7/27/19  

Short day.

Took a leisurely breakfast at Connie’s then hit the road around 8:30.  For the first 5.5 miles we were on a bike path.  These are always nice once you find them.  We had to search around Sandpoint for a while until be found the entry.  The sign tipped us off when it said “No Motor Vehicles”.

The path took us across Lake Pend Oreille on an old abandon highway bridge.  It was a little rough but it was safely separated from the new bridge that had a fair amount of traffic on it.  We hated to lose bike the path because, as you might guess, we were on the highway shoulder and close to the traffic on highway 95 for the next 4.5 miles.

Then we turned on Dufort Road  which was a paved county road.  Traffic was lighter but there wasn’t much of a shoulder.  The road had some rolling hills with little elevation gains.  All the time we just kept thinking “it is a short day”.  Most of the time we ran parallel to Lake Pend Oreille so it was a beautiful ride.

Just as we rode into Newport we entered the State of Washington.  There wasn’t any sign so the Newport WA sign will have to do.

We immediately went to get something to eat and we found an authentic Mexican Restaurant.  We hadn’t had any kind of Mexican food this trip so we really enjoyed the change.

Then to the showers.  We were hurrying a bit because we are not the only bike ride staying at the Newport United Church of Christ.  We are sharing the church with Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults so there will be about 50 bikers staying here tonight.

Then off to get Ice Cream at Owen’s Grocery, Deli, and Soda Fountain.  Right out of the 1930s.  I had a banana split with 3 scoops of ice cream.  This place brought back many memories of my old home town.

As of this writing I have been informed that there is a welcome to Washington sign which I will add to my post tomorrow.