissapated in the hills but when we came down onto the plains the winds were roaring. For the last 15 miles or so we had to fight 20-30 mph crosswinds/headwinds and go uphill into town. Of course, Gillette is the only town that has to be on a hill!
By the time we got to Monahan's house, we were dead tired. So thankful to have such friendly, wonderful host's for our night in Gillette. Thank you Bill and Diane for opening your lovely home to us. We are so grateful!
(No pie today... I'm just too tired to care. Sorry to disappoint - I'll be sure to eat two slices tomorrow to make up for it. I did eat a huge delicious slice of orange cake with cream cheese frosting.)
Monday, June 7, 2010
Day Eight - Haugan, MT to Missoula (Zoo), MT
So I awoke this morning around 6:30 AM to the not so welcome sound of a rain storm thundering on the roof of our motel. It was a clear sign that I should go back to bed for awhile.
When I woke again about an hour later, I asked Marc "Do you hear that?"
His response "What, the air conditioning?"
I replied, "No, the rain!".... his response was a brief groan and going back to sleep, I decided to join him.
We both went back to sleep in until about 8:30 or so. It was a late start to a long 95 mile day ahead of us. We ate breakfast at the same (and only) restaurant in town and rolled out back on the interstate around 10:15 in the morning. Luckily the rain had passed and the sun peaked out just a bit.
The first 20 miles or so of our ride down Interstate 90 was all downhill with a slight tailwind. It was an easy start and we were eager to stop at St. Regis and strip off some of our rain gear. (Its been the story of our trip so far - put on rain gear, take off rain gear --- oh wait 10 minutes later -- stop and put on the rain gear!)
A few miles after our stop we encountered our first road construction detour. The highway merged with the oncoming lane for a two-lane highway situation. It was miserable. We had a 1 foot shoulder with RV's closing grazing us at 55+ miles an hour. Marc decided it was too dangerous and led us across the grassy median to the closed side of the highway. So for the next 5 or so miles we poached a ride on the closed side of highway. It was beautiful! We had a 2 lane highway all to ourselves! I kept turning around expecting a car or worse yet... a cop to be chasing us down. Marc said we could plead "scared". (Scared that a RV would run us off the narrow shoulder!) I'm not much of a rule breaker so it made me nervous but excited at the same time.
About 50 miles into our ride we stopped at a rest stop for a quick potty break. As I came out of the bathroom, Marc suggested that we might want to wait a few minutes before getting back on the highway. Just then the sky opened up and there was a thundering downpour with strikes of lightening all around us. We huddled under a covered picnic table. Wow, we had good timing - it would not be fun to be stuck on the side of the road in this storm.
Luckily the storm passed quickly and we were on our way in within 20 minutes or so. The air had cooled quite a bit after the storm and we were back in our rain gear and pants. At one point on the ride, I swear I could see my breath - boy it was cold!
As we rode, I took particular notice to the clouds. They are really fascinating in Montana. They hang so low in the mountains that they look as though the trees are on fire and smoking. Reminded me of puffs of cotton sitting on treetops.
So we finally rolled into Missoula around 6 PM but took a wrong turn and rode a few miles out of the way. We were looking for the downtown area and seemed to surround it but not find it! Another storm was rolling in, so I was getting a bit antsy to find our motel.
Finally we asked directions and found a motel close to downtown - The Bel Aire Motel - a 70's style motel with a nice heated indoor pool and hot tub (too bad I can't get Marc to go down there with me - its no fun to swim by yourself!)
