Day 11 - Adjustments

A bright sky was a welcome sight!

The ride from Livingston to Kalispell MT was uneventful, pretty much the slab (as we bikers call it) the whole way. I did have an argument with Jack at one point, for some reason he wanted to take me on a tour of a neighborhood off I90 in Butte. It took me almost 7 miles of riding to get myself straightened out because I was buried in a business district and could not see the highway. It was my fault, when planning the trip, I had inadvertently added a funky waypoint. So, I took the opportunity to stop at Thunderbolt Harley Davidson to say hi and look at their tee shirts.
As I left, the sales dude said to me, "have a great and safe trip, kiddo." It struck me funny because a handful of people call me 'kiddo'... I wonder why that is? :)

In 350 miles, I am amazed at how much the landscape changed... It went from plains, (I finally learned that they are plains and not fields),



to rolling hills.... I loved this field of yellow flowers, it glowed!


to places where the rocks got really interesting looking...piled up high with trees growing out of them,


to rolling hills covered with pine trees on one side of the highway and sparsely planted on the other. This fascinated me, it went on for miles. All I could think was that one side maybe had a forest fire at one point?
On my left....




and on my right, directly across the highway....

And then right around the corner, the hills became mountains, with the road carving through tall stone corridors. The highway speed in Montana is 70-75 mph. It was so much fun to be flying through these curves!



I only made stops for gas and restrooms, except for one photo op of the glacial mountains. These were bound to be my destination for the next leg of the ride!


Got to my hotel, a beautiful new La Quinta with a giant fluffy bed and a millions poofy pillows. It was 4pm and in less than 10 minutes, I was in bed taking a nap and it felt sooo good! I thought I was getting better, but my throat is still very angry with me and I get coughing when I talk. I guess it is a blessing in disguise, that being on a solo ride, I don't talk much and so the coughing is remaining at a minimum for now.
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Into every road trip a little rain must fall...

After a fitful sleep, I made the decision that I really need to cut Glacier National Park out of my ride. The weather forecast is for rain and then thunderstorms....and I am not up to my game to undertake another day like Beartooth. Sadly, I rewrote my route. The saving grace is that I have a friend not too far from here in WA and will get there and relax for a bit, making for 2 days of a slower pace and hopefully some recuperation.

It's all part of the adventure!

*cough cough*

See you tonight :)
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Late addition:
It is pounding rain this morning...
I enter the day with all my guardian angels gathered around me
and all the well wishes of my family and friends.