Day 7 - A day of rest in Nelson, BC

It was a welcome day to have no riding. The weather this morning was cold and rainy, so everyone was pretty happy to not be out there in it. It did get better this afternoon, but we all enjoyed a day just doing a little sightseeing, reading, tuning up the bike, taking a nap etc. I did laundry this morning and we went to have breakfast at a little cafe. This town is very interesting. The people are a little "granola" if you know what I mean. The girl that served us had dreads and her hair was all the colors of the rainbow. I was doing a little looking into the town through Wikipedia, and it said that this is where the draft dodgers came during the Vietnam War and that has pretty much defined the character of this town. They are really nice people here, don't get me wrong. But, many of them dress and look very crazy (Indie). I did enjoy the sightseeing. It is a beautiful place.

We have a big day of riding tomorrow. We have all been psyching ourselves for the ride today. It will be 60 miles and have some pretty good climbing involved. I am ready to get out and move again, but you always worry about it.

Day 6 - Storms

We saw it coming. For days the forecast has been showing thunder storms for Sunday. Last night we had a few showers as we slept. I told Kaitlin to get me up if she heard rain drops on the tent and about 11:30 she did just that. It wasn't anything too serious, but it was a little cool this morning as we awoke.

We had our regular oatmeal cereal and hot chocolate breakfast and took down camp and rode over to the LDS Trail Ward to attend church. It seems that whenever we visit any wards, they are always having stake conference when we visit and that is what happened today as well. The meeting was being broadcast into the building, so we attended anyway, but it wasn't a good meeting for Eli to get a feel for what we do on Sundays. He was good about it, but I haven't had a chance to talk with him about if he has any questions about it.

We had to get riding and rode from Trail to Castlegar and then to Nelson, BC, in which we are spending the night tonight. We are staying in a hostel because the weather is supposed to be bringing rain.l. As we rode here, we went through two pretty big storms. We saw the storms coming and tried to make it to Castlegar, but it didn't wait for us. It started blowing and raining like crazy and we pulled in to a house that had a porch and asked if we could wait things out there. The owner of the home was very kind and even asked if we wanted some water or something. We told him we had water and just wanted the protection and we waited for about 30 minutes and it rained and hailed very hard. We then started riding again and another storm hit us. We just kept riding through this one. Riding in the rain here is a little colder than riding in the rain was on the east coast.

We also took a side road that was recommended and regretted the decision later. The road was called "Blewett Road" and we kind of blew it in choosing the route. It took us on a climb that was very difficult up the side of a mountain. It was beautiful on top, but we were worn out after the climb.

We are staying in the White House hostel here in Nelson. It seems like a nice place, but Kait refuses to sleep in the sheets and is sleeping in her sleeping bag on the bed as I write this. We have a day off from riding tomorrow and will check this town out a bit.

Day 5 - Canada!

We had a great day of riding today. Last night we decided to change our route a little to miss a big mountain that we were supposed to climb. At the end of the ride today, we were supposed to climb about, 2,500 ft to Rossland, BC, but there was an alternate way that added about 5 miles to the total day and we didn't have to climb as much. We all chose the later and it turned out very well. We rode along the Columbia River much of the day and it was absolutely beautiful. I tell you, this country up here is gorgeous.

We rode 55 miles today and ended up climbing 2,500 total feet. We are in Trail, BC. Tomorrow we are going to try and make it to the ward or branch up here and attend sacrament meeting (church). It may be a little interesting because we don't exactly have the appropriate cloths, but it should be ok. We sure have been having a lot of questions posed to us about the church on this trip. I'm sure it is because of Kaitlin receiving her call and the questions that may bring up. Eli Baron actually wants to go to church with us tomorrow. That should be interesting.

Well, here are some pictures about our day. We are staying in a nice little campground tonight. I have been exhausted enough at the end of the day that I have been sleeping quite well.

