Day 47 (July 2): Wolf Creek to Great Falls, MT

Mileage: 62.1; 1,232 total

Before leaving this morning I was having breakfast (my standard bicycling breakfast of coffee, lots of water, two eggs, two pieces of bacon, and two pancakes) and blogging and talking to other people in the restaurant.

A gentleman named Max had struck up a conversation when he saw my bicycle. He was interested in knowing where I was going and explained that his niece's son (an engineering professor in his 30's) was on a bicycle trip from Anchorage, Alaska to some point north of the arctic circle.

Max is from Great Falls, and when he learned that was my destination today he apologized for not being able to put me up, because he had relatives coming into town, but he said maybe he could arrange for a discount at a Great Falls motel. Shortly thereafter a friend of his came in to the restaurant. Max spoke to him, and the next thing I knew his friend had called his wife, who manages Marriott's Fairfield Inn. He put his wife on the phone with me and she told me that I could have a room for the employee rate of $35/night! I explained that I was planning to stay for three nights, in order to do some sightseeing, and she said that would be fine. Montana definitely has a lot of friendly, generous people!

Toward the end of our conversation it came out that Max has a son, Joe, who is a high-school teacher in Anchorage, Alaska, as is my daughter Larissa. I spoke to Larissa this evening and she knows him...they used to teach at the same school. I will be calling Max tomorrow to get the blog address of his great-nephew, the bicyclist, and I'm sure Max will be pleasantly surprised to find out that our children are acquainted.

On the ride to Great Falls is was overcast and relatively cool, with very light rain at the start but gradually clearing up. The scenery changed dramatically, riding out of a narrow canyon into rolling hills along side the Missouri River. Then, coming over a crest of a hill, with the mountains in the distance behind me, I saw the wide, flat, expanse of the Great Plains.

Along the road today, as on most days, there were occassional signs saying something like: Adopt A Highway; Litter Cleaned Up Next 2 Miles; followed by the name of the volunteer organization taking responsibility for cleaning the highway litter.

Great Falls, population about 50,000, is he largest city I have been in since Portland, Oregon. There are a few things I want to see, including a Lewis & Clark Museum and an art museaum featuring the work of Charles Russell. I will probably hang out here until July 5.