Day Fifty-two

Only rode about 44 miles today, due to the heat. It’s just stifling. I went from Ritzville to Moses Lake. But let me backtrack a little, because I have to tell you about Ritzville. We will definitely be back. It looks kind of desolate, smack dab in the middle of the wheat fields, but it’s a nice little town. The owner of the motel was very nice and he recommended Casuela’s Grill for dinner. We can’t thank him enough for that recommendation!

It didn’t look like much from the outside, and it was nothing fancy on the inside, but right from the beginning we knew we were in for a treat. The tortilla chips they set in front of us were homemade. I asked if we could have some guacamole, and that was fresh too. I wanted to order something I’ve never had, so I asked for a spicy shrimp dish that came with tortillas. It was so good, I looked over at Chuck and we both had tears in our eyes. This was a great reward for biking hard into the wind! We celebrated with a couple of tequila shots (something we never do); they had a tequila list with about 15 choices, so we just had to try… We were so impressed with the place, we made a pact that if it were ever possible financially, we would bring our family and friends out to Ritzville and take them to this amazing restaurant.

Anyway, back to today. Riding out of Ritzville on 261, I saw a sign with the four words bikers dread: “Fresh Oil, Loose Rock”. This was where I should have headed west, as our friend Eric suggested, but I wanted to ride the John Wayne Pioneer Trail (Google Map directions had suggested it), so I headed south, towards Ralston. The picture shown above gives you a pretty good idea of the scenery on this ride. It’s pretty flat and pretty boring. The condition of the road actually wasn’t bad, and the oil didn’t stick to my tires, so I was happy for that. I got an early start, so it was relatively cool and the traffic was minimal. I made a few phone calls along the way, to my mom and my grandparents, to tell them how excited I was to be getting closer to Seattle. I made it to Ralston, and found the Pioneer Trail. There was absolutely no way I would be able to ride on it. It was just too rough. I can’t believe Google Maps had told me it was a bike route! Well, they do claim that their bike directions are “beta”. Even if I had the hybrid with me, I couldn’t have ridden it. Maybe, just maybe, a horse could make it on that path.

Luckily, there was a paved road that ran alongside it, and it would take me to Lind, where I was meeting Chuck. It was a nice ride. It’s funny, but I didn’t mind riding through these wheat fields, since I knew I was getting close to Seattle. The endless corn fields I rode through in the Midwest nearly drove me insane at times. Well…maybe not insane, but a little crazy anyway. I got to Lind and Chuck was already there. He had taken the highway, while I was riding the back roads. The lunch choices were few and far between. We ended up at Slim’s Bar and Grill, and it was just awful. This was the last straw for us as far as bad food went. We had definitely had our fill. Luckily, some better food was waiting for us in Moses Lake.

We parted ways once again and I took the Lind-Warden Road to Route 17. This time heading north (away from the John Wayne Trail). It was hot, but I tried to keep my speed up to get it over as quickly as possible. Funny how even in that heat, I had to keep reminding myself to drink my water. I definitely felt better when I did. Moses Lake was huge, very touristy, but not much in the way of campgrounds, so we went looking for another cheap motel. We found one, eventually, called the Interstate Inn. It promised a pool on their sign, but it was closed. The room was OK, nothing special, but it was a bed and a shower, so we were grateful. We unloaded our bags, stashed the bike in the room, and headed to the Marriott on the lake to get a drink and some food. It was nice, the view was great, and we were able to relax. I told the chef we were headed to Seattle, and he recommended some different varieties of oysters I should try. That was a help, since I’m pretty clueless when it comes to oysters. I just know I like them! The bartender recommended a place to hear some live music, but we couldn’t find it. We ended up stumbling upon a performance by an Elvis impersonator (who apparently performs every week and is VERY popular in Moses Lake). Chuck couldn’t take too much of it, so we went back to the hotel and went to sleep.

Day Fifty-one

Not a bad night. The purple martins did a good job of keeping the mosquitos away (that’s martins, not martinis). The campground had a small café and they opened for breakfast at 6:30. We were there, ready to eat, at exactly 6:30. The woman at the shop said people weren’t usually there that early, so things weren’t quite ready, but she did her best to scurry around and make us some pancakes and a couple of eggs. I enjoy these breakfasts, but it doesn’t do much for my riding. I do a lot better when I have a Clif bar or a Fiber One bar, get on the road for a while, and then have a big breakfast later on.

I started down the road and had to ride for quite a while to get back on the main road. That was Route 290 and it was a little bumpy, but not bad. I headed west towards Spokane Valley. I was looking forward to riding the bike path there. I tried to stick to my directions to find the bike path, but a road was closed and it was not clear which way I was supposed to go. I ended up wandering around the neighborhood, trying to keep heading west and hoping I would stumble across the bike path. Eventually, I did. I’m always thrilled to ride on a bike path, especially after getting lost and riding on poorly maintained main roads. This one was lovely and followed the Spokane River. Lots of people on boats, enjoying the beautiful weather. It was one of those times I really wished Chuck was with me to enjoy it.

I rode into Spokane, and it was a very nice city that I would love to explore someday. Perhaps our new friend, Eric, would be willing to give us a tour. Chuck met up with me in the city for a moment and I tried to persuade him to stop at a piano bar, but he wanted to head west. We tried to find the entrance to another portion of the bike path, but after driving back and forth several times, we gave up, and I stuck to riding the roads.

I rode into Cheney, our lunch stop. We found a place that looked promising, called Immix. They called themselves a fusion restaurant. We were a little too early for lunch, so we found a coffee shop with wifi and hung out there for a bit. We headed back to the restaurant, which was just across the street, and sat at the bar. The bartender was nice enough, but I got a really weird vibe from the place. We ordered the fish tacos, my first ever. They were OK, but didn’t knock my socks off. The bartender told us that his dad had a bike shop down the street, and I was hoping to find some more Shot Bloks. They’re my new favorite way to get electrolytes while I’m riding. They’re like candy, and I guess they’re good for you!

We walked down to the bike shop and there was a closed sign on the door, but he opened up when he saw us in the driveway. He was an interesting guy. The shop was actually a combination bike shop/guitar shop. He had a few animals there, too! A dilapidated crow that he had rescued, a parrot, two cats and an overprotective dog. Unfortunately, he did not sell the Shot Bloks, so we moved on.

I rode out of Cheney, but the wind was very strong. I was heading toward Sprague and the sky looked ominous. Kind of the yellowish, brown color it gets before a hurricane hits. Turns out it was dust, and it would not have been safe for me to ride in it. Apparently the dust was stirred up by the farmers harvesting their wheat (or just turning the soil over – we’re not sure). We tried to find a place to stay in Sprague, but the pickings were pretty slim, so we went on to Ritzville. We found a clean, cheap motel and the owner gave us a discount. He also recommended a Mexican restaurant, which I’ll have to tell you about tomorrow, since I’m exhausted. Good night, Ritzville!

Day Fifty

Last night was rough; those darn trains going by all night long kept me awake (you’d think I would be used to it by now). I woke up early, but I guess Chuck thought I was asleep because he snuck out of the bedroom, got in the car and drove away. He had my cell phone in the car, so I could not call him, but I was clever. I got on the computer and sent a text message to his phone asking where he had run off to. He had just gone down the road to have a cup of coffee.

He came back, much to my relief. I told him I needed to have some taters before leaving Idaho, so we went to a restaurant called The View. What a disappointment. Chuck just got an English muffin, but I got the “scrambled” eggs with avocado and tomato. It came with a side of hash browns. They could have been any of the hashbrowns we had in North Dakota, Wisconsin or Illinois. And the eggs were awful. In my opinion, scrambled eggs should be cooked gently, over a low flame. Especially if they have avocado in them (a fragile fruit). These had been blasted with heat and were so hot when I got the plate, I couldn’t even touch them for a few minutes. The eggs were tough and the avocado had been obliterated. They were smothered with cheese, too, which didn’t help a bit.

Anyway, we went back to the house and the four of us tried to figure out the best way to get me through Washington. I started out on Route 95 to the town of Rathdrum. We hunted around for a place to eat and found a gold mine. It was an Irish pub and we had a fantastic tuna melt, the music was awesome (80s) and they had wifi. I called my mom to let her know I was doing OK.

We set about looking for a campground. The waitress at the restaurant said there was a place where people camped, but it wasn’t a park or a campground. Just a hilly section off the highway. Chuck suggested we stay there, mostly because I think he was tired of trying to find places to stay, but it just didn’t feel right to me. Plus, we would have had to lug all our stuff up a steep hill. We kept on looking until we found some signs indicating a campground at Hauser Lake, Idaho. We drove around the entire lake, and could not find the campground. Frustrated, we continued our search for a place to sleep. We crossed into Washington and found Newman Lake. We stopped in at the campground, and they don’t usually accept tents, but I think they felt sorry for us. They let us pitch our tent by the water for $15. There were no showers, but we were both just thrilled to have found a place.

