Monday, July 7

Bill & David spent last night in Clark Fork, Idaho. It was the first time they'd stayed in a recognizable chain hotel rather than a local dive. They've had some strange accomodations in some of these small towns. I'll post some photos of the room they stayed in in Ione, Washington later on today. When they first got to the room, they thought they had mistakenly gotten a room with only one bed. They went furhter into the room to call the front desk and found that the second bed was in a loft, along with a water heater. Very strange.

They stayed at an Extended Stay America in Clark Fork last night, and it was a nice place with a small kitchenette. Dinner was an adventure again. (You wouldn't think it would be so difficult to get a decent meal!) They said the place was run by a bunch of teenagers - not an adult in sight. To start, Bill & David ordered a large plate of French fries. When they arrived, the fries were brown and pretty much singed. The kid said that if they were too overdone, he'd make new ones for them. They tried one bite and said, "Yeah, these are pretty bad. We'll take you up on that offer for a new batch." The kid seemed a bit miffed, even though he had offered the fresh batch. When the new batch arrived, David said the kid just kind of tossed the plate on the table and left without a word. There were about a third fewer fries on the plate than the previous one...

For their main course, they ordered a pepperoni pizza. About ten minutes after ordering, two kids ran out the front door, telling the other kids something about going to the grocery store. When they got back, they came to the table and told Bill & David that they were out of pepperoni, and that the grocery store was out, too. I think Bill & David would have eaten anything at that point, so they agreed to some other toppings. They said the pizza was pretty good once it did finally arrive.

I got to talk to David for nearly 40 minutes last night - a real treat after a week of 5-minute conversations while he was either waiting for food or nearly about to fall into bed. We chatted again this morning on my way to work. They spent some time last night re-evaluating their route. The problem has been that the towns are spaced apart so much in the mountains that it's been hard to get their average 130 miles in. They'll hit a town after 70 miles, but then there's nothing for another 70 miles with a lot of climbing in between - too much to do in a day.

Last night they made arrangements to adjust their Amtrak tickets for the trip home so that they'll leave from Montana rather than Minot, ND. I'm not clear on the details yet because I thought that new tickets were to depart from Shelby, Montana on Sunday morning. However, David commented that Shelby was close to the ND border. When I got a chance to get to a map, it looks like Shelby is only about a third of the way across Montana. There is a Sidney, Montana near the ND border, so I left David a message to clarify and make sure they made reservations for the town they intended. The tricky part is that not all Amtrak stations are staffed locations, and they need a staffed location to box up their bikes and get them to the train home.

The guys said the temperatures have been pleasant - upper 40s to mid-50s in the mornings and getting as warm as the mid-80s during the day. Today and tomrorow will be short days, partly because of the spacing of towns and the amount of climbing involved. Also because of regulations for when bikes can go through Glacier National Park. Because this is their busy season and there are a limited number of roads, the park doesn't allow bikers on the roads past 11am. This means they need to get a very early start to make it through the park by 11am. Tonight they'll stay in Libby, MT and tomorrow night they plan to stay in Eureka, MT. Their route will take them into Canada in the next few days.