Dinner tonight was at The Old Post Inn - a hole in the wall bar/restaurant that we stumbled upon in downtown Missoula. We had really good food and even better Montana brewed beer. For dinner I had 'The Old Brown' - a southern style dish consisting of strips of toast with roast turkey, topped with a creamy Mourney sauce, roasted tomato slices and bacon strips. Yum! We attempted to order the cheesecake for dessert (yes, it counts as pie!), but the bartender recommended the bakery across the street instead. So we headed over to the Break Bakery for a slice of White Chocolate Lemon Cheesecake. Oh my god! It was as good as it sounds... I think this one tops them all. A delicious, thick cheesecake with a hint of lemon and a nice coating of white chocolate on top. We paired it with a perfectly brewed English Breakfast Tea. Wow! A perfect end to a great meal.
Tomorrow we are off to Deer Lodge, MT. We have a route that will take us off the main highway for awhile. The best news is that tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and mid 70's! Finally!!!
When I woke again about an hour later, I asked Marc "Do you hear that?"
His response "What, the air conditioning?"
I replied, "No, the rain!".... his response was a brief groan and going back to sleep, I decided to join him.
We both went back to sleep in until about 8:30 or so. It was a late start to a long 95 mile day ahead of us. We ate breakfast at the same (and only) restaurant in town and rolled out back on the interstate around 10:15 in the morning. Luckily the rain had passed and the sun peaked out just a bit.
The first 20 miles or so of our ride down Interstate 90 was all downhill with a slight tailwind. It was an easy start and we were eager to stop at St. Regis and strip off some of our rain gear. (Its been the story of our trip so far - put on rain gear, take off rain gear --- oh wait 10 minutes later -- stop and put on the rain gear!)
A few miles after our stop we encountered our first road construction detour. The highway merged with the oncoming lane for a two-lane highway situation. It was miserable. We had a 1 foot shoulder with RV's closing grazing us at 55+ miles an hour. Marc decided it was too dangerous and led us across the grassy median to the closed side of the highway. So for the next 5 or so miles we poached a ride on the closed side of highway. It was beautiful! We had a 2 lane highway all to ourselves! I kept turning around expecting a car or worse yet... a cop to be chasing us down. Marc said we could plead "scared". (Scared that a RV would run us off the narrow shoulder!) I'm not much of a rule breaker so it made me nervous but excited at the same time.
About 50 miles into our ride we stopped at a rest stop for a quick potty break. As I came out of the bathroom, Marc suggested that we might want to wait a few minutes before getting back on the highway. Just then the sky opened up and there was a thundering downpour with strikes of lightening all around us. We huddled under a covered picnic table. Wow, we had good timing - it would not be fun to be stuck on the side of the road in this storm.
Luckily the storm passed quickly and we were on our way in within 20 minutes or so. The air had cooled quite a bit after the storm and we were back in our rain gear and pants. At one point on the ride, I swear I could see my breath - boy it was cold!
As we rode, I took particular notice to the clouds. They are really fascinating in Montana. They hang so low in the mountains that they look as though the trees are on fire and smoking. Reminded me of puffs of cotton sitting on treetops.
So we finally rolled into Missoula around 6 PM but took a wrong turn and rode a few miles out of the way. We were looking for the downtown area and seemed to surround it but not find it! Another storm was rolling in, so I was getting a bit antsy to find our motel.
Finally we asked directions and found a motel close to downtown - The Bel Aire Motel - a 70's style motel with a nice heated indoor pool and hot tub (too bad I can't get Marc to go down there with me - its no fun to swim by yourself!)
Dinner tonight was at The Old Post Inn - a hole in the wall bar/restaurant that we stumbled upon in downtown Missoula. We had really good food and even better Montana brewed beer. For dinner I had 'The Old Brown' - a southern style dish consisting of strips of toast with roast turkey, topped with a creamy Mourney sauce, roasted tomato slices and bacon strips. Yum! We attempted to order the cheesecake for dessert (yes, it counts as pie!), but the bartender recommended the bakery across the street instead. So we headed over to the Break Bakery for a slice of White Chocolate Lemon Cheesecake. Oh my god! It was as good as it sounds... I think this one tops them all. A delicious, thick cheesecake with a hint of lemon and a nice coating of white chocolate on top. We paired it with a perfectly brewed English Breakfast Tea. Wow! A perfect end to a great meal.
