This morning we woke up in the Ruby Creek Lodge. This was my favorite stop that we’ve had this for. A beautiful area and lodge run by two really nice ladies, Peggy and Susan. They prepared us amazing breakfast of huckleberry French toast sandwiches and amazing deviled eggs.

When we told him our plan, they mentioned that they were headed to Newport which is about 40 miles away and on her route. They graciously offered to drive the car there so Caroline could ride the first 40 miles with me rather than just an out and back.

So, we set off at about 8 AM and road next to the Pend Orielle River. As you can probably already tell from the description I was in a much better mood today and feeling better. And then, the amazing happened. I crossed into Idaho and out of Washington!

Washington was really beautiful, but I am more than elated to have it in my rearview mirror and moving on. I continued on from Newport to Sandpoint Idaho where I met Caroline for some lunch. I was planning on being done, but since it was still pretty early in the day and I was feeling good, I decided to write on a little longer. I ended up riding to Clark Fork, Idaho… An additional 27 miles down the road.

That makes my day tomorrow a little less daunting since it’s supposed to be super hot and it was going to be 100 mile day tomorrow. Today was beautiful and it was also pretty flat. It renewed my confidence that when these massive passes are over, I will get a little reprieve in the plains.

Feeling good and man, this part of Idaho is absolutely gorgeous. Sandpoint is definitely a spot I will want to return to. I was able to end the day at a little beach in Sandpoint to cool off and let the muscles recover.