Checking out of the Wingate Hotel in Helena and getting back on the road was tough. Michelle Steele, the general manager Rotarian, hooked me up with a nice king size bedroom and I was truly appreciative for the recovery time.  The first twenty miles were pretty tough that day. I had to climb over 2,200 feet going uphill for seven miles. Once I crested that pass, the rest of the day went really well. After about forty miles I came to Interstate-90, which I wasn't to sure about since I was going to be riding along it all the way until Spokane, WA. I feel more safe on an interstate because the shoulder is almost always wide and there is a rumble-strip standard on the edge of the right lane letting cars know they're drifting too far over. The only thing that is a major hazard is all the debris from the re-tread tires that rip off of 18-wheelers. All of my flat tires on this trip have come from the steel wire belts inside all the little pieces of tire that exist on the side of the road, and the amount of this debris is multiplied drastically on the freeway.

I don't know how I made it all the way to Missoula without getting one flat tire, but I did. Once on I-90 I was able to maintain a fairly strong pedal stroke, and high speed. I felt like I might have been pushing myself a little too hard, and not saving enough for the next long day, but once you get some good momentum going there's not a lot that will make you want to slow down or lose it. So, I pressed ahead at full steam. When I arrived at Becky Weaver, sister of Rotarian Wendy Weaver I met in Bozeman, I had gone around 120 miles, and felt great most of the way. She was very nice, a returned Peace Corps volunteer from Mali, and had a cute little adopted Chinese one-year-old. While taking a shower, the exhaustion caught up with me and hit me like a ton of bricks. I ordered a pizza, shared Peace Corps stories with Becky for a while, did a little laundry, and passed out. I wanted to get a early start the next day cause I was planning on making it another 114 miles into Idaho and had a nice pass to climb around mile 100.

The next morning I woke up stiff and slow. Soon after waking, I went to get my laundry only to find that I had washed my bicycle computer the night before, completely ruining it. I was not happy about this. So, I looked online for the closest bicycle shop, but of course none of them opened until around ten o'clock, killing my hope of getting an early start. I cycled out toward the interstate where the REI was located, and stopped for some breakfast until it opened. The new computer put a nice dent in my always very limited budget, but the guy working there was very helpful fixing the settings and installed it onto my bike. I didn't actually get out onto the road until 11:40 and knew that it was going to be a really rough day the way it had started. Within the first fifty miles I had two flat trailer tires from all the debris on the road, making up for the day before's good luck. My legs felt completely stiff and powerless, an I didn't even get to the town where I wanted to have lunch until around 3:30 or 4:00. Most of the day I was feeling quite sorry for myself because not only was I having terrible luck with the bike and feeling tired, but the day before when I was feeling great I had bragged to myself that only twice on this whole trip did I not make it to my planned destination for each day, no matter how far. So, with all the hiccups in this day and how I was feeling, I knew I wasn't going to make it all the way to Idaho and certainly not over any mountain pass at the hundred mile mark. All along the freeway that day there were billboards for this big tourist attraction that Becky had mentioned to me the night before. It was a truck stop, restaurant, gift shop, motel that boasted a world famous collection of silver dollars, over 50,000. It was at mile marker 16. The pass straddled the Idaho/Montana border so I knew that at 16 miles away I'd still be doing an 87 mile day and be close enough to Spokane to still be able to do it in one day. This gave me a little morale boost, and something to shoot for. When I got there at 8:00 pm, there was no town or anything, just this truck stop, restaurant, gift shop, and motel. Being quite weary, I knew I needed some good rest, so I took another big hit to my budget by staying at the motel. I was lucky in that there was only one room left, so I knew that I should take it. The food was good at the restaurant, the gift shop reminded me of those in Myrtle Beach, SC (full of junk and not impressive), but the silver dollar collection was not falsely advertised. They had over 53,000 silver dollars, chronologically organized in panels, all over the bar walls. After eating, I headed over to the truck-stop gas station to pick up some candy and a popsicle (I needed comfort food after my tough day), then I passed out.

