Day 21

44.9 miles

We went to breakfast at the Pocket Stone Cafe (the place the cyclist in Columbia Falls had recommended) which was tasty!  Then we had to decide if we were going to bike or stay here due to bad weather. The forecast said the weather should be clear unlike what it said the night before, with a chance of afternoon storms near Condon were we would be staying, so we decided to bike onward. Well, about .3 miles into our ride it started raining when it said 0% chance of rain. They seriously need new weather forecasters up here. They have been majorly off a lot!  We stopped to put on our rain coats and peddled on. 

I was not too thrilled. A few miles in Mike pulled over to wait for me to catch up since I was traveling at a leisurely pace and told me to speed it up after I told him I wasn't having any fun biking in the rain.  Biking in the rain isn't that bad when it comes during your ride, but starting the day that way isn't fun. I thought we only had two days of biking left the day before since we were 85 miles out, but because of lodging possibilities we still had two more days of biking. And my bike was clacking and in need of some fresh lube. All of which combined to make me about as cranky as my bike sounded. 

We stopped by Morley's Canoe shop on the way. We had seen one of their beautiful hand made cedar canoes in Apgar and just happened across their shop while riding so we decided to pop in. It was so neat to see some more of their finished products and the shop where all the work takes place. He even showed us the bicycle jigsaw they cut the cedar with. He says they like it better than the electric jigsaw because you have more control. It's so cool that something made so long ago is a better machine than what we make today. 

Then back to biking. We stopped in the last town we would pass through today for lunch at a pub followed by picking up sandwiches and a six pack of Flathead Brewery beers at the Swan River Trading Post next door. The B&B we were staying at is before the town of Condon so we needed to bring dinner with us to avoid extra miles. The man who made our sandwiches was super friendly and enjoyed chatting with Mike about his love of the Philadelphia Eagles. 

Then back on the road. Our mileage today was less, but it was a long day of riding. I think doing 60 miles yesterday after a few days off was hard on the body and the bottom. Seriously, I would think that my bum would get used to sitting on a bike seat, but it doesn't. It's still just as uncomfortable as you can imagine it would be being on a bike saddle all day. Although, I would have to say after getting my bike fit to me before this trip it was so much more comfortable than the Myrtle Beach trip was (aka no need for Butt Paste!).  

We stopped at a pull off to enjoy the rest of the cherries we had bought the day before and split one of the cans of beer. We then proceeded to have a cherry pit spitting contest. Mike won.  Followed by a hit the can with your cherry pit, which Mike also won. That put me in a better mood. 

We made it Missoula County which means we are getting close!

Then back on the bikes for the final stretch to the Standing Stone B&B. There ended up being a grocery store right near our place so we didn't need to carry our sandwiches all that way, but oh well. They were good.

 I restocked on my new favorite beverage of choice...tomato juice and then off to our B&B. 

Mike booked this place because they have a full darkroom available for use of their guests. He thought I would be super excited, which I was, but I was also super sad I didn't have any film with me. I haven't been in a darkroom since college, and now when I have the chance I don't have any film. Boo. Oh well, now we just have another reason to come back ;)

Bud checked us in and told us goodnight at about 7pm. We went to our room and ate our dinner of sandwiches, chips and beer, and tomato juice of course, on the bed while watching a replay of the Tour of France. It was pretty comical, and at one point Mike just looked over and said 'Happy Honeymoon'. Not quite your average honeymoon evening, but perfect for us.