Russell's comments;
     We're in Roseville California at Peggi's son Nathan's place.
     I don't know where to start so I'll just pick a place.
     Washington traffic in the back country was denser than you'd think it would be.  We were traveling west on highway 26 (I think), which for this part of the country is considered a back road,  and the traffic was continuous going both ways.  So, when we got a camping spot behind a convenience store in Dusty Washington I asked the clerk the reason for it. She said the interstate highways were so crowded people headed for Spokane or Seattle were trying to access the interstate at an easier location for their ride home or taking a short cut around the interstates.  Plus I've talked to many Washingtonians and Seattleites and invariably the subject of traffic jams in Seattle comes up in the conversation.  So much so in fact that I wonder why anyone would bother to live there.  At this point I'm sure somebody is saying and/or thinking "Yes, but there's so much to do there." Like what?  Look out the window of your SUV at the Space Needle for a few minutes as you drive slowly by?  Drive to the coast in bumper to bumper traffic so you can stand in line to catch a quick glimpse of the Pacific Ocean?  Then there's always the great shopping malls I've heard so much about and have tried to avoid my whole life.  So, here's the conclusion I came to about Washington State traffic.  A third of the people in autos are driving east from Seattle to get away from it all.  A third of them are going west from Spokane to get away from it all.  And the other third are stuck in a traffic jam somewhere in between.  On a positive note we did stay in some great little towns in Washington state.  I've already mentioned Dusty but another one was Packwood Washington.  Elk were actually hanging out in the city park and walking in the streets and the town seemed exceptionally quiet.  Maybe we just caught it on a good night.  Also, some of the scenery was spectacular.  I mean, you could see Mt Rainer from half way across the state.
      Peggi has already mentioned our experiences riding down the Pacific coast on highway 101 so I won't add anything to that but between the tourist attractions there and what we saw in Washington state I think both of us have had enough of touristy areas and the consequences of it.  You know, traffic   density, crowds, high prices, a shortage of camping locations and so forth.  Misanthrope that I am, I'm now suggesting finding another route that does not go  through Flaming Gorge Canyon in Wyoming and Utah as was in the planned route.  Plus I discovered there are 9 % climbs in the park.  But I would love to see it so we may come back later in a car or van and check it out.
   Here's a positive story and then I have to check out.  We had camped in a city park in Troy Idaho and as we were leaving in the morning we came across a paved trail that we were told went all the way to Moscow Idaho, which was the next big town about 20 miles away.  I wasn't in favor of taking it until someone told us it was a rails to trails project which means it was mostly flat or at least not too much climbing.  It was beautiful and after we'd been riding a way another local biker came up on us and we got to talking. I asked him the same question I always ask the locals about how the town got it's name and surprisingly he said he didn't know even though he's lived there for over 40 years.  He did tell us that the towns original name was Hog Heaven but they changed that early in the towns development for obvious reasons.  In the conversation I asked him about bike shops in Moscow and he asked what we needed.  I told him that Peggi's front wheel was failing fast and that I'd worked on it a couple times already but the bearing races were rusted and rough as were the bearings.  He then told us that in the last few years he's been collecting old bikes and parts and had started working for free out of his garage for his neighbors and anyone else who he happened to run into.  Like us for instance.  So he gave us his address and directions to his place and took off.  He fixed us up with a wheel when we got to his place and more than that we had a great time talking to him and exchanging stories.  This experience supports Russell's Great Cosmic Crapshoot Of Life Theory.  If we'd decided to take the highway instead of the trail it wouldn't have happened.  If we had got on the trail 5 minutes later than we did we'd have never encountered him.  And we almost didn't go through Moscow at all but changed our mind at the day before.  Serendipity Rules!
    More later.