The night of our last posting, we stayed in Joplin, Montana. These towns along Route 2 are spread out about 8-15 miles from each other along the Burlington Northern Railroad, which parallels Route 2. Each town has a sign, a grain elevator, a school, some dilapidated buildings, and a quiet, aging population that remains mostly invisible. The roads are mostly dirt, and they are numbered avenues in one direction and numbered streets in the other. We got lucky with Joplin. It has a manicured park at its center with trees and a gazebo and bathrooms and we were allowed to pitch tent right in the middle of it. A woman from the town walked over in the evening just to comb the park for litter because there had been an antique car show there the day before, not because she had to. She sat down and spoke to us for quite awhile, and like many of the other women we've met along the way, was pretty impressed that we "gals" were doing something like this. Then she started talking about Hilary. I guess we are fortunate enough to think nothing of doing this as women.
Yesterday was our first day over 80 miles! We actually did 85. We were not in a rush to reach our final destination, an old park in Zurich that we had heard was swarming with bugs. Was it ever! We hid in the tent as soon as dinner was over with the intention of reading/ writing in our journals, but I think we just fell asleep.... This far north that means we fell asleep while the sun was still high in the sky.
Today we had a strong tailwind, and good thing because Chaos Panda is now up to 7 flat tires, which means long stops in the hot sun. Some other cyclists stopped to help and actually had gotten a flat themselves. The road is full of hazards, glass, car parts, roadkill, rocks. This morning we all screamed when the debris started to slither! Our second snake.
We are now on our way to the Sleeping Buffalo Hot Springs, which had better be awesome, because Liz has been using it as the ultimate carrot for days. We started counting down mileage to the hot springs two days ago! The only bad part will be actually having to look at our tan lines, which are pretty unbelievable. We try not even to look at our hands, which have the weirdest looking glove tan lines.
In case you're wondering, Liz has made a top three list of things she misses.
1. Bath towels
2. Sponges for doing the dishes
3. Sushi
Cate and Sarah to share their lists in a future posting.
- The Pandas
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
6/16/08 from Chester, Montana
The Pandas are very excited because they suddenly began to encounter some other species of cross-country cyclists yesterday afternoon!
At first, there were only signs.... Two left a mysterious note in Chaos's helmet while we were in the cinema. As an aside, going to the cinema is our favorite activity second only to eating mint chocolate chip ice cream. Why? We get to sit in a dark room, not getting either sunburned or rained/snowed/hailed on, we get to eat popcorn (salty and absolutely the best food ever, except beer and of course ice cream), and we get to relax and forget the difficult ride to come. Anyway, I digress. First we got this note from the mysterious cylists who were still on the road at 5 p.m. while we pandas were enjoying "The Incredible Hulk," starring Edward Norton and Liv Tyler. Then today, when we were seeking shade from the scorching midday prarie sun, we came to a seemingly abandoned motel, The Galata Inn by the Lake. Ha. Lake. Where did they come up with that one? Anyway, we found about a foot of shade on one side of the motel, so while Cate and Sarah were making sandwiches, Liz went around back to, uh, enjoy the view. And there was a touring bike and a tent with lots of stuff inside it! But no cyclist was to be found.... How mysterious. We hope she was not abducted.
Finally, we met some other real life cyclists! First we encountered a pack of seven fully sun-baked, minimally clothed, dread-locked hitchiker/bikers, who as it turns out had mostly run out of money and were trying to make it to Seattle primarily by dumpster-diving. Our favorite outfit was, from the bottom up, bike shoes (no socks), rainbow spandex, dreadlocks. I looked over at Sarah whose sunscreen was not fully rubbed in, and then at Cate and myself with our matching bike vests, and I think we got a little intimidated. We did not linger long enough to ask them the questions we really wanted, such as, are we likely to fall asleep while cycling on Route 2 through Montana or will it actually get interesting again someday? And, after a while, do shirts become optional and when will we know we've reached that point? When that time comes, where can we find rainbow spandex?
