Day 16- July 7

Day 16: July 7th 32,370 on the odometer

Despite not unpacking we still get a late start. We must be getting road weary or something to make us so slow. The continental breakfast is pretty disappointing. We shower and check e-mail again before hitting the road. The owner is only a little helpful in telling us the most scenic spots to check out. He wants us to head back into Oregon.
We stay in Washington. The ride is still nice for about 60 miles. We stop once at a river side park to watch hundreds of sailboarders flying across the river. There are literally hundreds of them, and this is a weekday. There isn’t room for a car to park anywhere; we have a hard time finding a place to squeeze the bikes.
After that we hit high desert. We’re still following the river until 14 ends at 395, but it is flat and barren all the way to Spokane. The temperature is getting pretty warm again too, but not as bad as it was in the southern deserts. With nothing much to see, we start to make some good time. We take 2 north out of Spokane and head into Idaho. Here the road gets better, and we’re back into some trees and much more comfortable river valleys.
We stop at a Motel 6 in Sandpoint a decent bit before sunset. We are actually slightly ahead of the new itinerary I’m still working on, but still behind the original that blew out of the map pocket. The original had to be outrageously unrealistic for us. It still isn’t looking like we’ll make it to Ohio in time to catch Roy there.
We stop early enough to shop at Wal-Mart and eat at Burger King before spending some time in the motel’s hot tub. Hopefully the hot soak will take away some of the road weariness. Despite the early stop, it is actually a bit late when we finally turn in for the night.
We cover 367 miles today. Not too bad for us. We meet a couple of guys that just got back from Alaska that are averaging way better than we are. One is on a Triumph Tiger, and the other is on a Suzuki V-Strom. They pack better than we do, as one of them has found room to carry a spare set of tires. My tires are holding out fine for now, and Ceci’s Metzelers still look new, but I know I’m going to have to change mine somewhere on this trip. It would have been nice to have room to carry replacements with me.