a little catch-up...

Am I girl, or am I cavegirl? The line is getting blurred. I farmer-blow snot off the side of my bike, and pee in the brush. I've been fighting a cold the last couple days, so the farmer-blows and restroom breaks have been alarmingly frequent. I've had to talk myself into riding. But, as Lonnie Cook (another rider we've met on the route) says, "If I don't get up, no one's going to ride my bike for me". Yesterday, David also felt gross. We somehow got in 65 miles...I think we figure that's the lowest we can go without feeling too bad... Oh yes, and we've logged somewhere in the 1550-1600 mile zone.

So, Sandpoint and the Idaho panhandle in general... WOW. Lake Pend Oreille was NOT what I expected out of Idaho. I think I expected potato fields, which we didn't see.

So, you already know we mailed stuff home, talked to a bunch of people who offered us their homes, and generally enjoyed Sandpoint. However, we didn't tell you about where we DID stay, which was with Gina Pucci, and her husband, Mike. We found Gina on warmshowers before we got into Sandpoint. She found US at the local coffee shop. She told us to let ourselves into her house and make ourselves at home. What a warm way to come into town! David fixed my rear derailleur, we both showered, then ate pizza with Gina and Mike. Mike is a golf pro who is also a beer rep for a Sandpoint brewery called "Laughing Dog". Harley had told us to make sure we tried this beer, so it was kind of a fluke that we ended up at Gina and Mike's, with pizza and a growler of "Laughing Dog" on the table. mmm mmm.

Gina has this glow about her...we sat down for dinner, and Mike joked with us, while Gina laughed, glowed, and chimed in. I was pretty tired from riding and sickness, but they were so wonderful and FUN... so we all stayed up and shared stories about how we met and the like. Gina loves cycling, and when she met Mike, she invited him to go on some rides too. I believe the words he used to describe the condition he was in afterwards were "pulverized" and "beat up". David has been thinking those words describe his butt condition the last couple days. Thanks, Mom for the seat suggestion...I've been pretty a-okay for this trip. We might be investing in a seat for David soon.

Mike told one story about a ride they went on after they were married. Gina was pulling a bug-a-boo with their foster daughter in it (now adopted), and Mike was up front. Gina told Mike to get in back to protect their daughter in case they got hit from behind. At that moment, a group of macho guys went past and asked, "Are you drafting off that lady and her bug-a-boo? What kind of a man...?!?!!" and then they rode off. Mike had a way of laughing with and at everything, including himself that was very enduring. Gina plays along with it, which is adorable.

The next day, we woke up to rain. We checked the weather schedule...rain all day, rain all night, rain the next day. We had arranged to camp in a guys yard in Libby, MT (100 miles away from Sandpoint) through warmshowers, so we got up early, put on our rain gear, and headed out. Not so much fun. I AM thankful for rain gear, however...the B.O.B trailer tends to throw a 10 ft spray of water even with the fender on, so by the end of the day I look like I've made it through a motocross race.

About 40 miles in, a car pulled over and waved us down. Gina was worried about me (sickness + rain + 100 miles), so she asked her friend Brad Williams to flag us down on his way to his Bull Lake cabin...and he did! The cabin was 25 miles more down the road... which sounded pretty inviting. The weather looked like maaaaaaaybe it would clear up, so we thought maybe we should still try for Libby. Brad told us he'd park his car on the road near the cabin in case we changed our minds. It started pouring again. When we saw Brad's car, we pulled in.

Crikey... this reminds me. Someone (me) mailed home the connector between the camera and the computer on accident. Until we get a new one, I'll just have to link to other pictures so you can see what I'm talking about.

The cabin is on Bull Lake. Brad's family was there for the 4th, they invited us to join them for dinner, and they also made sure one of us experienced the outdoor shower (David did...I thought a bath sounded nice after the cold rain), and that we got to see the lake/mountains from the dock. We slept in a separate dormitory away from the house...which believe it or not needed a heater on full blast because it was so cold outside. Below 40 on July 2nd.

We DID ride 100 miles the next day...it was only a very gradual climb with a couple hills in the mix, but no rain (whew!) and a good riding temp. We rode through a herd of cattle. ...Big Sky and open range country. We were on a 'scenic byway' which no.one. used but us...it was pretty nice to not have cars or logging trucks whizzing by. I made up different songs for the last 30 miles to motivate myself. During the last 8 mile stretch we crossed the WINDIEST bridge... the metal was whistling, and it was hard to stay upright.

...but we DID get all 100 miles in. We pulled into tiny Rexford, MT and wondered, 'Where are we going to sleep tonight?' Much of the town is a giant RV/Trailer park, and it seemed most everyone one else was gone for 4th of July celebrations. It seemed doubtful that we'd find anyone who'd be ok with a tent in their yard. We circled through town...I saw a toe-headed child peeking out a front door. This was my chance. I stopped.

"Hello! We're biking to Chicago... do you think your mom or dad would mind if we put our tent up in the yard?"

His dad was out one second later.

"It's not my house, but I can ask."

Head back inside.

"The guy next door is inside here. He said he doesn't mind. Where you guys biking from?"

"We biked about 100 miles today from Bull Lake."

"You guys must be hungry! We just finished dinner and there's tons of food leftover!"

Heck yes! So we went inside, and were enveloped by the warmth of the Payton and Rich families. We timidly entered the house where there was a big family sitting around a giant table of food. We were handed plates, silverware, tasty tasty things to eat, and were hailed with enthusiastic questions about our trip. What a wonderful way to end the day! I at first was hesitant to barge in on this family's 4th of July dinner...they weren't expecting us, we showed up uninvited, they had come from all over the north, and we were a mess... but Mary, Mary Lou, Richard, their children and grandchildren all made us feel like we belonged at their table eating dinner with them. They were unbelievably kind, generous, and hospitable. Soon, it wasn't just dinner and camping in the yard... it was a spare bedroom, showers, and laundry. Kyle and Mandy (toe-headed child's parents) live off our route in Minnesota, and invited us to come and stay with them when we go through that area ... as well as spend the 4th with them after we biked to Whitefish the next day ... ... ... There really isn't anything I can say that would describe what that feels like. It's...astonishing to experience this kind of graciousness across the entirety of our trip.

As David crawled into bed, he said, "It's like we're finding one giant family across the United States."

David stayed up and chatted with Richard Payton, the man whose house we were staying in. Apparently, in the 70's the entire town of Rexford was moved (along with other towns) because of a dam they put in. Richard said there are times during the year when they drain some of the water out (for sturgeon spawning etc), and you can go down and still see some of the houses and streets of old Rexford. Kind of reminds me of Atlantis. I guess some people scuba dive into some of these towns along the reservoir to go inside the houses and explore.

I'll hopefully type up about the 4th of July in Whitefish, MT soon...but we really need to ride up to Glacier today. Thanks for reading up on us!