We got everything set up, and I noticed one of those things that looks like a giant buggy that you can paddle around a lake in. It’s actually called an “Aqua-Cycle” and I’ve always wanted to try one. Chuck is not a water lover, so I was shocked when he said he’d go out on the lake with me in the Aqua-Cycle. I found out it was $7 for an hour, and that sounded reasonable, so we hopped on and paddled away. It must have looked pretty comical since neither of us had ever done it before. Once we got out into the middle of the lake, I felt the water temperature, and it was pretty mild. I decided to go for a swim. Chuck said he’d never forgive me if I tipped the cycle over, but it was very stable and I was able to hop in the water with no problem. Getting back was another story. Good thing all this biking has built up my arm muscles because normally, I could not have pulled myself back up. We paddled back to the shore, changed clothes and went up to the main building to have some pizza. We met a really nice guy there named Eric, and we chatted with him for quite a while. He handed me a generous donation for my ride. The pizza was decent, and we invited Eric to come back to our tent site and hang out around the bonfire. At first I didn’t think he would, but I was happy to see him show up after a little while. He said he was going to be in Seattle around the same time we were, so we exchanged phone numbers, and hopefully it will work out that we can all get together.

The lady who made our pizza came out when her shift was done, and gave me another donation. We were feeling pretty discouraged when I rode into Rathdrum, but the day turned out great. We had a great time paddling around the lake, had a nice dinner and met a new friend. Life is good.

Day Forty-nine

I got up this morning feeling AWFUL. I didn’t sleep well at all and the bags under my eyes were huge. Chuck’s so sweet; he said I looked beautiful. We went out to find some breakfast and ended up at a place called Henry’s. No wifi, unfortunately. I had my usual breakfast and Chuck got an English muffin. We met an interesting man who had spotted our Vermont license plate. He kind of looked like Old Man Winter from the Rudolph and Baby New Year animated specials. He had a long white beard and overalls. We’ve met a lot of people who are so friendly, they just come up to us and start chatting.

Went back to the motel and I headed out to Route 56, while Chuck stayed behind for a while. He said he’d meet up with me in a couple of hours. The lady we had talked to at the store said we’d probably see elk on 56, but I couldn’t spot any. It was a very pretty ride though, with not much traffic. Very peaceful. Chuck passed me and went on to a place, I guess you’d call it a saloon. It was called “Little Joe’s” and I liked it. It had a nice atmosphere, and the owners were very sweet. Chuck had been chatting with them about my ride. The man said we really shouldn’t pass up the chance to see Ross Creek Cedars. He described them as 300 feet tall, but I think the tallest is actually 175. It was too early to eat, so Chuck said he’d order a salad to go, and we could eat at Ross Creek. I went down the road, making good time. Found the turn to Ross Creek and that road was just beautiful. I was climbing up a hill when Chuck came along. He had a salad with grilled shrimp on it, so we ate that and then explored the cedars. Frankly, looking at trees doesn’t really thrill me that much, but these were very impressive. I felt like I was in Lord of the Rings or a Harry Potter movie. We took some cool pictures.

I rode back down the main road and headed on. After a while, it really heated up and I had to get some help from Chuck. I had ridden a lot of miles, and my hands were shaking, and I felt dizzy. I was definitely depleted of something: electrolytes, carbs or water…or maybe all three. I haven’t been drinking as much water as I should be.

We stopped at a place called the Floating Restaurant, and had some sautéed mushrooms and edamame, and I felt better. The bartender was impressed with my ride. We went to Sandpoint and it was pretty crazy there, being rush hour and all. We were spending the night in Cocolalla, just a few miles from Sandpoint, at the home of my great-aunt and uncle Barb and Dale Schultz. We passed Cocolalla the first time (it’s a pretty small town) so we had to double back. Found their house pretty easily. It’s really beautiful where they live. Their property backs up against 600 acres owned by a lumber company. Dale’s able to take some wood off that land through a special arrangement. He had quite a bit of firewood already stacked up, ready for the winter. He and Chuck hit it off pretty well and Dale gave him a tour of the property, after we all had a huge slice of watermelon. Barb was very sweet, and I could see some similarities between her and my grandmother (she’s my mother’s mother’s sister). We chatted for a while, and I took a much-needed shower before dinner.

Dinner was a fabulous home-cooked meal of lasagna, salad made with veggies from Barb’s garden and garlic bread. Everything was fantastic. We stuffed ourselves and left no room for dessert. We sat around talking until it started to get dark and then I went upstairs to read my Alec Guinness book for a while. The bed they gave us was really comfortable. Happy day.

Day Forty-eight

Those Adventure Cycling Association guys really know what they’re doing. The route from Eureka, down Route 36 along Lake Koocanusa is absolutely gorgeous. It’s perfect for biking too, with a nice, wide shoulder and not much traffic. And the lake is almost as beautiful as Glacier. The ride was exactly what I was looking for: mild climbs with lots of fast, scenic downhill runs.

I rode almost 70 miles today, which is pretty impressive, considering I got kind of a late start. Unfortunately, our air mattress has developed a slow leak. We always pump it up right before bed, but lately by morning, it’s almost completely flat. Since we’re on the tail end of the journey, we’ll just deal with it for now. But that may have something to do with our decision to find a cheap motel tonight. We packed everything up fairly quickly, but it rained last night, so a lot of our stuff was wet. The tent would have to be spread out so it could dry out.

We drove into Eureka to find a place to have breakfast, and we found a good one that had very reasonable prices. It was called Jax’s, and we sat down at the bar. Once again, we had a really good cup of Montana coffee. Chuck ordered a pancake, and I had 2 eggs over easy, 3 little biddy pancakes, and a lot of hashbrowns and the whole thing came to $10.00. I thought that was pretty darn good.

We stopped in at a health food store, partly because we were so thrilled to find one, and partly because we needed a few things. I was completely out of snacks for my bike. I bought a few Clif bars and some electrolyte chews that were on sale, and turned out to be totally yummy. Wish I had more! We also bought some jasmine soap.

I set out towards Libby and Chuck said he’d leave Eureka in about 2 hours, since we knew we would not have cell phone coverage around the lake. It was a beautiful ride and at one point, I looked over to my right, towards a ravine and couldn’t believe what I saw. It was a bald eagle, sitting on a branch over the ravine. It was pretty far away, but I took some pictures, and I think you’ll be able to see it when I zoom in on my computer. That was a thrill.

Chuck pulled up around 12:30 for a lunch break. He brought a veggie burger and a fantastic huckleberry malt. It was just what I needed. I inhaled it, and kept on riding. Chuck didn’t go far ahead of me, since we had no cell phone. He wanted to make sure I was OK (sweet).

We met up again at the Libby Dam, pretty impressive. The visitor center was on the other side, though, and we didn’t feel like going over. On to Libby! We stopped at a “cheap” motel, the Evergreen. I told him about my ride and he had me fill out the registration card. I said, “Before I fill this out, how much is the room?” He said, “$65” We both looked at each other. “That’s just too much.” He said he’d go down $10. I said, “How about $20?” and he agreed. Judging by the place, $40 is where he should have started. We had a lot of cable channels, but the wifi did not work, the bed was REALLY uncomfortable, and we couldn’t get the A/C working. The guy at the office had just bought the motel 4 days before we got there, and wasn’t familiar with the area at all. We went to a store down the road and the lady there was incredibly nice. She said we simply HAD to go down Route 56. We didn’t realize our route already took us that way. And she recommended a Mexican place down the road that had “ginormous” plates of food. We went down there and had a pretty decent dinner: shrimp enchiladas with rice and beans.

Went back to the hotel and watched my favorite shows on the Food Network and Travel Channel and went to bed too late. Oh, well.

Day Forty-seven

The riding is coming much easier now. I’m really in the groove, but it was hard to tear myself away from Whitefish! I really love that town. I got the same feeling I had when I saw Burlington for the first time. Today I rode from Whitefish, almost to Eureka. We felt we should do a night of free camping after our night in the luxurious Grouse Mountain Lodge. So now we are as remote as remote can be.

We just followed the sign for a campground off Route 93, after trying a few places that were full, and now here we are. I’ll be honest, I’m a little worried about visits from the local wildlife out here. We’re REALLY off the main road, camped by a raging river with water the temperature of…well, snow. We’ve got the tent all set up, and Chuck’s trying to get a fire started. We’ve both been dying for a fire; back home, we have one almost every day! We started the day in Whitefish with breakfast in a downtown café, since the hotel restaurant was pretty expensive and the menu didn’t thrill us. The café was awesome!! I love the Montana brand coffee, and we shared the best veggie eggs benedict we’ve ever had. Oh yeah, Whitefish. We’ll be back.

