Day 8 - Superior to Rock Creek

SUPERIOR TO ROCK CREEK, MT
85.9 miles

Leaving Superior early on Sunday morning made for nice quiet riding for quite a few miles. As we rode, we praised God by naming all His names that we could think of.

Because we followed the Clark Fork river, we crossed it a lot and the bridges are usually narrower than the roadway. We again asked the Lord for his protection, and as we crossed every one of those bridges, there were either no vehicles passing us or only one that could go into the other lane.

This is what you don't see in a car. This bald eagle had actually landed on the ditch embankment just ahead of us and we stopped about 15 feet from him. But as soon as I raised my hand with the camera, he swooped away.
We thought we'd stay in Missoula with some friends or my cousin, but it didn't work out. After stopping at a grocery store, we headed out of town for...wherever. As we were stopped at a light, an elderly man pulled up right by us on his bike. He was pulling a trailer with a large trash can on it. His toothless smile and chatting about his ride across the country some years ago ("I started in L.A., it was hot!") was another bright spot in our day.

We decided we would make it to Clinton where the phone book said there is a motel. There's not. It's 5 miles down the road past Clinton. This is where the rain that had been stalking us all day finally caught us.

Yup, our first soaking. That's not bad considering how many miles we've ridden already. And we found out that we don't melt when we get wet. We also discovered that people give you really weird looks when you're riding in a rainstorm.

Checking in here was interesting: the owners live 10 miles up in the mountains and had gone home already. So we called the number posted on the door, she told us where the room key was and we checked ourselves in. "You can pay in the morning when I come down." Cool.
This is where we were when we got "The News". And right there, in the middle of the room is where I was standing. Check it out in "The Most Important Thing First" if you haven't yet.

It's all good.
Gerry and Pat