So... We're in Wisconsin. Which means...Kristen no writey about Minnesota yet. Hmm. I've compiled a list, and feel we will all be here until tomorrow morning. But, hey. Let's not think of this as long and drawn out. Let's think of this as a marathon, where we can all celebrate when we've reached the end/ and or passed out. On your marks...get set... GO!
whoo. Ok. I can do this.
In Fargo, we stayed with Anne and Ed. We got to their place, and there was a note on the door. "Warm Showers people: Call --- --- -----". We called, got directions to Ruby Tuesday's where they were eating, and arrived. They had two coupons for 'buy one get one free' on dinner. I like coupons, and we ate out for David's birthday (cringe! I know! I know! I told you we were behind!). Anne + Ed had just gotten in that morning from London, but opened their home to us (giant fluffy bed, shower, ice cream!). Ed pretends he's curmudgeonly (as Anne says, 'He can find the hole in a donut'), but we know the truth... he's a chemist/prof who loves to take photos and share his experiences with guests. He was a big ol' teddy bear underneath it all. Anne and Ed's home is decorated with art from his students and his photography. Anne was extraordinarily cheerful and bright from the second we met her. She was an internal medicine doctor, and went to school at Rush! Right down the street from UIC! A few years ago, she did the Southern Tier with Woman's Tours, which was fun to hear about. Anne tried to send us off with everything but the kitchen sink, which would be hard to load on our bikes so we settled for some energy bars, fruit, nuts, cheese, and breakfast. :)
The morning we left Fargo, a guy caught up and rode with us the first 11 miles of the day...he is an airline pilot (United?), but works at the bike shop we went to in Fargo for fun. Kinda sounds like the beginning of a joke. Cool guy.
Rode to Kyle and Mandy Rich's in Erhard, MN... headwinds. Mandy and her sister-in-law, Kelly greeted us, but Kyle and his brother, Cody, did not. They were out getting a new puppy for Kyle + Mandy's boys. Unbelievably cute. As I watched the boys 'discover' Kyle out in the front lawn holding the puppy, I relived my seventh birthday, when my dad gave me my first kitten. Dad, that's one of my favorite memories. That night we grilled out (yummm!), the dog slept in the boys' room (while they curled up around it on the floor), the dog peed in the boys room, and we all crashed not long after.
Mandy had to work the next day, so after making pancakes (dinosaur, mickey mouse, and jet skis made to order!) Kelly + I went on a run. When we got back, we gathered her boys (Kalen and Carson), the Rich's boys (Jaxson and Kale), and the puppy and went to Heilberger Lake, down the rode from the Rich's. David, Cody, and Kyle went fishing in the lake right outside the Rich's. Let me just say... Heilberger is not a very warm lake, so I 'heiled' it from the shore. Someone's got to keep the puppy company, right? Kelly drove up to the house to use the bathroom at the precise moment when Kalen and Carson discovered they had leeches on/between their toes. If anything creeps me out, it's parasites...especially leeches. Kalen picked most of them off but one giant one on his big toe. When I picked it off, his toe started bleeding all over the place. This is when Carson discovered the growing leech between his toes. I went to pick it off when it audibly popped blood all over the place. Gross? Oh yeah. Needless to say, the dudes were over the whole lake experience by the time Kelly came back from the house, and so was I.
David was the only guy who didn't catch a fish (although Cody + Kyle tried to hand off their poles when the time seemed right). I learned the actual meaning for the word 'trolling'... as in, throwing out a number of lines and dragging them through the water. Not, as my family says, a girl who is prowling around, desperate to snag the first guy who bites. Proper usage: "Wow. Put on another outfit. You look like your about to go trolling." Yes, I see. There isn't much difference between the two, is there?
That night we went to Zorbaz on the lake, which made me think of Dancing Zorbas from My Big Fat Greek Wedding. In fact, it was a pizzeria with a pull-up dock and patio... and the best Super-Nachos and Mexican pizza eva. When we managed to waddle out to the car (three large pizzas, super nachos, and cheesy bread had been ordered), the census was taken on # of pieces eaten. Mandy: 1 + super nachos. Kyle: 5. Me:2 + super nachos. DAVID: 12. Yes, twelve pieces of pizza. "What? I sandwiched them!" Somewhere in there, we found room for Granny's Pantry homemade ice cream before we bid the in-laws adieu.
I'm not even close to done. Oh. no.
Ok, seriously, this is pathetic. I have to call it a night though. More tomorrow. THAT is a promise.
About Us
- David and Kristen Mrdjanov
- We got hitched last summer, are enjoying starting life together here in Chicago, and are ready for some real adventure.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
More fun tomorrow.
So... I guess I'm getting kinda boring. Dad has written me his version of a blog on my facebook, which reads like a thank you letter, and ends with, "Please write something... anything." So. There will be some spicy random things thrown in to keep it interesting for those who are falling asleep while reading.
Yes, there are days we don't feel like riding. Today was one of those days... gusting headwinds all the live long day, not much scenery...but we're in Morris, MN visiting Chris and Dena Leman (more to follow in tomorrow's blog). David finally got his new Brooks saddle in the mail and was breaking it in... all in all, not the most fun day riding, but one that you just put your head down and pedal through, eking the miles out one by one.
We are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay behind on the blog situation. I am also a dunderhead and managed to leave (even after double checking each room!) our usb modem at the last house we were at, which means we'll likely be without on-demand Internet for the rest of the trip. Monkeys.
A good long time ago we were in Minnewauken, which apparently means "bad water" in Sioux because a bunch of warriors drowned not far from their camp. I told my Dad we were staying in "The Venice of North Dakota". Then the robot army advanced. Minnewauken appears to be the town of bad water; the town was twelve miles from the lake fifteen years ago and is now in the lake, which has been rising for the last fifteen years without explanation. The people we stayed with lived near a state route that USDOT attempted to raise four times before abandoning. It is now completely underwater. More robots. We got a full tour of the town, which has sections where the water table has bubbled up, and the town itself is almost an island. Many people have had to abandon their land. Lyndee and Tyler Heser, whom we stayed with, had a house that is on the edge of town. This year, they will have very few remaining neighbors.
Lyndee and Tyler grilled out for us, made us breakfast, gave us a tour of the town, and genuinely made us feel like welcome guests in The Venice of North Dakota. Both are teachers, and both have committed to Minnewauken for the long run, although neither are from the town. David and I both thought that it takes pretty incredible people to stick it out, living and working in a town that is slowly flooding.
Someone (me) fell on our tent in the middle of the night a couple weeks ago, and broke one of the sticks that...you know... holds the whole tent up. We made a RIDICULOUSLY make-shift fix with bungee cords, sticks, duct tape, and nearby trees. It looked... well... stupid. Really really stupid. It also went from about the easiest tent in the universe to set up to one of the most complicated. Thankfully, when Tyler saw the hilarity that was the bungee/tape/stick madness, he donated some of his tent-holding-up sticks from a broken tent that he had. Whew! Our tent still looks a little silly, but not nearly as...tent-down-by-the-river-ish.
We got dumped on while we were camped out in their yard, and... unfortunately... we hadn't planned on any big thunderstorms so, again, the rain cover wasn't on. David threw the tarp over our tent, but the new tent sticks are higher than the old ones, so it only kept us marginally dry. Once again, the Therma-rest pads saved the day... we floated on our little blow-up islands during the night, and only woke up to the pools in our tent in the morning. Only a few things we needed were wet, and Lyndee and Adam let us use the dryer for those. Then we watched a moose tango.
The next morning, after a send-off breakfast of french toast, bacon, and parfaits... we got lost. There are a lot of roads that just don't connect to anything anymore! We followed the giant lake around lots of bends, and then all of a sudden, our road was closed, and we couldn't find a through-route. Ah, the days when we had our trusty Internet USB...how I miss thee. We looked up where we were on Google, and navigated our way out of the mess only +9 miles later.
That night we were in Pekin, which we've already written mostly about. What we DIDN'T write was that the 50 cent breakfast was not actually a 50 cent breakfast. It was 50 cent coffee, and we were crashing a men's group that meets at the community center every morning at 5am. whoops. We stayed around though, had some coffee, made oatmeal on the stove, and heard stories about old Pekin, while secretly lamenting the one package of oatmeal we had and feeling bad for crashing men's club. Mermaids.
That day, after stopping for ice cream in Hope, we headed to Page, ND. People kept directing us to a special 'bicyclists only' campsite up the road which ended up being one of the lovelier places we've been. The bathrooms at the park were essentially a hole in the ground inside of a shed (don't fall in!), and there were mosquitoes that were apparently very malnourished. We hadn't showered in a couple days, so we rode around town looking for a magical shower to appear by the side of the road. David pulled up to the Page High School, where I told him he had "a zero percent chance" that it would be open. He somehow found the positive percentage in there, because both the principal and the janitor were there, and were cool with us showering in the coachs' bathroom. mmmmmmmmmmmmm. What an unexpected treat. Showering made the 'Bikers only' camping look not so incredibly scary.
We set up our tent again just in time to wait out yet another downpour. This time, raincover on. The Page Farmer's Market is located in the same park as the 'Bikers Camping', and who should be among the three people selling baked goods, but one of the ladies from the Ice Cream store in Hope! She and her family were really interested in our trip, and they gifted us squash, potatoes, and snickerdoodle cookies. The squash and potatoes made it into the lunchbox. The cookies did not.
David really wants me to write that in Page, everyone parks in the middle of the street, runs their errands, and runs back out. It did look pretty goofy to see a constant rotation of cars parked in the middle of a lane. The waitress at the Page Cafe said she grew up in the town, and they've always done it that way.
The next day was a pretty short day to Fargo. All was going well, except that I kept feeling like my wheel was dragging. I knew it was all in my head because I had checked the wheel in Page, but I almost wished there was something wrong with my wheel so I could at least have a reason for the drag I was feeling. As I was contemplating all the possible things that could be causing drag (but that I knew weren't), I noticed that David's wheel was actually wobbling erratically. The rim was cracked in at least three places, and was cracking in others. We were only twenty miles out from Fargo, so we figured we'd just disengage the back brake, ride into town and get a new rim. It was a rough ride, but we got there.
Thankfully, Fargo is not Montana, or we would've been up a creek without a paddle. And really, honestly, I don't know what we would've done if we hadn't been twenty miles from Fargo because I don't know too many bike shops along our route where we could've gotten what we needed. Thankfully, there is a GIANT bike shop in an old train depot in Fargo where the bike mechanics like to talk shop to tourists (in the cycling tourists sense), and were happy to help David out (even sawing off wheel pieces) without charging an arm and leg for smiling at us. This was a welcome surprise. So, now, besides the new seat, David has a new rim, a new tire, and he broke down and bought a pair of gloves. I think I've forgotten to mention that for the last month and a half he's had no feeling in his pinkie and ring finger. I don't know if the gloves will help, but they certainly won't hurt.
I'm still days behind, but it's past midnight and once again, we're riding 100 miles tomorrow. I'll try to catch the blog up ASAP, find some WI-FI and keep all y'all posted. Mutant vegetables!
Yes, there are days we don't feel like riding. Today was one of those days... gusting headwinds all the live long day, not much scenery...but we're in Morris, MN visiting Chris and Dena Leman (more to follow in tomorrow's blog). David finally got his new Brooks saddle in the mail and was breaking it in... all in all, not the most fun day riding, but one that you just put your head down and pedal through, eking the miles out one by one.
We are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay behind on the blog situation. I am also a dunderhead and managed to leave (even after double checking each room!) our usb modem at the last house we were at, which means we'll likely be without on-demand Internet for the rest of the trip. Monkeys.
A good long time ago we were in Minnewauken, which apparently means "bad water" in Sioux because a bunch of warriors drowned not far from their camp. I told my Dad we were staying in "The Venice of North Dakota". Then the robot army advanced. Minnewauken appears to be the town of bad water; the town was twelve miles from the lake fifteen years ago and is now in the lake, which has been rising for the last fifteen years without explanation. The people we stayed with lived near a state route that USDOT attempted to raise four times before abandoning. It is now completely underwater. More robots. We got a full tour of the town, which has sections where the water table has bubbled up, and the town itself is almost an island. Many people have had to abandon their land. Lyndee and Tyler Heser, whom we stayed with, had a house that is
Lyndee and Tyler grilled out for us, made us breakfast, gave us a tour of the town, and genuinely made us feel like welcome guests in The Venice of North Dakota. Both are teachers, and both have committed to Minnewauken for the long run, although neither are from the town. David and I both thought that it takes pretty incredible people to stick it out, living and working in a town that is slowly flooding.
Someone (me) fell on our tent in the middle of the night a couple weeks ago, and broke one of the sticks that...you know... holds the whole tent up. We made a RIDICULOUSLY make-shift fix with bungee cords, sticks, duct tape, and nearby trees. It looked... well... stupid. Really really stupid. It also went from about the easiest tent in the universe to set up to one of the most complicated. Thankfully, when Tyler saw the hilarity that was the bungee/tape/stick madness, he donated some of his tent-holding-up sticks from a broken tent that he had. Whew! Our tent still looks a little silly, but not nearly as...tent-down-by-the-river-ish.
We got dumped on while we were camped out in their yard, and... unfortunately... we hadn't planned on any big thunderstorms so, again, the rain cover wasn't on. David threw the tarp over our tent, but the new tent sticks are higher than the old ones, so it only kept us marginally dry. Once again, the Therma-rest pads saved the day... we floated on our little blow-up islands during the night, and only woke up to the pools in our tent in the morning. Only a few things we needed were wet, and Lyndee and Adam let us use the dryer for those. Then we watched a moose tango.
The next morning, after a send-off breakfast of french toast, bacon, and parfaits... we got lost. There are a lot of roads that just don't connect to anything anymore! We followed the giant lake around lots of bends, and then all of a sudden, our road was closed, and we couldn't find a through-route. Ah, the days when we had our trusty Internet USB...how I miss thee. We looked up where we were on Google, and navigated our way out of the mess only +9 miles later.
That night we were in Pekin, which we've already written mostly about. What we DIDN'T write was that the 50 cent breakfast was not actually a 50 cent breakfast. It was 50 cent coffee, and we were crashing a men's group that meets at the community center every morning at 5am. whoops. We stayed around though, had some coffee, made oatmeal on the stove, and heard stories about old Pekin, while secretly lamenting the one package of oatmeal we had and feeling bad for crashing men's club. Mermaids.
That day, after stopping for ice cream in Hope, we headed to Page, ND. People kept directing us to a special 'bicyclists only' campsite up the road which ended up being one of the lovelier places we've been. The bathrooms at the park were essentially a hole in the ground inside of a shed (don't fall in!), and there were mosquitoes that were apparently very malnourished. We hadn't showered in a couple days, so we rode around town looking for a magical shower to appear by the side of the road. David pulled up to the Page High School, where I told him he had "a zero percent chance" that it would be open. He somehow found the positive percentage in there, because both the principal and the janitor were there, and were cool with us showering in the coachs' bathroom. mmmmmmmmmmmmm. What an unexpected treat. Showering made the 'Bikers only' camping look not so incredibly scary.
We set up our tent again just in time to wait out yet another downpour. This time, raincover on. The Page Farmer's Market is located in the same park as the 'Bikers Camping', and who should be among the three people selling baked goods, but one of the ladies from the Ice Cream store in Hope! She and her family were really interested in our trip, and they gifted us squash, potatoes, and snickerdoodle cookies. The squash and potatoes made it into the lunchbox. The cookies did not.
