Day 36 Driftwater Resort to West Yellowstone 56km

Warning: written while distracted by red wine and American television, especially the ads! You should see the ads for perscription medications (this info is mainly for my nursing buddies), they list all the potential side effects but in this really calm and reassuring voice, so you don't worry too much about the risk of death from stroke, and you can simply head out and harrass your doctor to prescribe you the anti depressant. OK that rant aside, a beautiful 10 miles this early morning was a fantastic start, up and down over small hills around the edges of lakes, we shared the early morning light with big horned sheep, ducks, dippers and a bald eagle. A beaver den was sighted, but the beaver was still asleep. This early morning experience was topped by "the best breakfast this side of the Missouri river" where the size of the boysenberry pancake put a smile on my face!


And lucky I also had some hash browns, coffee and egg, impressing the people at the table next to us, as the headwind kicked in again for the rest of the day. Our arrival in the tourist Mecca of West Yellowstone was a relief, and a hotel room, laundry, and picnic dinner on a really classic western style rough wood bed would have been enough to make us very happy. But a little bike shop called Free Heel and Wheel was the whipped cream on the root beer float. A genuine bike store for women! No pretension, no exclusivity, a great atmosphere and a little coffee shop included. I even got a great sticker for my bike which says 'ride like a girl'. A fitting end to these weeks in Montana, a state that has really made us feel welcome, has offered some of the most spectacular wildlife and scenery and has almost 1 million natives who know how to smile at strangers. Tomorrow we head into Yellowstone and cross the border into Wyoming for a new set of mountains and locals. But Montana will not be forgotten, Avalanche Lake (below) is just one of the memories.


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