We had another HOT day today--somewhere between 90 and 99 degrees, depending on the bank signs along the way. But it was a good one anyway.
We got some advice from a great bike store in Spokane (Two Wheel Transit) about the Centennial Path, a bike path from Spokane to Coeur d'Alene, ID. So we tried it and found that it was a lovely, shaded path along the river--about 12 feet wide and very smooth. Spokane is a cycling city--and lots of other people were using the path also. Cyclists, roller bladers, and runners were all having fun in the morning before the real heat began.
About 20 miles into the ride, we crossed into Idaho, our third state! Very exciting stuff... Of course, we took the obligatory pictures and kept on riding. Coeur d'Alene is about 10 miles across the border, so we headed there to take a midday break and hopefully beat the heat. We had lunch and headed to the City Park where David had a nap on the grass and Traci sneezed a lot! The allergies have returned--but to what exactly? Trees? Grass? Idaho? Who knows?
The park was full of people trying to beat the heat. There was live music, and amazingly enough it was all Elvis (a retrospective of his entire career, I think) and Patsy Cline songs! The audience was the appropriate age for this music, and there was a rousing round of "The Hokey Pokey" during a break in the singing! What a hoot!
Many park-goers were dressed in bikinis and bathing suits--trying to cool off in the lake. It was a madhouse of hot people! And the town was a true college town--lots of coffee shops and bars. We hung out until about 4:30 p.m. and then hit the road again for a campground a local told us about. Note to Neilie--we did bring along food for dinner, and David carried a watermelon along as a special treat!
There was a bike path part of the way up U.S. 95, but it soon became like a ride ona bucking bronco due to the tree roots raising humps in the path. Since we didn't want to be bucked off or break any spokes, we detoured to a side road until we had to join the main road for the last 5 miles into the campground.
When we started this trip, I thought we'd have no problem with a place to stay as long as we had a tent and a credit card. Not true. When we arrived at the campground, hot and tired, we were informed that it was an "RV-ONLY" campground! But they let us know that another campground might be about 5 miles away (or 10 miles--whatever). Five miles makes a difference on the bike and 10 miles seemed impossible, but off we went grumbling a bit.
Luckily, within 5 miles we saw the rollercoasters that marked Silverwood, a local theme park with an attached campground that ALLOWS tents! And there we stayed after only a few extra miles of riding.
So far, we have given Washington State an A+ for their hospitality and friendliness. We would be happy to return there whenever we can. At this point, the jury is out on Idaho, but were happy to continue exploring for another day...
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