David really wants me to write that in Page, everyone parks in the middle of the street, runs their errands, and runs back out. It did look pretty goofy to see a constant rotation of cars parked in the middle of a lane. The waitress at the Page Cafe said she grew up in the town, and they've always done it that way.
The next day was a pretty short day to Fargo. All was going well, except that I kept feeling like my wheel was dragging. I knew it was all in my head because I had checked the wheel in Page, but I almost wished there was something wrong with my wheel so I could at least have a reason for the drag I was feeling. As I was contemplating all the possible things that could be causing drag (but that I knew weren't), I noticed that David's wheel was actually wobbling erratically. The rim was cracked in at least three places, and was cracking in others. We were only twenty miles out from Fargo, so we figured we'd just disengage the back brake, ride into town and get a new rim. It was a rough ride, but we got there.
Thankfully, Fargo is not Montana, or we would've been up a creek without a paddle. And really, honestly, I don't know what we would've done if we hadn't been twenty miles from Fargo because I don't know too many bike shops along our route where we could've gotten what we needed. Thankfully, there is a GIANT bike shop in an old train depot in Fargo where the bike mechanics like to talk shop to tourists (in the cycling tourists sense), and were happy to help David out (even sawing off wheel pieces) without charging an arm and leg for smiling at us. This was a welcome surprise. So, now, besides the new seat, David has a new rim, a new tire, and he broke down and bought a pair of gloves. I think I've forgotten to mention that for the last month and a half he's had no feeling in his pinkie and ring finger. I don't know if the gloves will help, but they certainly won't hurt.
I'm still days behind, but it's past midnight and once again, we're riding 100 miles tomorrow. I'll try to catch the blog up ASAP, find some WI-FI and keep all y'all posted. Mutant vegetables!
Not quite a blog but...
I know it's not a blog but I HAVE managed to upload over a 1000 pictures from the trip to the Flickr account (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kmrdjanov). New blog tonight.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Pretty well up to date.
We're thanking God for safety... we haven't had any close calls, but three days ago a woman was hit and killed on her bike in the town where we were taking a rest break. It was a sobering reminder that we need to be diligent about safety, and to keep asking everyone to pray for our safety as we ride. 2650 miles into the ride now...
Tonight we're in Pekin! ... ...North Dakota that is... there are several towns out here with only dirt roads. You pull off the 'highway' (read: two lane road that's paved) onto a dirt road, and that's Pekin! Probably four streets. We started looking for a yard where someone would let us set up camp. A man, Gene, pulled up and directed us to the park, where they charge $5 to camp. We're kind of cheapskates, and we told him we were looking for a yard so we could save the money. I (kind of) felt guilty when he gave us $5 to camp, but was also not-so-secretly glad/thankful that we didn't have to spend grocery money on sleeping tonight. Gene, also told us that tomorrow morning at the community center they have coffee and breakfast stuff for a 50 cent donation. You can probably guess on the plans we've made for tomorrow morning. THEN (as if all that weren't enough) Gene brought over a 'fogger' for all the mosquitoes. "They were kinda thick while I was gardening...didn't know how they'd be down here".
Two nights ago we stayed in a County Fairgrounds in Rugby, ND. We initially asked a guy if we could set up a tent in his yard, and he directed us to the fairgrounds. He didn't know if there was a shower, but said it was a 'nice place'. He tracked us down at the library; he'd driven down to the fairgrounds to make sure there were showers for us.
We shared a campsite with Adam, a cyclist we've run into a couple times. We all went out for dinner together after we saw a '$5 steak, potato, and corn dinner' advertised. Total dive bar, but the steak dinner was indeed a $5 10 oz steak... served on a styrofoam plate... alone. The potatoes and corn were on a side table. Serve yourself. David got a Long Island for $1.50 because he had a July birthday (usually $9.00 in Chicago), we served ourselves hefty portions of corn and baked potatoes, and enjoyed the $5 goodness that ensued. It didn't matter that the steaks all came out the same no matter how we ordered them...it didn't matter that they were slightly gristley... it mattered that it really truly was $5.
When we got back, David and Adam played disc golf. Our neighbors on the other side of the campground (in a camper) brought over about 20 freshly baked cookies. mmmmmmmm. Soooo good. A couple people from town rode in on their bikes, and chatted with David and Adam about touring. They were really kind, excited about what we were doing, and enthusiastic about spending an hour of the evening with us. The next morning, David and I slept in a little (7:30), packed up camp, and rode to the gas station to make oatmeal. While at the gas station, Jeffery Lingerfelt (the guy from the night before) showed up. "Hey...I told my wife after we left that I wished we could've bought you breakfast this morning. I have to go pick up my daughter from camp, but can I buy you guys breakfast? The place across the street is great!" With that, he extended his hand with a $20 bill. We ate a second breakfast/ early lunch that day, and were once again blown away by the kindness of strangers.
So, Minot has come and gone. No new saddle for David... it was supposed to be waiting at the post office, but the guy on the other end of the internet didn't send it. I guess we're kind of lucky that Mr. Internet runs a Mickey Mouse operation, because apparently David ordered a woman's seat. David's man seat will hopefully be waiting for him in Minnesota. Hopefully with a capital 'H'. We rode a 100 mile and a 130 mile day back to back to get David's seat as-fast-as-we-could. Now, we're taking it easy to Minnesota (65-75 miles a day) to let butts heal.
Minot was otherwise a great experience. We stayed with a WarmShowers couple named Tracy and Tina Brookens. They have four kids, all impossibly cute and blonde. We pulled up, knocked on the door and were greeted by Kristen Galat, age 3 1/2. Maybe I just needed a little kid fix, or... I don't know what, but I loooved hanging out with their kids. We read, we biked, we picked out clothes. Speaking of clothes, we woke up Friday and were getting ready for the day. Alec, their 5 yr. old, informed David that he needed to change because he'd 'already worn those clothes last night'. He looked kind of sheepish when David told him he didn't have any other clothes. We've sent so much stuff home, and will probably find some way to fill another box.
After David and I showered, we went upstairs to chat with Tina and play with the kids until Tracy got home. We all ate enchiladas together (!), and then Tracy trued our wheels and did all kinds of other good stuff to our bikes; David stood with him in the garage, chatted, and learned. He also tested Tracy's Trice brand recumbant. His description? "Awesome". No butt problems with that seat! Inside the house, I chatted with Tina and cleaned up the dinner mess. After the kids went to bed, we stayed up and talked a little longer, then crashed. Tracy and Tina were ok with us spending another night there while we took a lay day.
The next morning, we got ready, went to the post office (no seat), the grocery store, and then went to the movie theatre. I think we've seen one movie in a theatre in the last year. Maybe 1/2 a tv show since we've left. We pulled up to the movie theatre and hear, "Wait! I know those people! David? Kristen?!" It was Mary Rich, one member of the big family we ate 4th of July dinner with! Here she was 800 miles from home, and we were running into her and her sisters in Minot, ND! Not only that, we'd stayed with her brother the night before, and would be staying with her son in a week!
On the way out of the theatre, we ran into the 'Womans Tour' group that we've been hearing about along the route. There are two groups of older woman that left one day apart. We've slowly been catching up to them. The more I think about it, the more genius I think the tour guides are. They basically charge an arm and a leg to be a SAG (Support and Gear OR Support Aide Group) for these older women. They have two 16 passenger vans with giant bike racks on top, and one covered trailer for all the women. They provide some meals, and set up hotel arrangements for the ladies, use Adventure Cycling's maps, and charge thousands of dollars to do the best they can in getting the group halfway across this year, and halfway across next year. Doesn't sound like a bad arrangement to me at all.
When we got back to the Brookens, the kids swarmed around us. "There are more people coming!" "It's going to be a party!" Apparently, two more bikers were coming into town for the evening. How hilarious when it ended up being the same two bikers we shared a campsite with in Glacier! Tracy and Tina grilled out for everybody, and had a friend of their own over. I did some popcorn reading with the oldest little girl, listed to some violin and guitar by the kids, and then came out to join the adults. Absolute hilarity ensued until midnight. So many funny stories from Tracy and his friend, Mike, who are in the Air Force, and from Adam and Jim, the other bikers. The whole evening was one of the most memorable times on our trip... pretty much from the bottom up because Tina and Tracy are so darn hospitable. Tina, Tracy... thank you for being so kind to us in Minot.
To complete the circle of coincidences... we ran into both Adam and Jim (the other bikers) separately the next day at Dairy Queen. I guess it's not so coincidental... who doesn't love ice cream after biking?!
We hear that finding a place to sleep in Williston, ND is rather difficult, thanks to the recent oil boom. Thankfully, Kyle and Mandy hooked us up with Kyle's uncle. James and Jean Rich must have been looking through the windows waiting for us, because the second we pulled up to the curb, the door was opening. James showed us where we'd be sleeping (the most comfortable pull-out bed in the world), and where the shower was. He and Jean then had to leave for work for a little bit. We showered up...David got our stuff ready for the next day, as well as took a trip to the bike shop, and we enjoyed being clean and comfortable until the Rich's got home. Jean cooked us some hamburgers, onion rings, french fries, and made salad. We enjoyed talking with the Rich's until bedtime about their lives, our lives... North Dakota... and then we slept on the heavenly pull out. Pretty nice. We got a really early start the next day, so we weren't able to see them, but we heard from James' sister that after we left he registered for WarmShowers and had another cyclist into their home the following evening. Wow! We're really thankful for the time we were able to spend with James and Jean.
I've seen more campers in the last two weeks than I think I've seen in my entire life combined. I'd say about 40% of the traffic is campers, 40% are trucks (semi or pickup), and 18% are motorcycles.
We still haven't written about last night, but as usual... bed time calls. After reading through this a second time, I realize just how inarticulate I'm getting on this trip.
Tonight we're in Pekin! ... ...North Dakota that is... there are several towns out here with only dirt roads. You pull off the 'highway' (read: two lane road that's paved) onto a dirt road, and that's Pekin! Probably four streets. We started looking for a yard where someone would let us set up camp. A man, Gene, pulled up and directed us to the park, where they charge $5 to camp. We're kind of cheapskates, and we told him we were looking for a yard so we could save the money. I (kind of) felt guilty when he gave us $5 to camp, but was also not-so-secretly glad/thankful that we didn't have to spend grocery money on sleeping tonight. Gene, also told us that tomorrow morning at the community center they have coffee and breakfast stuff for a 50 cent donation. You can probably guess on the plans we've made for tomorrow morning. THEN (as if all that weren't enough) Gene brought over a 'fogger' for all the mosquitoes. "They were kinda thick while I was gardening...didn't know how they'd be down here".
Two nights ago we stayed in a County Fairgrounds in Rugby, ND. We initially asked a guy if we could set up a tent in his yard, and he directed us to the fairgrounds. He didn't know if there was a shower, but said it was a 'nice place'. He tracked us down at the library; he'd driven down to the fairgrounds to make sure there were showers for us.
We shared a campsite with Adam, a cyclist we've run into a couple times. We all went out for dinner together after we saw a '$5 steak, potato, and corn dinner' advertised. Total dive bar, but the steak dinner was indeed a $5 10 oz steak... served on a styrofoam plate... alone. The potatoes and corn were on a side table. Serve yourself. David got a Long Island for $1.50 because he had a July birthday (usually $9.00 in Chicago), we served ourselves hefty portions of corn and baked potatoes, and enjoyed the $5 goodness that ensued. It didn't matter that the steaks all came out the same no matter how we ordered them...it didn't matter that they were slightly gristley... it mattered that it really truly was $5.
When we got back, David and Adam played disc golf. Our neighbors on the other side of the campground (in a camper) brought over about 20 freshly baked cookies. mmmmmmmm. Soooo good. A couple people from town rode in on their bikes, and chatted with David and Adam about touring. They were really kind, excited about what we were doing, and enthusiastic about spending an hour of the evening with us. The next morning, David and I slept in a little (7:30), packed up camp, and rode to the gas station to make oatmeal. While at the gas station, Jeffery Lingerfelt (the guy from the night before) showed up. "Hey...I told my wife after we left that I wished we could've bought you breakfast this morning. I have to go pick up my daughter from camp, but can I buy you guys breakfast? The place across the street is great!" With that, he extended his hand with a $20 bill. We ate a second breakfast/ early lunch that day, and were once again blown away by the kindness of strangers.
So, Minot has come and gone. No new saddle for David... it was supposed to be waiting at the post office, but the guy on the other end of the internet didn't send it. I guess we're kind of lucky that Mr. Internet runs a Mickey Mouse operation, because apparently David ordered a woman's seat. David's man seat will hopefully be waiting for him in Minnesota. Hopefully with a capital 'H'. We rode a 100 mile and a 130 mile day back to back to get David's seat as-fast-as-we-could. Now, we're taking it easy to Minnesota (65-75 miles a day) to let butts heal.
Minot was otherwise a great experience. We stayed with a WarmShowers couple named Tracy and Tina Brookens. They have four kids, all impossibly cute and blonde. We pulled up, knocked on the door and were greeted by Kristen Galat, age 3 1/2. Maybe I just needed a little kid fix, or... I don't know what, but I loooved hanging out with their kids. We read, we biked, we picked out clothes. Speaking of clothes, we woke up Friday and were getting ready for the day. Alec, their 5 yr. old, informed David that he needed to change because he'd 'already worn those clothes last night'. He looked kind of sheepish when David told him he didn't have any other clothes. We've sent so much stuff home, and will probably find some way to fill another box.
After David and I showered, we went upstairs to chat with Tina and play with the kids until Tracy got home. We all ate enchiladas together (!), and then Tracy trued our wheels and did all kinds of other good stuff to our bikes; David stood with him in the garage, chatted, and learned. He also tested Tracy's Trice brand recumbant. His description? "Awesome". No butt problems with that seat! Inside the house, I chatted with Tina and cleaned up the dinner mess. After the kids went to bed, we stayed up and talked a little longer, then crashed. Tracy and Tina were ok with us spending another night there while we took a lay day.
The next morning, we got ready, went to the post office (no seat), the grocery store, and then went to the movie theatre. I think we've seen one movie in a theatre in the last year. Maybe 1/2 a tv show since we've left. We pulled up to the movie theatre and hear, "Wait! I know those people! David? Kristen?!" It was Mary Rich, one member of the big family we ate 4th of July dinner with! Here she was 800 miles from home, and we were running into her and her sisters in Minot, ND! Not only that, we'd stayed with her brother the night before, and would be staying with her son in a week!
On the way out of the theatre, we ran into the 'Womans Tour' group that we've been hearing about along the route. There are two groups of older woman that left one day apart. We've slowly been catching up to them. The more I think about it, the more genius I think the tour guides are. They basically charge an arm and a leg to be a SAG (Support and Gear OR Support Aide Group) for these older women. They have two 16 passenger vans with giant bike racks on top, and one covered trailer for all the women. They provide some meals, and set up hotel arrangements for the ladies, use Adventure Cycling's maps, and charge thousands of dollars to do the best they can in getting the group halfway across this year, and halfway across next year. Doesn't sound like a bad arrangement to me at all.
