Day Forty-nine

I got up this morning feeling AWFUL. I didn’t sleep well at all and the bags under my eyes were huge. Chuck’s so sweet; he said I looked beautiful. We went out to find some breakfast and ended up at a place called Henry’s. No wifi, unfortunately. I had my usual breakfast and Chuck got an English muffin. We met an interesting man who had spotted our Vermont license plate. He kind of looked like Old Man Winter from the Rudolph and Baby New Year animated specials. He had a long white beard and overalls. We’ve met a lot of people who are so friendly, they just come up to us and start chatting.

Went back to the motel and I headed out to Route 56, while Chuck stayed behind for a while. He said he’d meet up with me in a couple of hours. The lady we had talked to at the store said we’d probably see elk on 56, but I couldn’t spot any. It was a very pretty ride though, with not much traffic. Very peaceful. Chuck passed me and went on to a place, I guess you’d call it a saloon. It was called “Little Joe’s” and I liked it. It had a nice atmosphere, and the owners were very sweet. Chuck had been chatting with them about my ride. The man said we really shouldn’t pass up the chance to see Ross Creek Cedars. He described them as 300 feet tall, but I think the tallest is actually 175. It was too early to eat, so Chuck said he’d order a salad to go, and we could eat at Ross Creek. I went down the road, making good time. Found the turn to Ross Creek and that road was just beautiful. I was climbing up a hill when Chuck came along. He had a salad with grilled shrimp on it, so we ate that and then explored the cedars. Frankly, looking at trees doesn’t really thrill me that much, but these were very impressive. I felt like I was in Lord of the Rings or a Harry Potter movie. We took some cool pictures.

I rode back down the main road and headed on. After a while, it really heated up and I had to get some help from Chuck. I had ridden a lot of miles, and my hands were shaking, and I felt dizzy. I was definitely depleted of something: electrolytes, carbs or water…or maybe all three. I haven’t been drinking as much water as I should be.

We stopped at a place called the Floating Restaurant, and had some sautéed mushrooms and edamame, and I felt better. The bartender was impressed with my ride. We went to Sandpoint and it was pretty crazy there, being rush hour and all. We were spending the night in Cocolalla, just a few miles from Sandpoint, at the home of my great-aunt and uncle Barb and Dale Schultz. We passed Cocolalla the first time (it’s a pretty small town) so we had to double back. Found their house pretty easily. It’s really beautiful where they live. Their property backs up against 600 acres owned by a lumber company. Dale’s able to take some wood off that land through a special arrangement. He had quite a bit of firewood already stacked up, ready for the winter. He and Chuck hit it off pretty well and Dale gave him a tour of the property, after we all had a huge slice of watermelon. Barb was very sweet, and I could see some similarities between her and my grandmother (she’s my mother’s mother’s sister). We chatted for a while, and I took a much-needed shower before dinner.

Dinner was a fabulous home-cooked meal of lasagna, salad made with veggies from Barb’s garden and garlic bread. Everything was fantastic. We stuffed ourselves and left no room for dessert. We sat around talking until it started to get dark and then I went upstairs to read my Alec Guinness book for a while. The bed they gave us was really comfortable. Happy day.