The bike ride from heaven.

What would you say if I offered to take you on a 15 mile bike ride through the rugged mountains of western montana, through the hiawatha trail, following an old mining railroad? You'd say, "Maybe if i was in shape like Lance Armstrong!". Well, that's what we did today, and it was stupendous!

We rented bikes at base of a ski resort in Idaho, less than 100 yards from the montana border. Then we rode, all downhill, 15 miles among some of the most scenic places I have ever seen. It started, not very promisingly, with a ride through a 1.7 mile unlit tunnel. It was absolutely pitch black, 40 degrees, and really kind of frightening. Save our own bike lights, and nervous voices, there was nothing to see or hear. Water dripped from the roof, and we sang patriotic songs to keep our spirits up. But lo! There was a light at the end of the tunnel, and we appreciated the warm summer day all the more for having missed it!

We continued our bike ride onward, through 8 more tunnels, some as long as 1700 feet, some only 170 feet, but all felt cool and inviting compared to the warm sun. We passed through thick forest and over 200 foot high bridges. Sometimes there were 1000 foot cliffs off the side. We hardly peddled at all, merely coasting down the gentle slope of what was an old railroad track. From many vantage points we could see small bridges spanning large gaps off way in the distance. Before you know it, we were crossing those bridges, looking up at those vantage points, hardly believing we had been there.



At the bottom a yellow bus awaited to drive us back to the top. Our sore bottoms were grateful, but our legs hadn't had much workout, and thus weren't grasping what they had been spared. The bus dropped us at the near end of the 1.7 mile tunnel, and we once again set off into the inky black. Stephanie let the darkness get the better of her for a moment, and took a small spill near the entry way. Fortunately, she only bruised her pride and her bottom. We continued the way out in tight formation, keeping an eye on our wounded wingman through the gauntlet. The final 1000 feet my mom and Steph couldn't wait to escape, so they pedalled hard and shot out into the sunlight, like stones from a slingshot. My dad and I were agape, since we had not seen them pedal that hard in the entire previous 15 miles.

The entire adventure took about 5 hours, and we all agreed it was the best bike ride we'd ever been on. We packed up into the suburbans and headed back to Post Falls. On the way, most of us fell asleep, including my mom. Upon arriving in Post Falls, Aunt Sue jumped out of the front Suburban to tell my parents about a local open liquor store, and scared my mom out of her sandals when she tapped on the window. Stephanie is still giggling about it.

The liquor store stop was for my dad's famous margaritas, of which he made 2 pitchers before we started dinner. I am still feeling a little woozy nearly 5 hours afterward. We had bbq'd hamburgers and hot dogs, baked beans, and fresh sliced melon. Once again I was stuffed.

After dinner we played several hands of Hand and Foot, being rowdy and tossing ice cubes at eachother for emphasis. Cousin Lauren and her friend Kaitlin took off to watch fireworks with 50,000 other people at the lake and we moved inside to play Cranium. Not before my dad and Aunt Sue had some more struggles with some ice cubes. We played girls against guys, and the girls cleaned up. I guess I learned my lesson from last night, and I'm hoping for some nookie.

Just when we were heading to bed an additional fireworks show started in addition to the ones going on all around us. Lightning began lighting up the sky like a strobe, with huge bolts crossing the sky both vertically and horizontally. It seemed so close, but we couldn't hear any thunder. I guess God felt that he had to show us mortals what a true show is.

We are heading to bed now, for what will probably be the deepest sleep of the trip, and what will probably be the most reluctant to get out of bed tmw.

Sleep tight!