The second group of cyclists we met were much easier to talk to. Also very brown, but this time a group of young friends cycling from Wisconsin to Anacortes on the Northern tier. They assured us that North Dakota will be fun, and that the camping from here on is decent and mostly free.
We will be on Route 2 until further notice, applying and reapplying sunscreen and hunting for mint chocolate chip ice cream cones.
Check out the new pictures and the map links!
- The Pandas
At first, there were only signs.... Two left a mysterious note in Chaos's helmet while we were in the cinema. As an aside, going to the cinema is our favorite activity second only to eating mint chocolate chip ice cream. Why? We get to sit in a dark room, not getting either sunburned or rained/snowed/hailed on, we get to eat popcorn (salty and absolutely the best food ever, except beer and of course ice cream), and we get to relax and forget the difficult ride to come. Anyway, I digress. First we got this note from the mysterious cylists who were still on the road at 5 p.m. while we pandas were enjoying "The Incredible Hulk," starring Edward Norton and Liv Tyler. Then today, when we were seeking shade from the scorching midday prarie sun, we came to a seemingly abandoned motel, The Galata Inn by the Lake. Ha. Lake. Where did they come up with that one? Anyway, we found about a foot of shade on one side of the motel, so while Cate and Sarah were making sandwiches, Liz went around back to, uh, enjoy the view. And there was a touring bike and a tent with lots of stuff inside it! But no cyclist was to be found.... How mysterious. We hope she was not abducted.
Finally, we met some other real life cyclists! First we encountered a pack of seven fully sun-baked, minimally clothed, dread-locked hitchiker/bikers, who as it turns out had mostly run out of money and were trying to make it to Seattle primarily by dumpster-diving. Our favorite outfit was, from the bottom up, bike shoes (no socks), rainbow spandex, dreadlocks. I looked over at Sarah whose sunscreen was not fully rubbed in, and then at Cate and myself with our matching bike vests, and I think we got a little intimidated. We did not linger long enough to ask them the questions we really wanted, such as, are we likely to fall asleep while cycling on Route 2 through Montana or will it actually get interesting again someday? And, after a while, do shirts become optional and when will we know we've reached that point? When that time comes, where can we find rainbow spandex?
The second group of cyclists we met were much easier to talk to. Also very brown, but this time a group of young friends cycling from Wisconsin to Anacortes on the Northern tier. They assured us that North Dakota will be fun, and that the camping from here on is decent and mostly free.
We will be on Route 2 until further notice, applying and reapplying sunscreen and hunting for mint chocolate chip ice cream cones.
Check out the new pictures and the map links!
- The Pandas
Glacier National Park pictures
We have to wait on Mom and Dad for most of the pictures from Glacier, as they took most of the pictures in Glacier.
A view of the park, from outside the park
A view of the park, from outside the park
Liz and Sarah in Waterton, the Canadian part of Glacier Park
A mother deer and one of her three fawns. The fawn was hiding, the doe was scary. the deer were everywhere.
Bears! You can only just see them. The are the two blotches, on either side of the shrubby thing in the center of the picture. They were much easier to see in real life.The first couple days in Montana
Welcome to Montana! Is it extremely obvious that this picture was taken in front of a real estate office? It was the first sign we found that indicated we had entered Montana.
Riding through Montana along the Kootenai River
Liz and Cate by the Kootenai Falls, Montana
Us on top of Libby Dam
Camping by Lake Koocanusa, Montana (I don't know why it's black and white)
Fixing Sarah's fourth flat tire in the rain: this time, it's personalBighorn Lodge, Montana
Our entry into Montana was less than stellar, as it poured rain all day. Somewhat deflated (literally, I had a flat tire), we arrived at the Bighorn Lodge, which saved our lives. The jacuzzi was amazing.
Some Idaho photos!
Chaos Panda was feeling really strong crossing the Columbia river
Welcome to Idaho!