Went back to the hotel to check out and I (finally) updated my blog. Chuck did some laundry while I headed out. It was a beautiful, sunny, hot, windy day. I really can’t believe how much good weather I’ve had on this trip. I’ve been very lucky. Right now it’s a little cloudy, not bad, about 70 degrees. The fire’s blazing away and it feels good.

Our night in Whitefish was very special. We had some sushi, something I haven’t had for the whole trip, and then some Italian for dinner. I had spinach gnocchi and Chuck had some angel hair pasta with picholine olives and shrimp. He liked the dish, but didn’t care for the olives (I was happy to take care of that). We went to watch some live music and it was fantastic, but I knew Chuck would have liked to join them. Unfortunately, they did not have a keyboard for him.

We took the shuttle back to the hotel and went for a swim in the pool, sat in the hot tub and then sat in the sauna. I can take saunas or leave them, but Chuck loves them. The hotter the better. When we bought our house, we had plans to install one in the basement. I’d love to see that happen sometime in the next year or so. I want to make a lot of things happen when we get back. I’m filled with a new motivation.

Chuck managed to get a really good fire going. It’s so nice to sit around the campfire, especially since the bugs are really not that bad here. Even though it’s pretty warm out, a fire just feels really good, and it’s especially nice with a river in the background flowing strong. The sound is very soothing. We took out the Jet Boil and made a dinner out of a garlic noodle soup bowl and peanut butter on bread. It was really good, but I think everything tastes better when you’re camping. I was actually craving a smore, and I don’t like marshmallows, chocolate or graham crackers much. They’re just so good when you have them all together!

We were lucky enough to have the entire campground to ourselves (did I mention this place is really in the middle of nowhere?) so it was absolutely quiet, except for the river. We settled in, all cozy in our little tent, each of us bundled up in our sleeping bags, since the nights have been pretty cold lately.

Day Forty-six

This was a day that will live in my memory for the rest of my life. I was a little disappointed when I found out that Don and Bob would be staying in St. Mary for another day, so I would be riding through Glacier on my own, but it turned out to be the right thing. We said good-bye last night, since I needed to get an early start. Chuck drove me to the lodge, and I had a coffee and a muffin. I went through the gate to Glacier National Park.

It was a little cloudy, but it was apparent that it wouldn’t last long. The ride began with some mild climbs, and the scenery was just breathtaking. I stopped to take pictures (see my Facebook page). The weather was perfect, almost no wind, and a little cool. I wore my “Showers Pass” jacket which was just right for the conditions. Since it was Saturday, there were a lot of cars entering the park, but they were considerate for the most part, giving me space. I was amazed to find that I was the only biker heading up to Logan Pass (at that time). I didn’t realize I would be riding for about 13 miles before I actually got to the pass. Chuck had planned to meet me at 8:30, and I started riding at 7:00.

I passed someone taking pictures with a really nice camera, so I figured he was a good person to ask to take my picture (shown above). I don’t know if I can put this experience into words. I’m not sure I have the writing skill. Riding my bike through Glacier was just a life-changing experience. If you’ve done it, you know what I mean. Everyone should see Glacier, and I think the best way to see it is on a bike. You miss a lot when you drive through. I could smell the trees and hear the animals, and I was able to appreciate the mountains. I was so taken aback by the beauty of it all, and I started to think about my dad and this ride, and how much I miss him. Then I just couldn’t stop crying. Mostly, they were happy tears. I’ve come so far in my life, and this is such a great experience. I thought to myself, “How can anyone complain about their life when we live in a world as beautiful as this?”

Chuck met up with me at Piegan Pass. He got out of the car and said, “Hey, how’s it going?” and then he saw the tears. He got a concerned look on his face, “Honey, are you OK?” I said, “Yes, I just can’t stop crying. Have you ever felt like you were EXACTLY where you were SUPPOSED to be?” and he replied, “Yes, I have. I know what you mean.” And he hugged me tight.

I headed up Piegan Pass without hesitation. I didn’t want this experience to end. I was actually a little disappointed when I reached Logan Pass. I had thought there would be more climbing, but that was the highest point for me. The ride over Logan Pass is MUCH more difficult when you come from the other side. I’m not going to lie to you; without realizing it, I had taken the easy way! I was rewarded for all those miles on this trip of biking into the wind. This was my reward!! 12 miles downhill. It was the wildest, most thrilling ride I’ve ever known. I was careful not to go too fast, since there was some construction and taking a spill on that road could quite possibly be fatal. For those 12 miles, I don’t think I could have wiped the grin off my face if I tried. It was stuck there. I let out a few screams (when there was no one around) too. I felt bad when I passed bikers coming the other way, but they smiled at me because they knew how much fun I was having. Chuck met me at Sprague Campground and had to give me a ride for 7 miles because that section of road was closed to bikers. We stopped for a fantastic veggie wrap at a restaurant in Apgar. I continued on my way to Whitefish. It was a great day of riding. I was feeling strong and it was really nice to go downhill for a change!

Chuck and I instantly fell in love with Whitefish. It’s a great community, full of awesome restaurants, lots of live music and you can see the mountains from wherever you are. Our good friends Steve and Andrea put us up at the Grouse Mountain Lodge. It was beyond fabulous. We took the free shuttle into town and just drank in the atmosphere. I really hate to leave this town. We will DEFINITELY be back. (How’s that?)

Day Forty-five

Got up at 5:30 this morning, and went looking for something to eat. Most everything was closed, so we grabbed a cup of coffee and a pre-packaged muffin at the gas station. Sat in the parking lot at McDonald’s and mooched some free wifi.

When we got back to the campground, Don and Bob were up. They had already packed up their stuff, and just needed to have something to eat before we headed on to St. Mary, our stopping point for the day. It’s off the ACA route, but we wanted to stay close to the entrance to Glacier National Park. That way, first thing in the morning, we could head up to Logan Pass and then down to Whitefish. That was the plan, anyway.

Bob wanted to get some breakfast at McDonald’s, so I went with him and had a hash brown and some OJ. Don showed up a little while later and we started out on the road. Happily, it started with a downhill run. I waved to Chuck who was sitting up on the cliff by a giant metal statue of Jesus. I wish I had a picture of that, but he took a picture of me with his phone. Can’t wait to see how that turned out. The winds weren’t bad in the beginning and we went along at a pretty good pace. After a while, I needed a bathroom break, and there weren’t a lot of options, so we stopped at a grain elevator. The office was empty and I spotted a bathroom, so I helped myself. I made the mistake of filling up my water bottle with water from the sink and it was so awful, it made my water almost undrinkable. Shouldn’t have done that…

We continued on, just in awe of the Rocky Mountains. It was nice to have something that incredible to look at as we rode along, and the winds began to pick up. We passed a guy coming from Browning, heading east. He had a big grin on his face and hadn’t even worked up a sweat, since he had a strong wind at his back. We were all surprised to hear he had stayed in Browning, since we had been warned about that town. The general consensus was: whatever you do, don’t stay in Browning. He had stayed in a motel though, not camping, so I guess that’s safer. Originally Chuck had planned to drive me past Browning, but we decided it was OK for me to ride, since I had company now.

We all agreed that the wind never seemed to be that bad until we ran into that guy from Browning. Perhaps it was mental, but after he left (taking his big grin with him) the wind slammed into us harder than ever. I looked at my speed, and it went down to 6 mph. We were all feeling the pain. At one point, I turned my bike around and rode with the wind…just to see what it was like. It was AWESOME. I barely had to pedal! Oh, well. I turned back around and caught up with my new friends.

Rode for a while longer, and Chuck showed up. Time for a change of plan. We were all exhausted from the wind. Every muscle in my body was aching, and I had a splitting headache from the combination of strong wind and bright sun beating down on me. We all agreed that we were done riding when we got to Browning, but none of us really wanted to stay there overnight. Chuck graciously offered to drive everyone from Browning to St. Mary, but space was a problem. Don and Bob waited in Browning while Chuck took me to St. Mary. We found a campground, and again, they gave us a small (but appreciated) discount on a tent site. It was a really nice KOA campground and we were lucky enough to get a site in the trees, so the wind was blocked. I don’t think our tent would have survived being out in the open with the way the wind was howling. I was sincerely hoping those trees were sturdy and none of the tops would blow off and land on me. Chuck dropped me off at the pool and I went for a refreshing swim and sat in the hot tub for a bit. Maybe I was just imagining it, but it seemed like the mosquitos at St. Mary were the most ferocious of the whole trip. They were just awful.

I went back to the tent and read my book for a while and closed my eyes. Moments like that are really nice. When you feel the breeze blowing through the tent and you look up and see the tops of trees and smell nothing but fresh air. It’s a very peaceful feeling.

