We had our usual "early" start from Billings. On the way out of town we stopped at AAA for more maps and the post office to send home all of the things I bought when I went shoppin yesterday. It was fun to be sort of "normal" for a day. I had to call Dugan though to remind me why I didn't need to buy the twins the neat crib that I saw and all of those soft things for Scott and Heather's baby. Thanks Dugan for restraining me! I did buy something really cute but was able to mail it to them. I havent' given a baby report for awhile. Tiffany and Heather are both doing very well. It sounds like Tiff is getting a tad larger with the twins. But that's ok cause they will both be perfect. By the way Tiff is Dugan's daughter and a carrier for Alpha One. Alpha One is a genetic disorder so her husband Dustin was tested and was negative for the disease. What a blessing!!!
As we were leaving Billings we ran into a huge mess of traffic. At one point we had to merge onto an overhead bridge. One side was underconstruction so they routed all of the traffic onto one side. The part they were working on was clear of traffic and it looked like they had been driving trucks over it, so we just went to that side. From then on we were on what looked like the lunch capital of the world and everyone was going out to lunch. I felt like a lookout in the backseat of a fighter plane. All I needed was my machine gun. I just kept yelling there was from the left, one on the right. It was pretty dicey. We decided they really don't like tandems in Billings. We were glad to get off that road. As we were just leaving town we had to stop for a DQ fix just to calm our nerves!!
We could see our first glimpse of snowcapped mountains today. It was awesome. We sure do love riding in the mountains. Most of our tours have been in the mountains. Our favorite states to ride in are Colorado, Utah, Montana, Oregon and Washington. The route today seemed difficult until we realized that we were climbing all day and had a head wind. We are on part of the Lewis and Clark route set up by Adventure Cycling. Most of the day we spent riding the frontage road beside I 90. It was really pretty. As we were riding along a lady passed us in a SUV and pulled over. We thought she needed help, but when we got up to her she was holding out a power bar and a bag of cherries. What a surprise. We talked to her for quite awhile and she said we could camp on her land just ahead if we wanted to. She would give us the key. We still had planned to ride another 20 miles or so into Columbus so we thanked her and kept going.
According to the Adventure Cycling map we were aloud to camp in the city park, so we called the police to check. No, never heard of that before. There is a county park just outside of town on the river you can camp at. So we went out to check it out. It wasn't the cleanest place and there were no showers (here we go again!). We went into town to the city pool and asked if we could take a shower. We met Mitzy there who said sure you can shower. She was really nice. As it turned out she is also a business teacher in the middle school. When I told her about our blogsite she said she would love to have the kids be able to follow our ride. We decided to go ahead and cook our dinner at the nice park beside the pool. We had an alfredo noodle dinner with salmon and peas in it. Good stuff! After eating we rode out to the county camping park and found a spot to pitch our tent. While we were setting up a couple from the next site who were on a motorcycle walked over and asked if we wanted a beer?? Mmmm....let's think about THAT for a minute. We thanked him and after we got everything set up we went over and chatted for while. They were from Alberta Canada just north of Calgary. It was interesting to talk with them.
The next morning we overslept alittle even by our standards. It was bright and sunny by the time we left. Although it is much cooler than it has been. 80-85 degrees. We ate breakfast in a little cafe in town and headed out the frontage road again. We sure do love seeing the mountains. We have also seen alot of ranching and farmland. Above you'll see a picture of some of the cows waiting for their picture to be taken. We had a headwind and uphill all day again. Oh well it wasn't so bad. We stopped in Reed Point for a snack in the gas station. There aren't many towns along this area. But the views are beautiful. When we got into Big Timber we stopped and asked where the best place in town to get a milkshake was. We were told Cole's Pharmacy. It was a neat place. An ol' time soda fountain. I had the best peanut butter chocolate milkshake. According to our maps there was a fishing access that had camping five miles west of town. It didn't have water but did have pit toilets. So we decided to get our laundry done in town, eat dinner, find a shower and head down to the campground. We went to the laundrymat/gas station/shower place and asked how much it cost for a shower. $12/per person! What? No way. So we rode a couple of blocks to the swimming pool and asked if we could shower. Sure you can, free! After our shower we stopped at the grocery for a bag of salad and some salmon and fruit. We went to the laundrymat and while the clothes were washing we ate our salad. We also got a bonus. There was a tv in the laundromat so we got to watch a stage of the Tour de France that started last Saturday. When the wash was done, we loaded the bike down with a camelback bag of water, four waterbottles and an extra gallon of water for good measure. We got to the camping spot and it turned out to be really nice. It was right on the Yellowstone River and beautiful. We set up tent, went for a wade in the river and headed for bed. It didn't take long at all for our lights to go out.
This morning we headed west again on the frontage road along I 90. Our goal today was Bozeman. I think today's ride was the prettiest. We again climbed most of the day with a slight headwind. There was one long 10 mile climb up and over Bozeman Pass, our first pass to climb. It was only about 5700 feet so no big deal. We're looking forward to Going to the Sun road in Glacier Park in a week or so. We got into Bozeman, went to the grocery and found a campground on the edge of town. It is a nice place but it is full of million dollar RV's. So we find ourselves in the back forty with the other riff raff! For dinner tonight Hap is cooking steaks on our new skillet, broccoli and watermelon. Oh I forgot to tell you. We had our first crash today. In the campground we were following the owner who was on a four wheeler to our site and the front wheel washed out in the thick gravel. So over we went. We both just stepped off the side. No harm no foul, no blood. And the watermelon was spared. Until next time...............