Crossing the "pedestrian bridge" into Sandpoint
When it finally cleared up (for a disgustingly short period of time), there was a rainbow!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Alberta, Canada on Sunday, June 15
Sorry to leave the mountains, we posed for a photo as they disappeared into the background. We also caused a stampede taking this photo because we disturbed the cows in the next field.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Since we last posted, the Pandas met Mom and Dad in Whitefish, Montana, just outside of the beautiful Glacier National Park. We took this opportunity to take a few days off from bicycling and camping, instead we hiked around the park and stayed in different lodges every night. While it snowed the entire day of our last post, and rained all of the next day, the past three days have been bright and sunny! And the park was even more beautiful for having had snow. Glacier National Park consists of the most beautiful crags and mountain spires I've seen in the American northwest. After it cleared up, all we could see were lakes surrounded by snowy peaks, everywhere we looked. It was stunning.
Hiking around Glacier park enabled us all to get a closer look at some wildlife. Driving up to Many Glacier Lodge, we saw 10 or so female Bighorn sheep and their lambs. Apparently the lodge had been built on a migration route for these wild sheep, and so every June saw the lodge's grass and flowers thoroughly munched on by hungry sheep. Even more remarkable, these sheep seem completely acclimatized to humans and cars. Driving back out of the lodge, we ran into another pack of ewes and lambs, who came up to the car without the slightest trace of fear and stuck their heads in our windows, no doubt sniffing out our delicious sandwiches that we were not about to give away.
Yesterday the family piled back into the car to drive up to the Prince of Wales hotel in Alberta, Canada. Walking through the nearby town of Waterton, we saw that the deer there function much like squirrels back home: they are everywhere! They hung out on everyone's front lawns, and even tried to get into our restaurant last night. Unlike squirrels, however, these deer were known to attack and injure dogs (I always thought it would be the other way around?)
Even more exciting was this morning, as Liz, Cate, and Sarah got back on their bikes and left their parents behind, we saw two grizzlies not too far from the hotel! These grizzlies were only about two years old, and it looked like they had left their mother but were still hanging out together. They were across a small river from the road, and we were able to see them pretty close up. Since we couldn't see their teeth or claws from where we were, we wanted to take them biking with us and cuddle with them, maybe rename them "Grizzly Panda" and "Other Grizzly Panda."
We had a short ride this morning (only about 35 miles) from Waterton to Cardston, where we are staying tonight. Unfortunately, no library we've been to recently has let us upload pictures, but hopefully pictures will be soon in coming. Thanks for reading!
-Chaos, Disco, and Fatorexic Pandas
Hiking around Glacier park enabled us all to get a closer look at some wildlife. Driving up to Many Glacier Lodge, we saw 10 or so female Bighorn sheep and their lambs. Apparently the lodge had been built on a migration route for these wild sheep, and so every June saw the lodge's grass and flowers thoroughly munched on by hungry sheep. Even more remarkable, these sheep seem completely acclimatized to humans and cars. Driving back out of the lodge, we ran into another pack of ewes and lambs, who came up to the car without the slightest trace of fear and stuck their heads in our windows, no doubt sniffing out our delicious sandwiches that we were not about to give away.
Yesterday the family piled back into the car to drive up to the Prince of Wales hotel in Alberta, Canada. Walking through the nearby town of Waterton, we saw that the deer there function much like squirrels back home: they are everywhere! They hung out on everyone's front lawns, and even tried to get into our restaurant last night. Unlike squirrels, however, these deer were known to attack and injure dogs (I always thought it would be the other way around?)
Even more exciting was this morning, as Liz, Cate, and Sarah got back on their bikes and left their parents behind, we saw two grizzlies not too far from the hotel! These grizzlies were only about two years old, and it looked like they had left their mother but were still hanging out together. They were across a small river from the road, and we were able to see them pretty close up. Since we couldn't see their teeth or claws from where we were, we wanted to take them biking with us and cuddle with them, maybe rename them "Grizzly Panda" and "Other Grizzly Panda."
