Mike and I went on a date today. We laughed about this being the perfect date. We ride different motorcycles and can't talk to each other! So we get along great! All in fun though because we get along great even when we do talk to each other! :-) We wanted to go on a ride that was new to us. We looked on the internet last night for motorcycle rides in Eastern, WA. We found one that went on the Flowery Trail right past my favorite ski resort 49 Degrees North! In the description of the Flowery Trail ride was a link to the ride we eventually decided to take! We went north to Newport, WA and then rode on the east side of the Pend Oreille River.
The original plan was to cross the river at Usk. Here is the bridge to Usk and we didn't cross it. We wanted to keep on riding. We were in no hurry to get back home!
We did stop for some picture taking! So beautiful!
We crossed the river and entered Ione. Is Ione a town? Maybe, but it is really small. We circled the area trying to find some place to eat. One of the locals directed us to this place! A grocery store with a deli. The deli shared space with the video rentals!
A few videos didn't stop us from enjoying our lunch!
We rode home on the west side of the river.
The water was like glass!
Until a few boats snaked through the water!
Another answered prayer for a safe trip on our motorcycles! A perfect day!
I consider myself physically fit! I workout regularly! Today made me question that though! I knew I could ride a bike 21 miles. The hills concerned me with good reason. Several hills in the first few miles. By the third hill I was in need of my inhaler and didn't have it. Too much huffing and puffing! Maryanne and I decided to take a short cut and trim off about 2/3 of the ride. Good choice on our part! We will still be able to function tomorrow. Here we are unloading the bikes before we started.
Here they are! All the bikers before the ride!
I think this was the last time the four of us were together. The ride started and it was hard to keep track of everyone! Maryanne and I managed to stay together. 
More bikers are gathering!
This was supposed to be a family friendly ride. There was a 1 mile course and a 21 mile course full of hills. As you can see we are feeling pretty friendly! Cindy is having a conversation on her cell phone! 
Ready, set, go and we were off! Fun with all the bikes headed out at the same time but quickly got difficult. Thankfully, it was very easy to cut the course short. Maryanne and I did the same route as Bloomsday along with some other people. Since this wasn't a race there was no one saying you couldn't go off course. We ended up on the last three miles of the Spokefest course so we got to ride in with the fast people. They completed 21 miles in the time it took us to do 8 miles! 
This finish line! There was no timer at the finish line (family friendly). Just a lot of people saying, "Congratulations!" and "Hope you had fun!" and we did! Deanna found us after she finished and said the rest of the course was pretty hard! She did great and so did Cindy. They did the whole thing, hills and all!
Food, bikes, bands, and booths at the end of the line!
Guess what I found! My favorite!
Some oven baked pizza for Maryanne!
Time to head back home for a cool shower and a nap! (and to watch the Rams lose to the Seahawks, darn)
So back to the fitness thing. I have a really, really bad knee and I should be cycling more! Just because I workout all the time doesn't mean I am in good enough shape to climb hills on a bicycle. Goal! Ride my bike more! Next year the whole 21 miles and I will ride every hill! 
