Day 50 - East Glacier to Columbia Falls, MT

Total miles biked: 72

Total miles to date: 2525

The story of the picture of Patrick Swazy: Since Gretchen's bob trailer was named Baby Bob, we often called Gretchen "Baby." Often times Nicole and I would say the quote from Dirty Dancing, "Nobody puts baby in a corner." I walked into a bathroom at a cafe and saw this in the bathroom. It made for a good laugh!

We could not have asked for a better last day on our 8 day trip together. Our morning started a bit rough with someSERIOUS head winds and an 11 miles climb to the top of Marias Pass. Once we reached the summit though, we had more than 30 miles of fun downhill. We stopped to check out some mountain goats and continued to cruise at some high speeds for much of the morning. After lunch the roads flattened out with some rolling hills. With Glacier National Park on our right side for nearly 50 miles, it was by far the most scenic and beautiful ride I have experienced.

We arrived to West Glacier and cooked a hot lunch. We cooked up rice, cream of mushroom and tuna. I might not try this at home, but food on the trail when you are seriously hungry always tastes good. We made it to our final destination and shared a ceremonial beer from the gas station. It seemed fitting since the girls greeted me in Saco, MT with a 28oz. malt liquor nearly 8 days ago. We drank a celebratory 28oz. malt liquor at the arrival of our last town as a trio. After 72 miles in the sun and biking the juice went straight to our bloodstream and we were three loopy girls!

I suppose Gretchen learned a great deal from Nicole and I on this trip, including riding too closely behind the bike in front. When we cruised downtown Gretchen was focusing on the store fronts she kissed Sr. Bob with her bike and went down. Thankfully it was not a bad fall, but she did come away with some scrapes. After riding more than 300 miles, in the last mile together Gretchen goes down in downtown Columbia Falls. I guess she needed to get it out of her system.

We met our couchsurfing host, Kristy, at her house. Gretchen went with Kristy to pick up their car which had been parked in Columbia Falls for the duration of the 8 days. I was thankful for Nicole's craving for steak because it made for an easy decision to choose a restaurant. We did not fight or even discuss at length where to eat - so refreshing! We had a relaxing last evening together and turned in fairly early since we all had long days ahead of us. We loved our host Kristy - she was super cool and provided us with everything three girls could need including a warm and genuine welcoming to her home.