When we got back to the Brookens, the kids swarmed around us. "There are more people coming!" "It's going to be a party!" Apparently, two more bikers were coming into town for the evening. How hilarious when it ended up being the same two bikers we shared a campsite with in Glacier! Tracy and Tina grilled out for everybody, and had a friend of their own over. I did some popcorn reading with the oldest little girl, listed to some violin and guitar by the kids, and then came out to join the adults. Absolute hilarity ensued until midnight. So many funny stories from Tracy and his friend, Mike, who are in the Air Force, and from Adam and Jim, the other bikers. The whole evening was one of the most memorable times on our trip... pretty much from the bottom up because Tina and Tracy are so darn hospitable. Tina, Tracy... thank you for being so kind to us in Minot.
To complete the circle of coincidences... we ran into both Adam and Jim (the other bikers) separately the next day at Dairy Queen. I guess it's not so coincidental... who doesn't love ice cream after biking?!
We hear that finding a place to sleep in Williston, ND is rather difficult, thanks to the recent oil boom. Thankfully, Kyle and Mandy hooked us up with Kyle's uncle. James and Jean Rich must have been looking through the windows waiting for us, because the second we pulled up to the curb, the door was opening. James showed us where we'd be sleeping (the most comfortable pull-out bed in the world), and where the shower was. He and Jean then had to leave for work for a little bit. We showered up...David got our stuff ready for the next day, as well as took a trip to the bike shop, and we enjoyed being clean and comfortable until the Rich's got home. Jean cooked us some hamburgers, onion rings, french fries, and made salad. We enjoyed talking with the Rich's until bedtime about their lives, our lives... North Dakota... and then we slept on the heavenly pull out. Pretty nice. We got a really early start the next day, so we weren't able to see them, but we heard from James' sister that after we left he registered for WarmShowers and had another cyclist into their home the following evening. Wow! We're really thankful for the time we were able to spend with James and Jean.
I've seen more campers in the last two weeks than I think I've seen in my entire life combined. I'd say about 40% of the traffic is campers, 40% are trucks (semi or pickup), and 18% are motorcycles.
We still haven't written about last night, but as usual... bed time calls. After reading through this a second time, I realize just how inarticulate I'm getting on this trip.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
...and we're finally out of Big Sky country!
I. love. tailwinds. 100 miles in 5.5 hours? Yes, please! We're in North Dakota! Whoooooo N.D!
So, Malta was where we left off? There isn't much to say about the riding the next day, except that David's butt was still sore, but we rode 70 miles. His Brooks saddle is hopefully waiting for us in Minot, ND, which we'll reach tomorrow. We really couldn't have asked for better weather the last two days, and hope that it holds out (wind and all) through tomorrow, when we plan on riding 130 miles. This will be our longest day yet.
The day we started in Malta ended in Glasgow. I wanted ice cream (imagine that!), so we stopped at a Quick n' Tasty on the way into town. Upon examining their menu and noticing the $2 cheeseburgers, we decided to eat dinner there too. Went to the grocery and picked up a birthday card...and left to find a yard and friendly people.
Immediately behind the grocery store, we spotted a couple out on their back porch, chatting. People who are in their yards are a lot easier to talk to than people in the house, because...well, who knows? It just is. This was Pat and Kristy Gunderson's home. When we asked if we could possibly stay in their yard, they said, "Yes, but we have a camper out front...would you like to sleep in that instead?" Would we? YES! So, we put our stuff in the camper, parked the bikes in the garage, and took up their offer of beers on the back porch. It rained while we were out talking, but we all were able to find a dry spot under an overhang or porch umbrella, so we just kept chatting. Pat and Kristy had been planning their trip to Alaska for next summer, which sounds exciting. We talked about Alaska, Montana, kayaking, their kids, our lives... we covered a lot of ground. They were SO friendly, and offered us showers, and whatever else we needed.
The bed in the camper was. marvelous. I don't know if it was just that neither of us had slept well in Malta, but we craaashed. I've slept in a camper once in my life (at a music festival), but I don't remember it being this good. I love camping... I love camping in a tent. I never really got why people went camping in campers...but... I think I get it now.
We got up the next morning at 6:30. Pat was already up, making us breakfast. Bacon and pancakes :) When Kristy came down, we all sat around and talked for another hour or so. Kristy recommended a bike guy in town where we might find a new tire for David, and so we headed off there before we started our day. David has a pretty cheap new tire... but it's not bald, so it's an upgrade.
Right outside of Glasgow is one of the largest Indian reservations in Montana state. It's populated by the Sioux and Assiniboine Indians, which, apparently hasn't worked out so well over the years. Last night, we stayed in Wolf Point, which is almost the middle of the reservation. This is one of the places Mandy's detective work brought us to; we stayed with her aunt's childhood friend, Sherri Heser, and her husband Gordon.
The wind had blown us into Wolf Point... but we didn't know where Sherri and Gordon lived, and we couldn't reach them via phone. We rode into town, hung out in the park (ie. David fixed bikes, and we ate ice cream) for an hour or so, and then we rode back against the wind to try to find their house. Thank goodness for small towns! We stopped a truck, asked where Sherri and Gordon Heser lived, and were directed to the next house down the road. Yay!
Sherri is in the know. Instead of me guessing, or someone who lives elsewhere making speculations, we got to hear about the reservation from someone who lives there. Both Sherri and Gordon work for Wolf Point school district. Pretty much the general concensus from people has been "be in the reservations as little as possible"...which, I understand has value--Sherri understood that too, but also explained that Wolf Point is like any other small town...but with roots back into Native American History.
When the government tried to take the Black Hills, the Sioux resisted, which resulted in 'Custer's Last Stand'. While the army was marching the Sioux downstate, they left the warriors in Fort Peck, saying they'd come back for them the next spring. They hoped the warriors would either kill each other, or would be killed by the Assiniboines already in Fort Peck. They didn't come back the following spring, and the indians didn't kill each other. So, for the last 120 years, the two nations have shared the land, but mostly stay in their own areas of the reservation. ... Except in Poplar, the stab capital.
When we got in, the Heser's niece was on her way out. "Showers are downstairs...we don't use the one up here, 'cause that's where we bathe the dog when the llama spits on it." Ha! uhhh...Ok! David got to see the llama and the dog go at it; spit sailing, barks flying, fur...sticky. This was while he looked at the white peacock...next to their ponies. Gordon and Sherri have a veritable petting zoo in their back yard. Sherri informed us that twenty-one out of their twenty-three free range chickens got eaten by the swift foxes this year...which they couldn't shoot because the foxes have been recently re-introduced into the wild, and are protected.
Gordon had to work late baling hay, but Sherri made us 'Super Nachos' and chatted with us before heading off to work again. These people work HARD! Their son, Ethan came home from baling, and left for another job after a shower. We went to bed, and still...everyone was at work. Pretty incredible.
I guess the Hesers have made a reputation for themselves with taking people in. Each of their sons brought a different friend home to live with the family throughout high school, and before we got there, they had taken in a guy whose car had broken down outside their house. He stayed with them two or three days, and was blown away by their hospitality just like we were. Two DAYS before we were there, they had had twelve family members staying for the weekend, yet Sherri was just as excited to have us as if they hadn't had anyone for a month.
This brings us up to today, but like I said...the 130 mile day awaits us tomorrow, so to bed I must go.
So, Malta was where we left off? There isn't much to say about the riding the next day, except that David's butt was still sore, but we rode 70 miles. His Brooks saddle is hopefully waiting for us in Minot, ND, which we'll reach tomorrow. We really couldn't have asked for better weather the last two days, and hope that it holds out (wind and all) through tomorrow, when we plan on riding 130 miles. This will be our longest day yet.
The day we started in Malta ended in Glasgow. I wanted ice cream (imagine that!), so we stopped at a Quick n' Tasty on the way into town. Upon examining their menu and noticing the $2 cheeseburgers, we decided to eat dinner there too. Went to the grocery and picked up a birthday card...and left to find a yard and friendly people.
Immediately behind the grocery store, we spotted a couple out on their back porch, chatting. People who are in their yards are a lot easier to talk to than people in the house, because...well, who knows? It just is. This was Pat and Kristy Gunderson's home. When we asked if we could possibly stay in their yard, they said, "Yes, but we have a camper out front...would you like to sleep in that instead?" Would we? YES! So, we put our stuff in the camper, parked the bikes in the garage, and took up their offer of beers on the back porch. It rained while we were out talking, but we all were able to find a dry spot under an overhang or porch umbrella, so we just kept chatting. Pat and Kristy had been planning their trip to Alaska for next summer, which sounds exciting. We talked about Alaska, Montana, kayaking, their kids, our lives... we covered a lot of ground. They were SO friendly, and offered us showers, and whatever else we needed.
The bed in the camper was. marvelous. I don't know if it was just that neither of us had slept well in Malta, but we craaashed. I've slept in a camper once in my life (at a music festival), but I don't remember it being this good. I love camping... I love camping in a tent. I never really got why people went camping in campers...but... I think I get it now.
We got up the next morning at 6:30. Pat was already up, making us breakfast. Bacon and pancakes :) When Kristy came down, we all sat around and talked for another hour or so. Kristy recommended a bike guy in town where we might find a new tire for David, and so we headed off there before we started our day. David has a pretty cheap new tire... but it's not bald, so it's an upgrade.
Right outside of Glasgow is one of the largest Indian reservations in Montana state. It's populated by the Sioux and Assiniboine Indians, which, apparently hasn't worked out so well over the years. Last night, we stayed in Wolf Point, which is almost the middle of the reservation. This is one of the places Mandy's detective work brought us to; we stayed with her aunt's childhood friend, Sherri Heser, and her husband Gordon.
The wind had blown us into Wolf Point... but we didn't know where Sherri and Gordon lived, and we couldn't reach them via phone. We rode into town, hung out in the park (ie. David fixed bikes, and we ate ice cream) for an hour or so, and then we rode back against the wind to try to find their house. Thank goodness for small towns! We stopped a truck, asked where Sherri and Gordon Heser lived, and were directed to the next house down the road. Yay!
Sherri is in the know. Instead of me guessing, or someone who lives elsewhere making speculations, we got to hear about the reservation from someone who lives there. Both Sherri and Gordon work for Wolf Point school district. Pretty much the general concensus from people has been "be in the reservations as little as possible"...which, I understand has value--Sherri understood that too, but also explained that Wolf Point is like any other small town...but with roots back into Native American History.
When the government tried to take the Black Hills, the Sioux resisted, which resulted in 'Custer's Last Stand'. While the army was marching the Sioux downstate, they left the warriors in Fort Peck, saying they'd come back for them the next spring. They hoped the warriors would either kill each other, or would be killed by the Assiniboines already in Fort Peck. They didn't come back the following spring, and the indians didn't kill each other. So, for the last 120 years, the two nations have shared the land, but mostly stay in their own areas of the reservation. ... Except in Poplar, the stab capital.
When we got in, the Heser's niece was on her way out. "Showers are downstairs...we don't use the one up here, 'cause that's where we bathe the dog when the llama spits on it." Ha! uhhh...Ok! David got to see the llama and the dog go at it; spit sailing, barks flying, fur...sticky. This was while he looked at the white peacock...next to their ponies. Gordon and Sherri have a veritable petting zoo in their back yard. Sherri informed us that twenty-one out of their twenty-three free range chickens got eaten by the swift foxes this year...which they couldn't shoot because the foxes have been recently re-introduced into the wild, and are protected.
Gordon had to work late baling hay, but Sherri made us 'Super Nachos' and chatted with us before heading off to work again. These people work HARD! Their son, Ethan came home from baling, and left for another job after a shower. We went to bed, and still...everyone was at work. Pretty incredible.
I guess the Hesers have made a reputation for themselves with taking people in. Each of their sons brought a different friend home to live with the family throughout high school, and before we got there, they had taken in a guy whose car had broken down outside their house. He stayed with them two or three days, and was blown away by their hospitality just like we were. Two DAYS before we were there, they had had twelve family members staying for the weekend, yet Sherri was just as excited to have us as if they hadn't had anyone for a month.
This brings us up to today, but like I said...the 130 mile day awaits us tomorrow, so to bed I must go.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
More Montana.
2300 miles into the trip. David's lost 15 pounds... I haven't lost more than 5. I'm trying to figure out what in the WORLD is going on with that... but...it's really no small mystery. He's a dude, he weighs more, he pulls more weight...and to be honest, he's in the front breaking wind a whole lot more than me. I just want to be able to eat like him and still be constantly losing weight... ... ... not going to happen, but I'll take what I can get. We're also probably not winning a lot of points for our diet. Today at our final destination, we could buy ice cream at a local shop for $6, or a 1.5 qt tub at the grocery for $3. The tub won out.
It also probably doesn't help that we've eaten giant breakfasts the last four days... but the LAST thing I'm going to say 'no' to is someone making us a delicious home-cooked meal. Nothing beats starting the day with a full tummy.
Someone told us Montana would be flat with a nice, steady tailwind... up until today, this was not our experience in Montana. In fact, it seemed Montana was trying desperately to keep us there with all the headwinds we were facing. Headwinds, crosswinds, rainstorms--Today, that all changed. We didn't have far to go, but we cruised through the day around 20 mph. Very. nice.
It seems to me the blogs per state ratio is slightly askew. We've been many hundred miles in Montana, and have 1 (one) blog besides this one. In all fairness, discounting Glacier (and the little bit of Montana that comes before)... there just ain't much to see in Montana. A lot of flat, a little rolling hills, hundreds of train cars, very few trees... some towns... and a porcupine on the side of the road. Really, that's all.
So, we've been pretty thankful for the people we've been meeting along the way. Because, after a whole lotta nothin' all day long (which, in it's own way is beautiful), it's nice to talk with someone from the area who, really, seems just as excited as we are about the bikers-in-the-yard situation.
After Cut Bank, we planned on staying in Joplin, MT. Not far from Joplin, we ran into the now infamous Lonnie Cook. Why infamous? Because Lonnie is a grandpa, and is toasting our cookies in this bicycle-touring business. Lonnie informed us he was riding to Hingham that evening (about 16 more miles down the road from Joplin)... so... we did what was natural, and rode to Rudyard...just 6 miles short of Hingham. We haven't seen hide-nor-hair of Lonnie since, and don't anticipate seeing him again in the future. The man is an animal.
The sign coming into Rudyard, MT says, "Rip-roarin' and ready to do business!". The only businesses I saw were a bowling alley/bar, an auto museum (this boggles my mind...almost every town up here has a museum), a single-screen theatre, and...well, that's all I remember. It's a tiny town. Another sign coming into town says "275 nice people, and 1 old sore head!" The new sore head was recently elected, and it was a big enough deal that people 70 miles away knew about it. Neither Dave nor Karen Watson were the 'sore head', however. Karen let us pitch our tent in the front yard, and offered us showers and tater tot casserole. Their two daughters, Sammy and Topanga kept us company as we set up our tent, and by the time Dave got home, he was ready to tell stories until the sun set. We got up early the next morning, packed up our gear, and sat down for pancakes, eggs, and cajun bacon from the Watson's. Definitely a good start to the day.
Six miles down the road in Hingham, Mandy and Kyle Rich met up with us; they were driving back to Minnesota. Mandy called later to tell us they'd found two places for us to stay along the way...with friends of relatives. Mandy was a sleuth for us! Don'tcha love making friends on this trip? One family is in the middle of one of the Indian Reservations known as "stab center" of the US. Thankfully, there will be no stabbing involved.