As we were leaving Billings we ran into a huge mess of traffic. At one point we had to merge onto an overhead bridge. One side was underconstruction so they routed all of the traffic onto one side. The part they were working on was clear of traffic and it looked like they had been driving trucks over it, so we just went to that side. From then on we were on what looked like the lunch capital of the world and everyone was going out to lunch. I felt like a lookout in the backseat of a fighter plane. All I needed was my machine gun. I just kept yelling there was from the left, one on the right. It was pretty dicey. We decided they really don't like tandems in Billings. We were glad to get off that road. As we were just leaving town we had to stop for a DQ fix just to calm our nerves!!
We could see our first glimpse of snowcapped mountains today. It was awesome. We sure do love riding in the mountains. Most of our tours have been in the mountains. Our favorite states to ride in are Colorado, Utah, Montana, Oregon and Washington. The route today seemed difficult until we realized that we were climbing all day and had a head wind. We are on part of the Lewis and Clark route set up by Adventure Cycling. Most of the day we spent riding the frontage road beside I 90. It was really pretty. As we were riding along a lady passed us in a SUV and pulled over. We thought she needed help, but when we got up to her she was holding out a power bar and a bag of cherries. What a surprise. We talked to her for quite awhile and she said we could camp on her land just ahead if we wanted to. She would give us the key. We still had planned to ride another 20 miles or so into Columbus so we thanked her and kept going.
According to the Adventure Cycling map we were aloud to camp in the city park, so we called the police to check. No, never heard of that before. There is a county park just outside of town on the river you can camp at. So we went out to check it out. It wasn't the cleanest place and there were no showers (here we go again!). We went into town to the city pool and asked if we could take a shower. We met Mitzy there who said sure you can shower. She was really nice. As it turned out she is also a business teacher in the middle school. When I told her about our blogsite she said she would love to have the kids be able to follow our ride. We decided to go ahead and cook our dinner at the nice park beside the pool. We had an alfredo noodle dinner with salmon and peas in it. Good stuff! After eating we rode out to the county camping park and found a spot to pitch our tent. While we were setting up a couple from the next site who were on a motorcycle walked over and asked if we wanted a beer?? Mmmm....let's think about THAT for a minute. We thanked him and after we got everything set up we went over and chatted for while. They were from Alberta Canada just north of Calgary. It was interesting to talk with them.
The next morning we overslept alittle even by our standards. It was bright and sunny by the time we left. Although it is much cooler than it has been. 80-85 degrees. We ate breakfast in a little cafe in town and headed out the frontage road again. We sure do love seeing the mountains. We have also seen alot of ranching and farmland. Above you'll see a picture of some of the cows waiting for their picture to be taken. We had a headwind and uphill all day again. Oh well it wasn't so bad. We stopped in Reed Point for a snack in the gas station. There aren't many towns along this area. But the views are beautiful. When we got into Big Timber we stopped and asked where the best place in town to get a milkshake was. We were told Cole's Pharmacy. It was a neat place. An ol' time soda fountain. I had the best peanut butter chocolate milkshake. According to our maps there was a fishing access that had camping five miles west of town. It didn't have water but did have pit toilets. So we decided to get our laundry done in town, eat dinner, find a shower and head down to the campground. We went to the laundrymat/gas station/shower place and asked how much it cost for a shower. $12/per person! What? No way. So we rode a couple of blocks to the swimming pool and asked if we could shower. Sure you can, free! After our shower we stopped at the grocery for a bag of salad and some salmon and fruit. We went to the laundrymat and while the clothes were washing we ate our salad. We also got a bonus. There was a tv in the laundromat so we got to watch a stage of the Tour de France that started last Saturday. When the wash was done, we loaded the bike down with a camelback bag of water, four waterbottles and an extra gallon of water for good measure. We got to the camping spot and it turned out to be really nice. It was right on the Yellowstone River and beautiful. We set up tent, went for a wade in the river and headed for bed. It didn't take long at all for our lights to go out.
This morning we headed west again on the frontage road along I 90. Our goal today was Bozeman. I think today's ride was the prettiest. We again climbed most of the day with a slight headwind. There was one long 10 mile climb up and over Bozeman Pass, our first pass to climb. It was only about 5700 feet so no big deal. We're looking forward to Going to the Sun road in Glacier Park in a week or so. We got into Bozeman, went to the grocery and found a campground on the edge of town. It is a nice place but it is full of million dollar RV's. So we find ourselves in the back forty with the other riff raff! For dinner tonight Hap is cooking steaks on our new skillet, broccoli and watermelon. Oh I forgot to tell you. We had our first crash today. In the campground we were following the owner who was on a four wheeler to our site and the front wheel washed out in the thick gravel. So over we went. We both just stepped off the side. No harm no foul, no blood. And the watermelon was spared. Until next time...............
2 comments:
Crash? Only a couple of days after your massages!!! Glad to hear it was nothing extreme or I would put my table in the car and come to the rescue...! Ride on you two.. ALL THE BEST!
Hap--I see you went thru Thompson Falls--one of the suppliers at the glass plant had (has) a restaurant, bar, and bowling alley there. I should have given you his name--John Lawrence- had I known T.F. was on your path. Bob Sneed
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