Chuck showed up with the boys, who were very grateful for the ride. They set up camp and got cleaned up, and we all went to town to have dinner together at a lodge near the entrance to Glacier. Dinner was OK, but not worth the price we paid. The company was excellent, and we all had a good time. Chuck finally found a piano, but then he only played two songs! I, and the rest of the people in the room, were very disappointed. He did play my favorite song however: Moon River, so I can’t be too upset with him.

Day Forty-four

Chester is where everything turned around for us. We stopped at a little diner for a small breakfast, since I didn’t want to eat too much before riding. Chuck had some French toast, and I had an egg and toast. Someone came in wearing biking clothes, and we nodded and said “Hi.” He sat down across the room from us. In a few minutes, another man came in and sat down with him. He noticed that I was in “biker gear” and came over to talk to us. We were both following the ACA route and compared maps. I was thrilled to find out that they were actually heading west, and they invited me to ride with them. I finally get to have some company! Yay!!!!

We finished our breakfasts, and some of the more colorful locals made some remarks about us riding across Montana. Chuck and I were amused by them, but I didn’t think our new friends felt the same. The two men were Don and Bob, and they had stopped in Chester for a while because of the strong winds. They had been riding separately, but hooked up in Chester. Bob is from North Dakota, and I’m a little fuzzy about Don’s origins, but it’s somewhere out east. He was very impressed that I had done so much riding yesterday. We got everything together, and I said good-bye to Chuck. I think he was relieved to see me with some other bikers.

The three of us headed out, with Bob leading the way, me in the middle, and Don bringing up the rear. I sped up and dropped back once in a while, so I could chat with them. I quickly realized that we had met two of the nicest people on the trip. Bob told me he had spent a year in Burlington, Vermont and really liked it. He worked as a house painter for a while, and took a job at Bolton Valley Ski Area in the winter. He loved the pace of life in Vermont and had done quite a bit of hiking and exploring.

We stopped for snack breaks every once in a while, and Don was a lot like a 7-11! He had everything and was happy to share it: almonds, peanuts, bananas, carrots, peanut butter sandwiches, you name it. I was very grateful, since all I had was my Fiber One bar (which I’m getting a little sick of, by the way). We stopped in Dunkirk for a snack, and then rode on to Shelby for a lunch break. I pulled ahead of them and arrived in town about 10-15 minutes before they did. We had been fighting some fierce winds, and I was pretty exhausted at that point. Chuck had found a decent sports bar and he was starving (it was about 2:00) so we ordered some quesadillas. As soon as I took a bite, I decided I was done for the day. We had planned to camp with Bob and Don in Cut Bank, so when they showed up in Shelby, we took some of their supplies in the car, to lighten their load a bit. They both left, and we stayed for a while, working on the internet and making plans.

After a while, we headed out to Cut Bank to set up camp. This was when I got my first glimpse of the Rockies, and they looked pretty spectacular, even though they were pretty far away. We passed Bob and Don, just outside of Shelby. Apparently, they had stopped at the supermarket to restock and have some lunch in the parking lot. They weren’t moving very fast. The winds were strong, and it made me extremely grateful for the ride from Chuck. I don’t think I would have made it to Cut Bank…or it would have been very dark by the time I got there. We went to the Riverview RV Park and Campground and spoke to the owner about my ride. He gave us a small discount. The campground was nice and the bathrooms were clean. The view of the river (once you walked a bit) was spectacular and I took some pictures.

We set up the tent, and opened the windows, since it was pretty windy there, and we didn’t want the tent blowing away. We went to the store and got some frozen dinners, since there was a microwave oven available for campers. We also got a bundle of firewood, but it ended up going to waste since we didn’t have enough kindling to get a fire going. Don and Bob showed up after we had dinner (I had burned Chuck’s dinner) and they both demonstrated how efficient they are at bike camping. Don had all his camping gear loaded in panniers, and Bob had a B.O.B. trailer for his gear. I was pretty tired, so I socialized for a little while and then went to bed. It had been a tiring day.

Day Forty-three

Today’s been pretty rough. I didn’t sleep well last night, and the sleepless nights have been hitting me harder than they did during the first three weeks. We were both anxious to leave the University as soon as possible, so we went downtown to find a cup of coffee. We found a coffeeshop on the main street and they had a few breakfast offerings, so I got a bagel with egg and cheese, and it was perfectly AWFUL. We’re both pretty sick of the bad food we’ve had. In that respect (and more), I miss Vermont!!!

Chuck went to the library hoping for wifi, but they were closed, so he went to Subway. I’m liking Subway a lot more than I used to. Some of my better (and cheaper) meals have been at Subway, and it’s a refreshing change from all the fried food we find out here. I battled the wind on Route for 2 hours and didn’t get very far. The wind took my speed down to about 6 mph. Chuck got the oil changed in Havre and went to Sears, and then we hooked up. I took some vitamins, ate a yogurt, put in my contacts and changed my clothes, and I felt better.

I was very frustrated with the rumble strip outside of Havre (and it goes for miles and miles). Whoever installed it didn’t give one thought to bikers. The strip extends all the way to the outer edge of the road, which means for me to get out of the way of traffic, I have no choice but to ride on the rumble strip. Not fun. The combination of the wind, the rumble strip and a terrible night of sleep really got to me.

We stopped for lunch in Gildford at a little café. The owner was so nice, and she made us a special veggie sandwich. When she first told us the sandwich options, she said, “I can make you turkey, ham or roast beef.” The café had internet access, an unexpected surprise. We spent quite a bit of time there, since I was exhausted.

Chuck took me to Rudyard, and we tried to track down the two farmers we had met in Malta. We found out their names, but they lived too far from town for us to stop in for a visit. I got back on my bike and rode the rest of the way to Chester, our stopping point for the night. We stopped in Joplin first to check out their city park, and it was nice, but there was no way to take a shower, so we moved on. Chester had a very nice park, but if you don’t use the restroom first, you don’t get the warning about the sprinklers. And we didn’t. We set up the tent right in the path of the sprinklers which turn on every evening and go all night. We tried to just grin and bear it for a while, but the tent was leaking a bit and I could feel a spray on my face every time it swung by. My pillow was getting soaked too. We took everything out of the tent except the mattress, and were able to drag it over to the “safe zone”. We were much more comfortable after that, but once again, we had to deal with TRAINS. Maybe I haven’t mentioned this much, but every time we’ve camped in the tent, we’ve listened to trains going back and forth all night, usually very close to our tent. It’s getting pretty frustrating. Probably more so for Chuck, since he refuses to sleep with earplugs.

I hope he was able to get some sleep.

Day Forty-two

Yesterday was just fantastic. I guess I really needed a day off, and it was wonderful spending it with my honey. We had a great time in Malta, and met some really nice farmers from Rudyard at the lounge in the hotel. They’re brothers and they grow lentils and chickpeas. We told them we’re huge fans of their products! We walked down the road to Stretch’s Pizza, and their veggie pizza was the best we’ve had so far.

We went to the park after that and caught the last song for the evening: “God Bless America”. Chuck sang along and helped him with the lyrics a few times. Since we’re seeing the country this way, we both got a little choked up over the song. Went back to the room, had a hot bath and went to bed.

We went down to the café in the hotel in the morning to have a small breakfast. The pancakes were good – not as good as the Hitching Post, but still yummy. We told the owner how much we appreciated his generosity and I headed out. I was having some stomach problems at the start, but felt better as I rode. The wind was really a challenge, though. Quite often, the gusts would almost knock my bike over.

I entered the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation and my cell phone signal disappeared. The skies were looking ominous, but I had my rain jacket if needed. My route took me off Route 2 onto Route 9 and the storm caught up with me: hail! I was being pelted with pea-sized hailstones and it hurt! Good thing I had a helmet on, and it didn’t last long. I rode a little further and a fish and game warden driving by stopped to talk to me. He asked where I was headed and I told him “Seattle.” He thought that was fascinating, but he thought I had gone off my route. I assured him I was going the way I was supposed to. I told him I had to get going because the mosquitoes were eating me alive. Soon after that, Chuck drove by. I told him I was OK and continued on. We met for lunch at Fort Belknap Agency and had a tuna sandwich. The wind had really picked up and riding was a real challenge.

We stopped at Chinook and went into a hotel bar looking for wifi. It wasn’t a very exciting place, so we didn’t stay long. We left Chinook and went to Havre. The map said we could stay at the University, so we checked in and they charged us $10. The room wasn’t much and the bed was pretty uncomfortable, but we knew our tent wouldn’t withstand the wind. I took a shower and we went to find a place to eat and a place to get the oil changed in the car. The bar was OK, not great. We’re just tired of bad food and trying to find places to stay.

