Previous entry: "Not so Lolo" | Next entry: "Melstone to Forsyth" 07/18/2007 Entry: "Missoula to Townsend...what the heck is going on with this stupid website?" Hey everyone! I am writing from Townsend once again to put this entry (which I wrote yesterday) back onto the website. This website is generally obnoxious, and it seems to have removed everything I wrote. Luckily, it was in the archives. What the heck? It has made us wrestle with ten computers to let us upload pictures, too. Bleh! Anyway, today (Friday, June 29th) we woke up in a park shelter in Townsend and decided to take a rest day so that Karen's achilles tendon could get a rest. It has been a little ornery since going up MacDonald Pass the other day. We'll be back on the road tomorrow and Martinsdale bound. Missoula to Townsend Hello Everyone! I did, in fact, rejoin my dear biking buddies in Lowell, Idaho after a five and a half hour car ride (they made some good time!) It is now four days later, and we have a wopper of an update to do, so I will tell you about our ride from Missoula to Ovando to the Continental Divide to Townsend, Montana. Missoula to Ovando Karen, MinWah and I woke up in Geraldine's back yard, ate oatmeal and Kendar's delicious unicorn poop (colored sprinkles) cookies and head out of town. We spent a good portion of the day riding next to the Blackfoot River, surrounded by beautiful mountainous, rocky scenery, and oodles of adorable baby farm creatures prancing in their spacious pastures. When we rode into Clearwater Junction, (not on the map, but bigger than many towns that were) Karen got an ice cream cone to celebrate her first 100 miles. MinWah and I will hit ours in about 200 miles. We hopped back on our trusty steeds headed towards Ovando, where we said we would meet to decide whether to continue on, or stop for the night. As usual, I fell behind the other two, stopping to take pictures, taking my time up the hills, and getting a bee out of my sandal (after it stung me). I wasn't expecting to see them until Ovando, but to my suprise, I soon spotted them on the side of the road apparently talking to two other bicycle tourists. Although I had imagined this meeting exactly as it really happened, I was still shocked when I pulled up, and those two bikers were Alouitious and Erin themselves. I lived with Alan last year in Madison, and we had joked about meeting up on the road during our bike trips...I didn't really believe it would happen as it did. We took pictures, I gave them some leftover cookies from GB's party, and we continued on to Ovando. The kind people of Ovando didn't bat an eye when MinWah walked into the general store and asked if there was a place we could pitch our tent for the night. The pointed us to the yard next to the Museum, told us where we could get water, and said there was a port-a-potty out back that was there for travelers such as ourselves. We settled in quickly, despite the vicious mosquitos. One of the volunteers who runs the museum stopped by a little later to prepare the displays for Ovando's enormous Fourth of July celebration, and asked us if we would like to come in and look around. I have never been one for museums, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. There was a display of around twenty different kinds of barbed wire, bunches of pictures of Trixie, Ovando's famous lasso-er in her prime, and lots of scrapbooks of the Blackfoot River 4-H club and the Cowbelles, a women's beef advocacy group. I never considered how much there was to know about beef. The museum had a true ranch country feeling that was exotic and interesting to a midwest dairy-farm-country girl. We had Mommy Welling's famous pasta sauce with our spaghetti, and as we were cleaning up one of the museum's neighbor's, Shawn, stopped by to chat. He leads backcountry horseback riding trips, fishing trips, hunting trips...and it sounded like rafting and just about anything else you could want to do outside in Montana. He was only home in Ovando because he was recovering from a run-in with a frightened mule. Needless to say, he had some good stories to tell. Our sleep in Ovando came early and fast. Ovando to the Continental Divide The ride to the Continental Divide was mostly the same beautiful views and rolling hills as the day before. A sometimes gentle headwind whipped itself up in the afternoon, and we were happy to accept some iced sweet tea from the Preacher's daughter we found behind the church as we were looking for water in Avon. She said that the road up to the pass was straight, gradually rising, and boring. She was right. The headwind and the heat and the rise put together made for a slow, difficult ride. When I caught up with Karen and MinWah at the gas station right before the pass began, I spent several minutes with my head in the sink, running cold water over my neck to cool me off. That worked quite nicely, and we started trucking up MacDonald's Pass. I stopped for water every mile, pouring it down my back and down my throat. Nearing the top I found some shade cast by a road sign and stopped to eat some gummy bears. Those gummy bears got me to the top (thanks Mom). MinWah said that this pass was her first REAL challenge, and that she had to growl to get those last hundred feet...but we all made it. We took pictures and I spit ceremoniosly upon the continental divide. Eventually, the remnants of that saliva will run to both the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans. We stayed at a campsite at the top of the pass, hiding our food in a bag in the bathroom to keep it from the bears and raccoons since we had no safe container or bear rope. We should get one of those. Continental Divide to Townsend After calling my dear old Daddio to wish him a happy birthday, (man, is he old!) we joyously got on our bicycles to ride down towards the Atlantic. The first five miles were very steep, and the next five still had a considerable decline. I think those ten miles must have passed in about 20 minutes. It was glorious. I sang "The Midnight Rider" the whole way down, very nearly swallowing quite a few bugs. "He's never seen the northern lights, he's never seen a hawk on the wing, and he's never seen a spring hit the GREAT DIVIDE, he's never heard old camp cookie sing." I yelled the great divide part at the top of my lungs, no matter that my spring was really just a bunch of spit. Anyway, we zoomed through Helena, just about died on the terrible, nasty, enormous highway getting out of the city, and survived to push on to lunch in Winston. There, I bought a small container of ice cream to celebrate still being alive, and took a nap under a tree. By the time we started biking after lunch the headwind which we had had before turned into a headgale, and lost any cooling qualities that it may have previously had. For 13 more miles we rode into a blast furnace, meeting two other bikers who are riding to raise money for the Lupus Foundation along the way. Now, we are tapping away happily in the air conditioned Townsend Community Library. It is getting towards closing time, so we must go find a place to stay for the night. I wish you all happiness and cool weather whereever you are. Peace -Ariel Replies: Leave us a note! (2) Ariel, reconnoitered (sp?) the house looking for the blue polyester 'towel'ette. It escaped. A replacement can be shipped, along with the chemical cold packs and Bill Bryson's In A Sunburned Country for Seagar. Give me a town in SD (and approximate date) to aim for, and I'll post it on Mon. or Tues., depending on when you let me know. (Wed. and Thurs. are out.) Are your miles of Montana Rockies falling away? Winston, Princess Cat, is in the position, half on the computer, half over my left arm and is quite keen to know your progress. Briefly talked to Carol this morning, as she was leaving for her canoe trip. The Wisconsin gathering will be Tuesday, August 7th - she got the pavillion. I don't believe any of the Kenny lads or Steve will be able to make it. We'll be thinking of you all! Winston is flipping her tail around in greetings and good-bye. Good riding (and wedding, Seagar)! -AA Posted by Auntie Anne @ 06/30/2007 08:29 PM CST HA! Thanks for the update. Sounds like I'm missing some pretty sweet country. I'll be back sometime monday or tuesday probably. I'll call sundayish so check your messages around noon? Posted by Seager @ 06/29/2007 10:21 PM CST

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