Allison surprised us with a map of our accomplishment so far. You can see the detour we had to make south, at the red dotted line, because of Loup Loup Pass being closed. One state down and over 500 miles bicycled. Yippee!!!

Leona also surprised us with a bag of goodies her daughter thought we needed from the local health food store. HOW NICE!!!

Rest days are all about maintenance, cleaning, laundry and RESTING . . .  The bod REALLY needs some down time after climbing like we did. I slept until 7:00am and only woke up because the sun was beating on my tent so intensely! Above is one reason you need to routinely check all connections. This rack bolt on my left front pannier was just about out and GONE.

Some do laundry in camp . . .

. . . while Doc Mike and Allen headed down to the local laundermat. And it was time to tool around town a bit.

BIG weekend in town for yard sales. In Sandpoint, they have a unique way of advertising them by clumping the signs on street corners every three or for blocks apart!

Quite the tree house under construction. Looks like the owner may have run out of energy . . .

Great murals around town painted by local artists on fences. This one must have something to do with killer bees!!!

Exotic!!

I was on a shopping mission for a new bowl and towel. My old Shuttleguy bowl had cracked and every time I had cereal with milk or oatmeal with hot water I had it running down my arm . . .

. . . a trip to Safeway produced this little kit made by Rubbermaid and “Mom Approved’!!!!. Denise told us anything you use on a trip should have two purposes. So . . . I will use this for my nightly meal, and then carry my sandwiches during the day AND per Allison’s suggestion also use it for holding leftovers when you go out to eat. Of course she weighs about 90 pounds dripping wet and may have leftovers when she eats out. For me  . . .  the the case is not the same in the weight department or leftovers department!!!

I’ll ditch the blue cold pack. Too heavy and no refrigeration!!!

Sandpoint is hopping with tourists and the city has a great beach for them to use . . .

. . . of course at this time of the year the water is still cold. Didn’t stop the kids from jumping in and splashing around.

I saw this chopper on the way into town yesterday and stopped by today to take a photo.  As a kid, the  Sikorsky helicopter was one of my favorite models so it was neat to see one in person.  This one had never seen combat but had flown in Europe AND WITH THE WISCONSIN NATIONAL GUARD!!! A sign said the local VFW had acquired it to restore and bring awareness to the importance of helicopter use in battles. Looks like enthusiasm and fund raising  must have evaporated for this project.

Soon it was time for lunch and a bunch of us settled in at the Pie Hut. a place Doc Mike was nice enough to sample yesterday to make sure it was ACA worthy.

I had the #3 special which was half a sandwich, a bowl of soup and a slice of any pie. The soup was Dill Pickle! Hugh and I were interested and were provided a sample. We both went for it!!!

A bowl and half a Cubano sandwich quickly appeared . . .

Now which pie . . . ????

. . . which of course are all handmade,onsite, in the back by Jenny . . .

. . . I chose the chocolate peanut butter cream. YUMMYYY!!!

Happy bikers with full tummies!

The owner, Heather, stopped over to make sure everything was OK . . .  Hugh thought the rhubarb pie he had was the BEST he had ever tasted and it nearly brought a tear to his eye . . .

. . . in fact, there was only one piece left in the tin so he bought it for his dessert tonight!!!

I still needed a new towel. We ‘rented’ towels at the club yesterday for 50 cents and it brought back what a nice feeling it is to towel off after a hot shower with a full size towel rather than an hand towel sized one like the one I bought for this trip at REI.

So . . . of to 40 North Outfitters, three miles north of us in Puderay. Very much like our Farm & Fleet but bigger and with more stuff!!

On the way I passed this cool roadside coffee stop. Closed today . . .

On the way I passed this cool roadside coffee stop. Closed today . . .

. . . even had a handle!!!

In the ‘camping department’ there were four aisles of ammo  . . something for everyone and every purpose!!!

. . . but I was after a regular size micro fiber towel (not chamois like) that as you can see is MUCH larger than the current version, and still 5X more absorbent than cotton. It may seem like silly thing but on the road it is the simple things that make your day.

Tomorrow we are back on the road to  Clark Fork, ID and then on to Libby, MT the next day. FORWARD!!!