Day 39 Stanley to Lewiston Idaho, 333 miles
"The surest way not to fail is to determine to succeed."
~Richard Brinsley Sheridan
The first snowflakes I saw were so light they looked like glitter. I pointed it out to Quilter Girl and she couldn't see them with her pop bottle glasses. Point for Lasic!
We started a bit late to allow any black ice to melt and hopefully Mr. Sun could warm the area. After five miles it started to snow. Really? Isn't this June?
"Are we making a mistake?"
"I don't know."
We decided to ride on, even though it felt much like Denver. However, it lightened up and cleared. No snow on the roads, thank God!
But what beauty. From Stanley to Lowman we dropped from the snow line to green trees. The river we followed ran fast and 'I was snow an hour ago' green, with huge whitewater that would give any rafter pause.
Idaho wins the 'most beautiful' category hands down! We turned up Hwy. 55 and followed the Payette River, deeper green in color and vascillating between placid waters and crashing rapids and waterfalls. The road hugged the water, a fourth and fifth gear affair, leaning and sweeping through the curves.
Next we paralleled the Salmon river, much wider and shallower, yet boiling madly with rainwater and snowmelt. The landscape morphed from woods to desert. Over a pass and we dropped into farmland with deep green fields and... yellow blooming something. My farming ignorance is staggering. We did identify Walla Walla Sweet Onions. Pretty sure.
We learned a bit about gear today. We wore the Gerbing gear, unplugged, from the start at 37 degrees, and felt fine. Three hours later, riding in 49 degrees, chill set in. What happens is the gear and body are warm at the start, but the cold seeps in with time. Instead of plugging the suits in at noon, we should have gone electric from the start. No problem, as moments after plugging in the suits out bodies are wrapped in warmth like Mom's hug.
A long ride today, but very pleasant and so much shorter when riding fun roads with fabulous views.
1 comment:
I've never rode?, rided?, ridden? past onion fields before, but I'd guess that you'd recognize them when your eyes would start to tear up and soon you'd be crying uncontrollably. "Pretty sure."
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