That...breakfast and meeting up with the Rich's... was about as good as that day got. The mosquito epicenter of the world is apparently located east of Hingham, MT. They must love dumb visitors who don't have bomber mosquito spray, because they were all-freaking-over. and the gnats! Can't forget the chomping, swarming gnats that seem to thrive off of landing on people's faces. We recently have conquered these bugs with DEET spray and gnat-b-gone stuff for the face, but I'm not sure we're any the healthier for it.
David's butt had been bothering him for a few days, but he annouced twenty miles out of Havre that he'd be buying a Brook's saddle first chance he got. Unfortunately, that chance was NOT in Havre (apparently the largest town on rt. 2)...the only bike shop in town had about 3 mountain bikes and seats that looked scarier than David's. Outside, we discovered that I had broken yet another spoke...likely more than 40 miles before. Fortunately, my husband is now a pro at spoke fixering. Unfortunately, HE got a flat just outside of our destination for that night. Fortunately, he's fast...unfortunately, not faster than the mosquitoes. The mosquitoes have been eating him alive; his legs look like he's recently recovered from the chicken pox.
Our tires are bald. I mean B.A.L.D. baaaaaaaaaald. The rubber is peeling off all over, and you can see the kevlar underneath. Just days ago, my tires were as doughy as play-doh from being worn...but now their torn to shreds. Thankfully, David had planned for this moment, so he busted out the two new ones we have, and we're crossing our fingers that we'll make it to a good bike shop before the others give out.
It was my job to find a yard in Chinook, MT to stay in while David fixed his flat. At the first house, an older lady tried to decide if she was ok with us staying in her yard. A little girl, 7, walked by and asked "Whatcha doin'" before offering her house. So far, little kids have been good bait with parents, and we've met some pretty outstanding people (Mandy and Kyle) because of their curious kids. So, I told the older woman, "Thanks anyway", and followed the little girl home. ... ... ... ... Really scary (I mean it) house, with a really scary strung out mom. Thankfully, the mom was not cool with us staying in the yard, so I didn't have to figure out some way to say, "Thanks anyway" to her too. I walked down the street, knocked on another door... they suggested the park, but also noted that the sprinklers come on every hour at night.
Finally, I spotted a house with nice looking flowers and a well-kept yard. Mike Johnson opened the door, and was surprised to see me. I was surprised to see someone who looked so much like my uncle Duane! Thankfully, Mike was delighted to offer his back yard for our tent.
I fetched David from the gas station (our meetup spot, since there was no reception), and we headed over to the Johnson's. Mike, a gunsmith, was just leaving to test a gun he'd tuned. He told us he'd called his wife, Judy, to give her a heads-up that we were camping out in the yard. As we were setting up, Judy came home, getting out with a ready smile, but a question on her face.
"Mike said he'd called to warn you we were in the yard, but it looks like maybe you haven't gotten the message yet."
"Well, no...but it doesn't matter to me either way."
Five minutes later, Judy was bringing out fresh berries she'd picked up at a farmer's market in town. Really? Fresh berries? For people you had no idea were coming over? Wow.
Mike came home from testing his rifle, and had bought a 6 pack of beer to talk over. I'd cooked dinner on our little camping stove, and David was frantically switching out tires on our bikes, but we were all able to lean (Bob and Judy), stand (David), and squat (me) around and talk for a good part of the evening. Mike works an office job from early early in the morning until mid-afternoon, when he comes home to his 'hobby job'. Judy said he originally had planned on just taking in gun work until he'd paid off the shop, but has been going twenty years since then. Judy was pretty involved in things around town, and loved to garden.
That night, it rained...and rained and rained. Our tent kept us phenomanally dry. We decided to sleep in a little to give the rain a chance to pass, and when we got up, Mike was in his shop, and Judy was making us blueberry pancakes, homemade sausage, eggs and bacon. Hoooooooly smokes!! There was cinnamon syrup!! Yum yum yum. I was really thankful for the rain because 1. We were able to stick around and eat breakfast with Judy and Mike, and 2. we got more time with them. Judy and Mike are some of the kindest, most welcoming people we've had on our trip. They took such great care of us, and if we hadn't just taken some time off in Glacier, it would've been great to stay with them and get to know them better.
As we left town, it started raining again. I also started hearing a weird knocking noise, and then we had our first absolute tire blowout...with the new tires. David fixed it in no time, but there was no stopping the wind...or the headwinds. After 10 miles, we were soaked through our rain-gear.
Not much happened the rest of the day...we saw some places the buffalo used to graze. We got rained on on-and-off. David's butt hurt, so we played stupid memory games (tonight for dinner, we're going to have asparagus, broccoli, cookies...). Finally, we made it to Malta, MT. We camped in the park because after our first 'no', we were too tired to keep knocking. The mosquitoes were having a hey-day down there. The DEET truck came and sprayed in the middle of the night. A light right outside our tent flickered on and off all night. At 4 am, it started raining again, but this time we didn't have our rain cover on. David quick threw a tarp over the tent that mostly did the job, but still left things wet in the morning. At 6 am, a park person started mowing...directly across from our tent. Our matches were wet from the surprise rain, so we weren't able to make breakfast. David looked at me after we packed everything up, and said, "We're getting breakfast." I whole-heartedly agreed.
We ate a giant breakfast at "The Hitchin' Post" in Malta, MT right next to their Dinosaur Museum. That pretty much made our time in Malta. The pancakes were huge, the coffee kept coming, and we got to chat with a lady who's riding to Seattle from Vermont to raise money for the MS Foundation. It's nice to run into bikers who have been where you're going so you can give each other tips...which is what we did.
This brings us up through yesterday, but we have another 100 mile day tomorrow, and it's 11 now, so I'm gonna call it quits for the night.
It also probably doesn't help that we've eaten giant breakfasts the last four days... but the LAST thing I'm going to say 'no' to is someone making us a delicious home-cooked meal. Nothing beats starting the day with a full tummy.
Someone told us Montana would be flat with a nice, steady tailwind... up until today, this was not our experience in Montana. In fact, it seemed Montana was trying desperately to keep us there with all the headwinds we were facing. Headwinds, crosswinds, rainstorms--Today, that all changed. We didn't have far to go, but we cruised through the day around 20 mph. Very. nice.
It seems to me the blogs per state ratio is slightly askew. We've been many hundred miles in Montana, and have 1 (one) blog besides this one. In all fairness, discounting Glacier (and the little bit of Montana that comes before)... there just ain't much to see in Montana. A lot of flat, a little rolling hills, hundreds of train cars, very few trees... some towns... and a porcupine on the side of the road. Really, that's all.
So, we've been pretty thankful for the people we've been meeting along the way. Because, after a whole lotta nothin' all day long (which, in it's own way is beautiful), it's nice to talk with someone from the area who, really, seems just as excited as we are about the bikers-in-the-yard situation.
After Cut Bank, we planned on staying in Joplin, MT. Not far from Joplin, we ran into the now infamous Lonnie Cook. Why infamous? Because Lonnie is a grandpa, and is toasting our cookies in this bicycle-touring business. Lonnie informed us he was riding to Hingham that evening (about 16 more miles down the road from Joplin)... so... we did what was natural, and rode to Rudyard...just 6 miles short of Hingham. We haven't seen hide-nor-hair of Lonnie since, and don't anticipate seeing him again in the future. The man is an animal.
The sign coming into Rudyard, MT says, "Rip-roarin' and ready to do business!". The only businesses I saw were a bowling alley/bar, an auto museum (this boggles my mind...almost every town up here has a museum), a single-screen theatre, and...well, that's all I remember. It's a tiny town. Another sign coming into town says "275 nice people, and 1 old sore head!" The new sore head was recently elected, and it was a big enough deal that people 70 miles away knew about it. Neither Dave nor Karen Watson were the 'sore head', however. Karen let us pitch our tent in the front yard, and offered us showers and tater tot casserole. Their two daughters, Sammy and Topanga kept us company as we set up our tent, and by the time Dave got home, he was ready to tell stories until the sun set. We got up early the next morning, packed up our gear, and sat down for pancakes, eggs, and cajun bacon from the Watson's. Definitely a good start to the day.
Six miles down the road in Hingham, Mandy and Kyle Rich met up with us; they were driving back to Minnesota. Mandy called later to tell us they'd found two places for us to stay along the way...with friends of relatives. Mandy was a sleuth for us! Don'tcha love making friends on this trip? One family is in the middle of one of the Indian Reservations known as "stab center" of the US. Thankfully, there will be no stabbing involved.
That...breakfast and meeting up with the Rich's... was about as good as that day got. The mosquito epicenter of the world is apparently located east of Hingham, MT. They must love dumb visitors who don't have bomber mosquito spray, because they were all-freaking-over. and the gnats! Can't forget the chomping, swarming gnats that seem to thrive off of landing on people's faces. We recently have conquered these bugs with DEET spray and gnat-b-gone stuff for the face, but I'm not sure we're any the healthier for it.
David's butt had been bothering him for a few days, but he annouced twenty miles out of Havre that he'd be buying a Brook's saddle first chance he got. Unfortunately, that chance was NOT in Havre (apparently the largest town on rt. 2)...the only bike shop in town had about 3 mountain bikes and seats that looked scarier than David's. Outside, we discovered that I had broken yet another spoke...likely more than 40 miles before. Fortunately, my husband is now a pro at spoke fixering. Unfortunately, HE got a flat just outside of our destination for that night. Fortunately, he's fast...unfortunately, not faster than the mosquitoes. The mosquitoes have been eating him alive; his legs look like he's recently recovered from the chicken pox.
Our tires are bald. I mean B.A.L.D. baaaaaaaaaald. The rubber is peeling off all over, and you can see the kevlar underneath. Just days ago, my tires were as doughy as play-doh from being worn...but now their torn to shreds. Thankfully, David had planned for this moment, so he busted out the two new ones we have, and we're crossing our fingers that we'll make it to a good bike shop before the others give out.
It was my job to find a yard in Chinook, MT to stay in while David fixed his flat. At the first house, an older lady tried to decide if she was ok with us staying in her yard. A little girl, 7, walked by and asked "Whatcha doin'" before offering her house. So far, little kids have been good bait with parents, and we've met some pretty outstanding people (Mandy and Kyle) because of their curious kids. So, I told the older woman, "Thanks anyway", and followed the little girl home. ... ... ... ... Really scary (I mean it) house, with a really scary strung out mom. Thankfully, the mom was not cool with us staying in the yard, so I didn't have to figure out some way to say, "Thanks anyway" to her too. I walked down the street, knocked on another door... they suggested the park, but also noted that the sprinklers come on every hour at night.
Finally, I spotted a house with nice looking flowers and a well-kept yard. Mike Johnson opened the door, and was surprised to see me. I was surprised to see someone who looked so much like my uncle Duane! Thankfully, Mike was delighted to offer his back yard for our tent.
I fetched David from the gas station (our meetup spot, since there was no reception), and we headed over to the Johnson's. Mike, a gunsmith, was just leaving to test a gun he'd tuned. He told us he'd called his wife, Judy, to give her a heads-up that we were camping out in the yard. As we were setting up, Judy came home, getting out with a ready smile, but a question on her face.
"Mike said he'd called to warn you we were in the yard, but it looks like maybe you haven't gotten the message yet."
"Well, no...but it doesn't matter to me either way."
Five minutes later, Judy was bringing out fresh berries she'd picked up at a farmer's market in town. Really? Fresh berries? For people you had no idea were coming over? Wow.
Mike came home from testing his rifle, and had bought a 6 pack of beer to talk over. I'd cooked dinner on our little camping stove, and David was frantically switching out tires on our bikes, but we were all able to lean (Bob and Judy), stand (David), and squat (me) around and talk for a good part of the evening. Mike works an office job from early early in the morning until mid-afternoon, when he comes home to his 'hobby job'. Judy said he originally had planned on just taking in gun work until he'd paid off the shop, but has been going twenty years since then. Judy was pretty involved in things around town, and loved to garden.
That night, it rained...and rained and rained. Our tent kept us phenomanally dry. We decided to sleep in a little to give the rain a chance to pass, and when we got up, Mike was in his shop, and Judy was making us blueberry pancakes, homemade sausage, eggs and bacon. Hoooooooly smokes!! There was cinnamon syrup!! Yum yum yum. I was really thankful for the rain because 1. We were able to stick around and eat breakfast with Judy and Mike, and 2. we got more time with them. Judy and Mike are some of the kindest, most welcoming people we've had on our trip. They took such great care of us, and if we hadn't just taken some time off in Glacier, it would've been great to stay with them and get to know them better.
As we left town, it started raining again. I also started hearing a weird knocking noise, and then we had our first absolute tire blowout...with the new tires. David fixed it in no time, but there was no stopping the wind...or the headwinds. After 10 miles, we were soaked through our rain-gear.
Not much happened the rest of the day...we saw some places the buffalo used to graze. We got rained on on-and-off. David's butt hurt, so we played stupid memory games (tonight for dinner, we're going to have asparagus, broccoli, cookies...). Finally, we made it to Malta, MT. We camped in the park because after our first 'no', we were too tired to keep knocking. The mosquitoes were having a hey-day down there. The DEET truck came and sprayed in the middle of the night. A light right outside our tent flickered on and off all night. At 4 am, it started raining again, but this time we didn't have our rain cover on. David quick threw a tarp over the tent that mostly did the job, but still left things wet in the morning. At 6 am, a park person started mowing...directly across from our tent. Our matches were wet from the surprise rain, so we weren't able to make breakfast. David looked at me after we packed everything up, and said, "We're getting breakfast." I whole-heartedly agreed.
We ate a giant breakfast at "The Hitchin' Post" in Malta, MT right next to their Dinosaur Museum. That pretty much made our time in Malta. The pancakes were huge, the coffee kept coming, and we got to chat with a lady who's riding to Seattle from Vermont to raise money for the MS Foundation. It's nice to run into bikers who have been where you're going so you can give each other tips...which is what we did.
This brings us up through yesterday, but we have another 100 mile day tomorrow, and it's 11 now, so I'm gonna call it quits for the night.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
To infinity...and beyond!
A little post from yesterday, then an update from today:
Tomorrow, we ride the Boston Marathon of mountains... the highest pass of the trip (over the Continental Divide)...with a TIME LIMIT. Bikers have to be up and over Logan's Pass by 11 am, or Rangers come, pick you up + throw your bike in the back of a truck. A few things to note 1. The climb is not mandatory. The maps offer another, smaller pass and actually only offer this one if you're planning on riding into Canada. 2. (and probably most importantly) It's really, really, gut-wrenchingly beautiful.
What else? Oh, yes...I passed out today. Don't worry, nothing serious...we had gotten on the bus to ride back from hiking (Park offers a free shuttle up + over the mountain with stops at trailheads), my stomach had been really weird all day, and for some reason the standing on the bus got to me. Everything started getting far away, and down I went. Some nice people gave up their seats right away! (I think this is a good way to get seats in the future in Chicago)... Got back to camp, drank lots of water, ate dinner, took care of business... hopefully a good night's sleep, and then climb tomorrow. We have been inside the park for two and a half days, and have hiked the last two.
