Two options for mileage today and taking a day off was not one of them after only four days of riding.  We opted for a mini-rest day of 25 miles instead of 70 (which included a Mountain pass)…..see, we haven’t totally lost our faculties.  So by the time we started riding after ten this morning, the skies were overcast and temps were hovering around 70.

Followed the Okanogan River through the Colville Indian Reservation past beautiful fields and past desert shrubs.

We felt as if we had just been dropped into the middle of a western movie set,with movie extras on stand-byand comic relief at the ready.The different shrubs were captivating with their varying shades of greens in the day’s muted light.

By noon, the sun was trying to burn through the clouds, warming the day to around 80.

The low rolling hills and wind at our back made the 32 miles (yes, I too, thought we were only doing 25) almost painless.  We checked into our motel by 1:30, allowing the remaining daylight to rest our legs.  However, after a long shower and relaxing for a couple of hours, we had to do a quick walk-around the cute small town of Tonasket, complete with flowers in whiskey barrels.

The blue sky was now brilliant offering a stellar backdrop for the US and Canadian flags (we are only 25 miles from the boarder).Topped off the day with salad, pizza and a bottle of red.  We noted the increase in wind velocity on our stroll back from dinner and hoped it would not be a concern during our climb tomorrow.