Team 1 Day 13 (Keelin)

Wow, I can’t say enough amazing things about our ride today. After our typical morning routine we headed out for a spectacular cruise on rolling hills that kept us high in the mountains looking down on the reservoir that was created by the Libby dam we passed the day before. It seemed to go on and on, but that was just fine with us as we wound around the mountain side giving us new, and even better views of the water. The miles seemed to fly by- even on the bits of climbing. It was here where we took our very first “on the road snack break”… Now you may be wondering “how can it be a break if you’re on the road?”. If so, you are in good company because Kayla asked me the same thing when i suggested the name for our granola-bar-eating-while-pedaling snack time. My answer to which was “we are all about efficiency here”, which if you’ve met us was clearly sarcasm. While we do plan on finishing in a timely manner, the 3 of us sure do enjoy our slow pedal morning warm up, our extended lunches, and our pit stops for anything that looks fun (and ice cream). We were particularly enjoying the ride today since we had seen pretty much the same number of cyclist as we did cars (about 7 cyclists and about 10 cars). It always makes for a more pleasant ride. One truck did stop to tell us he saw a bear cub cross the road… not to fear though we came prepared with bear spray but we pedaled forward with no sight of any bears. We finally came down out of the mountain side to cross a bridge and the scenery completely changed. It wasn’t long until we were winding through rolling farmlands with Canadian mountains staring us down. Stunning. I think we were all taken aback by the beauty and sheer size of the mountains- and by the fact that we were under 10 miles from Canada. When we got into Eureka, we explored the local museum (consisted of 4 small buildings positioned in a circle), rode the see-saw in the park, restocked on some granola bars, and planted ourselves in the local burger joint for about 3 hours. Not only did we all crush a double cheese burger (Liz and Kayla had beyondmeat) and dessert, but we also found ourselves 2 tables over from the local meeting hall hearing a lecture about a travel group’s upcoming trip to Amsterdam. I deduced that these folks have not traveled much based on the lengthy explanation on the difference between a personal item and a carryon (actual bags were used as props for the lecture). Sweet, sweet people in Eureka, Montana… mostly our server for being far too nice to us and not kicking us out after the rest of the customers cycled through at least twice. We also got to charge our devices and discuss some future route planning before heading back to our tents in the park! We chatted on the phone with group 2 for a while sharing stories and tips/tricks before realizing how late it was. The sign says sprinklers come on at 7 am so I guess we have an early wake up!! As we went to put our heads on the pillow we laughed at the number of deer there are in this town. They are like squirrels. Everywhere. Two even cuddled up on the grass just 20 yards away for their night time slumber. Cute.