Blue Diamond Marina Coolin

... scream in harmony as the bike blew into the other lane and on coming traffic. Todd says he has never driven in winds that bad. "scared the bejesus out of him". ( and a great laugh over a beer at supper). The ride to the boarder was breezy but warm.

Once across the boarder the weather and scenery was fantastic. We stopped at the beginning of the Wild Horse Scenic By-way and between there and Bonner's Ferry (this was the staging point for the ...

... new challenge for me - wish me more than luck - PRAY! We will head for Oregon first to visit our sisters. My sister Myrna is in Salem and Dix's sister Jean is in Grants Pass. Then we will head south on I 5. You are all invited to travel with us and share our joys and probably some trials as we make our way to Arizona and Texas. We hope to see a lot of great country and will share our pics with you.

... on this side was as extensive as the volcano blast was directed west and north. The ride came to a premature end though and the road was blocked off after only 4 miles. Apparently the heavy snowfall completely washed the road away. Oh well - I did get a short video of the ride back down. We carried on to Randle; this section of road was horrible - the pavement is very chewed up ...

... my goodness - she couldn't even finish the short stack and it was only two pancakes - Chalire experienced a similar fate! So much for healthy eating on one's birthday! After breakfast we made our way to Snoqualamire Falls - it really was like a miniature version (not that we have seen them yet) of Niagara Falls. The power of the water was awesome and in fact they have two turbirnes under the waterfall to generate ...

... a cabin that had been transformed into a restaurant. they made a deliciously greasy cheesesteak that made great fuel for the rest of the day's ride. shortly after leaving ione, we crossed a bridge and followed the pend oreille river upstream for almost 45 miles. this was a really pretty stretch of road, but also unfortunately was our first taste of headwinds on the trip. before owning a bicycle, i had no idea of what a huge role aerodynamics play with ...

On Wednesday, May 7, Don and Loretta stopped in Sandpoint, Idaho to have dinner with Ken and Christy Dart, parents of Miranda Bodus, one of our members. Ken and Christy are a very congenial couple and generous, too! They paid for the Stevensons' dinner and breakfast, and put them up in the Quality Inn as well! I've attached some photos that Christy emailed after their meeting. See ...

Total miles to date: 10,150 On Tuesday, May 6, Don and Loretta made it into Idaho and stopped just east of Priest River. They went back to Newport to stay for the night at The Walden House Bed and Breakfast (www.thewaldenhouse.com), where they were hosted by Farren and Jolene Walden. From their website: "The Walden House ...

... of people were on the road leading to a large line up at the border crossing. This did give us sometime to jump out in pairs and check out the duty free shop on the side of the road. After just over an hour wait we crossed the border and headed into in the USA. We then proceeded to Sandpoint (2hr drive) and had a bit of a walk around the town before looking for somewhere to stay the night. After checking out about 4 hotels we realised this small town music ...

I tell myself I'm really not asleep, but only a moment ago I was looking at the city of Spokane, and now the station outside looks different, there's a lake, lights reflecting on the water there, I check my map. The next stop Sandpoint, Idaho, we're there, I think. In Idaho. I don't wake Andrew. Just soak it up dear grandson, soak a little Idaho into your dreams.

... but also really cool. On our way down we were talking about that and looking at this other lake when out walk a huge female moose that just wades into the water for a bath and a bite to eat. So we sat there for the next hour just watching her stick her head under and come up chewing. Once she had had her fill she then gets out, shakes off, and then disappears into the trees. What an amazing first outing!!!! We like to think of ...