Montana to Idaho

On these super long days, 95 miles today, it feels like several days have passed between the morning and the evening. Many of us began our day at McDonalds to get some extra protein for the day. Then we started out along a road next to a beautiful river. There were rapids and rock formations everywhere. At one point we even saw a cool swinging bridge across the river. It was like a scene out of Indiana Jones.

It is so fun to be among the mountains. They never fail to amaze me. Our first lunch was at a lake by some incredible huge cliffs. After lunch things got pretty silly. I started my day with Diane, Ellen, Kate, Collin, and Rob. I left lunch with Rob and Kate because the others were waiting with Diane who left her helmet in the van which had left (they ended up hitchhiking). The road continued to be beautiful but the rolling hills were tough for me. My ability to bike uphill is diminishing.

I eventually fell behind my group and biked alone into Idaho. Crossing the stateline was epic as we have been in Montana for over a week. Idaho has more rocky features and does feel a bit different. When I finally got to second lunch I found out Rob and Kate had also hitchhiked and left me behind. Oh well.

After that lunch I joined with Katie K, Caity, Nate, and Erica. The road was under construction and the pavement had been striped so we found a great detour along a parallel road. We were riding along Lake Pend Oreille and it felt like we were on the coast of Italy. After a couple of miles we came upon a little hippie cafe where a bunch of our cyclists were hanging out. I honestly felt like I was in another country.

I departed with Nate for the final part but when he stopped to take a picture I got ahead and finished solo. A train came along and I watched it cross the water on the tracks. It was so neat. The road had to go around the lake.

Our host is great Dinner was made by a man who has been in the restaurant business for years. It's was unbelievable. I had beets, green beans, a sausage dish, quinoa, peas and corn, two kinds of soup (carrot with ginger and a Mexican soup with hominy), fancy bread with toppings...etc. It was literally like eating in a restaurant. Incredible! For dessert...huckleberry ice cream.

Our entertainment for the night was Frankie, a 95-year old woman of the congregation with more spunk and attitude and humor than anybody I know. She even participated in our game of slackjaw and had us all busting up with laughter.

Our night ended at a local microbrewery with some huckleberry ale.