Toby hit'n the bottle...Austin hit'n the road.

Pullman has been amazing! Spending time with Ash has been a refreshing change from being isolated and cold. This town is basically centered on Washington State University. Ash and I went out a few times, but the bars are limited out here and subsequently so their atmosphere. The one place of choice was Rico's - laid back brewpub kinda feel with a wall full of books and some lounge chairs to rest in while listening to jazz. Other highlights of my stay in Pullman include a Halloween pie party, biking to Moscow a couple times, and many 'date nights'. To summarize,  it has been blissful - good food, little adventures, good beer, and good conversation  with an amazing girl is all I could have hoped for.  Pullman has been fantastic, but (alas) i must continue on my trek and get to my dads (San Jose) before Christmas! Poor Tobs has to stay and keep Ash company.... bye till Christmas time!

Pullman - Adventures with Ash

Day trip to Moscow, I'd - trying to bike like the couples in Amsterdam.

Pasta night! Ravioli from scratch! 

Date night! Got to experience all two blocks of downtown Pullman.

Another bike trip to Moscow to enjoy the Couer D'alene brewery.

Enroute to Pullman, WA!

Brrrrr. Its cold. 
On the Idaho-Washington border.
Frost on the seat... Water bottles froze solid, dipped a bit below freezing.
Beautiful and sunny Coeur d'alene, Idaho. 

The past few evening have been freezing, been waking up and pedaling just to stay warm. Spent two wonderful afternoons in Sandpoint and then in Coeur d'alene. Both are towns on a lake surrounded by mountians, gorgeous. Its has been fun but now I am in Pullman, WA enjoying some Ashzen time... Been great so far!

Continued...

The ridiculous night at the home-bar in troy, MT. The palace was a the definition of a biker bar. I was the only one not in leather and all they had on tap was pabst, millerlight, and coorslight. The place was filled with the chatter of who needs what for their bike, and how bad sturges was this year. They had kareokee and I was blessed to hear everybody's take on skynyrd. A fight broke out between a canadian and some smushfaced man from idaho. I wa disappointed to see that there were no pool cues involved. That night I ate food under a tent made by a ladie in a top hat who calls herself the 'madhatter'. The burger was overcooked. :( The night involved too much jose' and too little foosball. I nevertheless ended up sleeping near the train tracks. 


The next day I just had to get out of there and worked my way through to moyie springs Idaho. The place was along this very deep set river, spectacular views... My camera could pick up because of the lowlight and clouds. Continued on to Bonner's Ferry which is just a 'darling of a city' along the river. It had cute little shops. 


The next day I made it for lunch at Sandpoint. Had a few locally brewed beers and enjoyed the lake as much as I could (it was very windy). The town is nestled on a point and the lake is surrounded by snow-capped mountains, very picturesque! Headed down further camped about 20 miles north of Coeur d'alene which I am in right now enjoying lunch. It is sunny and the city park is right on the lake. Again, picturesque scenery all around (except for the strip-mall corridor that leads in). Eating kippers and bread, with a little bit of peanut butter, but can't stay for long, have to keep heading south. Getting close to Pullman!

Homeless shelter-Happy's inn-Troy's homebar-Bonner's Ferry

Well it has been a bit since I have posted last. Well my time in Kalispell, MT was extended due to rain. It was cold and relentless, so tobs and I decided to make an adventure of it and stay in a homeless shelter. Upon entering the 'ray of hope' I was greeted by a slackjawed woman with two lazy eyes in sweatpants. She asked if I was hungry then took a gulp of her coffee, letting some slip from her mouth and spill into the carrots she was stirring. I declined. The common room walls and book shelves were filled with christian mantras and self-help books. The lady who checked me in looked as if she had not moved out of her swiveling desk chair in about a decade. She was missing the three front teeth on her left side and joked about writing a book about being humble, in which all 1500 pages would be blank. ?? Force laughed and joined the others, ex boozers and users (and a family who got foreclosed upon)  in the all night affair of drinking coffee and staring at the tv. Nobody moved unless it was to go smoke or get a refill. It was quite an experience. One of my temp roommates got kicked out for being drunk. He bagged all his clothes in a sheet and headed out into the rain. 
The next day it was cold but fun. The next 80 miles were extremely desolate. Up and between slopes I went till I reached thompson river which seemed to be a forgotten gem. No one was around me for miles. Then I got into Happy's Inn which was a gas station and a saloon across the street. Had dinner and a few beers there. The owner's son paid for it... I am still grateful. 

Idaho rocks!

Windy in beautiful sandpoint.

Trains! Where I camped after the biker bar.

Toby soaking wet and wondering why we are out here.

The snowcapped mountians of northern Idaho.

Its October! Cold and rain in the mountians.

Toby triplets at the christian homeless shelter, 'a ray of hope' whose motto is "a hand up, not a hand out". 


Lake Thompson, lunch break. Beautiful, even though it was overcast.


brrrrrr. Its cold. What I look like while riding.


The perpetual view: trees to the sides, a road leading to mountain tops in the clouded distance. 


