Day 46 – We Fought the Heat and the Heat Won!

The talks of the hot weather that was supposed to hit ID caused us to find a café and what time it opened. We decided to get up at 6:30 and eat at 7:00. Morning came and I was up by 5:50 because of the time change. We hooked up the trailer, dressed and were ready for the day by 6:30 so we decided to hit the road and eat breakfast 25 miles down the road. This worked out well and although outside of the normal routine, we loved getting some miles out of the way. We enjoyed this driveway that we passed along the road.

Parking on one side of the river and riding a cable trolley across the river to your house sounds romantic but Dad and I decided it would get old after a while. It obviously was a necessity for this person.

We entered the Nez Perse Indian Reservation, where we spent most of the day, and ate in the city of Kooskia, ID.


The Rivers Café had good food and had a bulletin board with pictures showing the destruction of the local wolf packs. They killed a bull moose and elk but rather than eating all of it like most animals they just eat the head and the ham meats and leave the rest. The locals obviously want to be able to shoot the wolves to get them under control but they are on the endangered list and so this would be illegal.

We got back on the road and continued down stream to the city of Kamiah, ID where we had a huge decision to make. There were two routes to our destination city of Clarkston, WA. The one would be hotter, 20 miles longer, and a lot of traffic. It would have better roads though. The other would be 65 miles of winding roads with little to no shoulder (with friendly concrete barriers providing no way of escape if someone did try to run us over) and heavy traffic, which would include log trucks with no regard for human life let alone those on bicycles who are detaining them from their all important deadlines. Decision, decisions. We chose the road more traveled and it truly made all the difference. Robert Frost would not be very pleased with our decision.
We paused for a moment and asked the LORD to grant us safety according and jumped on highway 12 and followed the Clearwater River all the way to Clarkston, WA. It was a very busy and winding road. We tanked up with water in Orofino, ID.

People discovered gold in the hills around this city and gave the city its name. It comes from two Spanish words, “oro” meaning gold, and “fino” meaning fine! Am I right Senora Behrends?
The day was getting hotter and we needed more and more water. The sun was beating down on our backs. The water that we carry on our backs stayed relatively cool while our hoses carrying the water to our mouths stayed sterile since it didn’t take long for it to boil in the sun. This made it unpleasant to drink and required a conscious decision to drink in order to stay hydrated. It paid off and we kept our body temps down long enough to get us to Spaulding, ID. We met the girls there for lunch and while we were in the car eating, the thermometer telling the outside temp read 121°. It was probably not this hot out in actuality but it felt like it. We were going here to visit another Nez Perse National Museum.

It was neat to see the artifacts and to hear more of their background (even though I slept through some of the movie).
We dragged ourselves back to our bikes and finished the final 11 miles with a deliberately relaxed pace. No need to be in a hurry in this heat.

We passed through the city of Lewiston, ID and then crossed the Snake River into Clarkston, WA.


What unique names. Where did they come up with them? At the end of the day everyone needed something cold to drink, even the dog! Good job Annamarie!

The evening cooled to about 80° by 11:00 when I curled into my nice cool bed with air conditioning. Roughing it is so nice! Thank the LORD for the little things and the big things. We paused at the end of the day and praised the LORD for the safety that he so graciously granted us this day. I often pray for safety so I need to also and as often thank Him when He does so faithfully give me what I ask for.