Cross Country Day 22: Great Falls to Stanford

Today I went back to school

Some of our days are full of wonder. Some of our days are spent staring at the same unchanging horizon. Today felt like more of the latter than the former. We left Great Falls after a much needed rest day. We were tired, our bikes were filthy, and the weather seemed to be more favorable with a day's wait.

I had to swing by Scheels on my way out of town, as I realized my headlight had died :( Well. 3 years of heavy touring I suppose I can't be too mad. I had a great conversation with the bike department about our journey.

We had a couple little detours into the town of Bend and Geyser for supplies. Rolling down into Bend was really cool as the river had cut away at the flat plateau leaving this really cool community just tucked into the bluffs.

In Geyser (pop. 50 maybe....) we had lunch at the local bar. This place just feels like it's straight out of a Western movie. Including the local barflies who were really great to talk to. We also discovered that we could have an alternative route down into Stanford. A gravel road would only add at most 2 miles. Sold. What a difference. Now we had a chance to look out over the scenery and see how things were changing. I saw large grasslands with cows dotted along the way. Cattle gates in the roads reminded us that we were in ranch land. I did have to do a little hike-a-bike because I was just tired and rather than crashing again I just walked the big hill.

It was then downhill into Stanford. Look ma! I finally made it to Stanford. Well. At least I think it's funny. We stayed in a little cabin in the RV park. From the outside it looked small, but it was well designed and had enough room for everyone.

'till next time

-Matt

Miles Ridden Today: 68.44

Total Miles Ridden: 1,124.04

Feet Climbed Today: 2,644

Total Feet Climbed: 41,148