Right now toby and I are having lunch at libby, mt. The weather says it is going to rain, so we are waiting it out for a bit, checking the radar before we head out to troy.

not good

really not good

More photos from glacier

'oh deer'
A cruising senior tobs.
Mountain climbing happy tobs.
Am I high? 

Glacier park photos...

Tobs and I on top of scalplock mt.
Biking at dusk... Refreshing.
'coyote' how'd you get up here?
Tobs and I on a little bridge, he is happier than he looks. 

West Glacier

Tobs and I are relaxing next to a fire in the cool shade of evergreens. I am drinking some tea while toby scans for rodents. Its been breathtaking up here in the land of pine covered mountains and crisp clear waters. I will never forget the pure, childlike joy that overwhelmed me as I was biking from essex to west glacier at dusk last night  I rounded a corner to see a brief freight train clicking towards me, its thunderous horn bellowing a coupled hello and warning. Exchanged waves with the engineer. Picture perfect ride with sharp mountains to my left, covered in pine of a multitude of greens; and to my right was the middle fork flathead river so clear and ideal I felt I could have been the first one to gaze upon its reflective trance. 


Yesterday was quite a fun day for tobs and I. We woke up freezing at marias pass (the summit) and biked a little ways down, till I needed some coffee to warm up. We then hiked up 3250 feet to the top of Scalplock Mt. (7000 ft). The view was aaaaamazing. Hopefully the pictures will confirm. Today was a was a little less ambitious, I think because of the cold (it dropped to 29 last night). I biked around lake McDonald which again I am just awestruck by how clear the water is here. The tobs and I hiked along a stream and had a quick lunch. Keeping it pretty relaxing, and trying to shack off this runny nose and a bit of a cough. Tomorrow we say goodbye to this blissful park and head westward some more along 2. Enjoy, and miss you all. 

End of ND and train through Montana photos

Bike till sunset!
Toby the little (and quiet) stowaway
The burnt yellow landscape that I skipped.
Blurrzrrry.... Tobs and I in glacier -look at how happy he looks to be FREE-

East glacier!

Tobs and I are in east glacier mt and I can not begin to tell you how ridiculous it has been to get here. Today, Sept. 25th 2009 is one of the happiest days of my life. Everything worked out perfect. First off, it is amazing just to be out of north dakota. I was really hitting some lows with the lack of scenery and the forever miles. I am glad I did it though, it is just going to allow me to appreciate the rest of the trip that much more. Thursday, with the wind coming from the south east, toby and I were able to cruise to williston with ease. It was pretty near williston, being on the bluffs that over look lake sakakawea. Had a celebratory beer at a place filled with 40 year olds drinking budlight, playing darts and smoking menthols; not my kind of place. Rogue camped next to the lake and then got up for the big train ride.
Now just to let you know, THERE ARE NO DOGS ALLOWED ON AMTRAK, so naturally I felt tobs and I were the exceptions in the fine print they forgot to printout. So I got two duffel bags and benadral (peta don't read this) and gave toby a tablet and put him in the bag. He was a trooper, not a peep out of him the whole 9.5 hour train ride. Ash was letting me know, mins before our departure that people who were caught were kicked off at the next stop, recommended their dog be put to sleep and or maybe even arrested. It was nerve racking at some points, but I think tobs knew his sacrifice was the only way our adventure could keep going. He knew the beauty he was going to see in western montana, and patiently (and more importantly, quietly) waited for his reward. Nevertheless, we are here enjoying the apex of nature. The trees are green and the air is crisp and we are ready to tame that grizzly. Thanks everyone, miss you all. 


Austin and tobs

Photos from ND

I am a-okay mom!
Cliche bike shadow pic
Sunrise coming into my rogue camp site
Toby's little doggie weight loss program!

Raining in Washburn, ND

Right now I am in a 'shop' filled with forgotten anything and everythings of repairing or outdoorsing. Its a midwesterner's treasure trove owned and neglected by a quiet boiler maker, dan beutler. From this chair covered in oil stained sheets I can see two weed wips, an old sony computer, air compressor, two tvs (one that doesn't work), fishing poles, fertilizer and a wall of wrenches. The floor seconds as a purgatory for rubish; cans and bottles, misc. wire ends and car parts. Almost as bad as cbm's shop - ha. Anyways it has beed gusting around 30 mph and raining/sleeting all morning. Reminds me of the weather lane, scotty and I had in the peaks district over thanksgiving. Going to rest here and dry out for a little while. 

Bismarck, or north dakota in general has been quite the experience. Hanging out with amy and then britt during her medical stuff and her birthday weekend replenished my 'family vitamin'. Thanks again you guys. Lets see, I got my hair cut so I don't look like a bowl cut hippie freak in the eyes of the uber conservatives. This is truly the land of god and country as the radio with its two types of stations respectively will confirm. I now want to ride green tractors with taylor swift. This is also the land of little to nothing to do. I saw on the news ladies from a club which only requires a red hat for membership tossing cowpies like discs for charity. Crazy I know, but true. I did enjoy cruising on the missuri river with britt's friends. Its a perfect way to spend a hot afternoon in the land where even the wind is bored - why else would it be heading to mn so fast? (lame). The people here are nice, and meander through life at at slower pace. I think the constant view of honey touched wheat and corn feilds cresting and valleying like a fuzzy catepiler can transfix anyone. This probably why it took lewis and clark two years to get through this state. They were on extreme cowboy time, much like I am over 200 years later. 

