Dash to Tonasket

Well, maybe not a real dash. The ride from Lowell to Lewiston on Highway 12 was really great. The highway runs beside the river almost all the way, with fresh air aplenty. It is mostly forested upstream, but as it nears Lewiston, it breaks out into the rolling hills that later become the Palouse. It is still the Lewis and Clark and Nez Perce Trail(s), and runs through the Nez Perce reservation. John Mark would never get from one end to the other because of all the historical sites he would have to read.  

At Lewiston, the road to Spokane and points north is Highway 195, and it leaves 12 and turns north before you get to Lewiston proper. Not only does it turn north, it goes up, up, up into the Palouse. Wow, what wonderful rolling hills, green and brown in turn, carved by the highway and just pretty as can be. I should have taken a picture, but the wind was my companion again, requiring constant attention. It held my speed down to 40-50 miles per hour so I could maintain control of the bike. But all was well, and I made it to Spokane.

 

The wind stayed with me out of Spokane, but gradually lessened. I enjoyed the ride up 395 to Kettle Falls. Colville was nice, and they were having a car show in Chelewah. There was about a five acre park full of great looking cars. At Kettle Falls I picked up Highway 20, the longest Highway in Washington State, and a true Scenic Byway. There was no traffic going my way, and I just rode along at my speed enjoying th whole thing. It took me up to Sherman Pass, named after Sherman the cat, named n turn after William Tecumseh Sherman, an infamous general in the War of Northern Aggression.

 

I was trying to find a place to camp after Republic, but the campgrounds were full. I rode through a Forest Service campground at Bonaparte Lake, and it was a trip. There wasn't a vehicle there made after 1999, every site had at least a half case open on the table, and I heard dueling banjos through my helmet. The nearby resort of the same name was marginally better, but they were full too. So I rolled on.

 

I couldn't find a campground anywhere, so I came on to Tonasket. It is a pretty little place, but I think I made a bad choice of motels. It was quiet until about 5 minutes ago, when the adjacent room was rented to some screamers. Two people who are unhappy with each other. I hope they don't have guns. I don't think the wall will stop a bullet.

 

Tomorrow I head up to Canada and the Alaska Highway. With 2295 miles to go, I should be home in a week. And not a minute too soon, I might add!