Day 4 - A day of climbing

We had a beautiful day to ride today. When we woke this morning it was a chilly 41 degrees and there was some pretty thick fog. We really didn't start riding until about 10 because it just wasn't warm enough and the fog was not burned off. When we did start, we immediately began climbing. We had a 2,000 ft climb to get over the Chewela mountains. It was a pretty tough climb, but we were rewarded with an 8 mile downhill ride after we got to the top. That was fun. Kait and I hit 40 mph coming down. We had to ride about 23 miles after coming down and that seemed to be nearly harder than riding up the hill. I guess it was because you were tired.

We are camped at the fair grounds in Colville, Wa. It really is a pretty nice place, but I think we may have to listen to the trains tonight.

We are supposed to have another big climbing day tomorrow and we will enter Canada. We have been trying to see if there is another way to get to where we want to be and not have to climb a particular mountain to get there. I will let you know how that goes.

Some nice pictures from today. The hair was due to a 40 mph downhill wind and a little harrowing ride. Kaitlin did great today. She really did well on the climbs. We both were getting pretty tired by the end of the day.

Day 3 - What a beautiful day!

Today we started the trip. Last night had me a little worried. The wind came up at about 7pm and later the rains came and my mind was just thinking about what kind of a rough day we were going to have the next day. The wind was blowing quite hard (about 15 mph steady today) but it was right at our back for most of the day. We rode west out of Sandpoint and are spending the night in Cusick, Washington. We rode 50 miles and mostly along the Pend d'Oreilles river. It was so beautiful.

Another cool thing that happened today was Kait received her mission call. Of course we were not home, but at noon we Facetimed with Carey and she opened the envelope and pointed it at the iPad and Kait read her call. I can't say where she is going. You will have to wait until she gets home for that, but it was fun to be with her on such a special day. I am so happy that we are able to have this experience together before she leaves.

Kait is doing so well. That girl is a tough little rider. She kept up with me and even led the way much of the day. She worries a bit about the time in the saddle and the climbs, but she really is doing great.

We went for dinner tonight in this little tavern in Cusick. One of the locals was telling us that it was taco night and "even though the place looks to be a dump, they make great tacos". She was right. They were very good and we all had such a good time in there talking about things.

It seems to be a little warmer this night. I hope it is. We have a little climbing to do tomorrow. I hope it goes well.

Day 2 - Met up with the bunch

Wow, we had a cold night in Deer Lodge. It must have gotten down to close to 30 degrees. When we woke there was frost on the ground and on the picnic table. We did get a little cold and had to stop by REI in Missoula to get a few more cold night items.

Deer Lodge was also the location of the Montana Territorial Prison back in 1897 and the prison was used until 1979. We were able to tour the prison and it fel quite eerie to be in a place like that.

We drove about 275 more miles today and arrived in Sandpoint at about 4:00. It was a nice reunion with six of the people that I rode with last year down the Atlantic coast. Boppy (he was from Florida last year, but has been living in Columbia since our trip last year) made dinner for everyone. We had sausages, cabbage and potatoes. It was really good and we had a great time catching up on each others lives and reminiscing about the trip we took together. They seemed to be really interested in Kaitlin's life and why she wasn't in school. She was able to explain to them that she was waiting for her mission call. They all seem excited that she is part of the group.

We start the trip in the morning. We will start at 8:00 and have 50 miles to ride. It shouldn't be too bad of a ride. However, it is blowing like crazy out there right now.

Here is a picture of Kait freezing this morning.

Day 1 - Another Start

Well, I started out today to have another biking adventure.  My daughter, Kaitlin, and I are going to Sandpoint, Idaho to ride around what is called the "International Selkirk Loop". We will start in Sandpoint and ride west and north through Washington and then up into Canada. We will then drop back into Bonners Ferry, Idaho and back to Sandpoint.  This little adventure will take us 10 days and 5 to 600 miles. We are now on our way there and spending the night in a place called Deer Lodge, Montana. Hope we can share some cool experiences with you all.