DAY 18

The mission doesnt have bible study on Saturdays, and breakfast if served at 8 am instead of 6:15. Our last meal at the mission, was a delicous biscuits and gravy. Changing out of our pj's that im sure we dearly miss, we got into skin tight lycra, uncomfortable shoes, and jerseys that still smnelt dispite multiable laundry runs. Slower than usual, we loaded our bikes with our 50 pound bags. Saying our thanks and farewells we hit the road once agian. Even though we throughly joined the vacation from riding day in and day out, we were happy to have our rubber on the pavement once agian. Riding along Pend Oriele lake and river was beautiful. The shoulders were decent enough, and heat not dehydrating. 30 miles into our ride, we rode into the small town of Clark Fork, a population of 530 people. This was the town that Hank lived in for a year a while back. Once in sight he started sprinting into town with excitment. The town was completly different. The bike shop once there, now was a realty office. Spotting a fair happeneing in the high school field we all took a small break and wandered in. Unfortantly Hank didnt spot anyone he recognized from 5 years ago, but the we did spot some ice cream. After a hour of walking in circles we hit the rode agian. The secenry was amazing, the road curved through the vally of large mountains covered in huge Evergreen's. Entering our third state of the trip, we crossed the Idaho boarder into Montana. Even though Idaho was only 70 miles long, it still was a reason to stop for another ginyu force pose. Also another reason to proud that we have made it this far. Riding along Bull river for 15 miles we found the campground we planned to camp at for the night, Bad Medicine campground. 2 miles to the campground we found a sign stating the campground was full. Hopeing there was a Hiker/biker site, we found the park host and asked if there was one. Unforntantly the whole canpground was filled due to 4th of July weekend. Recommending a trail off the highway by a bridge that crosses bull river, was a place we could set up. Filling up our water bottles we remounted and back tracked to what would be the best campsite we have had yet. Sitting right on the river, the steady flow of water made for nice background noise as we slipped into sleep. A great finish for a nice first day back on the road.