We had a short ride this morning (only about 35 miles) from Waterton to Cardston, where we are staying tonight. Unfortunately, no library we've been to recently has let us upload pictures, but hopefully pictures will be soon in coming. Thanks for reading!
-Chaos, Disco, and Fatorexic Pandas
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
June 10 from Whitefish, Montana
Since our last posting from Clark Fork, we entered Montana, advented only by a change in road condition; no sign unfortunately. Instead we found a real estate office with a "Welcome to Montana" sign, which we posed in front of in the pouring rain after just realizing that Sarah had her 3rd flat tire of the trip. Needless to say, we did not make it to the campground at Bull Lake that day, and instead stopped at the Bighorn Lodge, where the owner Dave Nye had been abandoned by all his other visitors due to the weather, so we had the run of the whole lodge. We even got to use the kitchen to make dinner with the food we had packed!
On Sunday we had a beautiful and fast ride up Route 56 and down Route 2. We passed the Kootenai Falls and rode through Libby up to the Libby Dam. 7 miles further up Lake Koocanusa, we reached another lovely US Forest Service campground, which we had completely to ourselves as usual. That night Disco Panda and Chaos Panda made excellent fish in lemon & caper sauce while Liz worked on a fire, an easier task than on previous nights because the rain held off until bed time.
Monday was really tough because the terrain was rolling aimlessly along the very unpleasant, creepy Lake Koocanusa, which is actually a dammed reservoir. It was cold and wet and Sarah got her 4th flat tire. Mid-afternoon we stopped in Eureka, a very nice town. We had to continue on from there even though we were all exhausted. The ride to Dickey Lake was beautiful, we especially liked cycling past an elk farm near Fortine, but it was a real challenge with a strong headwind. Yesterday's riding time was almost 6 hours! Then to top it all off, we spent the evening hiding from rain inside the tent. No s'mores on rainy nights either.
Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse... this morning we had SNOW. Well, when we woke up at 6 a.m. there was some clear sky, then there were clouds, then it started hailing and raining, and then along came a bona fide snow storm. We already had the tent down, so we figured we would try to cycle a bit. We made it 5 miles before taking refuge in the tiny Stryker post office where Heather made us tea and made some calls to figure out who in town was next taking his truck down to Whitefish, where we need to meet Mom and Dad this afternoon. It turned out that her cousin Larry and his dog Nugget were happy to take us on their way down, so we strapped the bikes on the back of the pickup and climbed in the cab and made our best mileage ever down to Whitefish!!! Next stop, the laundromat, so that maybe we can conceal our dirtiness from Mom and Dad when they get here. Our last shower was on Saturday, so it is probably hopeless.
Wish us luck with the weather! We miss you all and send you our best.
-The Pandas
On Sunday we had a beautiful and fast ride up Route 56 and down Route 2. We passed the Kootenai Falls and rode through Libby up to the Libby Dam. 7 miles further up Lake Koocanusa, we reached another lovely US Forest Service campground, which we had completely to ourselves as usual. That night Disco Panda and Chaos Panda made excellent fish in lemon & caper sauce while Liz worked on a fire, an easier task than on previous nights because the rain held off until bed time.
Monday was really tough because the terrain was rolling aimlessly along the very unpleasant, creepy Lake Koocanusa, which is actually a dammed reservoir. It was cold and wet and Sarah got her 4th flat tire. Mid-afternoon we stopped in Eureka, a very nice town. We had to continue on from there even though we were all exhausted. The ride to Dickey Lake was beautiful, we especially liked cycling past an elk farm near Fortine, but it was a real challenge with a strong headwind. Yesterday's riding time was almost 6 hours! Then to top it all off, we spent the evening hiding from rain inside the tent. No s'mores on rainy nights either.
Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse... this morning we had SNOW. Well, when we woke up at 6 a.m. there was some clear sky, then there were clouds, then it started hailing and raining, and then along came a bona fide snow storm. We already had the tent down, so we figured we would try to cycle a bit. We made it 5 miles before taking refuge in the tiny Stryker post office where Heather made us tea and made some calls to figure out who in town was next taking his truck down to Whitefish, where we need to meet Mom and Dad this afternoon. It turned out that her cousin Larry and his dog Nugget were happy to take us on their way down, so we strapped the bikes on the back of the pickup and climbed in the cab and made our best mileage ever down to Whitefish!!! Next stop, the laundromat, so that maybe we can conceal our dirtiness from Mom and Dad when they get here. Our last shower was on Saturday, so it is probably hopeless.
Wish us luck with the weather! We miss you all and send you our best.
-The Pandas
Saturday, June 7, 2008
June 7 from Clark Fork, Idaho
Since yesterday's posting, we have had really bad weather. Yesterday afternoon we were hailed on and ever since we have been riding in downpour conditions. So we finally caved and stayed at a hotel last night in Sandpoint, Idaho.
As we rolled into Sandpoint, Sarah got a flat tire, which waylaid her long enough for the members of the local Sandpoint bike club to come over and tell her and Cate about bike week. In honor of bike week, they were holding a film screening at the movie theatre in town and we were invited. After a trip to the laundromat and some long showers and dinner, we made our way over to the bike club film screening, and when we walked into the packed theatre, they interrupted the giving-away of prizes to get the 3 of us onstage for a thunderous round of applause. It was pretty cool. So our 15 minutes were in Sandpoint, Idaho, and there you have it.
We are on our way to a campsite at Bull Lake in Montana now, but we are lingering longer than we should in Clark Fork because we are freezing cold and wet. I hope we will have a happier posting next time!
As we rolled into Sandpoint, Sarah got a flat tire, which waylaid her long enough for the members of the local Sandpoint bike club to come over and tell her and Cate about bike week. In honor of bike week, they were holding a film screening at the movie theatre in town and we were invited. After a trip to the laundromat and some long showers and dinner, we made our way over to the bike club film screening, and when we walked into the packed theatre, they interrupted the giving-away of prizes to get the 3 of us onstage for a thunderous round of applause. It was pretty cool. So our 15 minutes were in Sandpoint, Idaho, and there you have it.
We are on our way to a campsite at Bull Lake in Montana now, but we are lingering longer than we should in Clark Fork because we are freezing cold and wet. I hope we will have a happier posting next time!
Friday, June 6, 2008
June 6 from Newport, WA
Greetings from the Washington-Idaho border!
Some in our party complain that we were not suitably "mentally prepared" for the transition into Idaho, but it has been over a week in Washington! Still, we expect to miss Washington and the Northern Cascade Range very much when we are on the long open flats in Montana and North Dakota.
Liz had a lovely birthday on the road, even though the weather has been dismal. We have not had a night without rain since the night we had frost in Wauconda. Birthday dinner was delicious chilli and s'mores by the Pend Oreille River. Liz got a back massage from her sisters as a birthday present.
We saw our first moose today! No photo unfortunately. It was a gangly teenager that stood and stared at us for a while before running off.
Camping is still going well. We are eating a lot and we still haven't had to stay in a motel yet!
We are really looking forward to meeting up with Mom & Dad at Glacier National Park on Tuesday.
Best to you all! Thanks for reading!
Some in our party complain that we were not suitably "mentally prepared" for the transition into Idaho, but it has been over a week in Washington! Still, we expect to miss Washington and the Northern Cascade Range very much when we are on the long open flats in Montana and North Dakota.
Liz had a lovely birthday on the road, even though the weather has been dismal. We have not had a night without rain since the night we had frost in Wauconda. Birthday dinner was delicious chilli and s'mores by the Pend Oreille River. Liz got a back massage from her sisters as a birthday present.
We saw our first moose today! No photo unfortunately. It was a gangly teenager that stood and stared at us for a while before running off.
Camping is still going well. We are eating a lot and we still haven't had to stay in a motel yet!
