Update: Conquered Washington and Idaho!!!!!!!!

Here is an update. I am a little late.

Hello Again,

It has been awhile since I wrote to everyone. It is a little difficult to ride all day and send out emails. I have been in some country where I could not get to the internet much and so I am behind.

So what’s up? I am fine. Very tired and sore. I am hanging in there. My rear end is getting a little tougher I think. I adjusted my seat back to where George's Cycles had it to begin with and that seems to feel better on my butt. I should have just listened to Cory to begin with.

The country in Washington is very beautiful. The northeastern side is wetter and greener. It reminds me of Alaska. However, the whole state is very pretty. The mountains are rough on me and it seems like I am climbing forever, but I got through Wauconda Pass and Sherman Pass and about a 2500 foot mini climb to get over the last hills to Tiger, Washington.

Tue. Aug 4th I rode 64 miles from Omak to Tanasket to Republic. My Home Teacher's wife (Emily and Duane Vickery) has a sister in Republic (Linda and Mike Donner) and they fed me and let me stay there with a warm shower. That was much appreciated.

Wed. Aug 5th, I rode 90 miles from Republic to Kettle Falls to Coleville to Tiger. Pretty tough day. I climbed over Sherman Pass around 5500 feet and also about 2500 feet over a bunch of medium sized hills to get to Tiger. When I got to Tiger, there was nothing there but a visitor’s center. I was very happy they had a bathroom with a sink (cold water). I washed up in the sink and found an empty house next to the visitor center with a barn/shed out building. I slept there in the Tiger Ramada Inn. I have a nice photo of the Ramada Inn.

Thursday Aug 6th I rode 75 miles from Tiger to Sandpoint. I finally crossed the State of Washington and got to IDAHO. I saw a flock of Turkeys this morning. 3 Adults and about 12 babies. The mornings are very peaceful and calm. Less traffic and a little cool but nice. Many of the roads are very narrow and I wish they were a little wider, but no one has run over me yet and that is good. Today after about 35 miles I was just wasted and felt like I couldn’t go any more. I was riding about 5 miles an hour on a flat road where I should have been going about 11 mph or so. I couldn’t find any shade and it was about noon. I finally just stopped and sat on the side of the road for about 30 minutes to rest. Somehow I felt better after that and rode the rest of the 40 miles into Sandpoint. When I got to Sandpoint, I discovered that there is virtually no place around Sandpoint to pitch a tent. So once again, I resorted to INCOGNITO CAMPING. I saw a dirt road leading up into the woods. I went to the gate and read the sign “NO TRESPASSING". I assumed they must have been referring to someone else besides me, because I was very tired and did not know where else to go. The gate was locked, but it did not look like hardly any cars had driven in there for awhile so I figured “This was my camping area”. The barbed wire on the fence was pretty loose so I pushed my bike under the fence and went back on the road a half mile or so and pitched my tent in the middle of the dirt road and went to bed in the Sandpoint Hilton. When I said my prayers at night I made sure to ask God to make sure no one drove down the road that night and discovered I was breaking the law. It is always good to ask God to help you when you are breaking the law. I was nice to their Hotel and left it clean. I have a couple of nice photos of the Sandpoint Hilton in case someone wants to stay there.

I am not always following the maps from Adventure Cycling. Their little roads sometimes are very hilly and the shoulders are sometimes more narrow than usual which is usually not very good anyway. So sometimes I just go down the road I think is best. Who knows for sure?

So – Now to answer some very Important Questions that now I have answers to.

“DOES A BEAR POOP IN THE WOODS?”

No this is not a joke. It is a very serious and important Biological Query. How many times have you been sitting around a camp fire with your 3 Outdoorsy type hunting friends and one good City Slicker who doesn’t know an Elk from an Antelope and the City Slicker type asks some really Dumb question like: “Is is hard to find one of those Elks?” Well you could respond by saying, “No it is very easy to find those Elks, they always run up to us and ask us to please shoot them”. Or sometimes you just have to roll your eyes and ask the bright fellow: “Does a Bear Poop in the Woods?” Well since I am such a nice guy and very polite etc, etc, I would never roll my eyes at someone and mock them, however, since some of my friends are not as humble as I, I have heard the question asked a few times: “Does a Bear Poop in the Woods?’

Well you will be happy to know that through my rigorous research on this relaxing trip of mine, I now have the answer to this very deep and Intellectual Question.

Yes, a Bear does Poop in the Woods – Sometimes – but NOT ALWAYS! You see having spent a fair amount of time in the woods in my life; I already knew that a Bear does poop in the woods. I have seen firsthand evidence of this fact. However, I have learned from experience on this trip that a Bear does NOT ALWAYS poop in the woods. You see sometimes the Bears POOP ON THE HIGHWAY. This was very enlightening for me. I did not know that Bears pooped on the Highway before. But it is true. Bears do poop on the Highway. I have seen evidence of at least 4 different Bears Pooping on the Highway. 2 in Washington, 1 in Idaho, and 1 in Montana. Based on the statistical variance of my data I am quite sure that many more Bears than 4 have pooped on our countries highways.

The 2 Bears in Washington were approximately 200 to 250 lbs in size based on the Heft of what they Left. The first Bear was eating primarily Raspberries which were quite prevalent in that particular area. The second Bear was eating Service Berries which I personally think are quite tasty also. The 3rd Bear was smaller, 150 to 200 lbs and was also eating Service Berries and the 4th Bear was also a small Bear and was eating Choke Cherries.

So what is my point? Well just to let you know that the next time someone asks you: “Does a Bear Poop in the Woods”, you can look them right in the EYE and tell them – YES, sometimes a Bear does Poop in the Woods, BUT – NOT ALWAYS. You See – Sometimes a Bear POOPS on the Highway. I am not sure why the Bears Poop on the Highways, but from my diligent research over the last 800 miles I can tell you that it is definitely a FACTOID – Bears sometimes Poop on the Highways.

SO NOW YOU KNOW. By the way, if you are interested, on my way to Tiger from Republic I saw some Bear Tracks crossing the highway and took some photos of them. I guess that the Bear crossed the highway less than an hour before I got there to take the photos but that particular Bear did not Poop on the Highway. I did not take any photos of the other Bear Poop I saw because I am a very Quiet, Reserved type of person and did not want to be Gross. Perhaps in hind-site I should have taken a few Bear Poop photos but I did not.

I hope this little tidbit of information has been useful to you.

Sincerely,

Your Friend Dan Staples

Tiger Ramada Inn 2