A Day in Missoula, Montana

9/6/2006: Day 18, 0 miles; Total 643.1Miles

Our day in Missoula was full of doing nothing much. I washed the clothes twice. We ate the free muffin and coffee breakfast although I found that the TB snuck off to Denny’s for more eggs. He watched a lot of TV to check on his stocks but the only ones he ever talks about are Dell and GE. He made a trip to Wal-Mart and bought two twelve packs of soda pop and some more turkey and cheese and bread. He needed some oil and had refused to buy it for several days since it cost $4 a quart, so he bought a 5-quart jug of Pennzoil at Wal-Mart and was looking for a pan and a funnel which he says they didn’t have at Wal-Mart. He doesn’t want anyone to change the oil as “they often strip the plug.”

I used the car and went off to a bike shop and bought a new helmet mirror and a mechanics type hand pump (one you hold down with your foot and it has a longer supply line and a built in gauge). I then got a haircut.

While I was at the bike shop the chief mechanic, a guy about my age with considerable experience seemed also to have reservations about the Adventure Cycling Organization. He said in a telling tone, “They directed you which way to Yellowstone?” He gave me a few route tips and I immediately decided to go down I-90 toward Butte and then cut down to Yellowstone. This would eliminate four major mountain passes, two over 7000 feet and a lot of secondary road with narrow shoulders, along with the narrow shouldered switchbacks that I would have to walk over the passes. It seemed the better part of valor for me.