Monday, August 19

59 miles Usk to Metaline Falls

This day started out fast for us. We cruised along Lake Kalispell for about 8 miles, towing two speedy singles at 20+ mph. We lost them at a water stop. Shortly thereafter we ran into our first road construction. We rode on oily roads for several miles, then turned uphill onto a freshly graveled and chip-sealed road. At least this hill was before lunch. The road was so jarring that my mirror sheared off its attachment to the bike. Metal fatigue.

A quick downhill run to Sullivan Lake, lunch, and the bike doctor, from whom I bought a new, helmet-mounted mirror. Despite the abundant wasps we lingered at this beautiful lake visiting with folks, including Dave & Nina from Stanwood (shown left).

We climbed again until we arrived at Metaline Falls. There are no falls there anymore. Not much more than a hardware store and a movie house.  We actually camped at the local high school 2 miles down the road. After setting up the “Taj Mahal” (thanks again to Steve & Carla) and inflating our bed (thanks Bill & Sooz), we spent the afternoon visiting with other riders and trying to find some shade.

The mornings were generally cold. Fortunately the breakfasts were hot. That’s Michael & Tamara who Spencer’s enjoying his with.

The boys’ locker room at that school had a huge sign on the wall describing the differences between “winners” and “losers”. Did you know that losers have long hair? They also “follow the crowd”. Unless they “go their own way”. Winners, of course, are well-groomed, don’t follow the crowd, and “follow directions”. There must have been 150 different descriptors for both kinds of people. There tended to be a lot of overlap. All the men got a good laugh at that. It looked like it had been up since 1955.