Last Saturday, August 8th, I woke up, packed up, ate some breakfast, and hit the road. With only 16 miles and a mountain pass between me and completing Montana. At the top of the pass I was surprised to find out I was not only crossing into Idaho, but the Pacific Time Zone. I thought that started somewhere in Washington, but this was also a nice milestone in my trip, though it does make it more difficult to communicate with family and friends back on the East coast. The day was cold and misty keeping me damp and shivering. I found a really nice bike path that ran parallel to the interstate most of the way across Idaho (the skinny "pan handle" part) and followed that all the way to Kellogg, ID where I ate lunch. From Kellogg, I had to get back onto the freeway because the path dipped South around another pass and some lakes, and this would add another twenty miles to an already 110 mile day. I eventually made it to the Washington border and only had twenty more miles to go. This day, I wasn't having flat tire issues, but my left trailer tire was constantly wanting to slip out of it's axel and come off. Obviously, not the safest problem to have while riding down an interstate. This made me keep having to stop and re-lock the wheel, slowing my progress down quite a bit. I eventually made it to Spokane, and at mile 106 found myself having to climb an enormous and steep hill to reach the South side of town where I was going to be staying. I conquered the hill, made it to within a quarter mile of my host's house, and decided to stop for one last Vitamin Water to rehydrate before greeting everyone. As I pull away from the gas station I hear a big pop, and just my luck, my right trailer tire has a complete blow out. So, I sit down, change the tire and install one of the super thick inner tubes I picked up in Kellogg to fight against the debris. It's at this point I feel I should remind you, one of the main lessons I learned in the Peace Corps (mostly from riding in bush taxis) was the necessity for unending patience. Without it, I'm sure I would have destroyed my bike and trailer in a blind rage long ago on this trip. Fortunately, I have it. I fixed my wheel, and made it to my host family's house just before dark.

I met Katrina Godderz at the missionary hospital in Galmi, my market town, in Niger. She is currently in medical school in Grenada, but her family lives in Spokane and they have been so very sweet and hospitable opening their home to me, feeding me, and showing me around the city. On Sunday, we drove out to this place called Green Bluff just outside of town where there was an estate/winery that had an amazing view of all of Spokane (of course I forgot my camera this day). Then we headed to this beautiful little vineyard owned by an Italian man and his wife who also run a catering and Italian food business from a big barn, converted into a kitchen. We spoke with the couple for a while, and it really made me remember my dream of one day moving to Italy. We left with two big boxes of lasagna, meatballs&sauce, pasta salad and bread. We got back to the Godderz house with a feast.  Though I must say, I still prefer my mom's lasagna. You make a freakin' amazing lasagna, mom. That night Katrina's sister, Annika, and I went to see G.I. Joe. Laughing most of the time at the ridiculousness of the movie, it made for a good ending to a really nice day. Today, I rode over to the bike shop to fix that back wheel and keep it from wanting to fall off, as well as swung by the bank. Spokane is the first place I've seen a Bank of America since Kansas City. Most of the day I relaxed in front of the tv or the computer returning emails. Then when Mrs. Godderz got home from work, I went with her to they gym and got a nice work out in. I haven't been to a gym since Florida, and I've really missed that type of work out. Sure, riding a bicycle over a hundred miles every day will give you some strong legs and low body mass, but it's just not the same as a good, hard training session with weights, stations, and equipment. I am almost positive I'm going to wake up tomorrow completely sore and regretting ever walking into that gym. I can't wait to hop on that bike and hear myself go, "Oh! Ugh! Sssss..."

Tomorrow is Tuesday, August 11th and I will be cycling around 96 miles to a little town in central Washington called Coulee City. Hopefully I can find a place to camp, and then go around 87 miles on Wednesday to another little town called Leavensworth right on the edge of the Cascade mountains. I will probably try to work a deal with a cheap motel there seeing as how Thursday will be a very long, arduous day around 118 miles and crossing the whole of the Cascades in order to reach Seattle. I have two friends from the Peace Corps living there, I plan on spending a week or so checking out the city, giving talks, and relaxing, and Seattle is the starting point of my final leg of this journey. From there I turn South and head toward the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, and sweet sweet victory over one of the toughest personal challenges I've ever undergone. I have currently completed 4,840 miles on my bicycle and I'm starting to get excited about closing in on the finish line. Pretty soon I'll be under a thousand miles till the end. I can barely believe it myself.