Day 50 - A Virtual Rest Day - 33 Downhill/Downwind Miles. That Was Fun!: Tonasket, WA to Okanogan, WA

We set today up with really short miles as a rest day.  It worked out perfect as we had a steady tailwind and the route was mostly downhill. We slept a little later and had a nice breakfast in Tonasket and still rolled into Okanogan by noon.

The weather is still hot, but the forecast predicts a change for the better beginning today. We climb the third of five passes tomorrow. It will be Loup Loup Pass. A mere 3,000 feet to climb over about 20 miles. The day will be a total of 55 miles. We'll be going to bed early to set up an early, early start to the day. We both agree it works better that way, though Martha sometimes wants to renege when the alarm goes off at 4:30 a.m. We ran into a couple of cycle tourists heading east.  One was going only as far as Spokane, the other had Wash, D.C. as his endpoint.   He better have a giddy up if he's going to beat some cool temps back east. Counting tomorrow, we've got only four riding days left on our tour. We don't know whether to be glad or sad. We truly have mixed emotions. Anyway, it's almost over, though we might squeeze in a day or two of day rides on the San Juan islands after we get to Anacortes.  What a bonus that could be.  We'll just have to see.

Sage. It thrives in this high, arid country. There are millions and millions of them. This is the real west.

 

Martha and Barney taking in the scenery of sage and mountain.

 

        We finally found some cheap gas. Wait. Is this pump working?  

 

Cycling tourists Kevin and Bob. Kevin is only going as far as Spokane. Bob is on his was to D.C. We gave him a couple of tips for the GAP and C&O, but it'll be a couple of months before he can use them.