Thursday, June 28, 2012

Hasta Lavista Montana, Hola Idaho

So we took day 11 off in Butte to do erands and such.  Day 12 we rode into Wise River, home of the aggressive and ferocious mosquitos that were attacking us while riding at 14mph.  Met up with some rafters that lent us their bug spray and invited us to hang out at their campsite.  We feasted on their leftovers and had a great time talking and hanging out with some new found friends, whose names shall remain anonymous as requested.  Day 13 we rode against the wind and into an oasis in the middle of the arid, sage brush landscape of Montana, Bannack State Park.  Thank you to the campground hosts there, Jamie and Paul for thier hospitality and generousity.  Day 14 we got an early start to try to avoid some of the wind, rode til about noon or so and took a break and a nap in a dried up creek bed under a tree.  Broke a spoke, fixed the spoke.  We then rode on and decided to ride into the night, arriving in Lima, MT at 11pm, camped in the wind with the tent bending and flapping.  Along the way we met an elderly gentleman, from Gilford, NH, who was waiting for his wife as she was hiking the CDT.  When finished she will have completed all 3 of the long distance hiking routes, the AT, PCT and finally the CDT, way to go!  So we rode 80 miles and did some awesome night riding.  Day 15 found us fighting some 40mph cross wind and head wind that gusted to up to 70mph at times causing us to stand still.  We ended up staying a the Centenial Outfitters lodge as we just could not ride any further in the wind as it was already 7:30pm and we were still not at our destination.  Highly recommend this lodge, Mel and Chris were just fantastic hosts, good food and a warm hospitality, making us feel part of the family.  Mel had some great stories from when he was a kid in a one-room school house with only a hand full of students.  Chris also shared that she had lost her father due to complications related to Type 1 diabetes.  McKayla and Levi were working with the family and were some very nice young adults, looking forward to going to school next winter.  Left the lodge on day 16 and ran into Greg and Tracy and rode with them for a bit.  Reached Big Springs Idaho and met up with our friends and stayed with them in Yellowstone.  Day 17, we are currently in Yellowstone with our friends will check it out today and get back on the bike tomorrow.  Should be in Wyoming in less than 2 days.  Thanks for the comments and continued donations, much appreciated, we are now up to 71% of our fundraising goal.  So the question is, why on earth do mule deer hop away when it is clearly faster to run?!  Time limited again with the computer, hope to have more time in the future to add more interesting and funny occurrances.  Hello to everyone at both our workplaces, you are all awesome for supporting us on this journey/adventure.  Thanks for reading.  :~)

1 comment:

  1. OK. INCREDIBLE. 80 miles?? Night riding sounds awesome. I like night surfing. HOW ARE YOUR BUTTOCKS??? (What's left of them...) Don't answer that. Your posts are making me hungry. Love this: "took a break and a nap in a dried up creek bed under a tree." Truly great writing and so glad you are getting all this down. Jen, I'm pregnant again! Maybe that's why I'm so hungry. Can't wait to see you upon your return. Though maybe you two fill just fuse to your bikes and ride off into the dust....

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