Raspberries and Dan

Tuesday 5/15 Day 25

Wish the Ice Palace was around me

Sllloooow start today. Things are starting to catch up in my body. I did wake up to see lunch and breakfast on the table waiting for me. Jo had to leave early for work so we said goodbye the night before. It has been people like Jo that have made this trip so easy and enjoyable. Makes me feel that I have a home everywhere. It excites me to know that sharing my life and what I do can make relationships. This warm showers almost reminds me of my time with the international ambassadors club in college. Those were some of my favorite memories of college and some of the best friends I made in college. It's a good thing that sharing my culture and community is a big part of this next job in Japan. What if I had a career in some sort of cultural exchange program or even a study abroad program to help create things like international ambassadors. Just a thought. That is still something I'm brainstorming while I'm riding, what I want to do in life.


Perfect spot for the bike

So after a slow morning of laying down, showering, and eating I hit the road by 1030. I figured I could leave a bit later because I only had about fifty miles to go today, should be easy right? Ha I think the first thirty miles was some of the toughest biking I have had on my entire trip. The sun just drained my energy and it seemed every direction I would turn the wind was blowing at my face. 32 miles to Townsend took about a normal time of a little over three hours. So when the situation was a bit less desirable time went a lot slower for me. Oh I did take a break today underneath the shade of a tree and I was going to take a nap. It seems though when I lay on the side of the road next to my bike it looks as if I got into an accident. Haha a sweet old lady stopped to see if I was ok, the sad thing was she almost got hit by another car in the process. So after she left I stopped my nap and continued on my way to town. As I went into town I kind of just rode through, and stopped on the edge of town and thought. It is interesting to think how some tiny decisions you do can impact the rest of your day. Mine today was to go back into town and get some cold drinks to cool off.
I went to this little bakery in town and got a smoothie, a raspberry smoothie. Favorite fruit right there raspberry :), and I just learned it is spelled with a p. Got to talking to a few of the older gentlemen there. Very interesting fellows, but anyways one subject that lay in my mind the rest of the day was about wolves. We were talking about the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone and how hey have started to move north into Montana. Some farmers have started protecting livestock by shooting off the wolves on their land. After talking with them about the wolves it made bears look ok. Two bad things a out wolves, packs and they hunt for fun! So hopefully they don find me tonight.

After about an hour I filled up my water and left town towards the mountain. Now I don't know if it was the cold drinks, the rest, or the change back into a mountainous scenery but I felt much better the rest of the day. As I started to ascend into the mountains the cars disappeared and the trees came back. There were cliffs on either side of me at times and a flowing river that I followed all the way up. It turns out that he top of this road was at 6000 feet, 800 taller than Morias pass that I crossed over the divide a couple days back. Also as I went up I was singing aloud to let all the bears know I was coming. Had a beautiful rendition oh Hey Jude, Wagon Wheel, and a little bit of Stand by Me. I took a little break at a picnic area and that is where I met Dan. He was done with work for the day and he was picking up some dead logs in the forest and some raspberry bushes for his wife. We started chatting, next thing I know he was giving me a ride into the campgrounds and as we were driving around them he offered me a spot on his lawn to pitch my tent. I said yea. By the time things were done I was sleeping in their extra trailer, getting a shower, and able to use their kitchen. It was a great relief after such a long day. He even served me watermelon and a cold beer. His house was great, just settled right outside the forest he had 20 acres of land with a river, 2 donkeys, and a horse. Oh can't forget Molly he dog. He gave me a tour showing me the garden, wood shed, greenhouse, and the tellascope. He was great company, after dinner we just sat on he deck and talked. His wife called and thought he was crazy for letting a total stranger in. We laughed. It goes back to hat idea of trust. And I think just believing that there is more good than evil in this world and things will just be easier. I was able to watch the sunset over the place, so beautiful. Today ended up being a great day. Now back to the thought of events impacting the day, if I would have kept on going instead of turning around back at town I would never have met Dan. I would not have had great company to spend the evening with. Things work out the way they are suppose to and the world turns in wonderful ways :).