We awoke to a gray day and made our way into the town of Thompson Falls, where we ate at the local diner. We found Carrie and Ashley who had chosen to take the Thompson Falls road the night before. We told of our epic adventure the night before and said goodbye as they were heading to Missoula and taking there own route the rest of the way back to New York. We hoped we would see them again. We ate some great grub and saw Wayne's Wife at the local breakfast stop Minnie's (I think, maybe Mother Lode). We continued on to the local hardware store where I bought some gloves and socks. Wayne showed up in the store with Will's Iphone that he had left in the Cabin. Score! We said one last goodbye to our friend and then went outside to meet a new one. Aidan; Pete's cousin who finished up his last classes at UC Santa Cruz and then was driven out by his parents to meet us. He was ready to ride the rest of the way to New York with us. And what a perfect day to start. Aidan sported a 1970s 10 speed Univega which probably couldn't have handled Coopers Pass. But it was ready for Rt 200 through Plains and Paradise and the serene landscape of Western Montana! We rode down the valley along the Clarks Fork River a bit weary from the night before but lively in spirit from our fortitude and new companionship. I remember admiring how colorful all the rocks were in this region. Not your normal boring black and gray side of the road gravel but lots of color. We stopped for some burgers in Plains where we first able to witness Aidan's ability to talk to other human beings. We rode and rode along the river all the way down to Dixon where we turned north on the 212. We were a bit haggard at this point and daylight was running late. Aidan decided to take it at his own pace and we forged on ahead. A random dude stopped and told us we could stay at his trailer park but we were on a mission to Polson. But we started north on the busy US 93 as the sun went down. It was a tough ride made no more fun with all the traffic, but luckily we found a bike path that took us the rest of the way into Polson where we found my Uncle Gary and Aunt Susan's home. We ate hamburgers and waited anxiously for Aidan who showed up an hour an a half later. Aidan's Dad had a sixth sense moment and sensed his son was in trouble and found him on the road 5 miles outside of Polson. Aidan was all good though and we made sure he ate a lot after he arrived and then we all went to bed.
 |
| The Clarks Fork River |
 |
| Cars are even less fun in the Rain |
The rest of the ride was long, we were a little spaint from the day before. But we made it.
No comments:
Post a Comment