Nailed it!

It's so gorgeous!

In my imagination I pictured your musical motivation moment. It was an epic Dad moment if there ever was one. I saw white, grass stained New Balance shoes; just barely too short shorts, majestic mustache to match an equally spectacular head of hair. There were eagles and flags and fireworks. A Little Person driving a flaming machine of terror, jumps a towering inferno of molten hot FREEDOM!! "Hey man, is that freedom rock?"
"It is!"
"Well turn it up!!"

Thanks! I wonder how the term "Seattle burger burn" became equated with a rainy day.

I still keep in touch with Howard and talked to him just a few months ago.

Awesome read! I remember nothing but rain while we were out there; rain and snow. But seriously, the PACNORWEST broke me of my habit of staying inside and waiting for the rain to stop. It was where I learned why the old salts called a rainy day a "Seattle burger burn". Wonderful story, you had me laughing out loud.

Mine, too!

Even though the visit was short it is still one of my fondest memories.

I think my favorite stop was when we took a break at a place called The Big Biscuit, the owners were in the shop and an older gentleman began telling outlandish stories from his childhood. He had Rich and I in tears of laughter, later on the owners let us stay at their home

Great journal of a great adventure, Mark! You have a knack for meeting people that I envy. Thanks for writing this one up.

Thanks, Jon! Cheers!

Fantastic, really enjoyed this Mark. Cheers!

Majestic!!

I just fell yesterday in a nearby thrift store, I tripped over a floor level change because I was trying to stealthily film a person playing one of the accordions for sale. I made a real clatter and some empty 8mm reels rolled around me. The accordionist stopped playing. Immediately everybody in the store I was trying to avoid got up in my business to make sure I was all right. My knee hurt and so did my ego but all is well today. Never happened. Nope.

Hi there Mark. I've been reading your journal and recognized so many common experiences from my tour through this area a few years after your tour. Like you, I rode on the west side of Lake Koocanusa, unlike most Northern Tier riders. It is hillier but, as you noted, quieter, almost traffic free and full of deer. (I had the great bonus of seeing a mountain lion on that road.) I even stayed at the MacGillivray Campground.

I stopped at Glacier Cyclery in Whitefish for a new tube. I think that might be the one in which you met "The God of All Bike Mechanics." It's a fine bike shop and it was surprisingly busy. As busy as they were, I watched as they took on the repair of a tandem from a couple of hippie-type bike tourists on the spot.

I'll be watching to see if you get to see Glacier N.P. through the smoke. When I road up to, and over Logan Pass, my views were obstructed by rain and fog.

Yes, and there are spots where there are multiple crosses, at dangerous curves, for instance, or where multiple people died in the same accident. We grew up knowing who some of the crosses represented.