Day 10 miles: 40 Day 11 miles: 0 Total: 401
By bike:
Ben, wherever you are with your sweet beard and great stories, thank you so much!
High cadence work is the ONLY WAY to bike. Let me repeat that. High cadence work is the ONLY WAY to bike.
No knee pain.
The only way I can describe the ride from Diamond Lake to Sandpoint was lovely. 10 miles through the last bit of Washington on the legendary US-2 with its wide shoulders was what I wanted on this trip. No knee pain was also a plus.
I stopped at a gas station to get some anticipatory Trolli sour gummy sloths and in my excitement raced to the border.
I met up with Lauren at a Safeway near the state line to get supplies and we met again on the Idaho side to celebrate.
The Safeway was creative, to say the least.
They were good but not as high quality as the octopi 
I did it!
With no welcome sign, I kept going.
Found the welcome sign!
Though US-2 was great, I decided to stick to the ACA route and make a right at Wisconsin street.
I’m glad I did.
Washington was great but for some reason I felt like Idaho was where God finally made heaven. Scenic, gorgeous, and the perfect combination of mountains, lakes, and great no humidity weather.
Can’t be beat!
I biked the next 30 miles and met up with Lauren at Springy Point campground.
Lauren is such a sweetheart as she did amazing recon finding the best spot to camp. She did.
Our humble abode. 
Grounds eye view
COLD lake!
We went and got supplies (a third time) to get hotdogs for the next day as well as S’mores supplies. That night it was a kingly meal of wood-fired leftover pizza (BETTER recooked), s’mores, cider, and Ben’s favorite lager he gifted us.
WAY better wood-fired.
Showers were nice and only 25 cents for 5 minutes. While I thought Lauren would deplete our quarter stash, she only used the same 50 cents as I did. Nevertheless, I prepared for the inevitable Garnier Fructis experience the female species undergo every 6-8 months by getting $40, or 3 hours and 20 minutes, shower time at the local bank.
A good husband is always prepared.
Lauren will cover the rest day we enjoyed in Sandpoint.
By car:
I was actually pretty envious of Matthew’s ride today! Perfect weather, good roads, wide shoulders for the most part. I couldn’t believe we finally made it out of Washington- it’s terribly exhausting to sit in my car and press down the gas pedal for sooo many miles, only to stop frequently for scenic detours and to meet more people! Rough life right now, I know.
Washington is actually our second largest state. Montana is the beast we’re preparing for- it will likely take us about two weeks to get through that behemoth.
We celebrated passing Idaho’s state line together and I took off in search of a good campsite. I originally saw a sign for an RV campground. Recalling the less-than comfortable spot we had at the last RV site, I entered the property with some hesitation. It was directly behind a gas station right off the main highway, so I didn’t stay long.
Next up was a campsite that was two miles off of Matthew’s bike route. I felt bad for adding another 4 mile roundtrip to Matthew’s route, but it was worth it!
Look at this gorgeous home I’ve created
I was told we could stay in lot 22. I originally parked in the wrong lot and managed to do some mild off-roading to get to the correct lot. The day went quickly as I put in the time to make things perfect, including reorganizing the camp gear and rearranging the hammock. I really had the time to put some thought and work into it.
With our dinner ingredients splayed out on our picnic table, I peacefully collapsed into my hammock for a job well done. I was proud of our little two-day home!
Brenda, the camp host, drove up to my site.
She’s probably admiring all of my work.
“Lauren? I told you to take lot 22, right?”
“Yes you did- is everything ok?”
“You’re in lot 23. Lot 22 is over here.”
Mother of pearl.
I was in lot 23. Apparently I was right the first time when I parked, before my off-roading experience.
My desire to make things perfect had been gone out the window, and ultimately I just pulled the stakes and dragged the tent over to the correct site and swung my hammock around to the next tree. The food was randomly strewn across the picnic table and bench.
Good enough.
Matthew arrived shortly after and seemed just as pleased with the setup as I was the first time.
This campsite was truly perfect. We were right by the beach access to the lake. The lake was freezing, but we couldn’t NOT dip our feet in!
Of course we had to end the day with fire-roasted leftover pizza, the local beer Ben gifted us with, hot apple cider, and s’mores (if you haven’t tried s’mores with Reese’s peanut butter cup, you’re missing out). Happy bellies and happy minds.
Rest day:
The next day we explored Sandpoint. I had been reading a lot about this area- many visitors call it a hidden gem, while the locals tend to ask visitors to not let the cat out of the bag.
I can’t help myself, I’m letting the cat out…
WE LOVE SANDPOINT!
We love it so much, we even visited with a real estate agent as we walked past her office. She sufficiently flooded us with reasons why Sandpoint is so wonderful. Apparently she also moved here from the Bay Area. We gave her our e-mail addresses, and within minutes she sent us each nine separate messages showcasing houses, properties, and lists of events and things to do.
Why we love Sandpoint:
The people
A stranger wanting to know what Matthew’s shirt meant (it’s a Stone Cold Steve Austin reference…)
Mindy and Jeff
We met Mindy and Jeff at the farmer’s market. They create and sell Idaho-themed home decor. You’ll notice the metal cutouts of Idaho with “7B” on them. Mindy explained that 7B marks the district they’re from, often seen on license plates. 7B is for Bonner, which is the county that Sandpoint is in. The 7 is there because Bonner is the 7th county in Idaho that starts with “b” listed in alphabetical order (Bannock, Bear Lake, Benewah, Bingham, Blaine, Boise, Bonner). We had an excellent discussion with them around our summer trip and expressed our rapidly growing admiration of Sandpoint. They were so excited to hear about what we were doing and our love for their district, Mindy just handed us this ornament:
She refused our offer to pay the $5
We were touched! Everyone we met in Sandpoint was similar to Jeff and Mindy. This small gift meant the world to us.
If you’re ever in Sandpoint, be sure to check out the metal work by Jeff and Mindy- CNC Table Works. They usually show up at the Saturday farmer’s market!
It’s pedestrian and bicycle friendly:
Lake beach AND mountains in one place:
And it’s close to both Washington and Montana- we’re a short drive away from some of the best national parks in the country!
We fell in love. We fell hard. We might make this our home one day.
Tomorrow we will enter Montana, our third and largest state! We have Glacier National Park (more mountain climbs) and bear country to look forward to. We’re eager to marvel over the sweeping landscape that awaits us!
No Jobs, No Home, No Worries. A Shared Journey by Bike and Support SUV Across the U.S. 