Our favorite places on this trip have been: Malta, Minot, Dalbo, Madison and Wheaton. I’ll never forget the memories of those cities. But the whole trip has been great so far, despite the setbacks.

Day Forty-one

Things aren’t going well in Montana so far. We never did find a pizza place in Wolf Point, and ended up getting some bad Chinese food. Went back to the tent after that, and I tried to get some sleep, but apparently someone was having a birthday party/cookout and had rented the pool for an enormous group of kids (our tent was right next to the pool and cookout). Some of the boys decided to mess with the tent when Chuck was away, chatting with 2 female bikers heading to Wisconsin. We had the windows open in the tent because it gets pretty stuffy in there, and the breeze is nice. The boys all took turns looking in the windows, and then pushed each other into the tent. I said, “Hey! I’m trying to sleep.” They said, “Oh, you’re trying to sleep?” and I said, “Yes, thanks.” That’s when they really started in on me. Shouting and prodding at the tent and taking turns looking in the windows. I tried to ignore them and prayed for Chuck to come back. He finally did, and he zipped up the windows and scared them off, but I was pretty fed up with Wolf Point…at that point.

Chuck came in a little while after that, and we just laid there for a while. Finally, I said, “Chuck, I really can’t wait to get out of Wolf Point.” He said, “We don’t have to wait, we can go now.” That sounded good to me, since I would have been worried about the kids coming back and wouldn’t have slept well. We drove to the next town and I tried to sleep, but I’m not one of those that can sleep in a car. When we got there, no one would help us with a place to sleep. I broke down crying in the lobby of a hotel (I seem to be making a habit of that). I didn’t blame the girl at the desk; she did everything she could. But $65.00 for a room or $30.00 to set up our tent behind the hotel was just too much for us. That was as low as she could go. A really cheap looking motel across the street said they couldn’t go any lower than $65.00 either. We gave up on motels and set up the tent in the dark in a little park with picnic tables, but no bathroom.

We were able to get some sleep there, despite the trains going by. I helped Chuck pack up the tent in the morning. We had breakfast in Malta, at a great place called the Hitching Post (Sideways fans?). Chuck said his pancake was one of the best he’s ever had (the best would be his own, of course.) My mushroom omelet was very good and I loved the hash browns, but the toast was practically soggy with butter, ewww. We chatted with a young married couple biking from Sacramento to Chicago. They had some tips for going over the Rockies. I hope Chuck was listening, because most of it went right over my head. They were having a good time, and we exchanged blog links.

After breakfast, we stopped at a coffee shop to try to get wifi since the library was closed. I was able to, but it wouldn’t work for Chuck’s Mac. We stayed there for quite a while, Chuck working on his music and me chatting on Facebook and blogging. We decided to try and find a place to stay in Malta for the night. We stopped at a motel called the “Maltana” (cute name) and the lady there was very nice, but she said they were full for the night. I guess Malta, Montana is a popular tourist destination on a Monday night! (If you saw the town, you’d see the irony in that statement) She suggested we try the Great Northern Hotel. Keep in mind, it was around 10:00 in the morning. Chuck waited in the car while I went in. I talked to someone at the desk, I think he might have been the manager. I showed him the newspaper article and told him about our experience in Wolf Point. He offered us a room for free and said we could check in right away. I shook his hand and thanked him whole-heartedly. I guess it really is darkest before the dawn. The room is beautiful, and the shower was the best I ever had (well…it sure felt that way). We made some tuna sandwiches for lunch after going for a walk around town.

Chuck’s snoring away and I’m taking a much needed break, watching my favorite shows on the Food Network. Life is good! We found a pizza place in town, so we’ll see how they do a pizza in Malta, Montana. Back on the road tomorrow, and the forecast looks good, except for a strong wind from the west. I know, you told me so… Stay tuned!

Day Forty

Today was a good day of riding, but the trip is getting hard on us. We’ve spent more money than we budgeted, and now we need to live out of the car, basically. I’m grateful to my Aunt Sue for setting us up with a place to stay in Seattle! We were very bad yesterday and ate in restaurants three times…and had bad food each time! I rode from Williston, North Dakota to Brockton, Montana today. It was another rough start for Montana, but I’m sure it will end better, just like North Dakota did. Somehow, I think Chuck’s had enough of North Dakota for a lifetime, though. He did, however, admit that he liked Minot as much as I did.

I got an early start, grabbing a bagel and cream cheese from the continental breakfast area at the hotel before the “start time” of 6:30. The girl setting up got annoyed with me. Chuck drove me to the starting point, and we tried to find a coffee shop on the way, but nothing was open. That’s OK, we arranged a place to meet later on.

The weather was nice and cool, and there wasn’t much wind. It was perfect for biking. I crossed the border to Montana, hoping for a Welcome sign that I could photograph, but there was none. Then I saw a sign that said “Road Work Next 13 Miles” and they meant it. Getting past that was pretty rough, but I was grateful when I had smooth pavement under me.

We stopped for breakfast in Culbertson. Breakfast came from the cooler in the form of yogurt, cheese, peanut butter on bread and a banana-strawberry smoothie. Very yummy! We both appreciated the signs pointing us towards picnic tables, and were filled with hope for Montana. We were relieved to hear that smoking is not allowed in bars in Montana. Seems like every place we’ve been to allows it. I had planned on avoiding the town of Poplar, since apparently there was a rape and murder there recently. I need to Google that, but a couple of other bikers have warned me about it, and that’s enough for me! Chuck didn’t want me riding through that town either.

We’re stopping in Wolf Point for the night. Not a pretty town, but the camping at the city park is free. I had a pretty humiliating experience trying to take a shower at the town pool, though. Chuck had told me it was free, but when I walked in, they said it was a dollar. Of course, I had no cash on me, but I said I’d bring it over later. The bathrooms had no toilet paper, which I thought was strange. There wasn’t even a place for it! Then I tried to take a shower, and that’s when the fun began. It was ICE cold, and wouldn’t stay on unless you held down the button with one hand. Then every child that had been in the pool came in the shower room, saw me and went “OH…MY…GOD”. I don’t know if it was because I’m an adult, I was completely naked, I’m white (they were all Indian) or a combination of all three, but they all ran away and then took turns coming back one at a time and just staring. It was pretty humiliating, and I really couldn’t believe I was being charged a dollar for this humiliation. I managed to get fairly clean and get dressed while 15 children stared at me.

Chuck suggested pizza for dinner and wild horses couldn’t tear me away from a pizza tonight. We’re heading over there pretty soon!

Day Thirty-nine

Did you know there’s oil in North Dakota? I had no idea, but I’ve seen quite a few of these thingies around. Apparently, it was first discovered in 1951. Today was the most beautiful scenery I’ve seen so far on the trip. I’ve posted some better pictures on Facebook.

Got up early and Chuck offered to drive me to my starting point. We stopped at a diner for breakfast, but it wasn’t very good. We were both completely exhausted after listening to all the trains coming and going all night long. That was a miserable night. Chuck dropped me off and went back to the campsite. My ride started out very well. The temperature wasn’t bad and there wasn’t much wind. I was making pretty good time. We agreed to meet on Route 1804 for lunch, but we actually hooked up earlier than that, in Tioga. Found another café with incredibly slow service. We waited over ½ hour for a waffle and it wasn’t even very good.

This is where I should have taken the advice of some fellow bikers. They had warned me not to follow the ACA route to Route 21 and 1804, but I decided to take the chance. Dumb. The road had no shoulder and there were massive trucks going by me every few minutes. Every time I saw one in my mirror, I just got off the road completely because there was no room and they weren’t the most considerate drivers in the world. It made for slow going.

The day turned hotter and hotter and eventually reached 90 degrees. By the time I reached 1804, I was ready for Chuck, but there was no cell phone service. He had been worried about me, so pretty soon he showed up. We drove the rest of the way to Williston and found a place to have a cold drink. Williston’s a pretty big city, but I definitely prefer Minot. After the night we had in Stanley, we were both ready for a motel, so I went in to the Marquis to see if they’d give us a discount. They were sympathetic, but completely booked, but the girl at the desk called their sister hotel and they had a room for us. The price was higher than we would have liked, but we were desperate. It’s a nice place and they have an awesome hot tub which we both really enjoyed. Chuck’s not feeling well, so he’s in bed as I write this. There’s nothing on TV, so I’ll probably go to bed soon too. Just need to upload my photos to Facebook.

I’ll check the weather too. I really hope tomorrow will be cooler. Riding in 90 degree weather is pretty tough. Should make it to Montana tomorrow!!

Day Thirty-eight

Seems like every other day is a good day of riding. This was not one of those days. I got a late start and was on the road around 9:30. Chuck took me to the start of my route and we stopped at a Perkins for breakfast. You know I don’t like chains, but it was the only place in town serving breakfast and I’ve had some good meals there. Chuck just ordered an English muffin and I had eggs, a biscuit and home fries. Everyone was very nice there, and we had a good time.

