Seattle . . . Tomorrow??

I have arrived on the west coast! Really? I don't believe it. Tomorrow we ride into Seattle - its only 25 miles, a victory lap of sorts.

The states of Washington and Montana have been incredible. SO pretty, mountains, rivers, national parks... We went to glacier, and to the North Cascades. WE had a day off there and got to go for one of the most spectacular hikes of my life. Up cascade pass to shahale glacier.

I have had the most amazing summer. I cant believe its drawing to a close. I am going to keep riding my bike as much as possible, and always remember to take advantage of adventures that head my way. I want to learn to unicycle and play the Harp, and hike from glacier national park to Olympia national park (the Pacific northwest trail).

Thank all of you so much for your support. I loved all the letters and emails and phone calls (even if I was less than stellar at responding). Hope life is treating you as well as it is me... Until next time!

Idaho? Really? Already?

Somehow, (and no, I have no idea how this happened) I have arrived in Idaho. Crazy. That means that I only have 10 days let, two of which are days off!! holy cow! I never want it to stop, I want to turn around and ride right back to the east coast, or to Mexico....

anyhow, Montana was AMAZING. We spent a lot of time in lakes, which made me happy. My knee has been hurting a lot, but I suppose that's to be expected at this point.

Seattle, here we come!

Did someone say Butte?

I'm in Montana! Its great. Western WYO and Montana have been my favorite parts of the trip. We road through the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone, both of which were pretty fantastic rides. The Bighorns, though, turned out to be my favorite day of the trip. It was so rewarding to get to the top of those mountains and then see the sign with a truck going down hill that said "truckers use low gear, next 18 miles." We took a picture with it. Shockingly, while I was tried, my legs haven't been sore on any of these climbs. Maybe I'm finally getting good!

A friend of mine (Ben Beall) came up to ride with us for a day when were dropping into the tetons. What a great day for a ride. He certainly picked the most bueatiful day of the trip. We camped that night and went for a walk about heron pond. While totally flat and only a 40 change in elevation, I got really really! sick. I think just to many days in a row of riding. The 1/2 mile walk back to the camp sight was by far the hardest thing I've done thins trip. But, I'm better now. The next day went for a hike up to amphitheater lake. Beautiful!

I forgot to mention three things. First, on the ride into Deboius (sp?) we picked up a guy who had been doing an unsupported trip across the country and was a CU boulder alum. We were such a fun group (well, we carried his panures at the very least) that he's decided to come with us to Seattle. Its good to have new blood.

Also, we met a woman on the road who is riding her Unicycle across the country - first woman ever to do it. She is fabulous. Just goes to prove that no matter how crazy you are there is always someone crazier.

Bighorns

I find myself in Buffalo, WY. South Dakota was a blur of 100 degree days with 100 miles to go. We did 862 miles in 9 days. Long, flat days . . . Until of course we got to the south west corner. Its as though someone spread a sheet over south Dakota and when the got to that corner, stopped smoothing it out.

There was really only one day of bad headwind - 25 miles an hour, felt like a hairdryer...

We stopped on the Rosebud Rez, had buffalo burgers, built a tepee (sp?), listened to a traditional drum group, and heard the chief tell the story of his people.

The black hills were beautiful; a great change from the plains.

I got to see some of my family. My mom, dad, and two sets of aunts and uncles came to visit in Newcastle. They also brought Vonda (my puppy!) which was great.

Today we climb up and over the top of the Bighorns. That means we go for 4600 ft to 10000 ft back to 4000 ft - all in the span of 68 miles! Cant wait!