Viva La Vagabond: Whether the Weather

Coming at you live from West Yellowstone, MT! Because of some more unfavorable weather conditions, we felt like we would NEVER make it! We had to shift our days around but we still made it by Sunday like we had planned. Our departure from the campground in Alder was delayed when Natalee's iPod and charger mysteriously went missing while it was charging in the bathroom. Since it was only purchased off eBay for $25, we hope that person puts the large sum of money they make off of it to good use.(or that they thoroughly enjoy Beyonce') We exited the campground with a big dark wall of sky behind us. We kept our eye on it as we rode but decided to stop in Nevada City, 7 miles up the road when we saw a car coming from the direction we were headed, covered in ice. Ironically, Nevada City is not really much if a city at all, but they did have a welcoming bakery for us to enjoy while we waited out the weather. The main baker was an incredibly sweet and vibrant lady who kept giving us free baked goods to try. We didn't get her name but some of us like to think of her as "Future Natalee" After eating enough sweets for a week we dragged ourselves out of there and back to our bikes. We made it maybe 2 miles up the road to a quaint, touristy town called Virginia City and just like tourist, got sucked in. By the time we were ready to continue, we realized that it was nearly 5 o' clock and we had only covered a little over 8 miles. It sounded best to just get over the Virginia City Hill and make it to Ennis for the night. This would give us a day of eating sweets and traveling only 24 miles, but we would be well rested for a relatively flat, easy 70 mile ride to West Yellowstone the next day. We camped in a beautiful area and with an early start, the plan seemed to be going without hitch. That is until we got about 5 miles in. From then on out we had strong, head on winds making us work twice as hard all day. It was a good thing we had some of the most beautiful scenery we have seen because we had PLENTY of time to take it in at the rate we were going. It made for a very long and exhausting ride but we finally made it into town late yesterday evening. Our bellies were in no mood to wait to boil rice on a camp stove so we went into one of the first places we saw, The Slippery Otter Pub. We had delicious Jalepeño Wontons and Pizza. Gary, a fellow bicycle enthusiast from New Mexico, found what we were doing very interesting and bought us all a beer. We definitely feel like we have been an inspiration to people along this trip and that is what it is all about. Dead tired, we sat around for a while trying to figure out sleeping arrangements for the night. When we say dead tired we mean that Jordan could barely fight the urge to use the table as a pillow. We are usually so excited to be eating warm food that we tend to forget that we don't actually have a set place to stay for the night. It sounds kind of odd and scary, but even more odd is that we have yet to feel too concerned. We truly are homeless. We figured we at least have our young age going for us and we don't look as rough and scary as some of the hitch hikers we have seen (and smelt), resulting in people looking after us rather than running from us. Israel also believes that it might be our stifling good looks. Well we checked for a cheap hotel because our need for a shower was tipping us over the edge to be categorized with the hitchhikers I just mentioned. The Ho Hum Motel looked like it was going to be our cheapest bet, but we just couldn't spend $80 to sleep in a place that reminded us of Animal City. We are all big fans of Animal city..when it comes to pet shopping. Paying to sleep in a room that smells like it is a little different. While we were trying to decide what to do a man named David started talking to us and telling us of his bike touring adventures across America and many other countries. He turned out the be the owner of The Slippery Otter. After sharing many adventures, he let us camp out in the lobby of his ski rental place since it is no longer in season. Anything with warmth and bathroom is an oasis for us. We have so enjoyed the sense of community that we have found among cyclists and all adventure seekers. Today we will explore the town and maybe some more of the Yellowstone area then we will bunk in cabins with Terri, Mike, Margie and Ray, as well as many more of their family members. We are very excited and grateful for that! These are the reasons why we continue our journey during tough days of cycling. The next few days we are going to be exploring the Yellow Stone area before getting back on a regular riding schedule.Here is a quote to leave you all with:

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page.

-St. Augustine

Beautiful, Big Sky Country