The Laundry Nazi and Waterproofing Quiz

Day 14: Sandpoint, ID to Heron, MT: 40 miles

To start the story of this day, I have to return to the night before. After we left our massage, we explored the town of Sandpoint. It's just as charming as it first appeared! We went to the Pend Orielle (pronounced pan-dor-ay)Winery (are you sensing a theme here) and did some wine tasting. They get their grapes from Washington State, and make some great wines! Calvin led us through a fun wine-tasting adventure and sent us on our way with an order form. Look for some Pend Orielle wines at a dinner party at our house in the future!

After a wonderful dinner at the Sand Creek Grill, we decided to head to the big laundromat and get our laundry done. We arrived at about 9:15 p.m. looking forward to reading a book (and David getting a beer at the local brewery). There was a lady outside who looked at us and said "no laundry after 8:30 p.m. because we close at 10:00." Well, we were dismayed because we had NO clean clothes! We had even gone commando in order to get all our underwear washed! We whined, cajoled, and begged until she finally said "OK, but don't tell anybody--and if they ask, you're the owner's son!" We happily put our laundry in and David headed off to the brewery. I was reading my book when the lady came over and said "You won't be able to dry anything because I have to close at 10:00." Well, why didn't she say that before? I just looked helplessly at her because I wasn't sure what to say. I asked about the drying process--how long for each quarter, etc. Then I just kept reading until the wash finished up. The lady then came to me and said, "What time do you leave in the morning?" I told her we usually try to leave around 8:30 a.m. (although we've achieved that only twice). She said "You can leave your stuff in the dryers and come in when we open at 7:00 a.m." So that's what I did--with LOTS of trepidation because it's a very vulnerable feeling to leave all your biking clothes and underwear in a strange place!

But it all worked out OK--and the next morning we finished our errands (laundry was safe), went to the post office to send some stuff home to ourselves, and had a leisurely morning because it was pouring rain! We set off late (our first rain delay) but decided to get going because we were going to hit Montana that afternoon! We also were going to test our rain gear for the first time.

We rode around Lake Pend Orielle for 17 miles (it's huge) to the town of Hope. It's a narrow road with no shoulder, and of course lots of traffic (does anyone work in Sandpoint?). We were only scared once by a truck that raced around us and then cut over into a right hand turn right in front of David! Just a note, and sorry if I'm profiling: the angry drivers always seem to be in a pickup truck with dual wheels on the back. Maybe those dual wheels allow an extra aggressiveness gene to emerge...

During the ride we experienced everything from pouring rain to light drizzle. Status report: my fancy-schmanzy waterproof booties bothered me because they kept coming unzipped in the back. David's homemade booties, however, worked perfectly! Chalk one up for the David/Traci/Maggie design team!

We've made a practice of asking locals about alternative routes that might get us off the highway. It really paid off today. In Hope, we asked about places to stay in case the rain kept up, and got some good gouge froma local. She told us an alternative route that would take us to the Amber Bear Inn in Heron, MT. We decided to go for it rather than freeze and be wet in the tent all night.

Since we were on back roads, there was no "Welcome to Montana" sign, but we could tell immediately in two different ways: first, the road surface went from smooth asphalt to pot-holed concrete--so different I had to think back to figure whether we had made a turn or not! Second, we suddenly started seeing wildlife everywhere! White-tailed deer were leaping across the road and along the side. It was pretty amazing, and we found the Amber Bear Inn at about 7:00 p.m. We lost an hour because Montana is on Mountain Time.

Mike and Nancy at the Amber Bear were wonderful hosts! It is an oasis of natural habitat, with a lot of domestic animals mingling with the wildlife. They have guinea fowl, peacocks, ducks, horses, goats, and a llama on the premises. They also have deer, eld, moose, and bears as frequent visitors! We saw everything except for the elusive bear.

What a great place to stay! The rooms were beautifully appointed and the inn was gorgeous. This is a cyclists paradise in terms of food, because dinner was a big one (appetizer, soup, salad, entree, drinks, and dessert all for one price). It was also expertly prepared, and breakfast was also wonderful! We highly recommend this home away from home if you're ever in Montana. After a great night's sleep, we were ready to discover more of Montana...