Riding was hard, since I got a late start. It was very hot and the wind was strong. Chuck almost drove by me because he expected me to be further along. We stopped at Berthold for a tuna sandwich, cole slaw and a malt, and had very bad service so we were there for a LONG time. I wasn’t happy about losing so much time there, but the malt was really good. I met two bikers on their way to Madison, Wisconsin, and I told them about Himal Chulee.

Got back on the road and it was even harder to ride. I met a really nice guy named Bob who was riding west to east. He approached me as I was taking pictures of cows and thought it was funny that I was trying to get them to smile. We chatted for a while. I asked him about dogs and he showed me his “dog stick”. I asked him if he actually hit them with it, and he said, “If a dog is going to bite me, that’s what I’ll have to do.” I agreed. He warned me about Poplar, which a few people have done, and I think I’m just going to avoid that town. No sense putting myself in harm’s way.

As I approached Stanley, our stopping point for the night, Chuck pulled over and I was ready to stop so I threw my bike on the car. We found the city campground, but it wasn’t easy since they’re completely replacing the main street in the town. There was a sign that said we needed to check in at City Hall, so we walked over there. They told us not to worry about it. No charge.

We stopped at a very smoky bar on the way back and had a drink and played some pool. The music was kind of obnoxious and the smoke was getting to me, so we didn’t stay long. We went back to the campground and set up camp. It looked like rain, but we held off on the rain fly. We took a short drive to the gas station to get some ice so I could have a cold drink with dinner. Today was the first day we were going to use the Jet Boil to cook some mac and cheese and I was very excited. It was raining when we got back, so we put the rain fly on the tent. We were lucky enough to have a sheltered picnic table by our tent, so we prepared dinner there, and it came out well! Very tasty.

I went to bed kind of early. It wasn’t easy since trains were going non-stop only a few feet from our tent, it seemed. I was grateful for my earplugs, but Chuck refuses to wear them.

Day Thirty-seven

This has been an amazing day. Nothing I can write in this blog can convey to you the awesomeness of this day, but I’ll try. We actually found a lemon poppyseed muffin at a restaurant in Rugby last night and snagged it for me for breakfast today. In case you didn’t know, one of my addictions is the glazed lemon poppyseed muffins at Price Chopper. This one didn’t have glaze, but I was OK with that. We took some coffee, illegally, from the continental breakfast at the campground and I enjoyed my muffin while Chuck choked down his mediocre cinnamon roll. I headed westward on Route 2.

This was actually quite a thrill for me, since it was my first time riding on Route 2 for the whole trip. The wind was coming from the west, but it wasn’t strong today and the temperature was cool. It was just a great day for biking. The shoulder was wide, but after riding for a few miles, I came to a sign that said “Road Closed” and there was no way I would have room to ride my bike on the lane they were diverting traffic to. Luckily, I had cell service, so I called Chuck. He came out to get me and drove me past the construction. He dropped me off and I continued on my way to Towner, our designated breakfast spot. We found a diner and ordered a couple of pancakes and eggs. They were good, but not Esmond good!

I headed back to Route 2 and Chuck tried to find some wifi, unsuccessfully. I passed quite a few bikers heading east, but it was not a friendly bunch, unfortunately. Most of them ignored me when I waved, and when I crossed the median to talk to a woman, she answered one of my questions and then rode away from me while I was still talking to her. It was a group of 8 riders, I was able to find out from her. I was going to warn her about the construction on Route 2, but she rode away before I could tell her. I tried not to take it personally.

Chuck passed me and pulled over and I was a little hungry, so I had a yogurt and some cheese and juice (good choices!). He headed on to Minot, with the intention of getting some new tires for the hybrid. I was against the whole thing, since money is tight and the tires still have a little life in them, but Chuck didn’t want to take the chance of them blowing on me. I can appreciate that. Luckily, he found a good bike shop.

I rode into Minot and I couldn’t believe what I saw. North Dakota, so far, has been one small town centered around a water tower after another. Each town usually has a post office, a store, a bar and maybe, if you’re lucky, a restaurant. And that’s it. Minot was like a city…a nice one! I’ve never heard of it before! Chuck had found an Irish pub and had a drink there, and then went to Roosevelt Park which has a zoo and a huge swimming pool with a big water slide. He only had to tell me about that once, but I wanted a beer first. I had a Shocktop at the Irish pub, and we shared a veggie wrap, and it was excellent. Chuck asked if there was a piano bar in town, since he’s been itching to play piano again. The bartender said she thought there was one at the International Inn. We made a mental note.

We headed over to Roosevelt Park. It was three dollars to use the pool and go on the slide as much as you wanted, so that was in my price range. I was dying for a swim after my 70 mile ride today!! The first thing I did was go down the slide, and I was halfway down, when a small child crashed into me from behind. Apparently the girl at the top was not doing a good job leaving people enough space between sliders. I brushed it off, went back up to the top and had another ride down, this time collision free. Swam around a bit, did a pathetic little dive off the diving board and got my three dollars’ worth.

We headed over to the International and asked if they had a piano, but they did not. We had been misinformed. It was a beautiful hotel and I wondered if they might give us a discount if I told them about my ride. Chuck was skeptical since the place was pretty ritzy, but I thought “What harm would it do to give it a try?” Chuck waited in the car while I talked to the girl at the front desk. I told her what I was doing and she quoted me a price that was much too high for us. She said, “Let me see if the manager is still around.” He was, and I went into his office and chatted with him for a while. He said, “Let me see what we have available.” I waited for a while and he came back with a key. I said, “How much can I give you for the room?” He said, “Nothing, that’s OK – it’s for a good cause.” Chuck was speechless when I told him. He had not been looking forward to setting up the tent again and taking it all apart in the morning.

Here we are in a nice hotel, after an excellent dinner of fettucine alfredo with shrimp and asparagus. We tried to use the hot tub in the hotel, but there were 16 teenagers in it (I’m not kidding). That’s OK, I ran myself a hot bath, so I’m going to climb in with Alec Guinness…I mean my book about Alec Guinness, of course.

I hope Chuck takes advantage of the room and sleeps for a bit after I head out on my ride tomorrow. Can’t wait to try my new tires!

Day Thirty-six

Rugby, North Dakota – the geographic center of North America. Chuck gave me a scare today, and I thought I might not make it to Seattle by the end of July. But I definitely will. It’s true, I’ve had a few slow days and had to cut a few days short because of the heat, but I’m not really off schedule. As long as I do at least 55 miles a day, I’ll get there on time.

I did not sleep well last night, and I’m not sure why. Now that we have the mattress and blanket, I’ve been sleeping well in the tent, but it did get really chilly last night. I wasn’t really dressed for it, so that may have been the reason. I had hoped to see the other bikers before I left, but they weren’t up yet. I was on the road at 6:00, straight into the wind. It took me 2 ½ hours to make it to Esmond. Mitch had told us the restaurant in town was really good, so I was definitely ready for breakfast at that point. I had a little trouble finding it, but someone driving by helped me. I walked in and Chuck was sitting with one of the locals. I told him about something weird I had seen as I was approaching Esmond. “At first it looked like a big bird swooping around looking for a mouse. It just kept swooping up and gliding down. Then as I got closer, I thought it was a plane.” Without missing a beat, Chuck asked, “Then did you think it might be Superman?” That started one of our giggle fits.

I’ve had a lot of good breakfasts on this trip, but this was one of the best. We shared an order of pancakes, 2 eggs over easy, hash browns and toast. The pancakes were so good, I thought I was dreaming. They were light and fluffy and just melt in your mouth yummy! After that big breakfast, I needed to sit for a while, so I blogged while Chuck wrote music again. I can’t wait to hear what he’s writing!

I got back on the road, leaving Chuck to chat with the locals. They were interested in my bike ride, but not enough to make donations this time. That’s OK! We had a great breakfast in Esmond. The next stop was Rugby. I had hopes of making it to Towner, but it wasn’t looking good. I was so tired today, and definitely feeling it. Rugby was the end of the line for me. 60 miles today, not bad! We went to the only place in town that was still open for lunch: Pizza Hut. Not my first choice, but we had a pasta bake and some beer, and I felt better. There were some more cross-country bikers there, on their way to Philadelphia. We told them about the road closure near Fort Totten and they appreciated that.

We found a cheap campground and set up. I did some laundry and showered while Chuck took a nap. We found a great sandwich shop in town and got something called a Little Richard for dinner. It was a veggie panini with just the right amount of spice. A nice change from all the fried food we’ve had! I can’t believe I’m still awake. Time for bed!

