At 10:30, I popped out of my tent. I can start packing up and then wait for Josh or I can be productive and fix my brake.
My back brake needed new "housing" or a small, hose-looking device that encompasses the brake line. I got new housing at the bike shop in Whitefish. However, in my new paranoid bike shop mind, I feared what else they would say about my bike if I let them fix it.
After a "How to" youtube video on fixing it, I gathered my materials. It would have gone perfectly too if I hadn't LOST THE STINKIN HOUSING. Somewhere, from Whitefish to Libby, it fell out of my bag. Chalk up another casualty to the road.
After a short tantrum, Josh woke up and we went at a slow pace to arrive perfectly at Pizza Hut for the lunch buffet at 1. Well, Pizza Hut doesn't do the buffet on weekends (now you know) so we had the $10 dinner box.
2 hours later, we moved.
No more than 15 miles down the road, we spotted a scenic overlook. There was also a trail to Kootenai Falls... and there just so happened to be an ice cream stand.
The ice cream lady kindly hid a scoop of Huckleberry ice cream at the bottom of my chocolate cone. She did the same to Josh's neapolitan cone. To top this off, she even let us polish off the bottom of the Neapolitan bucket. Ohhh yeeaaahh.
"Thank you, again!" I said, throwing away the trash.
"No problem, guys. And just so you know, I'll probably be closing up here by the time you get back."
"Okie dokie! I think we're pretty full at this point," I smiled.
"Well, then I guess I'll be throwing away all these extra Polish hot dogs..."
I nearly jumped out of my skin.
"NO! No. No, you don't have to do that. My sweet lord in heaven, I will eat them all."
"What about your friend?" she asked, gesturing to Josh walking down the trail behind me.
"Yes, he will eat them too," I lied.
The one time I don't rat Josh out for being a vegetarian.
We went down to the suspension bridge in front of the Kootenai Falls. Like a child, I sprinted as fast as I could so it would shake and rattle. On the opposite side, we sat as close to the edge of the river as possible and bathed in the sunlight.
As I glanced at the time and saw 5 o'clock, I panicked that I might miss the hot dogs. On the bridge, Josh saw a couple that he'd seen the day before, crossing with one leery quadrupedal friend; a massive Rottweiler.
Boyd, whether he liked it or not (he liked it), was on a yearlong bicycle journey with his owners, Alexei and Valerie. Originally from Brittany, France, they flew out to Montreal, Canada and began trekking west on their electric recumbent bicycles.
They were fantastic. You can see in the picture, how Boyd gets around. There's a gigantic crate hitched to the back of Alexei's bike and Valerie carries all the food and utensils.
"Which one's heavier?" Josh asked.
In their heavily laden French accents, Valerie replied, "The food and all that probably weighs 60 lbs. Boyd weighs about 100 lbs."
"He likes it when we climb though. I can hear him snoring in there when we go up, he finally can relax," Alexei chimed in, laughing.
The family waved goodbye and headed down the road. They spoke of a rest area that would have water and a picnic area to eat. They said we could join if he wanted.
"They actually seemed to like us," I mumbled, chewing up the second hot dog originally meant for Josh. "Maybe we'll hang out with them."
And hang out we did. A short ride down the road, we found the rest area with Boyd galavanting around the grass, perking up at the sight of us.
"Ah! So you're stopping, eh?" Valerie smiled walking out onto the concrete.
"Too many hot dogs. Couldn't go further," I joked.
It was a lovely evening, indeed. Josh, Alexei, and I rode to the nearby town of Troy to get some groceries. Josh and I found the most hilarious local beer named Montuckey with the slogan: "Enjoy a cold snack!" And next to the recycling sign it said, "Don't be a jerk!" We were sold.
Back at camp, Alexei and Valerie cooked up some chili with hashbrowns while sharing chips with us. Josh cooked some vegetable beans. And I sat blissfully full from my 4 hot dogs graciously given from Vickie. We talked and talked, about culture, religion, ballin on a budget, and people. Things always work out when you forfeit some miles on a bike to spend time with people. Alexei and Valerie have been wonderful.
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