We came home a week early.  This is not the first time we’ve done this while on vacation.  We hit a point where we are just done.  Done with riding, done with camping, done with eating out, done with dealing with the elements.  We would have stayed in Glacier a few more days if there was a flight available over the weekend but Friday was the only day available.

I definitely have learned that we are not good adventurers!  It was very hard to stop and smell the roses.  Once we started riding in the morning, we did not stop except to eat, until we reached our destination.  There was a little anxiety about having a place to stay that drove me to keep riding.  Sometimes, the heat of the day dictated getting out early but we ran into riders who would relax during the middle of the day, then finish their day’s ride in the evening when it was cooler.  Interesting concept!

My one regret is that I never did find a huckleberry.  Still not exactly sure what the plant looks like.  There were many amazing views and people that made up for the lack of huckleberry experience.

So now I am enjoying eating my steel cut oats and whole grain breads as well as all the fresh fruit I can stuff in my mouth.  I’ve also had my fill of mexican food.  There’s nothing like the food choices in California.

This concludes my blog.  Today we ride!

The ride down the mountain wasn’t too bad. Stopped for huckleberry pie at a placed ranked third in the states. Wasn’t impressed. Had better pie other places. It’s just personal preference. Once we turned south towards Kalispell we faced 15-20 mph headwinds. What should have taken an hour took 2 hours. We had a laugh about Mareika’s “sh.. the wind”. She said the advantage of riding alone was the opportunity to cuss at the wind.

Although we had no problem completing the ride, we didn’t enjoy it. Unfortunately,that was not uncommon on this trip. I am very aware of how age played a part in the difficulty of this trip. I certainly want to take more bike trips but I can forego the multiple mountains and probably the camping!

I am so looking forward to my own bed!

I have had just about all the fresh air I can handle. My bed and my animals are calling me. The weather is supposed to turn nasty tomorrow afternoon so we will head back to Kalispell in the morning.

If my sister gets the pictures posted they may not be in order. I will try to post them to facebook when we get home. Have a great one of a deer that was grazing about 20 feet from us.

The huckleberryice cream has negated all the calories I burned while riding but it was worth it!

Glacier Park is very pretty. One of the first things we did was buy sweatshirts since we didn’t carry warm clothes on our trip. We picked up our jeans and tennis shoes in Kalispell so we should be set.

The park has a free tram system that we’ll take advantage of tomorrow. There is a lot of road work going on over the summit so we may not be able to ride our bikes. Today that sounds fine to me. Maybe I’ll change my mind in a few days.

The clouds are starting to disappear tonight. Hopefully the sky will be clear tomorrow when we head into Glacier. Our friend Susan, who we’re staying with tonight, wants to drive us. We had to pass since we’ve been off our bikes for 2 days. Don’t want to get too rusty.

We did tell her that we might call her to bring pizza for dinner one night! She said she would!

I don’t think there will be phone access in gthe park so you’ll have to wait a while to hear more from me. A short summary of our trip to date. 775 miles, 30,000 feet of climbing, 43 miles a day average, longest day 80 miles, shortest day 20 miles,

Our campsite on the Salmon River

Our cozy campsite in Richland

Ready for rain

This morning we walked downtown to the craft fair and farmers’ market.  Nancy bought a small huckleberry pie and I bought some strawberries.  I have been missing my daily fruit and yogurt.  We probably walked 3+ miles.  Then we rode our bikes to the airport to pick up the car. (Only 4 1/2 miles.)  Way too many cars on the road even though we had a 10 foot bike lane. 

It was nice to get all our laundry done and it was a real treat to take 2 showers in one day!  We are both tired and cranky.  Hoping another day off the bikes will help.

Theoretically, it was all downhill to the town of Lolo but we had to peddle against a headwind most of the way. The last 12 miles into Missoula was on a 4 lane highway. Not fun and a little bit of culture shock since we’ve been in the outback for almost 3 weeks.

We are taking a rest day tomorrow. It will be good to walk instead of ride. Next stop, Kalispell.