This morning we went to see the Ross Creek Ciders. These were not quite as big as I was expecting but still they were pretty big.

We cycled on to Libby stopping at a very well maintained rest area with lots of shelters tables and grass, it would have made a great camping spot.

We are warmshowing again in Libby and our hosts recommended stopping off at Kootenia falls and swing bridge these were both very good with the swing bridge swinging a lot when we went on it.

We cycled on to our hosts and had a lovely dinner kindly prepared. The salad was good it is something that is very hard to carry around and it doesn’t keep well!

After dinner we headed to the Rodeo this was the first Rodeo I have ever been to it it was very interesting and entertaining. Lots happened fairly quickly so it was hard to tell at first what was going on but there was bull riding, cow catching and amongst other things a children’s boot race, one boot is left in the middle and you have to find it and run back to the start.

There where a lot of Rodeo rules so it was hard to tell a good bull rider from a bad one but it was a good night. So far america is treating us well.

27.7.11

I didn’t write anything yesterday as there was no phone signal at the campsite and it wasn’t a very exciting. We left the bike hostel and said goodbye to the cyclist we met the day before going a similar way to us.

We met another cyclist going the other direction and we stopped for a little chat. He said that there were too Canadians a bit further ahead of us.

We carried on cycling it was still a little hill but it has flattened out a lot and after Ione we followed a river. We carried on until we got to a campground. This was on the river bank and more focused for RVs than tents but we found a grassy spot. At $16 it was pretty expensive but it was not the end of the world. Whilst we were paying the lady told us that we were in bear country and that we should keep all our food in the toilet. We did this.

The next day 28.7.11

Today we entered Idaho the potato state. This was the flatest day we have had so far we were on some nice roads that were very quiet. We had a bit of a long stretch on some gravel top road that was not very nice, but apart from that it was a good days ride.

We met with the Canadian cyclists that the other ride we met yesterday met up with and headed into Sandpoint. After that we went on to our warm showers hosts that live in an amazing house with great views. It is very comfortable and it was good talking with them.

The day after the 29.7.11 there still hasn’t been much phone signal or wifi around so this post just keeps getting bigger and bigger!

Today we carried on along the route it was fairly flat as we were following a lake then a river. We met up with the Canadian cyclists again a couple of time on the road.

We stop and got some food and water, headed off again. We went off the route a little so that we can have a look at some big cedar trees tomorrow. Our first camping stop was abandoned due to not enough flat ground we found another spot, which seems to be okay. We think that you are allowed to camp anywhere in a National Forest. I have seen quite a few VW beetles in the states, but very few land cruisers.

After breakfast and saying goodbye to our hosts we headed off up Sherman Pass. Yet another climb this one seemed to go on for a long while.

It was fairly cloudy and then it started to rain.

We got to the top of the pass, and after a spot of lunch the rain really came down. It rained so much it stung a bit. The waterproofs did there best but they just aren’t that waterproof when the rain is so intense.

We got stopped for a long while at some road works and then had to cycle in a convoy. It was still raining. We made it to the bottom of the hill and the crossing of the Columbia River the second largest in the USA.

We head through Kettle Falls and on to Colville in the rain. We got some supplies in Wallmart, this one seemed nicer and emptier than the first one we went to. As we left the store the weather started to brighten up, it turned into a nice evening.

After this we headed through town to a free bike hostel. It is the top level of a farm house. It is very nicely furnished, and very good. I cannot believe it is free. It is nice to sit down and relax.

We awoke to the sound of sprinklers at 7am. They had the lawn pretty much covered so I just managed to close my tent door before too much rain got in! Then we had to play dodge the sprinklers whilst we unloaded our tents and took them down and moved them to another lawn with no sprinklers to dry off.

After breakfast we headed to the IGA for some lunch and water.

We head on past the post office where I bought some stamps and sent a few bits home that I no longer wanted to carry around. A t-shirt and shorts and some leaflets.

As we left the post office a man came up to us and asked us if we preferred roller top panniers or flip over panniers we have both. In the end we decided that flip over were better and easier to use etc.

He told us a bit about his bike touring etc and about a band that tour on bikes and have the audience peddle them to generate the power. They were called the Ginger Ninjas. He also offered and gave us some useful advice about Cliffs camera lens and possible solutions to getting a new one.

After this we headed of fairly late the climb started pretty much straight away. The rain a little later.

We carried on to Wauconda where we had lunch in a general store and had a good chat with a group of 5 recumbent cyclists. They were very friendly and were riding park of the northern tier route. Hopefully we will be able to stay with them later on in the trip, as they possible live on the route we going to take.

After this and drinking a lot of bottomless coffee we headed out into the rain up to the peak and then down into republic by this time it was pretty rainy so the decent was not that fast, but it was still fun. We stopped a lot for the loo due to all the coffee.

In Republic we found our warmshowers hosts house and had a shower a lovely dinner and learnt a lot about gold mining that still happens in the area and also generally a bit more about the general area.

Its raining outside still its nice to be indoors.

Today despite the rain was a good day we met a lot of lovely friendly people who I don’t think we would have ever met if we were not travelling by bike. I think there is something about a bike with loads of stuff on it that makes people want to talk to you.

Sorry the pictures today aren’t to good it was raining so I didn’t get my camera out much.

So after coffee and granola we left the comfortable house and head off into the heat. Stopping a little down the road at the washwork to check our emails before heading off again.

There was a lot of climbing, we past a parking area for cross country skying.

The downhill was pretty nice and long. Whilst going down I thought it probable made up for the up hill but later on I thought it might be nicer if it was a little longer.

We stopped in a town park which also doubles up as a campsite. A lot of people we driving up and using the 50 cent shower. I am not really sure why maybe it was a really good shower.

