Last night I was pleased to read that the area in between the Bitterroot Mountains and the Sierras, the area I entered today, were protected by rain shadow. However, today, I followed the Selway river to Kooskia in constant light warm rain. The valley was narrow and the road followed along the bank of the river for every twist and turn. For about 70 miles there were no services and the road did not leave the river once. Instead of the valley opening into farmland and towns like in the Bitterroot, here the river widened and the banks remained narrow, with barely enough room for buildings.
I arrived in Kooskia to meet Laurie, a cyclist who leads bike tours for different companies. She has a second house in Kosskia and welcomes cyclists to stay. After showing me around, she trustingly left me to my own devices for the night. (I managed to do laundry for the third time during the trip, and the first since Colorado Springs.) I then met Tom and Therese Jessie Faller-Parrets parents, I think my biggest fans, for dinner. They began feeding me during rowing races over four years ago, and they now are meeting me in the middle of Idaho for much needed drinks- what a amazing people! The speciity of the restaurant was chicken fried steak, reminding me of the earlier days in the trip. Our waitress was so terribly efferfessant that we were not sure if she was going to offer us food or offer to share her pile of meth.
In case you missed the news, I changed the last leg of my route quite significantly from what I had planned originally. I am cutting out Oregon, and instead going through southern Washington via Dayton, Richland, Yakma, and then over the Sierra Mountains before heading north. I am about a week away from Seattle, my aunt and uncles place, and my daunting return to life.
You're racking in some big miles there boy! All the pictures look phenomenal! Wahhhooooo IDAHO :)
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