Day 24, July 6, 2009, Monday. Chester, MT. Here we are taking a weather-imposed, rest day in the middle of the "Big Sky" country and wheat fields of Montana. As we left a grocery store early this morning on our way out of a town, a local farmer's wife (Sue Violett) stopped us and said, "Have you ladies heard about the severe weather warnings for today?" Although we stayed in a motel last night, we didn't even turn on the TV~so accustomed to no TV~so we didn't see the news or weather. She said, "There will be hail and maybe a tornado this afternoon!" We're getting all our farm equipment into shelter right now!

With a sixty-mile day planned, we looked at each other and said, "Maybe we should stay put!". So Sue said, "You can stay at the Lutheran Church." She lead us there, opened the door and gave us a tour. It wasn't even locked! They never lock the church. So home is a church today. The Library has new computers, so I'm blogging. It may be October before we reach the east coast at this rate!

Since leaving Flathead Lake, we traveled along the Middle Fork of the Flathead River, crossing it many times along a back road. About five miles before our destination camp ground, the road turned to gravel! We stopped to eat lunch on the bridge over the river and began chatting with a guy who was swimming his dog. He offered to haul us and our gear over the dirt road to camp. Thank goodness! The road was uphill and wash boards all the way! The camp at we chose what we thought was a good tent site. As the evening progressed, two mammoth sized trucks with mobile homes parked next to us and began their banging, wheezing, jamming until late into the night. Lesson learned: choose a campsite on the grass instead of with the big rigs.

From there we traveled through Glacier National Park doing the southern route across Marias Pass. It was very easy compared to the Cascades. (Wow! It just started pouring rain outside the library~so happy to be inside!) In East Glacier, we stayed with Ranger Sam and his wife Jo. They fed us like royalty then took us on a mini-auto tour of "Two Medicine" in Glacier. DRAT! I forgot to take my camera. We did a short hike to "Falling Eagle" falls which look similar to Donut Falls in Big Cottonwood Canyon near SLC, only about four times a large. Both of our hosts gave us a wonderful running dialog of the history, geology, flora and fauna of the area. We also saw another Cinnamon Black Bear foraging for bugs along a little stream near the Two Medicine Campground.

Since leaving Glacier, we've been riding along Hwy 2 which parallels the railway from coast to coast. Consequently, I've enjoyed the whistling of many, many big train engines as I ride along. Yesterday, the "Fourth of July Holiday, California Zephyr" pulled by a real steam engine, roared passed me, tooting and whistling as I waved wildly from my bicycle. What a treat! I'm learning to love the comfort of the rumble and whistle of the trains day and night.

Despite this being a holiday weekend, the traffic along this stretch of Hwy 2 has been very light because it doesn't lead to any major destinations. So riding has been very pleasant. So far we've traveled 907 miles. I'm feeling very strong and healthy~oh~there goes another train whistling through town :-)