Any tips for washing off sticky clay mud from bike?

[TigerMom]

My husband and I did NOT spray our tires and spray with Pam Cooking oil (which I heard was good to do on muddy days) because we did not realize it would be so muddy after a brief rain last night.

It was so muddy that our 18mile planned adventure cut down to 8miles (1100 feet elevation) only. Our tires took turns not even spinning because the clay mud was so caked on between the tire and the frame. I wore sneakers, but his mountain bike shoe cleats had a ball of mud in them, so that he could not even put his shoes into his cleats.

We waited until the mud dried off some before cleaning the bike. I handwashed and scrubbed down the bikes. Since I know that there are bearings EVERYWHERE, I sprayed hard only at the main part of the frame and the tires and misted the rest of the bike. Still there is a ton of dried mud in the nooks and crannies of the bike.

So my question is:
1) In the future, do we clean bikes immediately or wait until the sticky clay mud dries up first so that we can poke off a lot of it (that was what we did today)?
2) How do I get off the remaining mud...do I wash the bike again or just try to pick at the mud with a screwdriver and dry rub everything off?
3) How will I know if I ruined any bearings? I tried to mist the bike, but the bike disc brakes were definitely rubbing as I rolled the bikes into the garage. I did NOT spray at the discs; I was going to alcohol wipe the discs and finish the drive train cleaning tomorrow because I ran out of sunlight today (since we were waiting for the bike mud to dry off).

By the way, after taking the mountain biking class, I am MUCH better at descending on my flat platform pedals. Even my husband noticed. I think it is because I pick my lines much better now. Good to know that even racers have to stop, look, and re-try descends in order to pick good lines.