When we left McCall this morning, it was 61 degrees outside, but the weatherman promised it wouldn't last much longer, and to be prepared for triple digits! We were really enjoying the scenery as we continued north on ID-55N. When we passed through the rest of McCall, we realized there was a big lake a little further north, and lots of boating and water stuff to do. ID-55N quickly turned to US-95N as we followed the Salmon River north. The scenery along this path was spectacular, and the ride was even better. Rides along roads that follow rivers through canyons are always a treat because the twist and turn with the river direction, but don't usually go up and down much. This makes for faster riding, with speeds from 55 - 65 mph for most of the ride, with a few slow downs to 45 in a tight turn. We saw lots of other bikes on the road in the other direction.
     We stopped along the way to take pictures of the Salmon River in an area that's part of the Hell's Canyon Recreational Area . There were people in the river, rafting in the whitewater spots and floating on tubes in the calm spots. There were boat ramps and campsites all along the way. As we reached Grangeville, ID, we stopped for gas, and were talking to the nice lady at the gas station who said "We're the Best Kept Secret of the Lower 48" when I told her how pretty everything was in this part of Idaho. There was a sign outside of Grangeville that recommended traveling up the Northwest Passage Scenic Byway instead of just continuing up US-95N. So we moved over to ID-13N which follows the Clearwater River, and the great scenery improved even more.   ID-13N eventually connects with US-12W and we followed the Clearwater River almost all the way to Lewiston and the scenery and riding was wonderful all the way through. The biggest difference is while the Salmon River tends to be turbulent and full of rapids, the Clearwater River tends to be calmer, sometimes like glass and generally larger as we followed.
     I say "almost" to Lewiston, because the plan was to stop in Lewiston for iced coffee before changing roads again for US-195N into Spokane, WA . We were hot, and needed a break, and had been looking forward to stopping for about an hour. But just as we reached the edge of Lewiston, the turn for US-195N appeared. It was also in the midst of road construction, and went just about straight up, over the mountain and out of Lewiston before we realized what happened. And because of the road construction, there was no way to turn around and head back to Lewiston. I was disappointed, and I could tell Jody was more than a bit irritated that our dreams of iced coffee had been shattered.
     Once we made it to the summit, there was an opportunity for a wonderful scenic overlook of Lewiston, but it looked a little dicey with all the road construction, so we missed out on the opportunity for a picture. Besides, we were still searching for iced coffee. Once we came down the other side of the mountain, the scenery had changed dramatically. US-195N was called the Palouse Scenic Byway, but after the Idaho Scenic Byways we had just experienced, there was nothing scenic about Palouse .   Southeastern Washington is farm country, and looks a lot like the commercial farms of Iowa, with nothing to see in all directions except farmland, and just a few very small towns along the way with a big grain elevator in the center of town.
    Luckily, after about 20 miles of this, we arrived at Pullman, WA, my lifesaver. There was a McDonald's billboard just outside of town, and we could begin to smell the iced coffee as we got closer. I looked at the motorcycle outside air gauge and it showed 102 degrees. We were hot and needed a break, so we went inside had iced coffee, and a snack and generally cooled off before we ventured back outside. At least I had been redeemed in Pullman, and we were revitalized enough to finish the last hour or so to Spokane.
     By the time we got to the hotel, we were ready for the pool. The outside temperature was now 104 degrees. This hotel had an outside pool, so the water was more to our liking as Floridians. It felt great to cool off, until a bunch of smaller children showed up and started fighting and crying, and we realized we were ready to find some dinner. There wasn't anything within walking distance, but we managed to find a Mexican restaurant called Casa de Oro only a couple of miles away. The parking lot was already getting full at 5:00 when we got there, so that was a good sign. The food was delicious!
     Tomorrow we have an easy day planned. We have reservations for a 90 minute boat ride in Coeur d'Alene at 12:30, and there looks like maybe an opportunity for a little hiking if it's not too hot. Sounds like a relaxing Sunday afternoon.

322.9 miles today
7997.3 miles total

9.553 gallons today
193.306 gallons total