day 91, Twisp, WA 32 miles

Conquered Loup Loup Pass today! Left Okanogan bright and early, and after 4 and 1/2 hours, 20 miles, 3200' of elevation gain, 2 bananas, 4 peanut butter cookies, 3 granola bars, one bag of cheesy rice crisps, a half pound of cheddar cheese, 2 applications of butt butter, and 120 oz. of water we reached the top!

As we took the celebratory photos by the sign announcing the summit, we discovered an inscribed rock left at the signpost by another cyclist. On it was the picture of a bicycle and the words "worth it right?".

A delightful 8 miles of 6% grade followed, during which we had some great views of the north Cascades. In no time we had checked in at the Blue Spruce Motel in Twisp, our reward for a job well done!

day 90, Okanogan, 33 mi (4014 total)

Today's highlight was surpassing the 4000 mile mark near Omak. We were hoping to camp up at Leader Lake, which would have partially broken up tomorrow's climb, but we learned there was no running water there and the Lake is too skanky to swim in. So we've opted for the town park, 10 miles shy of our goal for the day, which has flush toilets and showers.

This made for a short day, luckily I have a good book to read and Stephanie has her Ipod fully charged to play Solitaire. Just had a good lunch at the Taco wagon, judging by the crowd here, the best place to eat in town.

During my daily post-ride "spin check" of the wheels I discovered a little slop in the rear wheel bearings, so we dissassembled the rear axle, regreased, and tightened things up. Voila! Ready for the last 200 miles!

day 89, Tonasket, WA 58 miles (3980 total)

Woke up to a very chilly morning, but got warmed up with the breakfast of hot oatmeal, muffins, and coffee brought out by our campground host. Soon we were on the road and warming up along the Kettle River on our way to Wauconda, with easy grades the miles were flying behind us. We stopped at the grave site of Ranald Macdonald, guess he ate one too many of those hashbrowns himself. Actually he lived back in the 1800's, and was best known by his adventures to Japan. At the time, the country was closed to outsiders, but he was so intrigued by the culture that he purposely "shipwrecked" himself close to the mainland from a whaling ship,(after he invented the "McBlubber" of course), as was taken prisoner by the Japanese. There he taught english for several years, before venturing on to Australia and eventually back to Washington State. His plan would have gone much smoother if only his high school had an "Eastern Studies Program".

Our turn onto "Toroda Creek Rd" started innocently enough, more good pavement, no traffic, and easy grades. About 12 miles froom Wauconda the road turned to loose, fresh gravel, not much fun on a fully-loaded tandem even with 35 cc tires. The grades steepened too and a headwind began to develop. Needless to say, by the time we collapsed at the Wauconda diner we were whooped!

After some great food, coffee, and dessert we decided to push on to Tonasket (another 24 miles but pretty much all downhill). Here we have checked in to the local motel and are living the good life!

day 88, Curlew, WA 35 miles

Conquered the first of three passes left, Boulder Creek Pass, elevation 4600', not too high as passes go out west, but we started at only 1600', so it was a long 12 miles nonetheless. We took this one as an alternate to doing both Sherman and Wauconda Passes, even though it added almost 20 miles and took us north close to the British Columbia border. At the top we took the celebratory photos, complete with our makeshift prayer flags (sweaty bandanas).

Next was a wild and fast 8 mile downhill to Curlew, where we spent the night at "The bike camp and breakfast", where Stephanie experienced her first "solar shower". the water temperature was just right!

day 87, Boyds , WA 26 Mi

A goof off day, intentionally and strategically done to position us at base camp for the assault up Boulder Creek Pass. Our prayer flags are ready.

Today's Highlights included:
-starbucks coffee and donuts from Safeway for breakfast
-the use of a real full-size computer keyboard at the Colville library
-a visit to the Colville laundrymat, which draws the most domesticated men per capita in the world, thanks to the installation of several Pinball tables. (don't fret girls, their TV has a direct hi-def feed from the "Soap Opera" channel)
-lunch at "Park Place"with the lively Rotary Club of Colville
-at visit to the Kettle Falls Historical Center (the actual "falls" are now under several hundred feet of Lake Roosevelt's waters thanks to the Grand Coulee Dam)
-crossing the Columbia River (Lake Roosevelt)
-drag racing a train along Rt. 395 (and we won)

day 86, Colville, WA 38 miles

After a hearty breakfast at the "Cabin" diner outside of Ione, we began climbing the long series of switchbacks that would take us west out of the Pend Oreille watershed and into the valleys of the Columbia. This is just a warm up of what is looming ahead of us in the North Cascades!

After going over the hump, we stopped at a general store by a lake dotted with camps. There we conversed with part of a group of a dozen "kid" cyclists (at 50 plus we are probably twice the age of the typical bike tourist) who were headed to Missoula. They confessed of sleeping late and had stopped in for a late breakfast of ice cream novelties.

We also stopped for pictures at the scenic overlook of Crystal Falls, a nice cool, shady cascade which gave us some relief from the increasingly hot afternoon.

Just outside of Colville we found Barry and Shelley's bike hostel, featuring a freezer stocked with 3 different flavors of ice cream (inc. "Tillamook Mudslide!"). Showers, soft mattress. kitchen- and it's all free! These guys rock!

day 85, Ione, WA (52 mi)

After ordering the "big breakfast" at McDonalds, Stephanie made the grave error of consuming one of those deep fried hockey pucks (aka "hash browns"). This would come back to haunt her just a couple miles out of town at the summit of "Hashbrown Hill". If you hurry you may still see the remnants of the "historical marker".

That out of the way and Stephanie feeling better, we resumed our relatively level ride along the Pend Oreille River under blue skies, arriving in Ione by mid-afternoon. Time for a shower and nap at the campground...as soon as we finish our burgers, chocolate cake, and coffee at the grocery store's food court!

While relaxing in our lawn chairs at the campground, what we thought was one of the RV'ers passing gas turned out to be the spontaneous rupturing of our rear inner tube. That's flat tire #5 for those of you in Lake Placid who have a financial interest in the welfare of our rubber components.