Wilbur to Spokane; Spokane to Newport, Washington

Wednesday morning we left Wilbur under threatening rain clouds, however it did not rain until approx 2:00.  By this time Cal had biked to the town Reardan.  He parked the bike and crawled into the Envoy with me.  After a brief nap, we went into a restaurant for a cup of coffee and rhubarb torte until the rain stopped.

Before arriving in Reardan we were traveling through eastern Washington’s rural countryside. We are enclosing a few photos of the scenes of the area. 

Washington Farmstead

The type of Large Farm Equipment we have seen

Waiting for Harvest



Creston, Washington Grain Elevator





Another Fertile Valley with Wheat as far as you can see



While riding along US 2 Cal stopped at this roadside Chapel.





Sculpture at the Roadside Chapel



Instead of following the main highway into Spokane by bike, we used secondary roads around the north side of Spokane.  When we arrived in the lakeside resort village of Tum Tum, we loaded the bike on the rack and drove to the southwest side of Spokane. We connected with friends who in the mid ‘90’s were at the University of Iowa, getting his doctorate degree. This was the same year our daughter Cherie was also attending the U of I. My sister and husband knew this couple from Portland, Oregon and we all connected. At that point the children were young, and this spring the oldest one graduated from Gongzaga University. It was such fun catching up with them, and seeing the kids as young adults.  Due to chatting too late last night, I did not blog, which I am sure everyone will understand, thus the note I sent this morning.     

This morning we drove back to lovely Tum Tum where we stopped yesterday and Cal started another day. Along the lake I found this beautiful Blue Heron posing for his photo. As soon as he heard Cal's bike he flew away. 

The secondary roads definitely have more hills, some proved to be a challenge, so this morning things went slow at first.  After lunch it was easier going, and in the end Cal rode 55 miles today.

Long Lake behind the Long Lake dam

Water Iris



Blue Heron Posing for his photo


Tonight we are in a motel in Newport, WA, right on the Idaho border. We have made it through Washington State with 550 miles behind us.

As I said this morning in my quick note on the blog, it is very cool right now in Washington.  This morning at 7:00 it was 44 degrees – so glad we were not camping last night!!  Today I wore a turtleneck sweater and a jacket – all day.  When you were in the sun, it did warm up very nice, but the wind was chilly as the high temperature was only in the 60’s today.  Tonight it will be cool again. However this cool weather is very nice for biking, so as long as I am in a motel at night, I am not complaining!!

Tomorrow Cal will be back on the route he originally planned to use, heading for the Rocky Mountains around the southern edge of Glacier National Park!!  It will be up, up, up as we are at 2000 ft right now, and the highest point at Glacier will be 5236! We are not going over Logan Pass inside Glacier NP.