Bah! I forgot... we mailed our running shoes home in Sandpoint, ID to save space/weight. I'm not exactly sure what we thought we were going to do when we got to Glacier 'cause...we both wanted to hike. So, to resolve our dunder-headedness, we stopped at the one thrift store in Columbia Falls, MT and got a pair of running shoes for me, and a pair of men's dress shoes for David (the only thing they had in his size). Grand total: $2. Score! The dress shoes actually worked out surprisingly well! They are, however, in the garbage now. All good things must come to an end.
We had the... ahem... pleasure... of camping with a bear. This bear was named Floyd, and I kid you not, was the loudest camper we've shared a space with. I woke up in the middle of the night and could not block out the snoring, grunting (and...hrm...farting) from twenty feet away. I woke again later and heard quiet stepping and munching outside our tent, and figured it must be a deer. I listened for a little bit, (it was RIGHT outside!) then went back to sleep. All in all, not the most restful night. In the morning, I asked David if he'd heard the animal outside our tent. "Baahahhahahaaa. Was it a bear? Honey, that was Floyd." Floyd was munching leaves outside our tent? "Uh...no... he was having a flem and coughing/farting/grunting episode in the middle of the night." Hmmm... must have missed that one. I overheard other campers talking about the deer that was outside our tent... but no one said anything about Bear Floyd.
We've seen some pretty depressingly named areas on this trip. Washington takes the cake with: Coffin Lake, Dead Man Road, Desperation pass... David and I started joking about the names. "Honey, have we passed Poison Lake yet?" "Yeah... it was right after Starvedtodeath Lane." Glacier/Waterton Park has a cliff named Buffalo-with-head-smashed-in-jump. Mmmm....pretty.
But about Glacier. H.O.L.Y. amazing COW. Is this place real? Because seriously, the entire time we were there it felt like we were dreaming up the scenery. I mean, seriously... you hear all this hype about Yellowstone and Yosemite, but Glacier N.P. isn't usually one I hear too often (although, it is called the "Crown of the Continent"). There is one mountain range (Tri-Continental Divide) that separates water towards the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Hudson Bay. Imagine being completely encircled by 9,000 ft. mountains, with a hanging valley of coniferous trees and wildflowers. Waterfalls were gushing down the faces of the mountains. The sun would crest on snow peaks and set them on fire. We saw Mountain Goats, Big-horned rams, White-tail deer that would walk within five feet of us... we climbed up a snowy pass to a place called "Hidden Lake". ... sigh. mmm. Glacier.
The first day, we waited for the free park shuttle with Dave and Sue, a couple from Baltimore that decided to buy a retirement house in Whitefish so they could be near Glacier. Dave said, "Yeah...we went to Yosemite, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons...this is the most majestic." So, who was at the park? Canadians, British, French, a couple Americans. We're in the minority here. We waited with Dave and Sue for an hour and a half... no shuttle. Supposedly the shuttle comes every 15-20 minutes. Sounds like some of our experiences with Megabus! We ended up all loading in the back of someone's Ford Ranger (with a cap) and rode back up to the top of the pass (the shuttle goes only to the top from both the East and West sides). Dave and Sue drove us back down to our campsite, and told us how they fell in love with the park last summer. They worked at a hotel that had couple dormitories. Sue worked the front desk, and Dave worked in a convenience store. Room and board was free, and they got paid. They also got to go horseback riding whenever they wanted, use the boats for free... pretty much sounded like a blast. Thank you again, Dave and Sue for the ride to the bottom!
Update from today (July 8th):
Well, we rode Logan's Pass today...the road is called the "Going-to-the-sun-road". We woke up at 5 am, and were on the road by 6 to make sure we beat the traffic and the time limit. Rode through a herd of Big-horn rams, and passed by a momma, daddy, and baby kid goat. Pretty stinking cute. The road is pretty scary... sometimes not wide enough for two cars and a cyclist, but we were on the road early enough to avoid any problems. Washington Pass (that 42 mile climb) and the day against the wind in Guadalupe we both agree were much worse, and the 16 mile climb up from our campsite to the top was actually...dare I say fun? I think our legs are getting used to the abuse, because they weren't complaining. "Going-to-the-sun-road" is by-far the most scenic road we've been on, which is why...after seeing it out the windows of the shuttle bus... we decided to ride.
We were told by Loyd (the Bear) that once we got over the pass, it was all down-hill from St. Mary's to Browning (which is where we re-met up with the southern option from the maps). Not quite. Apparently, St. Mary's is in a bowl, because we got down from the pass...and then re-climbed another 11 miles back out again. Hmm... still, the legs were fine. We got motivated in St. Mary's by reading some of our other biking friends blogs who didn't take 2 days off. Lonnie (whom we linked in an earlier blog) took the northern route. The father-son duo Jerry and Ned took the southern route, but took only one day off. It looked like if we BOOKED it from St. Mary's and ended the day in Cut Bank, we'd all be in pretty much the same area. So... today ended up being another 100 mile day, except 20+ miles of it was climbing. I'll be honest and say... my legs were complaining the last 15 or so miles. But we made it! It felt like an accomplishment of sorts.
At the grocery store in Cut Bank, a man offered his back yard for us to stay in. When we got there, it turned into offering us showers (which we needed after 4+days), laundry, and a futon downstairs. Dan-is-the-man. He has completely re-done his home...it's obvious everything was meticulously done, and that he's very proud of it. Dan is extremely kind and accommodating... we are very very thankful he opened his home up to us. After a record 4 days straight camping, a bed is quite nice.
Last but not least, about our 4th in Whitefish (I know it was 4 days ago, but oh well):
We pulled into Whitefish, and I wondered, "Who are we going to find that's home and willing to have people camp in their yard on the 4th of July?" Not long after, two nice-looking college-aged girls walked by, and I asked, "Excuse me, I'm sorry to bother you...but we're cycling across the country and are looking for a place to camp tonight. Do you know anyone who maybe wouldn't mind us popping up our tent in their yard?"
One girl said, "Yeah! I think my friend's mom wouldn't mind." With that she whipped out her cell phone, called Kathy, and after asking, "Hey, would you mind if two cyclists camped in your yard?"... and that's it! We had a place to stay. Not quite so hard as I thought it would be.
Kathy let us pop the tent in the back, showed us the bathroom for showering, and offered the washing machine. She told us she'd be gone tonight for the 4th, and would have to leave early tomorrow, but that she'd leave the house open for us. WOW!
We went into Whitefish, made some Ramen and split a Burger at the Bulldog Saloon, and then met up with Kyle, Mandy, and their kids (the couple we met in Rexford) for the 4th festivities. We went and got coffee...the kids got GIANT swirly lollipops (and a sugar rush) and Kyle got us our coffee. Mmm. So good.
We all went down to Whitefish lake together to watch the fireworks. Jackson and Nikale (the two little boys) threw stones into the lake while we got to talk with Mandy and Kyle. What a fantastic couple...we hope to stay with them when we go through Minnesota, and I can definitely see continuing a friendship with them over time (they want to come to Chicago some time!). Kyle ALSO got us a huckleberry ice cream cone to share...everything up here is huckleberry huckleberry. Nikale lost his ice cream, but moved on pretty quickly to the Cheez-its and cherries we brought to share.
Even if the fireworks show had been some backwoods thing over an RV park, it would have been fun... but it was over a lake with tons of boats, where the sun was reflecting off the smoke, mist, and mountains... pretty spectacular. David's comment is that he's never seen so many other people shooting off their of firecracker/works before, during, and after a 4th show before... the bottle rockets and roman candles continued probably til midnight. Kyle and Mandy are awesome... and their kids are hilarious. As we sat and watched the sun set on the lake before the show, I thought how incredible it was to be in Whitefish, MT with my husband...at a lake with new found friends. Pretty. Amazing.
Mom, Dad, I'll call you as soon as I can (service is pretty spotty out here)... I love you, and I'm thankful for the comments and messages I've been getting from everyone.
Tomorrow, we ride the Boston Marathon of mountains... the highest pass of the trip (over the Continental Divide)...with a TIME LIMIT. Bikers have to be up and over Logan's Pass by 11 am, or Rangers come, pick you up + throw your bike in the back of a truck. A few things to note 1. The climb is not mandatory. The maps offer another, smaller pass and actually only offer this one if you're planning on riding into Canada. 2. (and probably most importantly) It's really, really, gut-wrenchingly beautiful.
What else? Oh, yes...I passed out today. Don't worry, nothing serious...we had gotten on the bus to ride back from hiking (Park offers a free shuttle up + over the mountain with stops at trailheads), my stomach had been really weird all day, and for some reason the standing on the bus got to me. Everything started getting far away, and down I went. Some nice people gave up their seats right away! (I think this is a good way to get seats in the future in Chicago)... Got back to camp, drank lots of water, ate dinner, took care of business... hopefully a good night's sleep, and then climb tomorrow. We have been inside the park for two and a half days, and have hiked the last two.
Bah! I forgot... we mailed our running shoes home in Sandpoint, ID to save space/weight. I'm not exactly sure what we thought we were going to do when we got to Glacier 'cause...we both wanted to hike. So, to resolve our dunder-headedness, we stopped at the one thrift store in Columbia Falls, MT and got a pair of running shoes for me, and a pair of men's dress shoes for David (the only thing they had in his size). Grand total: $2. Score! The dress shoes actually worked out surprisingly well! They are, however, in the garbage now. All good things must come to an end.
We had the... ahem... pleasure... of camping with a bear. This bear was named Floyd, and I kid you not, was the loudest camper we've shared a space with. I woke up in the middle of the night and could not block out the snoring, grunting (and...hrm...farting) from twenty feet away. I woke again later and heard quiet stepping and munching outside our tent, and figured it must be a deer. I listened for a little bit, (it was RIGHT outside!) then went back to sleep. All in all, not the most restful night. In the morning, I asked David if he'd heard the animal outside our tent. "Baahahhahahaaa. Was it a bear? Honey, that was Floyd." Floyd was munching leaves outside our tent? "Uh...no... he was having a flem and coughing/farting/grunting episode in the middle of the night." Hmmm... must have missed that one. I overheard other campers talking about the deer that was outside our tent... but no one said anything about Bear Floyd.
We've seen some pretty depressingly named areas on this trip. Washington takes the cake with: Coffin Lake, Dead Man Road, Desperation pass... David and I started joking about the names. "Honey, have we passed Poison Lake yet?" "Yeah... it was right after Starvedtodeath Lane." Glacier/Waterton Park has a cliff named Buffalo-with-head-smashed-in-jump. Mmmm....pretty.
But about Glacier. H.O.L.Y. amazing COW. Is this place real? Because seriously, the entire time we were there it felt like we were dreaming up the scenery. I mean, seriously... you hear all this hype about Yellowstone and Yosemite, but Glacier N.P. isn't usually one I hear too often (although, it is called the "Crown of the Continent"). There is one mountain range (Tri-Continental Divide) that separates water towards the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Hudson Bay. Imagine being completely encircled by 9,000 ft. mountains, with a hanging valley of coniferous trees and wildflowers. Waterfalls were gushing down the faces of the mountains. The sun would crest on snow peaks and set them on fire. We saw Mountain Goats, Big-horned rams, White-tail deer that would walk within five feet of us... we climbed up a snowy pass to a place called "Hidden Lake". ... sigh. mmm. Glacier.
The first day, we waited for the free park shuttle with Dave and Sue, a couple from Baltimore that decided to buy a retirement house in Whitefish so they could be near Glacier. Dave said, "Yeah...we went to Yosemite, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons...this is the most majestic." So, who was at the park? Canadians, British, French, a couple Americans. We're in the minority here. We waited with Dave and Sue for an hour and a half... no shuttle. Supposedly the shuttle comes every 15-20 minutes. Sounds like some of our experiences with Megabus! We ended up all loading in the back of someone's Ford Ranger (with a cap) and rode back up to the top of the pass (the shuttle goes only to the top from both the East and West sides). Dave and Sue drove us back down to our campsite, and told us how they fell in love with the park last summer. They worked at a hotel that had couple dormitories. Sue worked the front desk, and Dave worked in a convenience store. Room and board was free, and they got paid. They also got to go horseback riding whenever they wanted, use the boats for free... pretty much sounded like a blast. Thank you again, Dave and Sue for the ride to the bottom!
Update from today (July 8th):
Well, we rode Logan's Pass today...the road is called the "Going-to-the-sun-road". We woke up at 5 am, and were on the road by 6 to make sure we beat the traffic and the time limit. Rode through a herd of Big-horn rams, and passed by a momma, daddy, and baby kid goat. Pretty stinking cute. The road is pretty scary... sometimes not wide enough for two cars and a cyclist, but we were on the road early enough to avoid any problems. Washington Pass (that 42 mile climb) and the day against the wind in Guadalupe we both agree were much worse, and the 16 mile climb up from our campsite to the top was actually...dare I say fun? I think our legs are getting used to the abuse, because they weren't complaining. "Going-to-the-sun-road" is by-far the most scenic road we've been on, which is why...after seeing it out the windows of the shuttle bus... we decided to ride.
We were told by Loyd (the Bear) that once we got over the pass, it was all down-hill from St. Mary's to Browning (which is where we re-met up with the southern option from the maps). Not quite. Apparently, St. Mary's is in a bowl, because we got down from the pass...and then re-climbed another 11 miles back out again. Hmm... still, the legs were fine. We got motivated in St. Mary's by reading some of our other biking friends blogs who didn't take 2 days off. Lonnie (whom we linked in an earlier blog) took the northern route. The father-son duo Jerry and Ned took the southern route, but took only one day off. It looked like if we BOOKED it from St. Mary's and ended the day in Cut Bank, we'd all be in pretty much the same area. So... today ended up being another 100 mile day, except 20+ miles of it was climbing. I'll be honest and say... my legs were complaining the last 15 or so miles. But we made it! It felt like an accomplishment of sorts.
At the grocery store in Cut Bank, a man offered his back yard for us to stay in. When we got there, it turned into offering us showers (which we needed after 4+days), laundry, and a futon downstairs. Dan-is-the-man. He has completely re-done his home...it's obvious everything was meticulously done, and that he's very proud of it. Dan is extremely kind and accommodating... we are very very thankful he opened his home up to us. After a record 4 days straight camping, a bed is quite nice.
Last but not least, about our 4th in Whitefish (I know it was 4 days ago, but oh well):
We pulled into Whitefish, and I wondered, "Who are we going to find that's home and willing to have people camp in their yard on the 4th of July?" Not long after, two nice-looking college-aged girls walked by, and I asked, "Excuse me, I'm sorry to bother you...but we're cycling across the country and are looking for a place to camp tonight. Do you know anyone who maybe wouldn't mind us popping up our tent in their yard?"
One girl said, "Yeah! I think my friend's mom wouldn't mind." With that she whipped out her cell phone, called Kathy, and after asking, "Hey, would you mind if two cyclists camped in your yard?"... and that's it! We had a place to stay. Not quite so hard as I thought it would be.
Kathy let us pop the tent in the back, showed us the bathroom for showering, and offered the washing machine. She told us she'd be gone tonight for the 4th, and would have to leave early tomorrow, but that she'd leave the house open for us. WOW!
We went into Whitefish, made some Ramen and split a Burger at the Bulldog Saloon, and then met up with Kyle, Mandy, and their kids (the couple we met in Rexford) for the 4th festivities. We went and got coffee...the kids got GIANT swirly lollipops (and a sugar rush) and Kyle got us our coffee. Mmm. So good.
