Coast to Coast Bicycle Adventure: Tuesday, June 19 2012 - Breakdown Blues & Amazing Blessings

Grangeville, ID to Lowell, ID (50 miles)

With the elevation at Grangeville at 3,765 and the Lowell, ID elevation was 1,538 feet, the day was expected to be great, with mostly downhill roads and a rather short ride. The ride was short because we were approaching an 80 mile stretch of road after Lowell, with no services to speak of. So, we had to pace our “attack”. The morning ride was in the 45 degree range and I had to bundle up with the cold weather gear and did not take it off all day. The ride was through more scenic hill/mountain areas with some descents to the Clearwater River. I had to stop for a road construction in the hills and talked to the young man who was holding the Stop sign as the road crew flagger. He had just returned from 2 weeks in the National Guard Reserves and was happy to be back to work and not in the desert (I did not ask where he was). He was intrigued by my adventure, but then it was time to move on…Slow!

As I passed into the Nez Perce Indian Reservation, then on to the town of Kooskia, I decided to stop at the National Forest Service Ranger Station to ask about the Powell Campground along the 80 mile stretch of near nothingness. Both Coleen and Ed were very eager to help. They called another tanger station to confirm that the NFS Powell Campground was one of the few in that area NFS with electric sites. Although there are 12 electric spots, there were no showers and vault toilets. Coleen also explained that the 80 mile stretch of road was rather narrow, not much berm, and plenty of logging trucks. So, she said be very careful. They invited me to use the restroom, get some water and I went on my way. I was about 8 miles from the campground stop and had not saw the troops pass me, when the cell phone rang. It rarely rings and I usually do not hear it. I stopped to answer and found a frantic Vera on the phone, but the signal was weak and the voice was breaking up. I decided to turn around and go back a short ways and try to call them again. As it turned out, the brakes had locked up on the front left side of Walt and Vera’s camper van. Kim was trying to keep everyone calm and she asked me to come back to help. I rode back to Kooskia and acted as the intermediary between the Bernings and AAA. It turned out Walt was 9 miles back from Kooskia where there was no cell reception and Kim and Vera had drove into Kooskia to call me. Upon arriving in Kooskia, I called AAA, we unhooked the trailer from the Durango. Kim and Vera drove back to Walt to tell him what was happening with AAA, while I stayed in Kooskia to talk to AAA. Well, Fred the tow truck driver, who was a very nice fellow, loaded up the camper, and stopped at three different places to help find a place who would be able to work on the camper van today. We ended up in Orofino, Idaho which was about 30 miles from Kooskia. Kim and I had hooked up the camper again and followed them to Orofino. The repair facility was very accomdating and said they would repair the brakes before the end of the day even if they had to stay over late. The camper’s brake caliper pistons had frozen and caused the brake shoes to heat up so much it melted to the rotor. So, we roamed around town, had some ice cream and visited a really nice all organic food store. Andy at Orofino Country Store had moved to Orofino from Thornton, CO and he had lived in the area of 120^th Ave, which is near my brother Kurt. Small world! He asked that I publish his website on my blog in case someone might want to visit. (http://orofinocountrystore.com/)

After a rather large unexpected repair bill, we were heading out of Orofino before 5PM. We made it to the Three Rivers campground, ate dinner and went to bed. Although it was a busy and trying day, God blessed us in many ways. It is amazing how He works through other people to help us through trying times. God is Good!