Day 5 - Spokane WA to Sandpoint ID, 84 miles, 2700' cumulative climbing

 Finally we have a day which involves no big climbs!  Purposely built into the schedule as one of two "recovery ride" days, this route promised to be less demanding on our legs than so far this week.  And it was a very enjoyable day.  Other than our group member Cliff's multiple flat tires.  Every cyclist has a day like this once in a great while.  You get a flat, and it's not a big deal to change it and continue riding.  But then the same tire goes flat a few miles down the road, and you can't figure out why.  No obvious puncture or stab wounds in the tire surface.  Before you know it the darn tire has gone flat 5 times, and you've killed more than an hour fiddling around with it.
This was Cliff's day, but in spite of it the day was fun, and otherwise pretty uneventful.
We left Washington and entered Idaho this morning, which is notable for a couple of reasons.  First, it has taken our whole group more than 4 days to cycle across the state of Washington, even though we average more than 100 miles per day.  That's one big state!  Second, my long-range goal to ride my bike in all 50 states progressed, with Idaho becoming the 32nd state I've cycled in.


Arriving in Sandpoint in mid-afternoon, I had time to do laundry, a necessary chore every few days.  And after dinner, Michelle, Mark and I walked downtown to what is named in at least one survey as the most popular ice cream shop in Idaho - Panhandle Cone & Coffee Shop.  It was delicious and unique ice cream; so good we had to return for a second scoop after walking around!

SOA - When looking around for the ice cream shop, we asked a local couple for assistance.  Well, they walked us over to Panhandle, went inside and ordered ice cream too!  Then they walked us out to the popular beach in downtown Sandpoint, where a replica of the Statue of Liberty sits, just offshore. They couldn't have been nicer, telling us the history of Sandpoint and surrounding area places.  Great ambassadors for the local community, and all because we asked for help finding the ice cream parlor! (the wife allowed as how she had just made some ice cream at home but it hadn't set up yet, so they were more than happy to help in our quest)