Finally on the Ground in Missoula

After a looooooooong flight day, we finally arrived yesterday in Missoula. On Tuesday, we awoke at 3:30 a.m. and our good friends, Peggy and Bill drove us to the airport. After some tense moments of getting our stuff checked in, x-rayed, etc. we boarded the first of many flights: Pittsburgh to Phoenix, Phoenix to Boise, Boise to Missoula. The last leg was on a propeller plane that only had 19 seats. Fortunately there was very little turbulence.

When we finally arrived in Missoula, we called a cab and decided to go straight to the bike shop to pick up our bike. This all worked out perfectly, since we got there about a half-hour before they closed, loaded the bike the best we could there and headed for the motel. We had decided ahead of time to stay at the same little motel we stayed at last time, since it was cheap and in a good location for walking around town. Ironically, we ended up in Room 103, the same room we were in two years ago!

Missoula is as pleasant as we remembered it. Being a college town, there is plenty of good food, and especially desserts! We found a great Thai restaurant called Thai Spicy (right up our alley, as most of you know.) The waitress was really impressed that we ate our soup without crying, since it's very spicy hot. Afterwards, we wandered around town looking for a good dessert place with internet access. It seems that in the two years since we've been here, laptops have become an almost indispensable accessory. So the internet access is WiFi, but nobody has terminals anymore (except for the reliable local public library!). So we had to settle for some really great Dutch Apple pie and relaxation.

By that time, we were really tired. It was 9:30 here, but 11:30 to our bodies and minds. We opted for sleep and were really glad that we planned an easy day today. We've spent the morning getting our gear rearranged on the bike. (That will probably happen 12 more times before the trip is over.) We needed some Coleman fuel, etc. so our errands have been run. Fortunately, since Missoula is the base for many outdoor activities all the things we could possibly need and some things we didn't know we needed are available on every block. We also updated our maps by stopping at the Adventure Cycling office this morning.

From here, we'll check out of the motel, eat lunch at one more great restaurant and head out to Lolo, about 15 miles away. In Lolo, there is a campsite where Lewis and Clark spent a month, waiting for the snow to melt before they crossed the mountains. We'll spend about an hour or so there, and then go to visit Dan and Sally Wheaton, the aunt and uncle of our friend Kim. She apparently yearns for visitors from the East, so we're going to oblige her by eating dinner with them and pitching our tent in their yard for the night. It's a slow start to our trip but will give us the opportunity to make sure everything is working on the bike and visit in an actual house before hitting the road in earnest. We're getting eager to be out on the road!!!!