Apples, September 16

Our morning was pleasantly warm even though we were next to a large river.  The road continued to follow the river, apple trees lining both shoulders.  Finally we stopped and picked a few: apples for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!  

Within a few miles we came to the small town of Kooskia.  While filling up water there, we saw a  sizable covey of california quail.  Quail are such funny birds, their plumes bobbing whenever they move, and we enjoyed this sighting.  We biked a few more miles downriver until arriving at the town of Kamiah.  We stopped in the grocery store and bought a few things, then continued on.  The road continued by the river, as before, but now the river was much bigger.  What had been a creek, easily crossed, was now a few hundred feet wide with small rapids from time to time.  

We were now out of the National Forest, and into the Nez Perce Indian Reservation, and another town came up.  This was Orofino, population 3000+.   We stopped in the city park to eat lunch under some giant trees. We took awhile, not wanting to leave our shady haven, then played for a few minutes on the nearby playground.  Tam also checked out the farmer's market; a few tables were set up in the park.  The day was getting hotter by the minute; as we biked out of town, a sign read 92 degrees, and another, a minute later, said 100.  Quite the change from our water freezing solid last week!

Through the heat we biked until reaching a rest area with air conditioned restrooms, green grass under big trees, and the river nearby.  We deliberated continuing but eventually chose to stop even though we had only done 50 miles.  We all wanted to go swimming!  So we waded into the river, but only for a minute because the water was freezing.  Then Tam painted a little bit while I wrote this and prepared dinner.