I had a short ride today, only about 12 miles, from Colville to Kettle Falls, WA (pop. 1,595), which brings me as close as you can get a place to stay for the night before heading to Sherman Pass. At 5,575 feet, Sherman Pass is the highest point on my route through the State of Washington and appears to be the longest and steepest climb on my elevation map.

As I started to ride to Kettle Falls, I detected a very faint rotational noise and headed back to the Adventure Peddler bike shop, where Matt let me in, even though it was only 9 a.m., an hour before they normally open. He checked out my rear wheel spokes once again, noting that one of them had loosened a bit since he worked on the wheel yesterday.

As Matt worked on my bike, I commented on the unusual concrete countertops in his workshop. He said that he and a friend who knows a lot about concrete had made these and decorated them with embedded bicycle parts.

In addition to the embedded bike parts, the countertops include this Gumby Toy. I commented on this, and Matt said adding the Gumby required them to use some medieval technology. Matt was pretty busy working on my bike, and I was never able to get him to explain what he meant by this, or why Gumby joined forces with the bike parts. Maybe it’s because Gumby serves as a reminder of our need to be flexible in dealing with changing circumstances.

After Matt finished, I bought a spoke wrench tool in case I experienced another problem out on the road. I also test rode the bike on a quiet back street and, hearing nothing, was on my way. Here is the Colville River just west of town.

And here is some of the scenery as I got closer to Kettle Falls.

The original town of Kettle Falls was flooded in 1940 when the Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River created Lake Roosevelt. Kettle Falls was then relocated to its present site. Here is the Meyers Falls Reservoir in town.

I am staying at the Columbia Point Resort, a motel operated by innkeepers Mark and Amanda. The couple also operate a campground in back of the motel and have egg-laying hens and a garden that includes raspberries and snap peas that are now in season.

Here is the view of Lake Roosevelt from the back of their property.

And here are some of the snap peas Mark picked for me–yum!

Amanda introduced me to these two cyclists who are camping here at the resort. They are Barry (60), a metallurgical engineering professor, and Bill (67), who I believe is retired. Barry is from Indiana and Bill is from Maine. They met each other through an Adventure Cycling matching service for purposes of making this trip. Like me, they started in Maine, but they will be making the entire trip to the Pacific in one year. They are both camping and staying in motels along the way. Bill has been teaching Barry how to play cribbage.

Here are Barry’s and Bill’s bikes. Barry’s is the recumbent. I am guessing they may be a bit faster than I am, so perhaps they will pass me on our way up the hill tomorrow.

And here, in addition to two water bottles, are my refreshments for the trip up the mountain–except for the lemonade, which I’ve already consumed. It hit 95 here in Kettle Falls today, and will be just as warm tomorrow, so I plan to get an early start and hopefully avoid riding during the hottest part of the day.