Mountain Time!

Several milestones in the works.  We've arrived in Missoula, which means we've entered a new time zone (hard to believe we can go far enough on our bikes to warrant changing our watches) and we crossed our first mountain range- The Bitterroots of Idaho.  For anyone who ever thought Idaho was a boring potato state, we could not have found anything to be further from the truth.  We've been traveling through some absolutely beautiful country. 

We've been on the road for two weeks now, which means we're starting to settle into something of a travel routine.  Our days have basically centered around food, sleep, food, biking, and food.  We've picked up some hobbit-like eating habits.  On a regular day, we'll usually wake up, make breakfast, get on the road, stop for "second breakfast" after an hour or two, bike some more, stop for "tea-time" (which consists of making gatorade from powder), bike, stop for lunch, finish our day of biking, settle down to camp, make whatever delicious and filling dinner we can muster, and go to sleep. 

Every day is different- we often travel through several micro-climates and landscapes in a day- but the one great consistency I've found is that there are kind, helpful people EVERYWHERE.  Vastly outnumbering any difficult or unpleasant people, we've met:
-strangers who are all too happy to give us directions,
-egg and goat farmers who invite us to eat lunch in the shade of their backyard tree,
-neighboring campers who invite us to join them for lattes,
-locals who tell us to find little gems like hot springs, ice cream stores, wifi cafes, etc....
-people who welcome us into their homes with the utmost generosity

But enough talk- in a nutshell we're having a great time.  Here's some pictures!

We concluded that Lewiston, Idaho is ruled from Safeway Castle.

Looking back on our climb up to a plateau outside of Lewiston.

Peanut butter banana soft tacos for lunch.  These will carry you over mountains.

More wonderful countryside, climbing up to Winchester, Idaho.

After a long, hot day of uphill grades, salty clothes are our trophies.

Sunrise at our campground in Winchester, Idaho.

Sometimes helmets are the best stylists.

Montana!  We made it to a new time zone!

Lunch at our host's house in Missoula, Montana.  We relish the chance to use a kitchen and make food that you can't carry with you in a bike pannier.