We all went down to Whitefish lake together to watch the fireworks. Jackson and Nikale (the two little boys) threw stones into the lake while we got to talk with Mandy and Kyle. What a fantastic couple...we hope to stay with them when we go through Minnesota, and I can definitely see continuing a friendship with them over time (they want to come to Chicago some time!). Kyle ALSO got us a huckleberry ice cream cone to share...everything up here is huckleberry huckleberry. Nikale lost his ice cream, but moved on pretty quickly to the Cheez-its and cherries we brought to share.
Even if the fireworks show had been some backwoods thing over an RV park, it would have been fun... but it was over a lake with tons of boats, where the sun was reflecting off the smoke, mist, and mountains... pretty spectacular. David's comment is that he's never seen so many other people shooting off their of firecracker/works before, during, and after a 4th show before... the bottle rockets and roman candles continued probably til midnight. Kyle and Mandy are awesome... and their kids are hilarious. As we sat and watched the sun set on the lake before the show, I thought how incredible it was to be in Whitefish, MT with my husband...at a lake with new found friends. Pretty. Amazing.
Mom, Dad, I'll call you as soon as I can (service is pretty spotty out here)... I love you, and I'm thankful for the comments and messages I've been getting from everyone.
Monday, July 5, 2010
a little catch-up...
Am I girl, or am I cavegirl? The line is getting blurred. I farmer-blow snot off the side of my bike, and pee in the brush. I've been fighting a cold the last couple days, so the farmer-blows and restroom breaks have been alarmingly frequent. I've had to talk myself into riding. But, as Lonnie Cook (another rider we've met on the route) says, "If I don't get up, no one's going to ride my bike for me". Yesterday, David also felt gross. We somehow got in 65 miles...I think we figure that's the lowest we can go without feeling too bad... Oh yes, and we've logged somewhere in the 1550-1600 mile zone.
So, Sandpoint and the Idaho panhandle in general... WOW. Lake Pend Oreille was NOT what I expected out of Idaho. I think I expected potato fields, which we didn't see.
So, you already know we mailed stuff home, talked to a bunch of people who offered us their homes, and generally enjoyed Sandpoint. However, we didn't tell you about where we DID stay, which was with Gina Pucci, and her husband, Mike. We found Gina on warmshowers before we got into Sandpoint. She found US at the local coffee shop. She told us to let ourselves into her house and make ourselves at home. What a warm way to come into town! David fixed my rear derailleur, we both showered, then ate pizza with Gina and Mike. Mike is a golf pro who is also a beer rep for a Sandpoint brewery called "Laughing Dog". Harley had told us to make sure we tried this beer, so it was kind of a fluke that we ended up at Gina and Mike's, with pizza and a growler of "Laughing Dog" on the table. mmm mmm.
Gina has this glow about her...we sat down for dinner, and Mike joked with us, while Gina laughed, glowed, and chimed in. I was pretty tired from riding and sickness, but they were so wonderful and FUN... so we all stayed up and shared stories about how we met and the like. Gina loves cycling, and when she met Mike, she invited him to go on some rides too. I believe the words he used to describe the condition he was in afterwards were "pulverized" and "beat up". David has been thinking those words describe his butt condition the last couple days. Thanks, Mom for the seat suggestion...I've been pretty a-okay for this trip. We might be investing in a seat for David soon.
Mike told one story about a ride they went on after they were married. Gina was pulling a bug-a-boo with their foster daughter in it (now adopted), and Mike was up front. Gina told Mike to get in back to protect their daughter in case they got hit from behind. At that moment, a group of macho guys went past and asked, "Are you drafting off that lady and her bug-a-boo? What kind of a man...?!?!!" and then they rode off. Mike had a way of laughing with and at everything, including himself that was very enduring. Gina plays along with it, which is adorable.
The next day, we woke up to rain. We checked the weather schedule...rain all day, rain all night, rain the next day. We had arranged to camp in a guys yard in Libby, MT (100 miles away from Sandpoint) through warmshowers, so we got up early, put on our rain gear, and headed out. Not so much fun. I AM thankful for rain gear, however...the B.O.B trailer tends to throw a 10 ft spray of water even with the fender on, so by the end of the day I look like I've made it through a motocross race.
About 40 miles in, a car pulled over and waved us down. Gina was worried about me (sickness + rain + 100 miles), so she asked her friend Brad Williams to flag us down on his way to his Bull Lake cabin...and he did! The cabin was 25 miles more down the road... which sounded pretty inviting. The weather looked like maaaaaaaybe it would clear up, so we thought maybe we should still try for Libby. Brad told us he'd park his car on the road near the cabin in case we changed our minds. It started pouring again. When we saw Brad's car, we pulled in.
Crikey... this reminds me. Someone (me) mailed home the connector between the camera and the computer on accident. Until we get a new one, I'll just have to link to other pictures so you can see what I'm talking about.
The cabin is on Bull Lake. Brad's family was there for the 4th, they invited us to join them for dinner, and they also made sure one of us experienced the outdoor shower (David did...I thought a bath sounded nice after the cold rain), and that we got to see the lake/mountains from the dock. We slept in a separate dormitory away from the house...which believe it or not needed a heater on full blast because it was so cold outside. Below 40 on July 2nd.
We DID ride 100 miles the next day...it was only a very gradual climb with a couple hills in the mix, but no rain (whew!) and a good riding temp. We rode through a herd of cattle. ...Big Sky and open range country. We were on a 'scenic byway' which no.one. used but us...it was pretty nice to not have cars or logging trucks whizzing by. I made up different songs for the last 30 miles to motivate myself. During the last 8 mile stretch we crossed the WINDIEST bridge... the metal was whistling, and it was hard to stay upright.
...but we DID get all 100 miles in. We pulled into tiny Rexford, MT and wondered, 'Where are we going to sleep tonight?' Much of the town is a giant RV/Trailer park, and it seemed most everyone one else was gone for 4th of July celebrations. It seemed doubtful that we'd find anyone who'd be ok with a tent in their yard. We circled through town...I saw a toe-headed child peeking out a front door. This was my chance. I stopped.
"Hello! We're biking to Chicago... do you think your mom or dad would mind if we put our tent up in the yard?"
His dad was out one second later.
"It's not my house, but I can ask."
Head back inside.
"The guy next door is inside here. He said he doesn't mind. Where you guys biking from?"
"We biked about 100 miles today from Bull Lake."
"You guys must be hungry! We just finished dinner and there's tons of food leftover!"
Heck yes! So we went inside, and were enveloped by the warmth of the Payton and Rich families. We timidly entered the house where there was a big family sitting around a giant table of food. We were handed plates, silverware, tasty tasty things to eat, and were hailed with enthusiastic questions about our trip. What a wonderful way to end the day! I at first was hesitant to barge in on this family's 4th of July dinner...they weren't expecting us, we showed up uninvited, they had come from all over the north, and we were a mess... but Mary, Mary Lou, Richard, their children and grandchildren all made us feel like we belonged at their table eating dinner with them. They were unbelievably kind, generous, and hospitable. Soon, it wasn't just dinner and camping in the yard... it was a spare bedroom, showers, and laundry. Kyle and Mandy (toe-headed child's parents) live off our route in Minnesota, and invited us to come and stay with them when we go through that area ... as well as spend the 4th with them after we biked to Whitefish the next day ... ... ... There really isn't anything I can say that would describe what that feels like. It's...astonishing to experience this kind of graciousness across the entirety of our trip.
As David crawled into bed, he said, "It's like we're finding one giant family across the United States."
David stayed up and chatted with Richard Payton, the man whose house we were staying in. Apparently, in the 70's the entire town of Rexford was moved (along with other towns) because of a dam they put in. Richard said there are times during the year when they drain some of the water out (for sturgeon spawning etc), and you can go down and still see some of the houses and streets of old Rexford. Kind of reminds me of Atlantis. I guess some people scuba dive into some of these towns along the reservoir to go inside the houses and explore.
I'll hopefully type up about the 4th of July in Whitefish, MT soon...but we really need to ride up to Glacier today. Thanks for reading up on us!
So, Sandpoint and the Idaho panhandle in general... WOW. Lake Pend Oreille was NOT what I expected out of Idaho. I think I expected potato fields, which we didn't see.
So, you already know we mailed stuff home, talked to a bunch of people who offered us their homes, and generally enjoyed Sandpoint. However, we didn't tell you about where we DID stay, which was with Gina Pucci, and her husband, Mike. We found Gina on warmshowers before we got into Sandpoint. She found US at the local coffee shop. She told us to let ourselves into her house and make ourselves at home. What a warm way to come into town! David fixed my rear derailleur, we both showered, then ate pizza with Gina and Mike. Mike is a golf pro who is also a beer rep for a Sandpoint brewery called "Laughing Dog". Harley had told us to make sure we tried this beer, so it was kind of a fluke that we ended up at Gina and Mike's, with pizza and a growler of "Laughing Dog" on the table. mmm mmm.
Gina has this glow about her...we sat down for dinner, and Mike joked with us, while Gina laughed, glowed, and chimed in. I was pretty tired from riding and sickness, but they were so wonderful and FUN... so we all stayed up and shared stories about how we met and the like. Gina loves cycling, and when she met Mike, she invited him to go on some rides too. I believe the words he used to describe the condition he was in afterwards were "pulverized" and "beat up". David has been thinking those words describe his butt condition the last couple days. Thanks, Mom for the seat suggestion...I've been pretty a-okay for this trip. We might be investing in a seat for David soon.
Mike told one story about a ride they went on after they were married. Gina was pulling a bug-a-boo with their foster daughter in it (now adopted), and Mike was up front. Gina told Mike to get in back to protect their daughter in case they got hit from behind. At that moment, a group of macho guys went past and asked, "Are you drafting off that lady and her bug-a-boo? What kind of a man...?!?!!" and then they rode off. Mike had a way of laughing with and at everything, including himself that was very enduring. Gina plays along with it, which is adorable.
The next day, we woke up to rain. We checked the weather schedule...rain all day, rain all night, rain the next day. We had arranged to camp in a guys yard in Libby, MT (100 miles away from Sandpoint) through warmshowers, so we got up early, put on our rain gear, and headed out. Not so much fun. I AM thankful for rain gear, however...the B.O.B trailer tends to throw a 10 ft spray of water even with the fender on, so by the end of the day I look like I've made it through a motocross race.
About 40 miles in, a car pulled over and waved us down. Gina was worried about me (sickness + rain + 100 miles), so she asked her friend Brad Williams to flag us down on his way to his Bull Lake cabin...and he did! The cabin was 25 miles more down the road... which sounded pretty inviting. The weather looked like maaaaaaaybe it would clear up, so we thought maybe we should still try for Libby. Brad told us he'd park his car on the road near the cabin in case we changed our minds. It started pouring again. When we saw Brad's car, we pulled in.
Crikey... this reminds me. Someone (me) mailed home the connector between the camera and the computer on accident. Until we get a new one, I'll just have to link to other pictures so you can see what I'm talking about.
The cabin is on Bull Lake. Brad's family was there for the 4th, they invited us to join them for dinner, and they also made sure one of us experienced the outdoor shower (David did...I thought a bath sounded nice after the cold rain), and that we got to see the lake/mountains from the dock. We slept in a separate dormitory away from the house...which believe it or not needed a heater on full blast because it was so cold outside. Below 40 on July 2nd.
We DID ride 100 miles the next day...it was only a very gradual climb with a couple hills in the mix, but no rain (whew!) and a good riding temp. We rode through a herd of cattle. ...Big Sky and open range country. We were on a 'scenic byway' which no.one. used but us...it was pretty nice to not have cars or logging trucks whizzing by. I made up different songs for the last 30 miles to motivate myself. During the last 8 mile stretch we crossed the WINDIEST bridge... the metal was whistling, and it was hard to stay upright.
...but we DID get all 100 miles in. We pulled into tiny Rexford, MT and wondered, 'Where are we going to sleep tonight?' Much of the town is a giant RV/Trailer park, and it seemed most everyone one else was gone for 4th of July celebrations. It seemed doubtful that we'd find anyone who'd be ok with a tent in their yard. We circled through town...I saw a toe-headed child peeking out a front door. This was my chance. I stopped.
"Hello! We're biking to Chicago... do you think your mom or dad would mind if we put our tent up in the yard?"
His dad was out one second later.
"It's not my house, but I can ask."
Head back inside.
"The guy next door is inside here. He said he doesn't mind. Where you guys biking from?"
"We biked about 100 miles today from Bull Lake."
"You guys must be hungry! We just finished dinner and there's tons of food leftover!"
Heck yes! So we went inside, and were enveloped by the warmth of the Payton and Rich families. We timidly entered the house where there was a big family sitting around a giant table of food. We were handed plates, silverware, tasty tasty things to eat, and were hailed with enthusiastic questions about our trip. What a wonderful way to end the day! I at first was hesitant to barge in on this family's 4th of July dinner...they weren't expecting us, we showed up uninvited, they had come from all over the north, and we were a mess... but Mary, Mary Lou, Richard, their children and grandchildren all made us feel like we belonged at their table eating dinner with them. They were unbelievably kind, generous, and hospitable. Soon, it wasn't just dinner and camping in the yard... it was a spare bedroom, showers, and laundry. Kyle and Mandy (toe-headed child's parents) live off our route in Minnesota, and invited us to come and stay with them when we go through that area ... as well as spend the 4th with them after we biked to Whitefish the next day ... ... ... There really isn't anything I can say that would describe what that feels like. It's...astonishing to experience this kind of graciousness across the entirety of our trip.
As David crawled into bed, he said, "It's like we're finding one giant family across the United States."
David stayed up and chatted with Richard Payton, the man whose house we were staying in. Apparently, in the 70's the entire town of Rexford was moved (along with other towns) because of a dam they put in. Richard said there are times during the year when they drain some of the water out (for sturgeon spawning etc), and you can go down and still see some of the houses and streets of old Rexford. Kind of reminds me of Atlantis. I guess some people scuba dive into some of these towns along the reservoir to go inside the houses and explore.
I'll hopefully type up about the 4th of July in Whitefish, MT soon...but we really need to ride up to Glacier today. Thanks for reading up on us!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
...Before we lose reception in Glacier National Park...
David could end the trip now... his one goal has been met. We were riding along yesterday, and all of a sudden, I see his head jack-knife back, and he yells, "...b...bear!" And there it was...a black bear...across the street from us eating flowers or berries or something. What would you do if you saw a bear less then 10 yards away from you? Pedal, or slam on your breaks and double back? I'll let you guess which of the two of us kept pedaling, and who turned around. The bear was gone when he went back, and I can't say I'm sorry. Although, he DID look a kid on Christmas morning.
Along those lines... I talked to my Dad a couple days ago, and he said, "I'll bet you're living off people telling you you're crazy."
Some of the people we're staying with are way crazier than us. We can't hold a candle to Harley.
Harley was the personal trainer from the Camas Center who invited us to a BBQ. When we found out that not ONLY had he ridden the TransAmerican route last summer, but he had also HIKED from Mexico to Canada, and from Glacier National Park to the westernmost part of Washington. We asked him to tell us the craziest experience he had ever had.
