Riding the Centennial Trail in Idaho & Washington State

[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!

[Irulan]

The one you can overnight on is the 70 mile Trail of the Couer d'Alenes. Lots of little B & Bs that are set up for bike tourist.

[smittykitty]

Nice story. Our first "Big Ride" was from Spokane to the boarder. We didn't make it all the way because at 8 mph, I was afraid to go "so far". Thanks to the inspiration of all the TE ladies and a couple of bike upgrades that distance is just a typical ride now!

We've talked for years of going back and doing it right. After reading your posts, we just decided we will make a weekend of it later this summer!

Our favorite is the Trail of the Cour d'Alenes, which crosses the Idaho panhandle. Love the moose sightings. Since you've made it over to our side, I hope you get a chance to check out Chehalis Western trail south of Olympia or the other Centennial trail going north from Snohomish (2nd fav.)

Awaiting your Western WA blog report. Can't wait to see where you visited. You chose the best time to be here, weather wise.

Oh, having grown up in Honey Bucket country, I thought that's what everyone called them! Funny!

[emily_in_nc]

Awaiting your Western WA blog report. Can't wait to see where you visited. You chose the best time to be here, weather wise.

Oh, having grown up in Honey Bucket country, I thought that's what everyone called them! Funny!

Haha...no, not at all, being from North Carolina. They are managed by different companies all over the country. I'd never seen one with as cute a name as Honey Bucket!

I'm afraid you will be disappointed in our Western WA rides. Our first day, it rained, so we didn't ride at all, just took a walk (between showers) to buy groceries. We did ride into Seattle on our second full day, and up to Black Diamond on our third, but that was it. We had a VRBO booked in Walla Walla starting July 1 so just didn't have a lot of time in western WA. In fact, going there at all was almost an afterthought. When we left my DH's parents' home in Ohio for Walla Walla, we had no idea how long we might take meandering westward. Our goal was to travel no more than 5 hours in the car at a stretch, and to stop in numerous places along the way to ride. We did that. As we got farther west, we realized we'd have a few extra days, so why not go to Seattle? Obviously we could have used a couple of weeks or a month there.

Ah well, that will be another year. We hope to be traveling for a long time to come!