Tomorrow we are off to Deer Lodge, MT. We have a route that will take us off the main highway for awhile. The best news is that tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and mid 70's! Finally!!!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
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".
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".
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Day Four - Quincy to Davenport, WA - 105 miles!
Whoa - we had a long ride today! Luckily the weather was beautiful - partly cloudy and about 60 degrees. And NO flat tires - amazing!
We left our luxurious room at the Country Cabins Motel and RV Park around 8 AM and hit the only breakfast spot in town - Mc Donald's. Its funny how the local diners have disappeared in these small towns. Now the hangout for all the seniors in town is Mc Donald's. All the old guys hanging out were giving us weird looks as we pulled up with our bikes. After a not so hearty breakfast, we were off for our long journey.
The road out of Quincy was wonderful - slightly downhill with a terrific tailwind. We averaged about 20 miles an hour to the next town of Ephrata. Ephrata looked like a neat town, much bigger and full of small diner type restaurants. Too bad we didn't spend the night there.
Today's ride took us down nice, quiet farm/ranch roads. It was great, especially after the traffic of Wenatchee. We rode past onion fields, wheat fields and the occasional cow or sheep pasture. Its funny how the cows watch you on a bike. I think that the cows see us as an animal or something. They watched us very curiously. Along the way we must have startled a family of badgers sitting near the roadside, as they all took off. It looked like they were racing us along side of the road but they were just trying to run to their den as fast as they could.
We stopped for lunch in the Mayberry-esque town of Odessa. I was like a celebrity walking into the post office and everyone inside wanted to know about our ride. It was cute.
So riding all day long- 7.5 hours of saddle time to be exact - wears on the body. Marc's moaning and groaning right now as I type this blog. I told him that I'd quote him in the blog today. As we were saddling up after lunch, he was adjusting his shorts and commented " Girls have it much easier in the saddle with their "Hoo-Ha's" instead of "He-Hoo's". Ok, kids we now have a new slang term for the male genitalia!
We rolled into Davenport tonight around 6 PM, and then if we didn't ride enough, we traversed the city twice looking for a motel and restaurant. After declining a room from the spooky clerk at the Davenport Motel, we ended up at the Black Bear Motel on the other end of town. A cute "old west" inspired motel - I'll post photos later. Unfortunately our room had some sort of sewer backup in it and smells like an old musty rag. Oh well, were both too tired to care. Luckily we only had a short walk to the restaurant/bowling alley/saloon across the street. The food was surprisingly decent and I even got a good slice of Marionberry Pie!!!! Finally! A marionberry is like a blackberry/mulberry fruit. It was delicious and yes I asked for it warmed up (Thank you, Mom). I have a new strategy with pie - I'm going to try to eat it for breakfast or lunch instead of dinner. It seems way to hard to find pie at dinner time. So maybe if I look for it all day long, I'll increase my chances!
Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy again - boo hoo! At least we only have a 65 mile ride and then a rest day on Saturday in Coeur d'Alene.
We left our luxurious room at the Country Cabins Motel and RV Park around 8 AM and hit the only breakfast spot in town - Mc Donald's. Its funny how the local diners have disappeared in these small towns. Now the hangout for all the seniors in town is Mc Donald's. All the old guys hanging out were giving us weird looks as we pulled up with our bikes. After a not so hearty breakfast, we were off for our long journey.
The road out of Quincy was wonderful - slightly downhill with a terrific tailwind. We averaged about 20 miles an hour to the next town of Ephrata. Ephrata looked like a neat town, much bigger and full of small diner type restaurants. Too bad we didn't spend the night there.