��

Leaving bismarck - cross ranch state park

The boy's day on the river (with mike mf stone, big bert and kmoney kyle- I am a dork)
Britt and I after celebrating her birthday- woot not good 'poker face'
Britt and I before I left
Some beautiful skyline while riding, looks peaceful but it was windy.
Up and down all day.

Fargo!

On monday evening toby and I arrived in the fargo/moorhead uuuurea. It was quite an easy ride being nice and flat between detroit lakes and fargo. It wa scary riding along the side of the road as semis raced past at 70 mph. The semis did block the wind and sucked me forward a bit to ease the pedal pressure. I think poor tobs was scared a little, but we made it. Detriot lakes is cool, last time I was there was to watch siemer's wake board comp... Chugging redbull with roman as we watched adam try to overcome the blustery, chop-y day. Wow that was for ever ago. Geez I am old. 


So moorhead is ghetto... As if duluth hillside and superior wisc. had a baby. Trialer parks and soup kitchens, the line for the dorthy day house was about a block long...sad. People need to move, travell... Not just sit and rot in this recession. Amy's house has been awesome, great food...I guess anything is better than oatmeal 2 times a day. Watched her play rugby...still don't get it. Just running and scrumming. Now I am with britt, spending the day getting her stuff in order. ITS HER BIRTHDAY TOMORROW! I am so glad I am on this trip, things are just falling into place. (going to miss johnnys wedding and rick and jessi's engagement dinner- I am sorry, miss you guys quite a bit, well drinking pabts by the fire and talking about who owns what sounds great right now...oh and letting lane know he's scrappy never gets old- ah duluth). Any ways enjoy the picks...


Austin and senior toby


Tobs and I having a siesta at buffalo river
Amy and I in the kitchen of wonderful food

The nothingness....

Lets Feed America! Nothing but farms and swamp.

Day 3 'toby is heavy'

Well today I biked the worst stretch so far. From menahga to frazee, both cute towns with a lake that has a public beach. Right now I am setting up to rogue camp...check out my view of the setting sun over the lake. Started from hunterville which was basically a bar. Glad to be out of that one horse town, although there were actually quite a lot of horses...more horses than people. Well you couldn't tell them apart either way. Highlight was seeing a 110 pound golden retriever, this thing was a beast. Other than burnt popcorn and flat beer huntersville didnlt have much to offer. They did love obama though. The ride from menagna to frazee was long and with nothing between. The dot on the map -evergreen- was two abandoned buildings. Along the way I met a lutheran minister at st.pauls church. He filled up my waters and we chatted while tobs and his dog, frank played. See lutherans can be nice for all you doubters out there. It was good to see another town, and now I must rest for the big push to moorhead to visit my sister amy! Woot! 


Austin and sr. Tobsalot


View from my tent.

Photos from huntersville

A middle of nowhere town, pop. 10 according to my co-pilot.
Toby always on the hunt
Mmmmmmm tea
'oatmeal again?! Ug'

12 hour rain.

One my first day I was filled with glee

But I had forgot life's other philosophies.

My outlook on life was so cheery and bright

But after the rains I saw the other light.

I read and wrote, but it was still raining.

Ate bread and oats, but it was still raining.

Still it rained and poured 

So we slept and snored

Confined to our tent

we were prisoners of camping.

My zen view now bent 

So my core still needs revamping.

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Two crazy mfs gearing up to head out.

Toby in his cart and me having second thoughts about this whole trip.

The quest begins

Hello all

Tobs and I got off to a late start, but still made pretty good distance. Right now I am getting eaten alive by misquitos- so many because of the drizzle this early afternoon.. Tobs and I have the camp ground to ourselves so naturally I took it upon my self to make it a one man (and one dog) nudist colony. It is kinda weird being so isolated in what is normally a public setting. I guess by public I mean other families or what not. Hopefully in my solitude I can find my zen and not end up teddy k-ing the world. Just kidding- I love tv, well lts more of a love hate relatioship. Anyways, as a human I am in need of entertianment and since that rests solo in my hands I have already played (and lost) ten games of solitare, read, cooked, napped. But between those moments my cognition blocks out all but the blissful appreciation of watching the chaos of a fire or listening to the poetic bird's call, and this is when I feel close to peace, close to zen. (and I don't mean to sound too zach like, but its been great being in silence) Anyways I feel I am going to quite enjoy this trip. Love and miss you all. And I will keep you more intouch as I work towards my zen (wink).

Austin

Toby say roof and for leela to call him!

Also just a thought, what about a 'pedal away parkinsons' thing where people donate to the micky j fox's foundation based on every mile I do...like .01 for every mile? Meh let me know.

The players

The circle version of toby 'mf' dexter