Day 13 Not what we would call a short cut.

After having breakfast in Chewelah we started heading to the Flowerly trail, what we thought would be a nice shortcut and save us some time. The road started to go uphill, then we'd take a turn and go up another steep stretch of road, then turn that corner and went up another. After about a half hour of this we all stopped, some of us frustrated and thought, "what the hell? Is this another pass?" It was hot that day too, first time so far this trip we've sweat that much. Evan got stung by a bee and kept getting chased around by them. Either you get off your bike and run away from them, or sprint uphill away from them and either way your tired. We didn't expect a shortcut to be climbing 3200 feet but we finally got to the top, Flowery Trail Pass, elevation of 4026 feet, and the steepest pass yet. We ended stopping for lunch in Usk. The huge breakfast burittos we ate literally made all of us fall asleep for at least a half hour on their front patio. Picture that though, five bikers coming in for a bite to eat and then all of them taking a nap on your benches outside. The lady that ran the place was cool though, we all woke up from her saying goodbye after closing up the place, meanwhile we were all struggling to wake up. After she drove off we thought it might be a good time take off, after resting our eyes for almost an hour. We took off down the highway and made another quick stop in Newport. The highlight of this day was definitely crossing into Idaho, not because the sign was another reason to stop and hang out for a bit, but because it kind of represented what we'd accomplished so far. It also meant we'd be in Sandpoint and get to have a few rest days. so we rode seven miles east of newport and found a place to stay there for the night.