Only 26 miles today so more or less a “recovery” day.  For a change we didn’t have to head straight up the first thing in the morning. Breaking camp is getting more of a routine as is putting everything is the right pannier every day so one (meaning Charles) can always go straight to the first aid kit or the battery charger without emptying every dang bag!!!

We followed a river road through a Native American reservation with only a few ups and downs, and since the river is flowing in the direction we are headed, the grade is more or less down. The sandwich shop where we planned on having our breakfast at a town midway on today’s ride  was sold out of sandwiches since the owner had just passed away and the store was closing early but we have our trusty Cliff Bars!  Having enough water is a daily worry but with our on board bottles and our collapsible water bags I think we’re finally getting a handle on that.

We pulled into Tonasket right at the beginning of their annual Founders’ Day  parade – high school band, rodeo queens, Shriners on their motorcycles – just like the small town parades I grew up with in Missouri. They closed off Main Street and the sidewalks were lined with people … And here we thought they were there to welcome us to Tonasket!!

We made our way to the City Welcome Center that hosts bicyclists to camp right there on the main drag. We pulled up and there were ten or so people watching the parade from the front porch of the center so we joined in the group commentary and made quick friends with the folks that volunteer at the center.  Along with Founders’ Day was the annual rodeo. Linda, one of the volunteers, offered to pick us up and take us to the rodeo (well she said “1/2 a rodeo” was all she and her husband cold do and then head back into town for beers).

I’ll add more details when I have some more time and wi-fi but the short of it is that we had a great time and met more of Linda and Tom’s friends, drank some beers and climbed into our tent as music rang out from the bars in town. More later.