430 miles

Things are going great. I'd love to show ya'll my pictures from the last few days, but I'm at a library that disallows uploading photos. Boo! But can tell you how beautiful Montana is? Wow I love it! It was hard leaving the amazing hotsprings place. But the riding was excellent. Except for the hords of attacking mosquitos! There was a 20 mile down hill on a lovely country road without any cars. Big Hole Valley is a huge wet river valley surrounded by snow capped mountains. Hige swathes of the wet meadows were purple with Iris. Then there was 18 miles of a single lane dirt road that cars were not even allowed on. This was my favorite part of the ride since I left Jenny Lake in the Grand Tentons. Such beautiful back country scenery. The road followed the Trail River and gently climbed up to a pass. I guess it was a historical path the Indians used to try to escape from being killed by the pursuing whities. Sad history. The wildflowers were incredbile. Larkspur, lupine, penstemon, primrose, native thislte, and a bunch of others that I didn't know. Then there was a crazy steep long down hill thru a burned area. It was erie to be riding thru a standing forest of all dead trees. After 58 miles I rode in to the little town of Sula, population 50. But the restaruant and grocery store were already closed. Groan. I thought I was going to have to eat power bars for dinner. But when I rode into the camp ground, I passed a large group of families all camping together who had a huge feast laid out. They noticed I looked hungry and invited me to join them. They all thought I was crazy for going solo. But they were just proving to me how many nice people there really are out here in the world. Then another group of cyclists came along and were invited to eat too. Then a hiker came to the table who is doing the continental divide trail. It was a dinner of BBQ ribs and every kind of salad and pie. Once again, the kindness of strangers prevailed. It was great to hear the cyclists' stories. Two women from Seattle quit their jobs to cycle to New York (see people you could have come with me!). They took a long route thru the Cascades and had already completed 1000 miles since May 31st.
I am going to stay at a cyclist only lodgin tonight in Hamilton Montana. There is a woman who lets bike tourists stay in her guest room. I hear she feeds you dinner too! Can't wait. Tomorrow I'll complete this leg of my journey. I'll arrive in Missoula. I have heard great things about Missoula and am excited to see for myself.
Then on Firday Marc is coming to pick me up and take me to Bend Oregon to celebrate our anniversary. So excited!

I love Jackson Hotsprings! Montana is awesome!

250 miles down. Viginia City. the real old west! spent Fridat evening drinking PBR in a 150 year old bar. good times!

National Parks

I made through the Grand Tetons and over three high passes to West Yellowstone. The parks are beautiful and people are very friendly. Mostly the weather has been beautiful. I had one morning of pouring rain combined with steep uphill and lots of RV's. I decided to stop early. But Marc was expecting my call and there was no cell reception for 10 more miles. There was a Dad and daughter leaving the camp site and offered to call Marc for me and let him know where I was and that I would call him in the morning. So kind.
But the mountains are so beautiful and Yellowstone was worth the traffic. There have been a lot of other bicycle tourist out on the road. Drivers are used to seeing bikes and that makes it safer.

Wildlife!

We went in search of the wild animals today and found them. First we unsuccessfully tried to bike to spy them in the early morning along the Gros Venture River. But no luck. So we came back to town, rented a car and drove back in to the park at dusk. I overheard a lady telling someone that it is too hot down here in the valley for the big animals. So we drove to the higher elevation part of the park and OMG we saw so many Elk, Antelope, Bison and even a coyote getting chased by a pronghorn. No kidding. Prey chasing predator. And stomping predator. The coyote ran away and the pronghorn pursued it.
Also I mentioned to the guy in the bike shop that I am about to ride my bike from here back to Santa Cruz. He was super unimpressed. He said he rode his bike from here to Seattle, then down the cost to Santa Cruz and then back to Jackson Wyoming last summer. So, you see, I am not the craziest of the crazies!

We're in Jackson!

After a barfy landing in Jackson Hole airport, we laid around in the hotel room, watched the NBA finals and tried to recover from a rough day of travel. Go Lakers! But now we are happy and alive again. Yesterday was freezing and snowed a little. Today is gorgeous and was 75 degrees. Yesterday Marc told me he would feel like a bad husband if he allowed me to continue on this trip. Today Marc wants to quit his job, buy a new road bike and go with me.
Marc rented a road bike from an Irish pub themed bike shop and we rode miles and miles on a beautiful bike path at the foot of the Grand Tetons. We saw an Osprey with a fish in it's talons fly into it's nest. Then we saw a bald eagle circling overhead. Then as we were crossing the Snake River we saw another Osprey hover over a pool then dive down, completely submerge itself and then fly off with with a fish. It was amazing. Although we probably only road 20 miles today I am beat. I am really feeling the altitude. I'm super happy I have a few days to ride around and get used to it before heading off with all the gear on my bike.
It is Friday night and we are going out on the town. There is a Johnny Cash tribute band playing and I wish I had my cowboy boots with me. Yeeehaw!

The interview went pretty good I think. I did not blow it on every question. There were some that were awkward for sure. I won't know if they picked me for a week, maybe two. In the meantime, I am glad I had to change my flight. I have been watching the weather in Jackson and it has been raining during the day and snowing at night. Yikes! I am not super excited to camp in the snow. So now that we are leaving on Thursday, I am happy to see the nighttime low's are supposed to be in the 40's and only a slight chance of afternoon thunder storms. I am sure the new rain gear will come in handy...

Got the interview!

The good news is they picked me for an interview. The bad news is that it is on Monday. So I had to change my departure date and pay $$$. Luckily Marc was able to get the new days off from his job. We were able to get our hotel reservations changed with out any extra fees. But the airlines really had their way with us and charged us soooo much extra money.
Not only was it expensive, but now I have 6 fewer days to bike to Bend. There's no way I'll make it the whole way there in 12 days, UNLESS I do a century a day. Ha. But Marc has offered to come to my rescue. He is going to drive to wherever I am on July 2nd and get me. I'll probably get as far as central Idaho. Then we'll drive to Bend together to celebrate our 1 year anniversary. My total miles for the summer will be somewhere around 1,900 instead of 2,200. But I'll still be able to do most of the planned trip. And with any luck, I'll have a job to come home to!

I PASSED!

WoooHooo! I just got my test results! And I passed the big scary test! I now am eligible for an Admin Credential! What a huge relief! Now I just need to convince HR to grant me an interview! Here I go to show them my passing scores...

Test Results

I should know by tomorrow noon if I passed the exam to get the Admin Credential...I wonder what will happen? If I didn't pass it, I won't have to worry about changing my plane tickets! That'll be a relief! Here's a picture of where I'm going.

almost ready to go

I am not packed yet. I have been planning this trip for months and now it is a week until my scheduled departure. But I may have to change all of it: my plane ticket; my hotel reservation; how many miles I'll be able to cover; Marc's plane ticket; have Marc try to reschedule his vacation days that he already got off from his job. In the midst of planning this 2,2oo mile bike ride, I am also applying for a job. The interview date has just been changed from 4 days before I leave on this trip, to 2 days after I am supposed to leave. What do they say about the best laid plans?