Hampton Inn Missoula

Leaving Missoula via The KBGA Bus!

I am writing this entry from comfort of my living room in Missoula, Montana.
Kingston (my dog) is staring up at me and laying his muzzle on my knee, looking at me, sniffing, licking, calmly telling me to get off the computer and go play with him in the sunshine ...

I managed to work/run/stress myself sick. I took off work and sat in bed for 16 hours yesterday and feel a little better.. things are a little crazy right now with planning and work preparation but it's all going well thus far (in terms of everything except my health). I have planned the Iceland part of the trip more detailed than the rest since I don't have much time ...

We went to Yellowstone today.Here're the headlines-- hard driving ,beautiful mountain views,waterfalls, and wildlife, blah,blah,blah!(Look at the pictures.) I know what my peeps want to hear - the dirt on how we're getting along.I told you that I was worried about Linda being too organized. Actually she's been totally flexible, going with ...

Well.....

We solved the "over heating" issue for now, turned out it was only the need for a new radiator cap. Our old cap was weak sauce apparently, couldn't handle the pressure. We'll see what happens when we hit the Rockies though....
After we left the dodge dealership this morning we made it all the way through the "skinny" part of Idaho, but it sure didn't ...

... then happy to show us his favorite micro-breweries and foods. We had a great time sharing stories and eating an awesome burrito, ready for this combo: wasabi, curry, buffalo, burrito! We headed off the very next day to an unexpected surprise.

A side note about couch surfing: I have believed for some time that people are generally good and kind, but I have not been prepared for the shamless acts of kindness I ...

... we drove east of town to the Colorado border. Every direction you go it is a completely different scene. There are a lot of farms and farmland to the east. And of course, right at the Colorado border is a bar and liquor store. I told my coworkers that Allison and I would probably do some hiking before leaving town and they highly recommended a place called Indian Creek, which the BLM oversees. But Allison was not feeling well so we decided ...

... can I justify spending the better part of a dollar for a trip that's free on our fun and attention-getting Sport Utility Bicycle. Plus, even without hills, I'm in better shape than I've been in awhile. Our family is certainly hoping that this summer's experience makes it easier to bike and bus back home. I'm light-years more comfortable on the xtracycle than I was three weeks ago, and the kids literally clamor for it. But will we shed our car for the PVTA? I'm not so sure.

Today we got up and hiked to the "L". There are two mountains in Missoula and one has an "L" on it for Loyola Catholic School and one has an "M" for the University of Montana, Missoula. We couldn't hike to the "M" because it caught on fire while we were in Glacier National Park. It was a very long climb to the "L". The sun was brutal. I hope to climb to the "M" on Monday. We could see all of Missoula from there. Then we went to the merry-go ...

... the biking culture, or at least the bike lanes, around here can be traced back to one plucky Forestry School student who, in 1976, researched Missoula traffic and proposed a series of bike lanes.  He was not taken seriously, but he planted seeds that came out of dormancy twenty years later, when another group of citizens proposed bike lanes. Same with a lot of other efforts.  The new Parks and Recreation facilities - the splash park, sprinkler parks, indoor water ...

Greetings all from under three inches of Snow!!! Been a crazy old month since I left old blighty!! Left halfway through December for Calgary. Got off the plane 9 hours and 25 beers later on a sunny afternoon in sunny Canada where a lady in a cowboy suit met us off the plane. Met my Mum and Stepdad, who I haven't seen for any great length of time for at least two years so there was much rejoicing as we hit the road for Lethbridge ...