Today's ride took us down nice, quiet farm/ranch roads. It was great, especially after the traffic of Wenatchee. We rode past onion fields, wheat fields and the occasional cow or sheep pasture. Its funny how the cows watch you on a bike. I think that the cows see us as an animal or something. They watched us very curiously. Along the way we must have startled a family of badgers sitting near the roadside, as they all took off. It looked like they were racing us along side of the road but they were just trying to run to their den as fast as they could.
We stopped for lunch in the Mayberry-esque town of Odessa. I was like a celebrity walking into the post office and everyone inside wanted to know about our ride. It was cute.
So riding all day long- 7.5 hours of saddle time to be exact - wears on the body. Marc's moaning and groaning right now as I type this blog. I told him that I'd quote him in the blog today. As we were saddling up after lunch, he was adjusting his shorts and commented " Girls have it much easier in the saddle with their "Hoo-Ha's" instead of "He-Hoo's". Ok, kids we now have a new slang term for the male genitalia!
We rolled into Davenport tonight around 6 PM, and then if we didn't ride enough, we traversed the city twice looking for a motel and restaurant. After declining a room from the spooky clerk at the Davenport Motel, we ended up at the Black Bear Motel on the other end of town. A cute "old west" inspired motel - I'll post photos later. Unfortunately our room had some sort of sewer backup in it and smells like an old musty rag. Oh well, were both too tired to care. Luckily we only had a short walk to the restaurant/bowling alley/saloon across the street. The food was surprisingly decent and I even got a good slice of Marionberry Pie!!!! Finally! A marionberry is like a blackberry/mulberry fruit. It was delicious and yes I asked for it warmed up (Thank you, Mom). I have a new strategy with pie - I'm going to try to eat it for breakfast or lunch instead of dinner. It seems way to hard to find pie at dinner time. So maybe if I look for it all day long, I'll increase my chances!
Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy again - boo hoo! At least we only have a 65 mile ride and then a rest day on Saturday in Coeur d'Alene.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
The map is here...finally
The points plotted in the map outline our route and show (in a nutshell) the towns we are planning to stay in. Google maps only allows 26 points on a map so I had to cut out a few. I'll update our stats as we progress.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
37 days and counting...
So.. wow the big day is quickly approaching! We've talked a good talk about doing a cross-country bike trip for years, and somehow through all the ifs, ands, and buts... we are making it a reality. Never thought I'd be able to leave my baby (a.k.a - my beloved business)...ok, I'll miss my doggies too. But now the airline tickets are purchased, the Facebook status posted and the house rented, no turning back. May 29th it is.. Seattle, WA to Portland, ME or bust. (Can anyone explain the "or bust" threat? I've never understood it, but it sounds good. Will I actually bust if I don't make it to Maine...probably if I intend to eat that much pie.)
Let me start by introducing the "we" in this picture. My husband of seven years, Marc, will be joining me on this adventure. I don't think he's quite as excited about the pie eating as I am...but to each their own. What we do share is our love of the bike... road, mountain, cruiser - you name it we've got in hanging the garage. Our bikes go everywhere with us... hell, they have even been to Hawaii and back. So I can't imagine a more perfect vacation than touring the country on the seat of my Trek. (Plus the guilt free pie eating!) I know... I'm a bit idyllic with my thoughts here. (I'll probably be kicking my bike in the ditch around mile 500 or so. Screaming, crying, throwing a typical bike temper tantrum -as Marc can attest to.)
Let me start by introducing the "we" in this picture. My husband of seven years, Marc, will be joining me on this adventure. I don't think he's quite as excited about the pie eating as I am...but to each their own. What we do share is our love of the bike... road, mountain, cruiser - you name it we've got in hanging the garage. Our bikes go everywhere with us... hell, they have even been to Hawaii and back. So I can't imagine a more perfect vacation than touring the country on the seat of my Trek. (Plus the guilt free pie eating!) I know... I'm a bit idyllic with my thoughts here. (I'll probably be kicking my bike in the ditch around mile 500 or so. Screaming, crying, throwing a typical bike temper tantrum -as Marc can attest to.)
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