Ride into a Rainy Afternoon

The day started out chilly, in the 40’s, and cloudy.  We have a wonderful little space heater besides the dog to keep us warm.  Joe left a little before 8 am for his 52-mile ride.    

We had a wonderful stay at Cedar RV Park and Sasquatch Crossing in Ione, WA.  The owners are very helpful and Meredith is a fellow biker and talked with Joe about the upcoming route.  He took LeClerc road today, whereas the RV took Hwy 20 to Newport.  Joe passed some stones that reminded him of Stonehenge, which is appropriate what with the summer solstice just occurring.  He rode on the Kalispell Indian Reservation and saw a herd of buffalo.  Luckily, they were fenced in, unlike some of the dogs he’s met on his travels.  He does have pepper spray handy if needed, but so far, a firm “NO!” has done the trick.   That is, honestly, one of my greatest fears and I’m very thankful for fenced in watch dogs.  Joe passed into Idaho today for a bit before returning to Washington and our stay at Newport.  He was less than a couple miles from Newport when he was looped into a video call with family.  His phone was in his pocket, so he wasn’t able to see the group, but he was able to hear some of the conversation.  He mentioned Thomas talking about how he found it hard to go down a hill instead of just up hills. 

Our current RV site is seated among the pine trees.  It started to rain soon after we arrived and it has been a nice steady rain ever since. Joe and Neptune had a nice nap after a little lunch.  We looked for a place to hike, but when we got there, it was still raining pretty hard, so we didn’t even get out of the truck.  It was Upper Wolf Trailhead for anyone who passes through and is looking for a short hike.  By the way, Neptune does not seem to be missing his afternoon hike.  He is perfectly happy sleeping on his bed in the cozy RV.

The next best thing was to find a nice Irish bar.  Which we did.  We went to Kelly’s Bar and Grille on 4^th St. and enjoyed a couple games and an IPA with our dinner.  Joe had the Kelly Burger and I had the Taco Salad.  We both have more than enough left overs for dinner tomorrow.  We got a kick out of the place and the history.  It’s the 2^nd oldest continuously running bar in Washington, the wooden bar was made in Chicago, at one time there was a bear in the now kitchen, etc.  A good story, and you know how we Irish appreciate a good tale. We have a few photos of our dinner and the rainy day. We’ve also added a PDF of the menu front for your reading pleasure. 

Tomorrow may or may not be rainy.  Hopefully we’ll get enough rain to clean off the truck but stop before the morning ride.