Day Thirty-five

Today was a lot of riding straight into the wind. I did not sleep well at all last night, unfortunately. It was a small bed, not really big enough for both of us, so Chuck let me have the bed and he took the couch. But I couldn’t get comfortable. I got up at 5:30 and was on the road by 6:00. It was actually chilly this morning, and I needed my leggings and jacket. Right from the beginning, the wind was in my face. Chuck and I had agreed to meet for breakfast in Warwick.

Riding was slow, but I plodded along. I saw another deer and this time it ran along next to me for a while, leaping like it was on springs, and then finally it turned towards the road and ran across the road right in front of me. I noticed that it had an unusually long tail, almost like a golden retriever.

Chuck drove past me and went on to Warwick. A little while later, I got a text message from him: “Not much in Warwick except cell phone service.” We decided to have breakfast in Fort Totten, and actually ended up having a really cheap meal at a casino. $2.50 for make-your-own waffles, and they were so yummy! I got back on the road and it was a ROUGH ride to Minnewaukan (it means Spirit Water). It was very pretty going by Devils Lake, but I guess they have their hands full with the lake trying to spill its banks. They truck in gravel to make the roads higher, and it’s just a constant battle. The ride to Minnewaukan was full of 20 mph winds from the west, small shoulders, gravel trucks and flying gravel hitting me in the face.

Everything changed when I got to the town, and it turned into an extraordinary day. First, I ran into two bikers, a husband and wife, who were on their way to Bar Harbor. She was very excited to have lobster, being from Iowa. They couldn’t really understand why I was going east to west, but I explained it was just the way I had to do it. They advised me to avoid the ACA route around Williston, due to oil trucks. I recommended the Lodge we stayed at in Pekin and also the Bunkhouse in Dalbo.

It had taken me a long time to get to Minnewaukan, and Chuck was getting worried. While I was chatting with the Iowa couple, he called my cell phone. I had a little trouble finding the camp site, but Chuck found me with the car. I followed him back to the park, where he had already set up the tent and mattress. That man is a saint. I was craving a beer, so I changed my clothes and we went into town to see if the bar was open, but it was not. We stopped at the grocery store, where the mayor of Minnewaukan works (and perhaps owns it) and got some lemonades and ice creams. We asked when the restaurant and bar open, but they couldn’t really tell us. I guess they just open when they feel like it, but it’s usually around 4:00. It was only 2:30, so we went next door to the library to use their computers. They were having a book sale, so I got a cookbook called “Almost Vegetarian” for one dollar! I was very excited and can’t wait to get into it when I get home. I checked my e-mail and Facebook, and then we headed back to the park to work on my blog and have a lemonade. I was eating my rice crackers when one of those little critters that looks like a cross between a chipmunk and a woodchuck popped up. I threw him a cracker, and he snatched it up and nibbled away happily. Chuck said he looked like me when I have one! Well, they are my favorite crackers in the whole world. Hope I can find some more….

Another biking couple pulled up to camp for the night. I was very excited to talk to some fellow bikers. They were from California, on their way to Maine. They have a blog, so I got their card and I’ll check it out when we have internet again. We chatted for a while, and I invited them to join us at Miller’s Pub & Grub, now known as Rick’s, when they opened, but they declined. They had some leftover rotisserie chicken that they were going to have for dinner.

I read my book for a while, took a shower (yay) and we headed over to Rick’s. It was nice inside, and Rick was a very cool guy. Earlier, I had noticed that one of the doors was smashed. Not broken in, but the glass on the door was broken. Rick said someone had tried to break in the day before by smashing the door with a baseball bat. He said he had the whole thing on video tape. Even the guy peeing in the parking lot. I said, “That’s great! You have his DNA!” He replied, “Sorry, CSI North Dakota, this ain’t” Apparently, they knew who it was from the video anyway, so he’ll get a slap on the wrist, but that’s about it. But I whispered to Chuck that we should be sure to lock up the bikes tonight.

We looked at the menu, and it was the typical story. 99% of the options were meat, and the rest were fried. They had “beer battered jumbo shrimp” and that sounded good, so we ordered that with a baked potato. Rick said he had just put the baked potatoes on, so it would be another hour or so. We said, “That’s fine, we’ll hang out and have some fried mushrooms while we wait.” He asked, “Do you want a regular baked potato or twice baked?” We went for the twice baked, since it sounded good. The mushrooms weren’t bad, and we chatted with a man next to us from Osh Kosh, Wisconsin. He said he was 52, but he looked 10 years younger than that. He was interesting to talk to. His girlfriend had two kinds of cancer: brain cancer and lung cancer, so he really had his hands full. He worked long hours at a company that builds fire trucks.

The food came out and looked great…until I dug into the potato. It had bacon in it. I really didn’t expect that, but they’re all about the meat out here! We asked if we could have another one without bacon, and they were happy to oblige. The shrimp were awesome and the salad was tasty too. I went into the kitchen to shake Rick’s hand, and thank him for one of the best meals we’ve had on the trip.

When we got back to the park, there were more cross-country bikers, also headed east. Wish I could find someone heading west that I could ride with! This was a father and son team. Just amazing people. We really enjoyed talking to them and comparing notes about the trip. The father’s name was Mitch, and he gave me a donation for my ride. I really hope we can keep in touch with these people after this ride is over. I feel like this ride keeps getting better and better. Chuck and I are just amazed by it all.

Day Thirty-four

Did you know the second tallest structure in the world is in North Dakota? It's a TV tower, and we were able to see it, from 12 miles away. Pretty impressive...as far as TV towers go.

Today as I was riding, I looked down at my legs and did not recognize them as mine. My legs aren’t shaped that way! My legs don’t pump the pedals at 20 mph for mile after mile! But they are…and they do. We have no idea of the changes we are capable of. (Oh God, she’s going to get all philosophical now….) It’s true, if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that I have the power to change things in my life. I used to think that unhappiness was my lot in life. That’s not true for anyone!

We start out in this life as happy human beings. If that changes along the way, it’s because WE changed it. Change it back, please! I’ve realized that I have powers I never dreamed of. I have the power to make a difference in this life, and help people. This bike ride is evidence of that. Years ago, I never would have thought I could ride a bike across the United States. Now I know I can….wow, what else can I do? I’ve also realized that I have the power to make people smile. That’s a big one!

It’s a pretty cool world out there, full of cool people. I’m going to try to meet as many as I can, and when I find them, I’m going to keep them in my life. For example, I have two awesome friends from my past: Kevin and Gino. I let distance come between us, and I didn’t keep in touch with them. My friends are so important to me, I don’t want to let that happen again.

Anyway, today was a very strong day on the bike. I got an early start, at 6:00, and happily discovered a Port-a-Potty behind the school in Hope. I had an excellent night’s sleep, so I was ready to ride! Chuck said he’d meet me in Cooperstown for breakfast. I got there at 8:00 and had a fabulous breakfast of a pancake, two eggs over easy and homefries. The coffee was the best we’ve had in a long time, too. We met some great people there, and one of them bought our breakfast and gave me a little extra too.

My destination for the day was Pekin. There was a place recommended by the ACA called the Prairie View Lodge. I flew down the road to Pekin. I think I averaged 20 mph because I got up to 30 a few times. It was an incredible ride. I love getting an early start! It was nice and cool, and all the birds were busy gathering their breakfast. I saw my first North Dakota deer, too. The beauty was just incredible; have you ever felt like you were inside one of your dreams? That’s how it was, like I was living a dream I had once, where I was surrounded by waving fields and rolling hills, a few lakes and healthy, strong, beautiful trees.

We stopped at the Lodge and told them what we’re doing. They said they could give us a discount as a donation. They gave us a room, which doubles as their office, for half price. We drove to Tolna and had lunch at a place called the “Friends and Neighbors Café”. Grilled cheese and mashed potatoes, and Chuck got a rhubarb malt (malts are popular out west). It was SO yummy, I probably drank most of it!

Now we’re hanging out in the room. Chuck’s writing music and I’m blogging. I’m glad we got the room (they offered us a tent site for free), since I keep hearing thunder and it was pouring rain a little while ago. I’d love another day of riding like today! I need to do some maintenance on my bike though. Off to work!

Day Thirty-three

Today was the Fourth of July and I had a bit of a scare. I’ll tell ya, folks…North Dakota is a whole different ballgame from the rail trail in Minnesota!

I got a late start today, 11:00. It was just hard to leave the comfort of our hotel room, plus we needed to do some laundry and repack the cooler, etc. We took advantage of the free breakfast the hotel offered. I had a bagel with scrambled eggs and Chuck had a cinnamon roll and some cereal. Chuck drove me to the start of my route for the day. It was pretty hot starting out. I rode out of Fargo along the train tracks. A train went by and I waved to the engineer. I passed a few small towns, but everything was shut up tight for the holiday. I found some shelter from the sun in Argusville on the deck of a bar that was closed, and I enjoyed my peanut butter and oats Fiber One bar. Those are so yummy!