We visited a massive wallmart in the next town. It was big and the food was cheap. It wasn’t very nice in there, although it wasn’t too bad really.

We carried on riding and ended up in Tonasket. We rode out of the town but did not find anywhere suitable riding back into the town, Cliff asked a lady watering some plants if she knew of anywhere to camp. She said that cyclists had be camping behind the information centre. So this is where we are for the night. It is pretty pleasant.

So far the mobile phone signal in america has been pretty bad, luckily there is free wifi all over the place.

Today we spent the day in Twisp, buying some food and visiting the washworks Laundry. It was good to get these jobs done.

The weather is now really sunny, hopefully it will stay this way. The town seems nice fairly small but most things that could be needed are here.

The picture attached is of the road we rode on yesterday.

Woken to rain we left Rockport after meaning a puncture on my rear wheel, which delayed us a little.

We headed out of Rockport buying some bread at the general store. Stopping at the Northern Cascades Visitors Centre in Newhalem to eat out lunch. The weather was a bit changeable sometimes good sometimes bad. It got a lot better after our lunch stop. We cycled on and found a steam train that had been used help move stuff for the building a hydroelectric power-station.

After cycling on a little way we heard somebody calling us it was our hosts for our stay in Lake Stevens. They had very kindly come on a drive out and brought us some lunch. We eat some there and then and took some with us. We said our goodbyes and head off.

The climb was long and hard and raining and there was also some down as we were going up which is always depressing. We made it to Rainy Pass 4855 feet 1480 meters. This was a little rest area with quite a bit of snow on the ground. We stopped cycling at about 8pm this is the latest ever. We cooked dinner in the shelter of the toilet, that later became Cliff bedroom. I opted to sleep in my tent.

It was pretty cold at the top of the mountain but I put all my clothes on and it was warm enough.

I slept well I think this mainly due to how tired I was other than the comfort of our surroundings.

TODAY

Coffee was good we cycled down a bit and then up to Washington Pass 5477 feet 1669 meters. We stopped to look at the view it was closed for some construction work but we carefully managed to see the view.

The downhill was good and long, we put more clothes on to keep warm from the wind chill. We arrived in Mazama and had a look around a good but pricey general store. Carrying on to Winthrop which looked like disneyland but I think it was just an old town, and could have done with a roundabout at the big junction. There were a lot of motorbikes in town due to the Tumbleweed Run Motorcycle Ralley.

We carried on Twisp where we are staying with a warmshowers person. The house is a lovely cottage a bit away from the town. We are going to head into the town for some food, beer and wifi.

We are now at the Twisp Pub enjoying some wifi about to eat some food and drink some beer. The pub is pretty nice so far well the water we have got is good.

So far the landscape in america is very big big mountains big rivers, big skys. It some places it looks unreal like a film set almost. The mountains were pretty spectacular and the downhill

In America they make the beer cold. The beer pictured is a Oatmeal Stout, Rolled oats add richness to this smooth dark ale.

Today we started of cycling with our host from Lake Stevens. The first part of the route was alone another new trail that had been recently opened.

We stopped at a small town IGA the same supermarket we shopped at a bit in Australia.

We said good bye to our host, and cycled on highway 530 until we got to Rockport. We were planning to wildcamp but found a reasonably price campsite, after visiting a local store and petrol station.

After a basic pasta dinner we headed to local pub, we were surprised that it had free wifi. There has been limited phone signal so far.

Tomorrow we will head up highway 20 into the mountains. I think it will be lots of climbing.

So far america has been friendly to us, tonight there were a few too many insects. Beer in america is better than I was expecting.

You can see that as we upgraded in Australia we have also upgraded in the USA and now got a car and caravan, hopefully it will make the hills tomorrow a little easier.

Yesterday we started cycling out of Seattle. It looked like a nice city but navigation was pretty hard work, until we got onto the interurban trail. This was a bike path that used to be an old tram track it was fairly well signed and looked pretty new. The route took us north and we headed to Lake Stevens.

In Lake Stevens we are staying with some warmshowers people. After taking a shower we sat down to a lovely meal. The people we are staying with amongst lots of other things that do the catering for the American Adventure Cyclist supported bike tours.

Today we are doing a bit of washing and some route planning as well as well as heading to the Lake Stevens shopping area to get a haircut and maybe some supplies.

We have returned Cliff has no hair and my beard is a little tidier. I have been reading a lot of the adventure cyclists magazine called go the distance it is pretty good read apart from it is very bike focused.

We had another good dinner before bed getting ready to start our ride again tomorrow, it will be the first night camping in a while.

So after spending some time in Tokyo we said good bye to Cliffs father at the airport and boarded our flight to Seattle via LAX. The Singapore airlines flight was very nice on a new massive plane there were a lot of films to pick from and the food was okay. The only annoyance was not having to climb over and sleeping person to get to the toilet.

On my last day in Tokyo I went to the Edo national museum which had a lot of building reconstructions from the Edo period. Thinking I was booking myself on a complimentary group tour I got a free individual tour of the museum which was very informative and saved me the effort of reading the information boards.

At the museum there was also a temporary exhibit on the 100 years transport history of Tokyo all of this was in Japanese so most of it was lost in translation.

So now we are in Seattle and staying with someone from warmshowers who has a great bike shop where we changed our cassettes and chains.

The time difference is a bit crazy so I slept pretty well last night but I think this was more down to tiredness rather than anything else.

Today we are doing a bit of shopping maps etc before heading off tomorrow. We shopped at safeways and are now members it saved us four dollars.

We stop at a fastfood restaurant call Jack in a Box and had a big or maybe it was called massive chicken sandwich before cycling back to our hosts house passing over a bridge which gave us a good view of Seattle city centre.

We are now watching snakes on a plane!