Juneteenth (June 20, Day Who Knows?)

Becca had a little family emergency right after the second flat tire in Heltopia, so we found ourselves detouring back to Portland for a few days. In addition to dealing with family matters, Becca went back to her bike experts to complain about the impossible bike tire removal, and opted to buy new tires that were much easier to remove.  Ahh...I attempted to repair the Nomad Moon navigation system again, but of course nobody can do anything in a hurry, so I gave up and it will have to wait till July. I got to visit a few people in Portland, hit Trader Joe's and buy a tiny speaker to amplify my phone apps (phone, audio GPS, Pandora) which is better than nothing. 

We headed back up to Spokane yesterday and stayed at Becca's late mother's house, which was bittersweet, and had a nice visit with her brother Nathan. Spokane is a lovely city!  The Spokane River is high and swollen, with turbulent rapids and waterfalls.  Lots of lovely paths, and we got to do some exploring.  This morning after we parted, Becca started biking on the Riverfront Park path (part of the Centennial Trail, which goes from Spokane to Coeur d'Alene) and I walked it for an hour.  Later I decided to ride my bike on the trail, intending to ride 16 miles of it.  But my bike karma ran out and I ended up being the one with a flat tire! With 5 or 6 miles left to go, I had to walk my bike all the way back to the van.  Ugh, I am not in the kind of shape Becca is in...





Becca had a wonderful surprise about an hour after leaving Spokane.  Her Spokane friends, Ron & Jane, had been following her Garmin tracking device, got ahead of her and flagged her down. She wondered who those people waving them arms at her were.  When she realized it was Ron & Jane, she was so delighted; it totally made her day!  It warmed her heart, in spite of the 63 miles of riding, and the rain she later encountered.

Now we are tucked and snug in a very nice, inexpensive RV park in a place called Sagle, ID.  The gas is much cheaper here than OR & WA.  The sky is blue tonight.  Things are looking up!

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