"Well, there are two...actually. Once, I was hiking with my brother in Montana. It was cold, and rainy, and we fell down a slope. Our packs only kept stuff dry from the top down, but they got wet from the bottom up. It was getting dark, and we were completely completely lost in the wilderness. If we didn't get someplace we could build a fire...it was hypothermia weather. We decided, "Ok. We're going to walk for 15 more minutes and see if we can find a road, or path, or something. At 13 minutes... seriously, we were about to give up... we found a tiny road. We followed it and came on this gross old building. I mean, rats everywhere. It was all locked up, but this was it, so I had to break the window with my hand to get in. There were animals everywhere. We started breaking furniture and burning it in the fireplace because we were so cold. We found out the next day that we'd slept in an abandoned brothel."
Uh...wow. And the other story?
"I was really bored, so I was walking with a free radio they give you in a Kokanee 6 pack. The only volume option was 'loud'. All of a sudden, two cubs ran across the path, and a momma bear came out, looked at me, stood on her hind legs, came back down and took a few steps for me. I knew that if I ran, she'd chase me down, so I quietly took a few steps backwards, and she turned around and walked off. I had to sit down and take a breather after that. And I threw away the radio."
Umm... yeah. So, we have nothing on Harley. We just saw a bear on the other side of the road. And then we slept in a cabin. So...yeah.
Harley and Wendy were AWESOME. At the drop of a hat, Harley invited us over for BBQ RIBS (with homemade sauce?! Who can say no to that?), salad and CHOCOLATE MOUSSE PIE. Holy. cow. Also holy cow... they live about 4 miles off the main road up a gravel road. Let me rephrase that. They live UP A MOUNTAIN on a gravel road. In probably the coldest part of the planet (the next morning I left wearing two long sleeved shirts, tights, and a scarf. It was July 1st). But it was worth it.
We stayed up and talked...Wendy reminds me of my best friend, Jessica Pflederer, which, obviously made me like her even more. She is in dietetics and is very open about her likes/dislikes, strengths and flaws. I like honest people. I really really like people that are honest with people they just met. She may not have know we'd be there at the end of the day, but she sure made us feel at home once we were there. She made a floor/bed up for David, I slept on the couch... we did laundry... sigh. So nice.
You want an incredible fact? We've slept indoors 6 out of the last 7 days... I called my Dad earlier this week, and he asked, "So, where are you now? Anyone invited you to filet mignon yet?" And yes, someone HAD invited us in. In fact, in Sandpoint, Idaho, we had over ten offers for places to stay. T.E.N. At one point, David had a crowd of five people talking to him. Sandpoint, Idaho. Award for friendliest town in the Pacific Northwest. Yes, we're aware that we're probably not having a normal touring experience. This too, my Dad pointed out in our phone conversation, "You know this isn't normally what people experience on tours, right?" Yes... I know. But I'll always say 'yes' to a shower, a bed, or dinner... even if that doesn't make it a experience. And I ain't ashamed of it neither. I like showers. and beds. and dinner. Cause...tonight? We were going to eat ramen. And sleep in a tent. But someone offered us dinner, so we ate that instead, and it was deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelicious. And we're sleeping in a bed. And we showered.
It's become a small joke that I can't go into a grocery and come back with just what we need. I must have this fear that we're going to run out of food, because sometimes, it does look like an alarming amount. Bearing that in mind, we pulled into a grocery in Sandpoint, and David reiterates, "We just need produce."
"Just produce. Check."
"JUST produce."
Imagine my alarm when 10 minutes later, I had a basket full of groceries. In my defense...the store opened the day before and things were CHEAP. And we were headed into MONTANA...the land of wilderness. and starvation. and bears.
There is, of course, much MUCH more, but we rode 100 miles yesterday, and this was all I could manage before going to bed.
Along those lines... I talked to my Dad a couple days ago, and he said, "I'll bet you're living off people telling you you're crazy."
Some of the people we're staying with are way crazier than us. We can't hold a candle to Harley.
Harley was the personal trainer from the Camas Center who invited us to a BBQ. When we found out that not ONLY had he ridden the TransAmerican route last summer, but he had also HIKED from Mexico to Canada, and from Glacier National Park to the westernmost part of Washington. We asked him to tell us the craziest experience he had ever had.
"Well, there are two...actually. Once, I was hiking with my brother in Montana. It was cold, and rainy, and we fell down a slope. Our packs only kept stuff dry from the top down, but they got wet from the bottom up. It was getting dark, and we were completely completely lost in the wilderness. If we didn't get someplace we could build a fire...it was hypothermia weather. We decided, "Ok. We're going to walk for 15 more minutes and see if we can find a road, or path, or something. At 13 minutes... seriously, we were about to give up... we found a tiny road. We followed it and came on this gross old building. I mean, rats everywhere. It was all locked up, but this was it, so I had to break the window with my hand to get in. There were animals everywhere. We started breaking furniture and burning it in the fireplace because we were so cold. We found out the next day that we'd slept in an abandoned brothel."
Uh...wow. And the other story?
"I was really bored, so I was walking with a free radio they give you in a Kokanee 6 pack. The only volume option was 'loud'. All of a sudden, two cubs ran across the path, and a momma bear came out, looked at me, stood on her hind legs, came back down and took a few steps for me. I knew that if I ran, she'd chase me down, so I quietly took a few steps backwards, and she turned around and walked off. I had to sit down and take a breather after that. And I threw away the radio."
Umm... yeah. So, we have nothing on Harley. We just saw a bear on the other side of the road. And then we slept in a cabin. So...yeah.
Harley and Wendy were AWESOME. At the drop of a hat, Harley invited us over for BBQ RIBS (with homemade sauce?! Who can say no to that?), salad and CHOCOLATE MOUSSE PIE. Holy. cow. Also holy cow... they live about 4 miles off the main road up a gravel road. Let me rephrase that. They live UP A MOUNTAIN on a gravel road. In probably the coldest part of the planet (the next morning I left wearing two long sleeved shirts, tights, and a scarf. It was July 1st). But it was worth it.
We stayed up and talked...Wendy reminds me of my best friend, Jessica Pflederer, which, obviously made me like her even more. She is in dietetics and is very open about her likes/dislikes, strengths and flaws. I like honest people. I really really like people that are honest with people they just met. She may not have know we'd be there at the end of the day, but she sure made us feel at home once we were there. She made a floor/bed up for David, I slept on the couch... we did laundry... sigh. So nice.
You want an incredible fact? We've slept indoors 6 out of the last 7 days... I called my Dad earlier this week, and he asked, "So, where are you now? Anyone invited you to filet mignon yet?" And yes, someone HAD invited us in. In fact, in Sandpoint, Idaho, we had over ten offers for places to stay. T.E.N. At one point, David had a crowd of five people talking to him. Sandpoint, Idaho. Award for friendliest town in the Pacific Northwest. Yes, we're aware that we're probably not having a normal touring experience. This too, my Dad pointed out in our phone conversation, "You know this isn't normally what people experience on tours, right?" Yes... I know. But I'll always say 'yes' to a shower, a bed, or dinner... even if that doesn't make it a
It's become a small joke that I can't go into a grocery and come back with just what we need. I must have this fear that we're going to run out of food, because sometimes, it does look like an alarming amount. Bearing that in mind, we pulled into a grocery in Sandpoint, and David reiterates, "We just need produce."
"Just produce. Check."
"JUST produce."
Imagine my alarm when 10 minutes later, I had a basket full of groceries. In my defense...the store opened the day before and things were CHEAP. And we were headed into MONTANA...the land of wilderness. and starvation. and bears.
There is, of course, much MUCH more, but we rode 100 miles yesterday, and this was all I could manage before going to bed.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
How could I forget?!?!!
I almost forgot to write about this?!? How could I? When we stayed with George and Patti Baumgardner, George took one look at my bike and said..."Whoa. You've got a load on there." And then... before we left... he put a front pannier rack on my bike, and gave us an old set of pannier bags they had!! Incredible kindness! The whole set up if we had bought everything new (and tried to stay on the cheap side) would've been over $100. I feel like a tank when I ride, and the bike is way more stable overall. Also, climbing hills, it doesn't feel like I'm popping wheelies every second anymore. GEORGE... you're too much. Thank you so so much.
2 of 2
ODE TO THE ECKMANN'S
So... we're riding in search of a cabin. We pull off on a back road, and go to what we 'think' is the right house. David goes up to the door... nope... not the right house. A guy whizzes by us on a scooter, pulls a U-turn and comes back around.
"You guys going to Chicago?"
Yep.
"Follow me."'
This is our introduction to Peter Eckmann, Allison's dad (the girl who worked in Mazama). Peter showed us their 10x11 cabin in the back behind their pickleball court. Peter and Anne lived in the cabin the first year they were married, while Peter dissembled a barn, and rebuilt it into a house. Cool? Yeah. When they moved to the farmhouse they're in now, they brought the little cabin with them.
Ann is a real estate agent in Winthrop. She's full of energy and wants to know everything that's happening, has happened, will happen... and you want to tell her because she's so dang excited about it. Peter is a custom cabinet maker. The town they live in, Winthrop, is one of the premier Nordic Skiing areas in the US, so, although it's only 350 people, it's downtown is set up to handle much more...wooden "gold-mine looking" store fronts with words like "sundrys" and the like. Anne sells real estate to a lot of people from the bay area that like to vacation here, and Peter builds cabinets for them.
Peter invited us into the farmhouse, let us shower and do our laundry, and cooked steaks in the meantime. These people... I tell ya.
We heard a little about his trip to Cuba... the night we came in... we mostly just enjoyed being with Peter (whom Anne calls "Pierre" since she re-learned French a few years ago), Anne, and Allison.
The next day, David tells me, "We've ridden 8 straight days... I think we're due for a break. What do you think about staying here another day?" YES! (I mean, if they're ok with it...). So...we did. I blogged, and David fixed bikes with Peter. Then, we rode into town with their crew, ate lunch and watched a World Cup game. Madeleine, Peter and Anne's oldest daughter, was also with us... went in and ate ice cream in Winthrop... all in all a pretty magical day.
Except... it wasn't over. We came home and they took us up to their friends lake property for a BBQ. I mean seriously, does it ever stop? They all welcomed us like family; we ate some amazing food, talked to some hilarious people (Mike, the guy who owns the property invited us over to HIS house after we were done at the Eckmann's).
I seriously couldn't believe how warm and inviting the Eckmann's were. We were thrown into their laps, and they treated us like family. Anne looked to see where we were headed, gave us a couple phone numbers of friends we could stay with in several of the towns, they gave us pastries and cookies, and sent us on our way. Un.freaking.believable.
We rode a rough day the next day... it was harder to get going. We pulled into Tonasket, where Anne had a friend who was willing to host us. I have to be honest, when I found out he lived 12 miles off our route, up a mountain...I wasn't terribly excited about hiking up there. There was an ice cream shop that opened their yard to campers for $3 a head...and we were eating ice cream. That seemed pretty appealing to me. Anne's friend, George Baumgardner, pulled up in to the store with a giant load of boulders he had to deliver somewhere. He told us he could throw our bikes in the back and drive us up to his house after he was done. OK!
Unreal.
That's pretty much the only way I can think to describe where/how they live. Their house in on the corner of national forest land, on a mountain overlooking the Northern Cascades. George built their house from scratch...it took him two years. You go inside, and it feels like you fell into another world. I want to say 'Hobbitish', but it's not so cutesy...it feels like a rough, outdoor cabin. He made all the furniture. He had a friend do wrought-ironwork for their railing up the steps. The beams in their 'barn' are from an old bridge...they make their own wine, grow their own food, raise their own livestock... Patti bakes bread in an artisan oven out back that someone (George? A friend?) built. It's really pretty much unbelievable. There are pictures that hopefully we can put up soon. The coolest thing to me was that, although they live pretty self-sufficiently, they invite people into their lives to do life with. They shared stories about the people they've had live with them, and someone's son was living in the apartment above the barn because he needed a place to live. They'd had concerts with local artists in their living room. They made homemade pasta, lamb that they raised, greens that they grew, bread Patti baked, with wine George had made (and it was goooooood wine). Their way of living was pretty incredible. We stayed up and talked about bicycle touring, which they have done throughout their lives every couple years with their adopted son. We got lots of tips.
Being at their house up in the mountains ended up working out better than we expected cycling-wise...when we told George and Patti (also avid cyclists) how we planned to just ride back down to Tonasket the next morning and rejoin the maps, they shook their heads. "That takes you over the highest pass in the state... there's lots of traffic, and it's not even really that beautiful a ride. You'd have to ride down the mountain, then turn right back around and climb up it again. We can draw you another map that will take you to Kettle Falls... it goes over a pass, but it's shorter, and the ride is much prettier."
It. was. gorgeous. I really need to upload the pictures so you can see some of what we saw. We rode through Okenagon National forest on a back road...down in a deep cut valley, where the mountains sprang up thousands of feet on either side. It opened up into hidden lakes and springs.
Yes, we still had to climb a pretty high, awful pass, but we got within 15 miles of our final destination...85 miles for the day (so I guess Kettle Falls would've been 100) as the sun was setting. We are camping in campgrounds as little as little as possible to keep the costs down, but that night, it was camp or ride in the dark.
The campground was impossible to find, however. We rode down a gravel road. We road down to a dead-end. Finally, we noticed a tiny road that cut down behind the RR tracks, so it was hidden. Stupid unsigned road. The road opened up on a picturesque campsite on a strip of land between Lake Roosevelt and the Kettle River. Pretty unbelievably cool. The mosquitoes shared the experience with us. Also some incredibly annoying crows(?) that sound like people pretending to be squawky loud birds. And when I say squawky loud birds I mean LOUD. and SQUAWKY. David actually got out to shake his fist at them at 4 in the morning.
So, I've been having really strange dreams recently. In one, David is a drug-addict who's dealing along our bike route. We get chased by a Sudanese guy who wants David's drugs. I throw our tent sticks at him to make him go away, and it turned out that was where David was keeping the drugs (makes sense, right?). David tackled him, and I pedaled away in a fury, crying because I love David and I'm upset he's doing/selling drugs along our bike route. What a relief to wake up and see my husband sleeping, our non-drugged tent pegs, and our gorgeous campsite. But yeah, definitely having some strange dreams the last couple days.
The next day was long and slow. It ended up being about 70 miles, but I was feeling pretty tired. We biked and it felt like a cartoon song of slow people was playing in the background... but we made it through the last pass of the Cascades.
We finally reached our destination in Ione, WA, and spotted a church with it's doors open. The ladies having a bible study inside were enthralled with the idea of us staying there, directed us to a trailer park to take showers, and offered to refrigerate our cooler. What a huuuuge blessing. After our showers, I picked up some cold fried chicken (it's cheaper that way...), a personal pie, and potato salad for dinner. mmm. Dinner of champions. There was fruit too... Organized our belongings, tried to figure what ELSE we could whiddle down, wrote up some memory-verses for on the road, and then went to bed for another night of weird dreams. Growing children via plants and spray?
