Day 16 - 22 June, Sunday, Rest Day, Edina, MN

     Today we dropped John off at the airport.  He flys back to California to return to work tomorrow.  It was great to have John's support for the last week!  He helped me through some difficult times with the weather in the mountains.  Thanks John!!!  You are a great friend!

     The rest of the day was spent with the Doughty family hanging around their house.  They made BBQ chicken dinner and we watched a movie and relaxed.  Thanks for your hospitality!!!

     Tomorrow Brian is going to give me a ride out of the city and I plan to bike to Baldwin, WI.

No pictures today....

Day 15 - 21 June, Saturday, Rest Day in Edina, MN

Happy Birthday Mary!!!

     Today was a much needed rest day after riding for 14 days straight.  We spent the night at Linda and Brian's house in Edina, MN.  They were great hosts!!  We started the day off with a trip to Historic Fort Snelling where John's Dad was stationed for part of WWII.  Followed by a round of golf with Brian and Jack.  Then we went out for sushi and ended the night with a fire, drink of scotch and a cigar.  It was a great time visiting with the famliy.  Thanks to the Doughtys!!

                                                Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis

                                     John, Kayla, Linda and Emma at Fort Snelling

                                                       Fort Snelling

          Brian, Jack, Tom ad John at golf course

Day 14 - 20 June, Friday, Jamestown, ND - Valley City, ND (35 Miles)

     Today was another perfect day to ride.  It was a little overcast with a few sprinkles with temps in the low 70s.  I was on the interstate for the whole ride again today (I-94).  I chased a deer in the ditch along the freeway for about a quarter of a mile.  I took my camera out and took a video of it but am not able to get it off of my camera yet.

     After the ride I jumped in the truck and we drove to my sister Linda's house in Edina, MN.  John will be flying home on Sunday and I plan to take the weekend off and continue riding on Monday.

                                                 North Dakota

                                         Took a break to have an orange by the lake

                                                    On the side of the Interstate

                 At Linda and Brian's House with my jersey that my friend Tim gave me.

Day 13 - 19 June, Thursday, Glendive, MT - Beach, ND (38 Miles)

     Today was a prefect day for a bike ride....started of sunny in the mid 60s and warmed up to about 70 degrees.  It was nice not to have to battle the weather!  The whole ride was on the Interstate today...I was riding on I-94 for the entire ride.  It wasn't bad because the interstates have a pretty big shoulder...much bigger than some of the 2 lane highways that I have been riding on.  The cars are flying by at 85 mph though.

     The landscape as I moved in to North Dakota changed to numerous buttes.

     John picked me up in Beach, ND and we drove to Jamestown, ND.  We are staying at the Holiday Inn Express in Jamestown.  On the way we stopped at Theodore Roosevelt National Park and viewed the Painted Canyons and the largest herd of free roaming buffalo (however we didn't see any of the 500 they are reported to have).  We did see the largest buffalo in the world weighing in at 60 tons...see the picture with John below.

     Tomorrow I will ride to Valley City, ND and then we will drive to my sister Linda's house in Edina, MN, where John will be flying home from on Sunday.

                         Painted Canyon at Theodore Roosevelt National Park

                               Painted Canyon at Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Day 12 - 18 June, Wednesday, Shelby, MT - Chester, MT (45 Miles)

     Today was another day battling the weather.  It was 43 degrees and raining my whole ride.  The landscape changed east of the Divide.  The trees are no longer and it is rolling hills of wheat and grass land.  I was able to keep a good speed for the ride and made it in under 4 hours.

     After the ride I jumped in the truck to see if we could get out of the storm.  The storm was bigger than we thought and ended up in Glendive, MT at the Holiday Inn Express.  Tomorrow I will ride to Beach, ND in shorts.  This will be the first time in the last 5 days that I won't have to wear my rain gear!

                                                  Leaving Shelby, MT

Day 11 - 17 June, Tuesday, Libby, MT - 30 Miles outside of Eureka, MT(29 Miles)

Happy Birthday Rob!!!

     Today I woke up to a steady down pour of rain.  I bundled up and started riding in the rain....it never stopped raining.  About three and a half hours into my ride John caught me with the truck....not a minute too soon.  The temp dropped to 40 degrees and my fingers and toes were numb they were so cold and wet.  So I called it a day and jumped in the truck.  I couldn't even take off my gloves...the heat in the truck felt great.  I know a few weeks from now I will probably welcome the coolness.

     Our plan was to take the Road to the Sun across the Continental Divide but it was closed....so we took an alternate route around the pass to East Glacier.  During the this drive we ran into a blizzard.  The temp dropped to 26 degrees and at one point we were in at least 5 inches of snow....good thing we had a 4WD truck.  The plows were out and it felt like winter on the first day of summer.  We drove until we cleared the storm which brought us to Shelby, MT at the Comfort Inn.  The sun is out here and the temp is 55 degrees.  We saw a variety of weather today.  

     Tomorrow I plan to ride to Chester, MT.  The forecast is....you guessed it RAIN!!

                                                          Leaving Libby, MT

                                                            Libby Dam

                                                The rain started turning to snow!!

                                       Notice John from Hawaii is wearing sandals!!

                                          First day of summer in Glacier National Park!!

Day 10 - 16 June, Monday, Sandpoint, ID - Heron, MT (38 Miles)

     My legs were really sore all night and I didn't sleep well.  When I got up it was raining and cold outside.  It was difficult to get out on the road but once I got started I was fine.  What kept me going was the scenery.  Everywhere I looked was like a post card.  The pan handle of Idaho is beautiful!  Very nice houses and towns with lots of trees, lakes, rivers and mountains.  This made riding in the rain bearable.

     After my ride John picked me up and we drove to Libby, MT (we crossed into Mountain Time Zone).  On the way we stopped at Kootenai Falls Park.  They had this swinging bridge there that we crossed....really cool.

     Tomorrow I plan to ride to Eureka, MT and then we will drive across the Continental Divide.  It sure is great to have John as my support!  Thanks John!!!

                                              Leaving Sandpoint, ID (Lake Pend Oreille)

                                                          Taking a break

                                                   Clark Fork, ID

                                                       Swinging Bridge