Days 16 & 17
June 1st & 2nd
Monday & Tuesday
35 Miles
From Newport, Washington to Sandpoint, Idaho
A new state! State #2 of our Northern Tier journey.
Leaving Newport, Washington we climbed up hill towards the foot hills then turned on highway 41 into Idaho. The first part of the scenic ride was on Old Priest River Road. Traffic was light once we got away from Newport. The road was rolling hills through fragrant cedar & pine forest.
The town of Priest River on the Pend Orielle River is home to the Huckleberry Festival in July. Huckleberries are the state fruit of Idaho. At Priest River our route turned onto Dufort Road following the River. At the turn we passed a wood stud mill owned by Stimson Lumber. Pictures below show the drying kiln, the last process before wrapping the wood for shipment.
The ride along the river included valleys with horse farms, a cattle ranch, a dairy, & several small housing additions. We took a break outside of Round Lake State Park then in Agoma turned on highway 95, a very busy road. We were thankful when we could ride on the bike bath starting in Sagle, continuing into Sandpoint. The bike path started out pretty rough because tree roots had grown under some of the concrete cracking and lifting it. It smoothed out and we had our own wide lane that crossed the Pend Orielle Lake. The bridge provided a beautiful view of the lake surrounded by mountains.
In Sandpoint there is a large marina, beach and nice park on the lake. We ate at Bricks & Barley sitting on the patio overlooking the marina. The food and service were excellent. We decided to stay in a hotel because severe thunderstorms were forecast for that evening. This was a good opportunity to wash clothes and reorganize our supplies.
We had planned to leave Tuesday but it was still raining and looked as though it would all day. We decided this would be a good rain / rest day.
We enjoyed the city of Sandpoint, anything we could have wanted or needed were within walking distance. People were friendly, always yielding to pedestrians and bicycles. We tried huckleberry ice cream, this seemed like a must in this huckleberry state!
Fun fact: Sandpoint, Idaho is 97th on America's 2015 list of most beautiful small towns.
A new state! State #2 of our Northern Tier journey.
Leaving Newport, Washington we climbed up hill towards the foot hills then turned on highway 41 into Idaho. The first part of the scenic ride was on Old Priest River Road. Traffic was light once we got away from Newport. The road was rolling hills through fragrant cedar & pine forest.
The town of Priest River on the Pend Orielle River is home to the Huckleberry Festival in July. Huckleberries are the state fruit of Idaho. At Priest River our route turned onto Dufort Road following the River. At the turn we passed a wood stud mill owned by Stimson Lumber. Pictures below show the drying kiln, the last process before wrapping the wood for shipment.
The ride along the river included valleys with horse farms, a cattle ranch, a dairy, & several small housing additions. We took a break outside of Round Lake State Park then in Agoma turned on highway 95, a very busy road. We were thankful when we could ride on the bike bath starting in Sagle, continuing into Sandpoint. The bike path started out pretty rough because tree roots had grown under some of the concrete cracking and lifting it. It smoothed out and we had our own wide lane that crossed the Pend Orielle Lake. The bridge provided a beautiful view of the lake surrounded by mountains.
In Sandpoint there is a large marina, beach and nice park on the lake. We ate at Bricks & Barley sitting on the patio overlooking the marina. The food and service were excellent. We decided to stay in a hotel because severe thunderstorms were forecast for that evening. This was a good opportunity to wash clothes and reorganize our supplies.
We had planned to leave Tuesday but it was still raining and looked as though it would all day. We decided this would be a good rain / rest day.
We enjoyed the city of Sandpoint, anything we could have wanted or needed were within walking distance. People were friendly, always yielding to pedestrians and bicycles. We tried huckleberry ice cream, this seemed like a must in this huckleberry state!
Fun fact: Sandpoint, Idaho is 97th on America's 2015 list of most beautiful small towns.
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