01 Sept 2012
Seattle WA to Sandpoint ID (360 miles by car)
If Gina’s phone had had any bars, TransAm Wendy would have received a call from me. Why? Because Gina and I had arrived at our hotel room in Sandpoint and I found myself seriously out of practice for what was taking place around me. Wendy, having basically lived the past summer with Gina, could have no doubt refreshed my memory, the one around how upon check-in, it’s best to just stand back and let Gina GET ORGANIZED. It’s a win-win situation. GETTING ORGANIZED, especially in hotel rooms, puts Gina into her most relaxed state, and standing aside and letting her do so means your belongings will naturally GET ORGANIZED too, and who doesn’t benefit from that?
With all of our travel belongings, i.e., two bicycles and eight panniers, now in their proper places, we were free to stretch our legs about town, the fresh air a welcome antidote to our 6-hour-drive-induced drowsiness. Sandpoint, as some may know and others are about to learn, is a quaint little stopover on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille, the second-largest lake west of the Mississippi. This is a town that falls into Gina’s bucket of “super cute” towns, with its classic main street, outdoorsy vibe, and heaps of recreational opportunities upon its doorstep. There is a lake that’s not too cold to swim or learn how to paddle board in, nearby mountains high enough for skiing and snowshoeing, bike trails coming in and out of town, and a fantastic Italian restaurant with a nice bartender serving big pours. This earns Sandpoint two thumbs up from us.
02 Sept 2012
Sandpoint ID 19 miles (TNV 19 miles)
It’s breakfast time here at the La Quinta and never have I seen nor heard so many screaming children hanging off their chairs, crowding the waffle station, or just generally causing a ruckus that’s giving the Fox News broadcast blaring across the room a run for its money, all while I try to enjoy my first cup of coffee. Maybe I should have hijacked the coffee pot and run around the hotel looking for a secret outlet that would make the morning’s brew mine all mine, as I hear that’s the latest craze in how to avoid people while still ensuring you get your morning hit. Or maybe the chaos into which we have walked is why some folk refuse to venture out on the roads until after Labor Day. I can see (and mostly hear) why this might be a good idea.
It’s an Off Day in Sandpoint but since we haven’t started the actual bike tour yet, this Off Day is instead an On Day, a day to get the front racks on the bikes and our bums on the saddles, yesterday having taken a sedentary toll that can only be cured by cycling the trails around town. Sure, we could opt instead to go sit by the lake and read a book or drink cocktails but what fun would that be if we hadn’t ridden all day to get there? No fun, according to Gina. And hence we ride, up and down the the town-side creek and out and back to Idaho’s version of Seabrook (aka, Dover Bay Resort). Only 19 miles but enough to warm up the legs, make sure the racks aren’t rattling and the brakes aren’t rubbing, and had we not enjoyed so much wine the night before and didn’t have panniers to GET ORGANIZED before tomorrow’s big start, make it a cocktail-worthy day.
