Closer to home

Central Washington. We're almost to the coast! The journey has been long and difficult at times, but we're almost there. Almost to the ocean that's been my neighbor for the last few years. The Pacific Ocean is less than 200 miles away, then we'll be riding along the coast all the way to San Francisco. 

The western edge of Montana, all of Idaho, and eastern Washington were beautiful, but were filled with a less than welcoming people. The last cool towns were Columbia Falls and Whitefish. Those towns are worth the visit. And now the black-list, Eureka, Libby, Clark Fork, Sandpoint, Newport, and Colville. I would be happy to never step foot in that part of the country again. We were never in danger or put in conflict but the people we encountered were hicks, meth-heads, or generally disagreeable characters. Thank goodness we've made it to where the ranchers and hippies get along, and where people are hospitible again. Tonasket, WA offered us a cyclist-only campsite and a visitor center with several bubbly, enthusiastic, and caring women that work there. Shortly after Tonasket, we were caught by a rain storm and stopped to hide out in the shade when a woman named Emily, a name that seems to regularly precede a nice heart, invited us into her house to wait out the storm and let us put our clothes in the dryer. She also told us that some of the bad vibes we got in Idaho could be because of the white supremicists there. Yikes!! 

Good thing we're past that area, and onto the Cascades. 

The maps we're using have an elevation profile chart that looks like an EKG reading. 

There are four major mountains we cross in the Cascades, Sherman Pass 5,575', Wauconda Pass 4,310', Loup Loup Pass 4,020', and Washington Pass 5,477'. Okanogan is the last town we were in, and we're just over the top of Loup Loup Pass. We've conquered three and have one more pass to go. We've also been told more than once that the two western passes, the ones we're in, are the most breath-taking part of the Cascades. 

Well we're at over 3100 miles and counting.