We woke up thinking we'd ride 90 miles to Sandpoint, Idaho. We had a good, fast, early start. 35 miles into today, we were distracted by a giant herd of buffalo behind this GINORMOUS building. David went inside to use the restroom, and came out saying, "Umm...we're making good time, right? In general? Cause...this is pretty sweet in here, and it's only $5." We are currently in the "Camas Center" on Kilapis Indian Reservation. Rock Climbing, rooms of games, a giant pool/jacuzzi, gyms... I know, probably not what other people would think was worth arresting the other 55 miles of the day, but... I think it is worth it. Harley, a personal trainer/belayer, cycled the TransAmerican route with 3 other guys a summer or so ago, and invited us to BBQ tonight, and sleep in his casa. It's on the route, which means we really only missed about 40 miles of our plan today. Eh... good enough. We'll make it up soon.
I'll tell you about Harley and Wendy tomorrow. They're pretty awesome.
So... we're riding in search of a cabin. We pull off on a back road, and go to what we 'think' is the right house. David goes up to the door... nope... not the right house. A guy whizzes by us on a scooter, pulls a U-turn and comes back around.
"You guys going to Chicago?"
Yep.
"Follow me."'
This is our introduction to Peter Eckmann, Allison's dad (the girl who worked in Mazama). Peter showed us their 10x11 cabin in the back behind their pickleball court. Peter and Anne lived in the cabin the first year they were married, while Peter dissembled a barn, and rebuilt it into a house. Cool? Yeah. When they moved to the farmhouse they're in now, they brought the little cabin with them.
Ann is a real estate agent in Winthrop. She's full of energy and wants to know everything that's happening, has happened, will happen... and you want to tell her because she's so dang excited about it. Peter is a custom cabinet maker. The town they live in, Winthrop, is one of the premier Nordic Skiing areas in the US, so, although it's only 350 people, it's downtown is set up to handle much more...wooden "gold-mine looking" store fronts with words like "sundrys" and the like. Anne sells real estate to a lot of people from the bay area that like to vacation here, and Peter builds cabinets for them.
Peter invited us into the farmhouse, let us shower and do our laundry, and cooked steaks in the meantime. These people... I tell ya.
We heard a little about his trip to Cuba... the night we came in... we mostly just enjoyed being with Peter (whom Anne calls "Pierre" since she re-learned French a few years ago), Anne, and Allison.
The next day, David tells me, "We've ridden 8 straight days... I think we're due for a break. What do you think about staying here another day?" YES! (I mean, if they're ok with it...). So...we did. I blogged, and David fixed bikes with Peter. Then, we rode into town with their crew, ate lunch and watched a World Cup game. Madeleine, Peter and Anne's oldest daughter, was also with us... went in and ate ice cream in Winthrop... all in all a pretty magical day.
Except... it wasn't over. We came home and they took us up to their friends lake property for a BBQ. I mean seriously, does it ever stop? They all welcomed us like family; we ate some amazing food, talked to some hilarious people (Mike, the guy who owns the property invited us over to HIS house after we were done at the Eckmann's).
I seriously couldn't believe how warm and inviting the Eckmann's were. We were thrown into their laps, and they treated us like family. Anne looked to see where we were headed, gave us a couple phone numbers of friends we could stay with in several of the towns, they gave us pastries and cookies, and sent us on our way. Un.freaking.believable.
We rode a rough day the next day... it was harder to get going. We pulled into Tonasket, where Anne had a friend who was willing to host us. I have to be honest, when I found out he lived 12 miles off our route, up a mountain...I wasn't terribly excited about hiking up there. There was an ice cream shop that opened their yard to campers for $3 a head...and we were eating ice cream. That seemed pretty appealing to me. Anne's friend, George Baumgardner, pulled up in to the store with a giant load of boulders he had to deliver somewhere. He told us he could throw our bikes in the back and drive us up to his house after he was done. OK!
Unreal.
That's pretty much the only way I can think to describe where/how they live. Their house in on the corner of national forest land, on a mountain overlooking the Northern Cascades. George built their house from scratch...it took him two years. You go inside, and it feels like you fell into another world. I want to say 'Hobbitish', but it's not so cutesy...it feels like a rough, outdoor cabin. He made all the furniture. He had a friend do wrought-ironwork for their railing up the steps. The beams in their 'barn' are from an old bridge...they make their own wine, grow their own food, raise their own livestock... Patti bakes bread in an artisan oven out back that someone (George? A friend?) built. It's really pretty much unbelievable. There are pictures that hopefully we can put up soon. The coolest thing to me was that, although they live pretty self-sufficiently, they invite people into their lives to do life with. They shared stories about the people they've had live with them, and someone's son was living in the apartment above the barn because he needed a place to live. They'd had concerts with local artists in their living room. They made homemade pasta, lamb that they raised, greens that they grew, bread Patti baked, with wine George had made (and it was goooooood wine). Their way of living was pretty incredible. We stayed up and talked about bicycle touring, which they have done throughout their lives every couple years with their adopted son. We got lots of tips.
Being at their house up in the mountains ended up working out better than we expected cycling-wise...when we told George and Patti (also avid cyclists) how we planned to just ride back down to Tonasket the next morning and rejoin the maps, they shook their heads. "That takes you over the highest pass in the state... there's lots of traffic, and it's not even really that beautiful a ride. You'd have to ride down the mountain, then turn right back around and climb up it again. We can draw you another map that will take you to Kettle Falls... it goes over a pass, but it's shorter, and the ride is much prettier."
It. was. gorgeous. I really need to upload the pictures so you can see some of what we saw. We rode through Okenagon National forest on a back road...down in a deep cut valley, where the mountains sprang up thousands of feet on either side. It opened up into hidden lakes and springs.
Yes, we still had to climb a pretty high, awful pass, but we got within 15 miles of our final destination...85 miles for the day (so I guess Kettle Falls would've been 100) as the sun was setting. We are camping in campgrounds as little as little as possible to keep the costs down, but that night, it was camp or ride in the dark.
The campground was impossible to find, however. We rode down a gravel road. We road down to a dead-end. Finally, we noticed a tiny road that cut down behind the RR tracks, so it was hidden. Stupid unsigned road. The road opened up on a picturesque campsite on a strip of land between Lake Roosevelt and the Kettle River. Pretty unbelievably cool. The mosquitoes shared the experience with us. Also some incredibly annoying crows(?) that sound like people pretending to be squawky loud birds. And when I say squawky loud birds I mean LOUD. and SQUAWKY. David actually got out to shake his fist at them at 4 in the morning.
So, I've been having really strange dreams recently. In one, David is a drug-addict who's dealing along our bike route. We get chased by a Sudanese guy who wants David's drugs. I throw our tent sticks at him to make him go away, and it turned out that was where David was keeping the drugs (makes sense, right?). David tackled him, and I pedaled away in a fury, crying because I love David and I'm upset he's doing/selling drugs along our bike route. What a relief to wake up and see my husband sleeping, our non-drugged tent pegs, and our gorgeous campsite. But yeah, definitely having some strange dreams the last couple days.
The next day was long and slow. It ended up being about 70 miles, but I was feeling pretty tired. We biked and it felt like a cartoon song of slow people was playing in the background... but we made it through the last pass of the Cascades.
We finally reached our destination in Ione, WA, and spotted a church with it's doors open. The ladies having a bible study inside were enthralled with the idea of us staying there, directed us to a trailer park to take showers, and offered to refrigerate our cooler. What a huuuuge blessing. After our showers, I picked up some cold fried chicken (it's cheaper that way...), a personal pie, and potato salad for dinner. mmm. Dinner of champions. There was fruit too... Organized our belongings, tried to figure what ELSE we could whiddle down, wrote up some memory-verses for on the road, and then went to bed for another night of weird dreams. Growing children via plants and spray?
We woke up thinking we'd ride 90 miles to Sandpoint, Idaho. We had a good, fast, early start. 35 miles into today, we were distracted by a giant herd of buffalo behind this GINORMOUS building. David went inside to use the restroom, and came out saying, "Umm...we're making good time, right? In general? Cause...this is pretty sweet in here, and it's only $5." We are currently in the "Camas Center" on Kilapis Indian Reservation. Rock Climbing, rooms of games, a giant pool/jacuzzi, gyms... I know, probably not what other people would think was worth arresting the other 55 miles of the day, but... I think it is worth it. Harley, a personal trainer/belayer, cycled the TransAmerican route with 3 other guys a summer or so ago, and invited us to BBQ tonight, and sleep in his casa. It's on the route, which means we really only missed about 40 miles of our plan today. Eh... good enough. We'll make it up soon.
I'll tell you about Harley and Wendy tomorrow. They're pretty awesome.
1 of 2
The scenery in North Washington beats any part of California...including Big Sur...any day.
On my birthday, we rode into this weird town called Newhalem, WA. Newhalem is owned by Seattle City Light and is populated entirely by employees of the company's hydroelectric plants, or are other government employees. Just a bizarre tiny 'power town' in the middle of the mountains...you're not even allowed to move there unless you work for the company. No zipcode. Good news? There was birthday ice cream at the General store. Not much else though.
Before bed, we went in search of some showers. We found a "Trail of Cedars" near our camp, and hoped it would dump us out into a campsite. It became apparent that all roads to camp had been resurfaced just hours before we got there...which made for squishy walking, but...still...maybe there were showers back through the squishyness. We hadn't showered in 3 days; we were desperate. When you're biking, there is only so much that baby wipes can do. Unfortunately, there were no showers, but there WERE bathrooms. Since the camp seemed closed due to squishyness, we went on the look-out and took whatever sponge baths we could manage. Not a shower, but close enough.
We camped in a grove of trees right beside a river, and attempted to make 'popcorn' over our camp stove. Quotations because what we made didn't taste or look like popcorn. Hmm...We packed up all food before bed and threw our garbage faaaaaaaar away from camp because of the the bear signs we saw all over town. We weren't awoken by bears...just the roar of the river.
The maps give us a pretty good idea of what to expect during the ride... we went to bed knowing to expect a 42 mile climb the next day, and that's what we got. I attempted to think of about everything I could so I wouldn't watch the 100ths of a mile click up on my odometer. Singing helps. We rode so high we passed snow...David threw a snowball at me. We passed a Korean dad and daughter team on their 3rd day into their trip. They got up from beside their bikes + cheered us up, then walked their bikes the remaining 2 miles to the top. I'd feel pretty defeated if this is what we encountered on our 3rd day across the country. Thankfully, it's not. Mountains...and more mountains.
I didn't know country like this existed in the United States. The Northern Cascades are...majestic. The mountains are tightly packed together, crawling on top of each other to incredible heights. There are waterfalls + rivers that rush down from the peaks, sides, and through the valleys that have such speed and power. Whenever we passed by one, the air dropped 20+ degrees because the water was so cold. There are lakes nestled high above what feels like 'the rest of the world'. I continually thought, "this feels like something out of "Heidi"... this can't be Washington." The next day we met two bicyclists on the road, and one said, "I've traveled pretty extensively throughout the world--to the Alps--throughout Europe--the Rockies--I've never seen anything like this."
After the climb, we were rewarded with a 30 mile descent back down the other side of the pass. It was CRAZY fast. I topped out at 40 mph...it's pretty crazy when you catch up to an RV, and are going about the same speed as motorcycles. We rode a third of the day's mileage in 45 minutes. The temperature dropped over 20 degrees from the top of the pass to the bottom. Although we probably could have taken pictures every two minutes, ain't no way we were going to miss out on the most rewarding part of the day by stopping.
The downhill dumped us out into Mazama, WA, where we planned on sleeping. We stopped at 'The Store', ate some...ice cream... and decided to just go ahead and ride to the next town 13 miles down the road. One of the girls in the store invited us over to her parents place saying, "My dad's an avid cyclist. He just rode around Cuba this winter. We have a log cabin in the back you could stay in... here, let me write down the address." To which I'm thinking, "Cabin? ...wha... I don't know what to do with myself!" As we left, she picked up the phone, "Mom, I invited these bicyclists over to our house..."
Before we went to the CABIN, we stopped in Winthrop, at a bike shop. We later found out that the skinny 30-ish year old guy that helped us was the mayor of the town. Yes, really.
On my birthday, we rode into this weird town called Newhalem, WA. Newhalem is owned by Seattle City Light and is populated entirely by employees of the company's hydroelectric plants, or are other government employees. Just a bizarre tiny 'power town' in the middle of the mountains...you're not even allowed to move there unless you work for the company. No zipcode. Good news? There was birthday ice cream at the General store. Not much else though.
Before bed, we went in search of some showers. We found a "Trail of Cedars" near our camp, and hoped it would dump us out into a campsite. It became apparent that all roads to camp had been resurfaced just hours before we got there...which made for squishy walking, but...still...maybe there were showers back through the squishyness. We hadn't showered in 3 days; we were desperate. When you're biking, there is only so much that baby wipes can do. Unfortunately, there were no showers, but there WERE bathrooms. Since the camp seemed closed due to squishyness, we went on the look-out and took whatever sponge baths we could manage. Not a shower, but close enough.
We camped in a grove of trees right beside a river, and attempted to make 'popcorn' over our camp stove. Quotations because what we made didn't taste or look like popcorn. Hmm...We packed up all food before bed and threw our garbage faaaaaaaar away from camp because of the the bear signs we saw all over town. We weren't awoken by bears...just the roar of the river.
The maps give us a pretty good idea of what to expect during the ride... we went to bed knowing to expect a 42 mile climb the next day, and that's what we got. I attempted to think of about everything I could so I wouldn't watch the 100ths of a mile click up on my odometer. Singing helps. We rode so high we passed snow...David threw a snowball at me. We passed a Korean dad and daughter team on their 3rd day into their trip. They got up from beside their bikes + cheered us up, then walked their bikes the remaining 2 miles to the top. I'd feel pretty defeated if this is what we encountered on our 3rd day across the country. Thankfully, it's not. Mountains...and more mountains.
I didn't know country like this existed in the United States. The Northern Cascades are...majestic. The mountains are tightly packed together, crawling on top of each other to incredible heights. There are waterfalls + rivers that rush down from the peaks, sides, and through the valleys that have such speed and power. Whenever we passed by one, the air dropped 20+ degrees because the water was so cold. There are lakes nestled high above what feels like 'the rest of the world'. I continually thought, "this feels like something out of "Heidi"... this can't be Washington." The next day we met two bicyclists on the road, and one said, "I've traveled pretty extensively throughout the world--to the Alps--throughout Europe--the Rockies--I've never seen anything like this."
After the climb, we were rewarded with a 30 mile descent back down the other side of the pass. It was CRAZY fast. I topped out at 40 mph...it's pretty crazy when you catch up to an RV, and are going about the same speed as motorcycles. We rode a third of the day's mileage in 45 minutes. The temperature dropped over 20 degrees from the top of the pass to the bottom. Although we probably could have taken pictures every two minutes, ain't no way we were going to miss out on the most rewarding part of the day by stopping.
The downhill dumped us out into Mazama, WA, where we planned on sleeping. We stopped at 'The Store', ate some...ice cream... and decided to just go ahead and ride to the next town 13 miles down the road. One of the girls in the store invited us over to her parents place saying, "My dad's an avid cyclist. He just rode around Cuba this winter. We have a log cabin in the back you could stay in... here, let me write down the address." To which I'm thinking, "Cabin? ...wha... I don't know what to do with myself!" As we left, she picked up the phone, "Mom, I invited these bicyclists over to our house..."
Before we went to the CABIN, we stopped in Winthrop, at a bike shop. We later found out that the skinny 30-ish year old guy that helped us was the mayor of the town. Yes, really.
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