Blog 15 June: Libby to Kalispell

I awoke refreshed and ready to go in Libby on Sunday. The only problem was that it was late -- 11:00! I packed up quickly, ate a small breakfast. Ran to the store for some yogurt and a new toothbrush, and I was off.

Unfortunately, there was more of Libby east of me than I realizwd. A lot more. The town went on for a couple more miles, and after that the curb and gutter seemed an eternal fixture. I was surprised at how far out the homes continued.

After about six miles I stopped at a gas station to top off my water, and a few people who walked past as I looked at my map asked where I was going. On my map it looked like there should be some good forested camping area about halfway between Libby and Kalispell, so I told them I wanted to go about fifty miles up the road. After a while, I was offered a ride (and all I was doing was standing there!) by some local kids in a big extended cab pickup. They said they were headed to "just this side of Happy's, about 35 miles." I took yhe ride thinking that they'd drop me in the miffle of nowhere and someone would pick me up because I was way out there.

The spot they took me to was only about 25 miles up the road, so not as far as I thought I'd get, but there appeared to be lots of camping possibilities. I started walking, thinking that if I did end up camping out here I'd like to have at least covered some distance.

After 10 or 11 miles (the mileposts blur together after a while) I stopped. Both sides of the road were sparsely forested with little undergrowth, this would be an especially good spot to wander off the road and camp. I decided to try hitchhiking until five or so, and if I hadn't been picked up yet, camp out.

In about 45 minutes I was picked up by a couple in a white Ford Escort station wagon. They offered to take ne all the way to Kalispell and I accepted.

In Kalispell, they gave me directions to get to Sykes Restaurant, which they loved for its ten cent coffee. I kept my mouth shut, but of course I was thinking, "you get what you pay for." I wandered around downtown for a while, but nothing was open because it was Sunday.

I went to Sykes, and did not get coffee. After a 20 minute wait, which I really didn't understand because it wasn't that busy. I was finally able to order my chocolate malt, and the waitress told me, "I'll make it when I get to it." Great. After another 15 minutes, I had my malt, which was delicious and HUGE. I resolved to consume the entire thing despite the loud protests of the rational part of me, astonished at the sheer size and number of calories.

I sat in Sykes reading for a while before heading out to the parking lot to await the arrival of Camdice, my host's girlfriend. Before long she pulled up in a newish black pickup. I tossed my pack in the back, grabbed a bottle of water for the ride, and we were off. We stopped on the way to grab a six pack of beer and a couple pizzas for dinner.

We arrived at Jeff's after a short drive, and I introduced myself to Jeff and he introduced me to his kids, Miranda and Zander.Candice and the kids watched a movie while Jeff and I chatted for a while over dinner, and eventually we joined the movie watching crowd ourselves.

After the kids went to bed the three of us sat around chatting about whatever came to mind for a while, and eventually none of us could keep our eyes open any longer. I went down to the spare room I was surfing and crashed almost immediately.