Carol:
With just 47 miles to Butte, Colin and I took the morning to dry out our tent before hitting the road around 8:30am. The first 20 miles of frontage road were flat and brisk. Unfortunately, the unchanging scenery and vehicles of I-90 made for a difficult alphabet game. When the frontage road ended, we could do nothing but rely on Google Maps for directions via side roads to Butte. The beta bike directions proved the worth of its warning when it attempted to route us on a nonexistent bridge through a highway overpass. As a result, we had to hike a bike over fences, around railroad tracks and across ditches. Most exciting of all, we saw a clean leg bone on the dirt road. Perhaps coyotes were about!
We soon made our way to Butte and stayed with Jean, an old friend of Colin's mom. Jean treated us to grilled cheese sandwiches hot off the pan and chatted with us about her upcoming trip through the 100 mile wilderness in July. Impressive!
In the afternoon, Burack, Jean's son-in-law, took us on a tour of Butte. We learned about Butte's great mining history (and how it earned the name of the richest hill in the world) and went to the Granite Memorial, where many miners had lost their lives due to a mine accident. We ended our tour at the hilltop Old Butte Brewery, with great views of the city below.
Dinner consisted of kofte (made by none other than Burack), great conversations about language and living abroad with Jean's daughter, Rachel, and playtime with their adorable 6-month old twins.
With Jean's generous offer to lend us her car, we ended the night by preparing our bags for a 2 day excursion into Yellowstone!
48 miles.
782 miles total.
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