Day 83: 24 Days in Montana

I entered Montana on Day 60 and it is now Day 83, so by my math I’ve now spent 24 days in Montana. It has trounced Michigan in the contest for state spent longest crossing. Tomorrow, we’re on to Idaho.

We got up early and broke camp, hitting the road a bit before seven. The road along the west side of the lake continued to be incredibly quiet. The lake itself was misty/cloudy with dappled morning sun. The lake exists because of the Libby Dam, which we passed several miles into the day. It’s quite tall, but thankfully we were on the downhill side of that height change.

After leaving the lake, we crossed the river to another back road. Only two cars passed us on this stretch into Libby. We biked along train tracks with mountain to our left and the Koocanusa River to our right.

Eventually, we hit town and promotly used our newfound cell service to find a coffee shop. We did a double take when we got there as it looked like a carpet store, but sure enough it was both. Carpet store on the right, coffee shop on the left. We both got coffee and treats and enjoyed their collection of arm chairs.

On our way out of town we stopped at the grocery store to get things to cook for dinner. With access to a real kitchen tonight, we got some pasta, fake hamburger (for food safety reasons), a can of sauce, and a kale salad kit.

Then it was on to the Kootenai Falls. The falls itself isn’t very tall, but is quite wide and framed by stony cliffs and islands. It’s very striking with the contrast of the white foam, bright blue water, and gray rock. A little bit down stream from the falls is a suspension bridge. We wobbled our way across and back, admiring the view down to the water as we went.

My mom’s friend’s goddaughter’s friend Kris is hosting us tonight. She and her family are out of town, so we’ve had a quiet afternoon of napping, cooking, reading and planning. Kris has a huge raspberry patch that is exploding with berries, so I had a few for snack upon arrival and then a handful for dessert this evening. Fresh raspberries are one of my favorite fruits. So good!