Camping on the Columbia River Gorge

Memaloose State Park, Columbia River Gorge, OR

After leaving Idaho we cut across the eastern part of Washington and headed for the Columbia Gorge. Bam...just like that we are back in baking heat, and for most of the day dry arid landscape. Mmmm, looks suspiciously similar to how we started out about 5 weeks ago through the southwest!
Last year one of my bestest buddies, Neise (love you girl!) and I took a week or so off and headed up the backbone of the Cascades. One of our favorite days was biking the Historic Columbia River State Rail. It was a sweet 10 mile ride through some tunnels and high up overlooking the Columbia River. Sounds like a great place to camp for the night and go for an evening ride. I knew Ned would love it and better yet this year he's healthy enough to do it. (Crowd roar). It was 100 degrees when we pulled into the campground, but at least we had a shady spot under a tree overlooking the Columbia River. Not a bad spot to wait out the heat and make sure the sun had gone down before attempting the ride.
We waited...and waited and the heat just didn't seem to let up. Finally, at about 8:30ish the gauge dipped to a balmy 92 so we thought it was as good a time as any to give it a go. The ride was definitely as beautiful as I remembered, and the hills just the right amount of challenging. You're working hard enough so that you can't really talk, but not enough that you're dying. And gosh, did we have fun riding the hills down! The view at the top was magnificent, especially since the lights were starting to twinkle from Hood River on the Oregon side and White Salmon on the Washington side. The last couple of miles we were riding in the dark (thank you head lamps for the little amount of light you did provide) but it sure motivated me to keep on pedaling fast.
Hard to believe that in Jasper it would still be bright sunshine at 10! Now, I need to go hose off with some cold water before I can crawl into bed.

Family Time in Idaho

Location: Cary & Lisa's house, Post Falls, ID

We woke up to another gorgeous day in Glacier Park. Normally I'd be a little sad to leave such a beautiful spot, but I knew we were headed for my cousin Cary and his wife Lisa's house. I love my cuz, (don't get me started on the good times and shenanigans we used to get into as kids when we'd get together in Tahoe), and Lisa is really like a sister to me. So, it wasn't difficult at all to move on from paradise.
We drove along highway 2 and then took some backroads through the mountains to reach the panhandle of Idaho. The rains started in again but for the first time in weeks and weeks we did not see rivers flooding or roads being washed out. How refreshing!
(Cue Randy Newman singing "Louisiana - they're gonna wash us away...)
Once we arrived at Cary & Lisa's there wasn't a moment of silence. After getting caught up over dinner at a Mexican Restaurant, we got the grand tour of Post Falls and Coeur D'Alene. It was a perfect summer evening and we took advantage of it by seeing the falls at Treaty Rock park, getting a crash course in the local history and even playing with their grand daughter Aaliyah at the park. Lisa also took us to downtown Coeur D'Alene and we walked along the lake, saw the elegant homes along the shore and viewed the downtown area. Ironically, in a few days Cary and Lisa are heading to our neck of the woods and will be spending 5 or 6 weeks in California. Of course, they are taking the direct route and will actually beat us home!
Looking forward to seeing them again soon, let the good times roll.