Riding the Centennial Trail in Idaho & Washington State

[Helene2013]

I so wished we had beautiful trails/paths like that in my area! Oh well, keep on dreamin' baby!

Thanks for sharing. Can't wait to retire and have all the time to visit on bike those areas.

[lauraelmore1033]

I have very fond memories of the centennial trail! Lovely pictures! I think the fruit you sampled was Amelanchier (service berry).

[Helene2013]

Well I'll be darned. haha I did not know you could eat those berries. I planted many years ago 2 of those for the birds as I read birds love those fruits. You should see them in those trees when the fruits are there. I never tasted any as I was not aware they would be good for us. I'll gave it a try next year when they are back on the trees.

[cosc]

Emily, Your ride reports are inspirational and I love your pics-next best thing to actually being there.

[emily_in_nc]

Thanks everyone! I just put up the blog on our "day 2" ride where we rode east to Lake Coeur d'Alene. We didn't have nearly as nice a day for it, but it was still a nice ride, and the city is very pretty. They were busy prepping for the CDA Ironman a few days away -- we had no idea!

http://travelingtwosome.weebly.com/t...ple-of-mishaps

I appreciate the info on the berries. Most were pretty tall bushes, and I normally never eat unidentified berries, but these looked JUST like blueberries, only I didn't think the habit was right, even for highbush blueberries. That's why I only ate one. I would not go out of my way for them as it was very bland. Pretty, but bland, nothing like a wild blueberry (or blackberry, raspberry, mulberry, etc.) would taste. But at least it didn't make me sick, thankfully!

AppleTree, sounds like you had an epic adventure! Only my DH rode the westernmost part of the trail where it gets very hilly. He confirmed that it was tough and really no services along that part, like you found. He ran out of water on the way back to CDA so stopped at a Jack-in-the-Box, around Spokane I guess, and got a huge beverage and an ice cream. Can't blame him a bit! On the section of trail between Spokane and the WA state line, there was an entrepreneur who'd set up along the trail in the wooded section and was selling ice cold bottled water and sodas out of a cooler. I bought a freezing cold Coke for $1 on my way back (even tho' I still had water from a water fountain along the way, but it was warmish) -- best buck ever spent!

Wish I'd been there during the mock orange blooming season -- I love the scent of orange blossoms! Reminds me so much of visiting my g-parents in Florida.

Salsabike, we also liked Spokane from what we saw of it. The park was beautiful!

We would have liked to have ridden some of the other trails in the area but didn't have enough time, and I am pretty sure at least one of them (Hiawatha?) is unpaved -- we didn't have our mountain bikes along.

Thanks for reading the blog and for your kind comments!

[Trek420]

Thanks for the report and beautiful blog. Knott and I would like to do this ride maybe as a bike overnight?

[emily_in_nc]

Thanks for the report and beautiful blog. Knott and I would like to do this ride maybe as a bike overnight?

You're so welcome and DO IT! Spokane would be the best place to stay, probably, since you could ride west one day and east the other. We stayed in Coeur d'Alene primarily because it worked out time-wise driving from Missoula. We don't like to drive more than 5 hours a day if we can help it, since we're traveling with our dog, and well, we just don't like driving long distances!