Like horses to the barn!

The last days have been a mad dash across the state of Washington. We left Missoula 

the morning of the 26th and headed up to Sandpoint, ID. There we decided (as a result of much arm twisting from the family) that we would hurry as fast as we could to make it to Seattle in time for a family vacation. On the night of the 28th we stayed outside Priest River. 

The next morning we crossed the state line into

 Washington and got onto HWY 2 and in four very full days of riding WE MADE IT!

On that first day riding out of Missoula we were aiming to camp out at Quinns Hot Springs, but we rode 76 miles in over 100 degree heat, with a few stops to swim and run in sprinklers and just couldn't bring oursleves to go further than St. Regis. 

The next morning we went by Quinns Hot Springs, took a soak and then rode along the Clark Fork River all the way to Trout Creek, where we were side tracked by a fishing competition. There we made a new friend, Seth (Send us an email, so we can come bug you in Joshua Tree!), and were treated to some huckleberry margaritas.  We also made some enemy's. Ha! 

Well, not exactly, but Buck probably doesn't like us too much after we ran away from him (thanks to Lara's sound judgement), when he suggested, in his very inebriated state, that we go waterskiing and booze it up on his boat.  Crazy kid.  We stayed there, just past Trout Creek that night. 

The next day we rode through Noxon( along rivers and mountains, so beautiful, and crossed the state line into Idaho) and wanted to stay just outside of Sandpoint, but we missed a turn off and ended up on the wrong side of the river and went all the way to Priest River instead.  

Sandpoint is a really funny, cute little hippy town.

We took a longish break there and had more huckleberry treats and pizza.  

The next day was probably one of my least favorite days of the whole trip.  We rode so long

the landscape was boring, there was headwind and we didn't even really take anything resembling a real break.  There were a few redeeming  moments, like the free coffee that Lonni gave us and towards the end of the misery we stopped in Reardon ( pronounced Rear-done, and yes this town is about as great as getting done in the rear - which, I suppose, depending on your preferences, might not be all bad), and had a pretty awesome bacon-cheeseburger.  Oh yes, and there were camels (?). For the grand finale of this sucky day we rode the last 10 miles to Davenport in the rain and against serious headwinds.  At least at that point we were so delirious that we had turned silly and just sang and joked the whole way about what a waste of space eastern Washington is.  

Then came the Christmas miracle!  Some guy pulled off the road onto the shoulder and he was like, hey guys, I'm on warmshowers.org, do you need a place to stay in Davenport?  And we were like Hallelujah!  Saved! So we biked to Jeremiah's (the bullfrog) house and stayed in his little guest house built into part of the garage.  It 

was the most amazing thing to have a shower, a beer and some good stories at the end of that awful day.   Hopefully we can get Jeremiah to send us some of his tales, so we can share them with y'all. 

The next day wasn't much better than the last.  The scenery was

 better and, for me at least, so was the moral, but we biked uphill all day (so it seemed) and it was super hot and we had no shower to ease the pain that night.  Dry Falls Dam, which we passed around noon was pretty nice and we also had all-you-can-eat tacos for lunch (which might have been a mistake - I ate so much I felt sick for the next two hours).  We took a short break in Douglas before pitching our tent in the city park in Waterville.  A beer and a pizza, put us right to sleep.  In the morning we slept a bit longer, but were also assaulted by sprinklers again =( boo.  We had an amazing breakfast at Coyote Pass Cafe and made friends with the owners.  

That day we started off with some small hills that lead to insanely wonderful downhills.   We sailed into Cashmere and on through apple orchards into Peshastin, where 

we were lured in by the barrel cow train at Smallwoods Harvest.  Yes, we did ride the cow train and sample every kind of

 honey known to man.  Then we were surprised by a visit to Disneyland (a.k.a Leavenworth) and drank a beer, tried on hats, and enjoyed schlager music in this bavarian wonderland until we couldn't take it anymore and biked on to the Tumwater campsite.  This was to be our last night duking it out with the mosquitos.  

The next day we broke some records for ourselves and rode over a 120 miles, including Steven's Pass, all the way to Ben's front door in Seattle! WoopWoop! 

Even though it was a longer day than any other, it didn't seem as bad. We were flying! like horses to the barn =) After climbing Steven's Pass and blasting down the other side, the 

generous shoulder soon dwindled away to nothing and we feared for our lives.  No joke. In tight corners we prayed that all the semi's would see us and pull around or slowdown.  A construction zone later we finally entered Skykomish and ate some much-needed brunch in this funny little town.  

Getting closer to Seattle we also stopped in Startup at this really awesome chocolate shop/ cafe and had, what Lara appropriately dubbed "thank God I'm sill alive/incase I die" ice cream.  This place was really off-the-wall delicious and I can't recommend it enough.  Just go, if you can. I'm definitely going by there when we go back to Leavenworth for October Fest!  

We finally met up with the Burk Miller Trail in Woodinville and rode this fantastic (if a little bumpy) path all the way down to Ben's house.  And that was it!  Over! Done!  Just like that.