Day 55

97 Miles

My alarm sounded at 5 am. It was still dark but I woke Lily as we had discussed. We packed up  and ate and set out shortly after 6. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. Paul woke up before we left. I'm glad we got to tell him goodbye and see you later.
It was a Sunday morning. The winds were minimal, as was the traffic. I enjoyed hills despite the chill and drizzle in the air. We hit the first town at 10 am. 40 miles under our belt this early was awesome. We were both completely psyched. We set out for the next town.
After lunch at the next town we told each other, "see you at the border." We were finally about to leave Montana. We set out eager and full of excitement. Then came the hill...
We opted to keep to US-2. The ACA maps went some other way. This hill was probably the reason. The sign at the bottom mention tire chains. Crap. That meant some serious grade. It was only about 2 miles up, but there was some serious grade with some serious switchbacks. The shoulder was less than adequate for comfortable passing by the trucks on the tight curves. I pushed myself and only stopped briefly for a drink. I found Lily on the other side of the hill outside a bar talking with the locals.
We sat outside and talked with the locals for awhile. They were an entertaining bunch. We hadn't quite made it to the border. The bar was on the Montana side of the border. The Welcome to Idaho sign was viewable from where we were sitting outside. Also, an exciting bonus that I wasn't expecting until Washington, time change! We got to change our clocks back an hour. It meant that it wasn't 2:30, it was 1:30! Awesome!
We asked about the terrain. All down hill until Bonners Ferry. Then there would be a big hill. We were okay with that.
The ride down the hill was most definitely sweet. It was a beautiful ride. And Idaho smelled like cedar. The air was dry and hot. Despite the heat I smiled. We had hit 95 miles when we reached Bonners Ferry. We searched around town (which had a wicked fast downhill into it). We couldn't find any grocers or convenient stores. I finally asked. A girl pointed up a giant hill. This must have been the hill they had been talking about. We climbed the hill. I used the sidewalk, which I hate doing. But it seemed the safest option. It was a big ass hill! At the top of the hill was a grocery store. We shopped and asked about places to camp.There were no good suggestions.
We rode up a ways and saw a ranger station. We looked at the map outside. It was of little help. But we thought maybe we'd just camp right there. Then I spotted a guy walking around one the ranger cottages. He was on the phone. Lily went to approach him. He seemed elusive. But eventually she caught up with him. She asked if we could pitch our tents in his yard and that we'd be gone in the morning. Kyle told us it was no problem. He was kind and obliging. We set up there at the ranger station.
We ate. We talked. We laughed. Great day. Lots of miles. Smiles. Sleep.