As you may recall, awhile back I dipped the rear wheel of my bike in the Pacific ... today I dipped the front wheel in the Missouri River. Not the Omaha, Nebraska stretch of the Missouri River, but rather the Missouri River Headwaters ... west of Bozeman, MT.
Yesterday, after leaving Butte, MT, I set out at a fairly leisurely pace, and had planned on a peaceful 58 mile ride into Three Forks, MT. While there were predictions of rain, the sky did not look at all threatening. I passed over the Continental Divide (6393') about 10 miles east of Butte, then settled in at a very comfortable pace. Feeling good and rested, I decided to get off of I-90, and take one of the suggested "scenic routes" laid out for me by John at Adventure Cycling. At Cardwell, I detoured through Jefferson Canyon, which was one of the many areas explored by Lewis and Clark. The first 10 miles of this route was very enjoyable ... narrow road, but very little traffic. The second leg of this detour, about 20 miles, included such delights as road construction, no shoulders/bike lane, heavy traffic and head winds with sporadic heavy rain.
No fun ... very tense. Needless to say, I opted for a motel rather than camp in the rain.
Thursday morning I awoke to a flooded parking lot ... it had rained off and on all night. Weather reports called for heavy rains late in the day, so I got a very early start. The 35 miles into Bozeman did not look to be at all difficult, so again I rode at a very comfortable pace. Just a few miles into the ride, I took a short detour into the Missouri River Headwaters State Park. In-as-much-as I was debating if I would continue riding to the east or head back to Arizona, I figured I could always say I dipped the front wheel in the Missouri River ... just not say that it occurred in Montana, not the Midwest. As it turned out, the Interpretive Center was very interesting, and the information presented brought together many of the loose-ends generated by my reading about Native American history (prior to 1800) and the Lewis & Clark Expedition. I had a very enjoyable "scholarly" conversation with a young lady who works for the State Parks Department ... she was clearly "wowed" by the knowledge I had accumulated over the past two months. I did not have the heart to tell her I would probably forget most of the information before nightfall.
As I got closer to Bozeman, I stopped in a small town (Manhatten, MT) for lunch. I asked a guy along the street to recommend a cafe, which he did. After I finished my meal, and was preparing to leave the parking lot of the cafe, he approached me to see if I had a few minutes. He turned out to be a staff writer for a newspaper based in Belgrade, MT (a suburb of Bozeman). I was rather taken aback that he thought there might be a story in my travels ... see http://www.belgrade-news.com/news/view.php?article=11077 for the results of our discussion. Damn celebrity ... that's what I am!!!
Finally arriving in Bozeman, I had the joy of spending the evening with Jen Hermesmeyer, and her husband Thad, and one-year old daughter Lilian (hi ... hi ... hi). Truly an enjoyable evening. While Thad was out chasing a soccer ball and avoiding lightening strikes, Jen gave me a tour of Bozeman. The tour gave Jen and I an opportunity of getting caught up on what has transpired in our lives since she moved to Bozeman five or six years ago. After a very delicious bison burger and great conversation at a downtown restaurant, we all returned to their home for more conversation.
Jen and Thad, thank you. Once again, life is good ... friends make it so.
Thinking of you often Randy and glad you came by to pay us a visit. We may be back in AZ for a visit soon and would love to see you while there.......and hope you're doing well. Big hugs and kisses to you, and hope to see you soon!!! Jen, Thad and Lillian (hi hi hi)
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