We are really looking forward to meeting up with Mom & Dad at Glacier National Park on Tuesday.
Best to you all! Thanks for reading!
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
June 3, 2008 from Republic, WA
Thanks, Dad, for posting for us!
We finally have a brief moment to blog from a library in Republic, Washington, but we don't want to linger for long because we still have to climb Sherman Pass this afternoon, about 3,000 feet over 18 miles, so not too bad except that we have to carry extra water because our campsite tonight will not have potable water.
Last night we camped in a high meadow in the "town" of Wauconda (one gas pump, a tiny store/cafe and a mailbox). It was stunning up there. Fortunately we go to bed with the sun at about 9:30 because last night it got very cold--- we woke up this morning with everything covered in frost!!! We warmed up quickly on our climb up to Wauconda pass and then the beautiful descent into Republic.
We have been working on naming our bikes. Liz's is called "Wayne." Sarah's is "Joaquim." Cate is undecided between "Willis," "Bartholomew," "Mercedes," and "Maria." Our team definitely has a name, "Baby Pandas," although none of us quite know how we started calling ourselves that. Weird.
Other than that we are just cycling, eating, and packing/repacking, dressing/undressing. It takes a lot of time.
We will try to get photos up tomorrow on our rest afternoon.
Miss you all!
We finally have a brief moment to blog from a library in Republic, Washington, but we don't want to linger for long because we still have to climb Sherman Pass this afternoon, about 3,000 feet over 18 miles, so not too bad except that we have to carry extra water because our campsite tonight will not have potable water.
Last night we camped in a high meadow in the "town" of Wauconda (one gas pump, a tiny store/cafe and a mailbox). It was stunning up there. Fortunately we go to bed with the sun at about 9:30 because last night it got very cold--- we woke up this morning with everything covered in frost!!! We warmed up quickly on our climb up to Wauconda pass and then the beautiful descent into Republic.
We have been working on naming our bikes. Liz's is called "Wayne." Sarah's is "Joaquim." Cate is undecided between "Willis," "Bartholomew," "Mercedes," and "Maria." Our team definitely has a name, "Baby Pandas," although none of us quite know how we started calling ourselves that. Weird.
Other than that we are just cycling, eating, and packing/repacking, dressing/undressing. It takes a lot of time.
We will try to get photos up tomorrow on our rest afternoon.
Miss you all!
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Update by Dad
May 28, 2008, Anacortes
Day 1. Fly to Seattle, airport shuttle to Anacortes. Liz called in the evening to say they arrived safely, trip went smoothly. They set up outside a bike shop to reassemble their bikes. Bike mechanic provided advice while they reassembled. Then they rode to the campground near the ferry terminal, set up camp, and rested after a very long day. They sound great, and very happy.
May 29, Concrete
Anacortes to Concrete. Cate called. Good day. Longer than expected. Some loose screws on her rear rack - hope she figures that out. They are in an RV camping park overnight, and she thinks it looks good. I'll bet they are tired.
They bought a fry pan for pancakes! Stayed at Colonial Creek campground, on Diablo Lake.
May 31, Mazama
Liz called. Cell coverage has been nonexistent in the mountains. She called from a payphone. Said they were having a great time, but that Cate and Sarah had been too tired to ride into town from the campground to use the payphone. Camping is working out great. They are at Early Winters campground, in Mazama, WA. They climbed Washington pass today, 5,477 feet.
June 1.
They all called on a cell phone from Winthrop, WA where they had stopped for lunch. It had rained overnight but the weather had cleared up and they had a great morning ride mostly downhill. Sounds like a shorter day planned than usual which will give them some recovery time. Camping is working out well. They have met lots of people on the road. They are eating lots, including a half gallon of ice cream this morning! They are climbing through a pass a day. They still sound great!
The girls hope to access the internet from town libraries. So far, they haven’t had the opportunity. When they finally do, they can speak for themselves and post some pictures.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
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