Monday 9 August 2010

Day 82 Banks to McCall

Monday 9th August
Daily mileage 63miles Average Speed 12mph Ride Time 5hr18min
Total Mileage 3311

Polishing off the last of our boiled eggs for breakfast we set off about 7.30am which began with Kris having to carry both bikes up the embankment to the road. We started climbing immediately and kept climbing for a good 8 miles. The road snaked up through the valley with the river still following us all the way. It really was very scenic and there was not so much traffic this morning. There was a 4 mile plateau greeting us at the top and we stopped at a mountain lodge at Smiths Ferry that was a sight for sore eyes.

We had a second breakfast and bottomless coffee to warm up as despite climbing it was still extremely overcast and fresh. Back on the road we were pleasantly surprised to find that it was relatively flat all the way to Cascade approx 18 miles on. A short break and we carried on for 15 miles to Donnelly. There was a steep climb out of Cascade but once at the summit we had a nice downhill then met Lake Cascade and it was flat to Donnelly.
We actually had the wind behind us as we stopped in Donnelly. We found a nice little cafĂ© where the nice lady gave us a free brownie and two free muffins! She also told us that we should not take highway 55 to McCall as it’s a nasty road anyway but it gets even more nasty on the next stretch. So we took her advice and took the back roads for 18 miles which were very quiet and a lot safer but 6 miles longer than the highway! We arrived in McCall and stopped at the supermarket when we got chatting to George.
He kindly offered us to stay at his place and took us back there while he went out to dinner. We are staying in the trailer that is parked in the huge garage that’s the same size as our house alone! We showered indoors and made ourselves comfortable in his amazing house that has an incredible view over the valley. An almighty storm came over that had been threatening all day and we jumped about with excitement at the thought of being inside a lovely home looking out on the horrendous weather thanking our lucky stars we were not out in it! Thanks George for your kind hospitality.


2 comments:

  1. You need to write a book entitled " How to stay for free anywhere in the US". We are amazed at your luck scoring lodging. How can you ever go back to living normally? Its going to be hard for me that's for sure

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  2. ...and BLESSED with a double rainbow to boot !!!

    ReplyDelete