Smokin' in Spokane

Day 10: Colfax to Spokane, WA: 75 miles (!) Day 11: ZERO miles (day off!)

Today we broke the 500-mile milestone! Only 2,900 to go...

We got up early and got an early start from Colfax to try and beat the heat. And the day seemed like it would be good because there was only a 2-mile hill to start! All these little towns are in the river valleys, so it seems like we descend to get in and must climb to get back out.

And speaking of climbing, here are some traveler's definitions for you all. The word is first and it's meaning is in parenthesis afterward:

• Grade (hill)
• Plateau (hill)
• Ridge (hill)
• Mountain (big hill)
• Rise (hill)
• Butte (hill)
• Crest (hill)
• Gulch (a hill is coming real soon)

The Palouse, which is the area we have been riding in for the past few days, is very beautiful and filled with farmland and rolling (you guessed it) HILLS! I asked what "the Palouse" means, and was told it is the name of the Native Americans who lived here first. I think it must mean "Hill People" in English!

Anyway, on advice from other cyclists we met at our hotel, we left the freewqay behind and took to the side roads. It was much quieter--the hills were shorter and steeper--and there were times when we didn't see a car for 30 minutes. It was a nice change of pace from the many trucks that have whizzed by in the last 10 days.

But the heat wave is on here in the Northwest. We had a slight breeze, but suffered under the hot sun. The pavement seemed like it was going to cook us! During part of the ride, we were popping tar blisters in the road with our tires. It sounded like one of those popper toys kids run around with. As far as suffering goes, we have noticed a difference between me and David: David suffers in silence and I suffer boisterously! Sometimes that is not a great combination! But we made it through...

The backroads showed us some of the way of life here in the Palouse--beautiful, well-kept farms and houses. Definitely an agricultural community. We transitioned during this ride to a pine forest area--it was interesting to find a yellow pine forest after all that farm land. The smell reminded me of hiking at home.

We traveled through a VERY hot Turnbull Wildlife Refuge and I didn't see one wild thing (other than David). I had a slight meltdown because it was so hot and there was not any relief in sight--I thought there might be a visitor's center with water (and maybe free massage). I must have been hallucinating! But we finally reached Cheney (pronounced "cheen-ey"), and were revived with a drink at the local grocery store. Then we sprinted to Spokane (so to speak) to reach the post office before it closed.

We successfully picked up David's camera parts (thanks, James!) and searched for a good hotel. We found one! The Hotel Lusso is located right downtown and has a lot of great amenities, from free happy hour and breakfast to VERY comfy beds and gracious staff. We learned that there is a big Art Fest going on here this weekend and decided to stay an extra day! Contributing to that decision was the fact that the heat wave continues, and it is about 100 degrees here on Saturday.

So we are spending two nights in the lap of luxury, spending lots of money on art, and having a great time in the city of Spokane! There are lots of things to do here, and we'll only scratch the surface in two days. Maybe a return trip will be in order...

Next stop, Idaho! We head there tomorrow and will probably make it halfway to Sandpoint. We hear it's fantastic also!