A Meeting with the West Coast

First off let me apologize for my laziness in updating this. I easily lose track of how long it's been since my last post.

So I suppose last you heard I was leaving Kalispell, MT, stocked up on turkey sandwiches, oreos, and other goodies given to me by Eryn's gracious hands. From there I went South back to Missoula. The Route I took this time was on the west side of Flathead Lake (largest fresh body of water west of the Mississsippi) and I watched as the waters past by on my left and the mountains rose up behind them, giving me a beautiful view each night during sunset.

The mountains continued on after the lake and I eventually went through them to the other side. At St. Ignatius I visited the Catholic Cathedral (now a National Historic Site) which was built around 1850 or something like that. Eryn and her husband had recommended I go to see that since it was on the way. The inside of the building is lined with paintings along the walls and on the ceiling, making for a very worthwhile stop. The member of the church who actually did the paintings was the cook and it took him about 15 years in total if I remember right.

Outside Arlee, MT

Before arriving in Arlee (just a little farther south) the weather turned darker and I was confronted with very cold rain in large drops and small hail. It wasn't as bad as it may sound, but it wasn't fun either. I waited out for a while at a gas station when I got into town while it rained off and on, and when I was confident the rain clouds had moved on I continued south, finding 18 miles of awful construction. This was the most stressful part of the trip I can remember and it wasn't over quickly. There were no shoulders and I was unable to ride on the side of the road because the gravel would suck my tires in and cause me to fall over. Traffic was thick and the drivers were impatient and unheeding, and the weather was still cold, putting me in a very bitter attitude. The road conditions were at some points acceptable, but at others the road was completely torn up and with my skinny tires it was often very difficult to maneuver over, but after a couple stressful, enfuriating hours (and a couple close calls, too) I made my way out of the construction and onto a downhill (45 mph!) finally coasting into Missoula.

Rather than taking I-90 west I opted to take a scenic route (highway 12) through the small section of Idaho that I'd be crossing. This road was absolutely astounding. It winds among the mountains and hills along the Lolo River which turns into the Clearwater River, which about 200 years ago was traversed by Lewis and Clark and their crew. Beautiful. Just beautiful. I'll post pictures at my next opportunity because this (and a lot of the land since also) is worth seeing. Becuase the road was following a river it was flat, also, making my journey through here simple and leaving me plenty of opportunities to just look around. I also ran into around 20 or so other bicycles, all going east. I believe that Highway 12 is used on one of the Adventure Cycling Routes (premade routes, available on maps buyable from that organization) and so I got to see a variety of people spending their summers in the same way as me.

Idaho

Crossing a river I passed into Washington. On the Idaho side is the town Lewistonand on the other side is the town Clarkston. They're really into those guys up here. So then the next few days I spent continuing west on 12 until I got to Waitsburg. The land was at first interesting, but then it turned into very plain farmland stretching as far as I could see. It was very repetitious and boring after not too long and I found also that I was going into a very strong headwind for my first few days in the state. Eventually the land changed into orchards and vineyards (a little more interesting, but still repetitious), and then smaller farms, with crops spread overthe hill sides. The smaller farms were beautiful.

Washington

Farther west was what they call Tri-Cities, a group of three cities in close vicinity. It was strange to be in a so densely populated area. This was the biggest place I'd been throughout the trip, I think, and riding along the highway with the thick traffic was a new experience. With the sun setting on the Washington hills I thanked God for giving me the chance to be right there, right then. I thought of my life and what I wanted to do with it, and this was exactly it.


My time on this library's computer's going to run out, so I'll post part two of my experience in Washington hopefully in the next few days.

Edit: Added photos.