Chuck and I had agreed to meet for lunch in Arthur. Chuck said, “But, don’t you get caught between the moon and New York City!” He’s so good for comic relief! I rode into Arthur and Chuck had set up some chairs under a tree. We had tuna sandwiches, cole slaw and chips. This is where I had trouble. We agreed to meet 20 miles down the road in Page. It was the hottest part of the day and the wind was blowing hard in my face. I started to get fatigued, and I realized there was no cell phone service. I persevered, knowing that Chuck would be coming along. I checked my mirror frequently, watching for the car, but no sign of it. It’s a scary feeling, being out there in the heat, with no hope of shelter. I started to feel a little nauseous, which I recognize as a sign of heat stroke. I saw a big mechanical box, some kind of power station, and pulled off the road to get some shade there. I felt much better after that. I decided it would be wise to wait for Chuck to come by, instead of riding the 8 miles to Page.

Eventually, Chuck drove up and I went up to the road to meet him. He almost drove by me, but I screamed his name. Luckily, he had his window down! I was sobbing at that point. If he had driven by me, I wouldn’t have had any way to reach him to let him know. I couldn’t send a text message or call him. We’re going to work out a better system. 20 miles in that heat was too much. Chuck’s going to stick a little closer to me now. We can’t take any chances out here. Help is pretty far away.

We made it to Hope, and set up our tent in the park. The people who lived in neighboring houses stared at us like we had just landed our alien spaceship in the park and we each had three heads. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the opportunity to chat with any of them. The mosquitos in Hope were the most vicious I’ve encountered on the trip, and based on that, I made the decision to seek sustenance elsewhere. Trying to cook macaroni and cheese while being devoured by mosquitos is not my idea of a good time! Everything is very far from everything else around here, so we had to drive all the way to Cooperstown to find a place that was open. We had a frozen pizza that wasn’t half bad, and I was able to wash my face in the bathroom. We had a beer, watched the Food Network and relaxed a bit.

We headed back to Hope and dove into the tent before the mosquitos could follow (but a few got in). I read the book Jerry and Mary lent me in Wheaton. It’s a diary of Alec Guinness called “My Name Escapes Me” and I’m loving it. What a fascinating man he was! I love his observations of human nature, and he had such an appreciation for fine art, food and classical music. The fireworks started (and went on for over an hour), but I stuck in my earplugs and actually fell asleep! Go figure!

Day Thirty-two

We finally made it to North Dakota, so Chuck says we’re halfway there! I had an amazing day of riding today, much of which had to do with me wanting to prove Chuck wrong. It was another scorcher, near 90, and he didn’t think I’d be able to do much riding, or get very far. Hah!

It had been seriously windy last night and this morning. One of our tent poles broke a few days ago, and it was held together with duct tape, but it survived the wind admirably. It was really nice sitting there by our tent in the wind last night, drinking a beer and eating our peanuts and pistachios. We weren’t able to find a pizza in town last night, after driving around for quite a while, but we did pick up a cozy blanket and some cute little fuzzy, warm socks for me. No more cold nights!

We ended up at a place called the Lodge. It was very popular with the locals. They had our favorite beers, but again, not much food on the menu that we could have. I spotted broiled shrimp and baked potato, so we ordered that. It was heavenly after all the fish sandwiches, french fries and fried broccoli bites we’ve had. Uggh. Our tent was still standing when we got back to the campground, thankfully!

We started today with breakfast at the campground. They have a little restaurant/bar in the main building. Chuck ordered french toast and the lady asked “What kind of meat with that?” Chuck said, “No meat.” She looked up, surprised, “No meat???” I ordered an egg and cheese croissant and requested no meat as well. It must have been the shock of her life! We settled down in our seats at the bar and watched the horrible, awful morning news of the day on TV (but a bike ride like mine just isn’t newsworthy). We struck up a conversation with a nice gentleman next to us. We talked about my ride and he asked, “So you’re from VERmont?” It was funny the way he said it, with the accent on the “Ver”. He went up to the register and paid for both our breakfasts and wished us luck on the trip.

After packing up our gear (we’re getting good at it now), Chuck drove me to the start of the trail, since it was pretty far from our campground. I rode off and then realized we hadn’t arranged a place to meet for lunch. I texted Chuck and he wrote back “Garfield”. Keep in mind, I was on a paved bike trail. The wind was blowing hard from the south, and I was headed northwest, so it helped me along a little bit. PLUS I had music in my ears, which always gets me going. I made it to Garfield in about an hour and I wrote to Chuck “Isn’t it a little early for lunch??” We arranged to meet in Ashby at 11:00. I got there at 10:50, and went to a friendly-looking place called “Murphy’s Irish Pub”. I ordered a few glasses of cranberry juice and Chuck showed up at 11:45. I know he was busy with errands, but that’s the cooler part of the day and I sat waiting for him for almost an hour. I made some friends though. One man named Rick was especially nice, and he was really funny. His son went to NECI, so we chatted about that and I told him about my “cheffing” ambitions. When Chuck showed up, everyone picked on him a bit, but he took it pretty well. Rick asked, “So are you looking for loot?” I said, “Huh?” He said, “Loot! For your ride! Money! You know?” I said, “Definitely” He took out his money and gave me a generous donation, which we really appreciated with the way things have been going lately.

I got back on the trail and Chuck hung out with our new friends. Apparently, they were very impressed with me and had some sweet things to say. I got back up to speed pretty quickly. This is the best part of the trip. Flying down a beautiful bike path with incredible scenery on both sides, my favorite music in my ears (I was singing out loud when I knew no one was around), and I snuck up on a couple of deer who were walking down the trail and scared the bejeebers out of them. This part of Minnesota was very pretty and I took quite a few pictures. Did you know Minnesota is the Land of 10,000 Lakes? I made it to Fergus Falls and we stopped for an internet break.

It was blistering hot at that point, almost 90, maybe more…I rode as far as I could after that, but we had decided to get a motel room in Fargo, so Chuck helped me get there. Holiday Inns have been good to me on this trip…but not in Fargo. The nice girl at the desk did all she could to get me a discount, but her manager refused. He was not impressed at all with my bike ride. We didn’t feel like driving all over the place, going to different hotels, so we agreed to the price. We were both dying for a swim in the pool and a big, comfy bed. Thank you, Steve!!!!

The only pizza we could find was Pizza Hut, but it wasn’t bad, so we ate it and watched Independence Day (it’s always on TV on this date, of course) and went to bed.

Day Thirty-one

Chuck cut my riding short today, but he had good reasons. It’s really hot today, and I had ridden for quite a while on the Soo Line Rail Trail. Also, the holiday is coming up, and finding a place to stay is going to be tricky. We stopped in Osakis, and went to the “Information Center”. They didn’t have internet available, but they did help us find a campground for the night.

We started the day at the Trailside Café in Bowlus. I ordered a bowl of oatmeal, thinking it would be a wise choice, but it wasn’t really what I wanted. (You know what I wanted, if you’ve been following my blog…) I ate as much as I could, and Chuck ate the rest. While we were packing up our stuff, a gentleman stopped by who was a local historian and had actually written a book about Bowlus. He was fascinating to talk to, and I regretted the fact that I had to get on the road. When I left, Chuck was immersed in conversation with him.

The Soo Line Trail was absolutely beautiful, and I was thrilled to be on it. I turned up my Nano, and it was just me and my bike and nothing else. I had to call my grandparents at one point, because I wished so much that they were with me. There I was on a beautiful rail trail, staring at Lake Wobegon (shown above)! They were very glad I called. They’ve been glued to my blog, apparently! I’m so glad people are enjoying it.

I met up with Chuck for lunch at Melrose, and we had a nice lunch of tomato and cheese sandwiches and chips. I rode on, but the heat was getting pretty hot! I stopped at a bar in West Union and offered the bartender a dollar for some ice, but she wouldn’t take it. I made it to Osakis, and Chuck pulled up shortly after that. We discussed what we should do, and decided to find a place for the night. There were a few campgrounds around, but being a holiday weekend, the first one we called was full. The second one said they had a site for us and it would be twenty-three dollars for the night. After driving around a bit trying to find it, we pulled into the driveway. I told the owner about my bike ride and she said, “Take any site you want, no charge.”

We have a beautiful site by a little stream, we finally were able to take a shower, and now we’re headed into town to find a pizza place. We just can’t take anymore fried food on this trip for a while. We’ve pretty much eaten nothing but fried food for the last three days and it’s really starting to hit us, if you know what I mean. When we look at a menu, that’s the only option though, since we don’t eat meat. Even the salads have meat!

A pizza will taste good tonight, and hopefully I can get an early start in the morning. More bike path! Yay!