So this is actually the same blog trip but part II. Therefore I have decided that I will renumber the days regardless of the fact that we have been living out of suitcases for 90 days. We were home for the month of August as I mentioned so this is part II of the trip because we are now actually starting the trip with just us and for us. This is our journey home, with all of the adventures we hope to have and new great memories we want to make. So...Day 1 started off with unexpected gifts and just kept giving all day.
Yesterday we rode down to Grand Forks to stay with our friends Doug and Jane...after a great evening of catching up and BBQ, we asked our friends who are familiar with roads to the south, what roads they would recommend. After several "oh this is a great road" and "you would love this area" they finally just said, you will love whatever route you decide to take....they were not wrong.
We get up this morning, and review some roads with questions over breakfast. As we are packing up to leave, I come out to the bike with "stuff" to load to find Doug and Larry with my top case doing what appears to be surgery...in fact, the day previous I discovered that the wires that control the brake lights on my top case had pulled free. Doug is fixing it for me....he does a fine job and his surgical techniques and those of his nurse do not escape me. However as we are testing we find a couple of other minor "issues" with the breaking lights and break lever to which Doug makes fast fix of as well. It is a real skill to be able to look at something and just fix it. Also got all my connectors lubed at the same time! Doug and Jane were our first "gift" today in more ways than one.
When we finally got away it was around 11 am which was only an hour later than we anticipated. We arrived later at our final destination in Soap Lake but oh it was sooo worth the ride!
Gift 2 came as we crossed the border. The border agent was super nice and even provided recommendations and confirmation that the routes we were taking would be amazing. We proceeded along the way through winding roads along Highway 21. We followed this road along the Kettle River to Curlew but the only straight parts were never longer than half a kilometre. We stopped in Republic for a break and a quick bite and then continued along the 21 but this time we followed the Sanpoil River to the Keller Ferry. We met a few other bikers on the ferry heading back to Spokane and had a nice chat as we crossed.
Gift 3 came as we got off the Ferry and continued along the 21....after crossing the Columbia River, this gift was the one that kept on giving in a ton of different ways all the way to the Grand Coulee Dam. Our next change in direction was to be Wilbur for reference, but we didn't stop there at all.
As we came off the ferry and proceeded along our chosen route, this took us up along some really cool switch backs...at certain turns we could see the expanse of the Columbia River or look down to see all the turns we just made. Some of these turns were 180 degrees (very sharp ones) and the early turns had a recommended speed of 25 mph. It is hard to describe what it is like riding your bike around these corners...you are definitely at a lower speed but you also have to keep the speed up because you are leaned and the turn is on the up grade so it is in essence like a banked turn....a very sharp banked turn. As we got higher the recommended speed was 15 mph...which means they were even sharper and higher. It had been recommended that we stop at a pull out at the top of this to take pictures but of course in all of our excitement and gawking we missed it.
As we reached the top we were met with what is referred to as a high prairie....and that is exactly what it was...fields upon fields upon fields of crops that have already been harvested, golden and everywhere you looked there were dust devils including one that crossed the road in front of us. What an amazing contradiction to the first part of the ride up the side of the mountain to find flat prairie at the top! We turned at Wilbur onto Hwy 174 heading to Grand Coulee Dam. This road was straight as an arrow and just paved. It black pavement was in strong contrast to the golden fields however the road flowed like a ribbon and the landscape still made for an amazing ride.
We started the ascent and turned onto Highway 155 towards the Grand Coulee Dam..while a really Coulee spot, it was probably the least exciting part of the day....still really exciting but the next part....well lets just say we made 3 stops in the next 80 kms from Grand Coulee to Soap Lake.....Gift 4 was the best part of the day.
Gift 4 along Hwy 155 was totally unexpected. We were in Washington State...mountains and hills, trees and lakes were expected but the rock crops and roads and well let's just say...the pictures don't in any way do it justice. Just when we thought this was the coolest part of our day, we see Dry Falls....yup...Dry Falls. You need to Google this. During the Ice Age, this is reported to have been the largest waterfall in the world. It is amazing to see and it is easy to imagine this area as a waterfall. The striking part of this ride is that it is more reminiscent of landscape you might see in Arizona. It has the feel and look of the Grand Canyon and totally not what we expected.
Gift 5 was our stop in Soap Lake. This is a small town and we managed a room at the Soap Lake Resort and Spa. On another day it would be great to take advantage of everything it has to offer but tonight, given that we arrived later than our usual time for the end of the day, it will have to wait perhaps for another time.
Day 1....has been absolutely amazing! Pics will have to be updated tomorrow as I can't seem to get them loaded. Wifi and cellular seem to be in short supply and not that strong...but if I have to make the choice about the roads we travelled and coverage....these roads are worth every little of bandwidth I don't have for other things.
Til tomorrow, when we can. hopefully get some photos uploaded.
We are so happy that you enjoyed the ride!! :)
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