Oh, the people you'll meet!

We have met so many interesting people as we travel. A few from Glacier NP and surroundings that stood out for me:
1.  Cory, our waiter on Thursday morning. Cory and his girlfriend are both working at the park. This is his fifth summer working at a national park. He's also been at Yellowstone and in Alaska. Between gigs at the parks, he and his girlfriend travel - to the Virgin Islands, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia - maybe New Zealand or eastern Europe next year. I say, "Go Cory, go!"  What a great way to see the world.
2.  Willie and Patty, staying at the inn in Snyder Hall with us. They grow organic peaches and apples in Colorado, near Hotchkiss - where we have ridden many times! They were on their way to do a rafting trip when all their stuff was stolen from their truck. So they turned the rafting trip into a trip to Glacier NP instead.
3.  Natalie from Loula's Cafe. Just returned from a trip to San Diego, where it was cold and damp all the time (she visited in May, I think.) She moved to Montana from Minnesota, where the weather is harsher. And I thought this was cold!

Mike knows bikes!

4.  Mike, the mechanic from Glacier Cycles. Best mechanic we have run across in six states! If you are up in the area, you have to stop by this shop.
5 and 6. Nick Wagers and Dave Reeck - entrants in the Tour Divide off-pavement ride along the Continental Divide from Banff, Canada to the Mexico border.  This is a self-supported bike ride that 180 cyclists entered. These two are near the back - they are now being represented on the event site with "white dots" rather than "blue dots" - depicting that they are not in the race any longer.

Nick and gear

Nick really had not done any off-pavement mountain biking before signing up for this race, so he is learning as he goes. He has gone about 378 miles in six days, though - which isn't too shabby. Although the leaders in the race are probably hundreds of miles ahead of him, he is expecting to finish - even if it takes him 40 days. He decided to take this up as his next challenge after hiking the Appalachian Trail last year. Roger asked if he had seen any grizzlies on the route, to which he replied, "three."  Yikes!  Keep on pedaling, Nick.  I love your spirit.

Dave with Clucky the chicken

Dave said he has three goals for the race:  Stay married, finish, stay alive.   In order to achieve goal number one, he must be home in 30 days.  Given where he is in the race, I mentioned that it seemed unlikely he could achieve all three - was he going to take "best two out of three"?  He said he was thinking that perhaps he would be redefining what it means to "finish."  So you go, Dave. I respect a guy who has his priorities straight!
7. Doug and Denice, our Warm Showers hosts. They are off for a month helping her sister on the east coast, and when they return, they are moving for a time to live in Seattle or Portland. These free spirits also lived for a while in an RV, working as camp hosts on the Oregon coast and in Galveston, Texas in the winter and working near Glacier NP in the summer. They are living like Nike has paid them to "Just do it"! So best of luck to you two!

Doug and Denice

What I have found is that everyone has a story. Because we are wearing bike clothes, and riding up on a tandem, people ask us what our story is. And that gives us a chance to ask back! So there's the take-away for me - take a few minutes to get to know the person next to you, and you will be surprised what you can learn.