Day Eight - Haugan, MT to Missoula (Zoo), MT

So I awoke this morning around 6:30 AM to the not so welcome sound of a rain storm thundering on the roof of our motel. It was a clear sign that I should go back to bed for awhile.
When I woke again about an hour later, I asked Marc "Do you hear that?"

His response "What, the air conditioning?"

I replied, "No, the rain!".... his response was a brief groan and going back to sleep, I decided to join him.

We both went back to sleep in until about 8:30 or so. It was a late start to a long 95 mile day ahead of us. We ate breakfast at the same (and only) restaurant in town and rolled out back on the interstate around 10:15 in the morning. Luckily the rain had passed and the sun peaked out just a bit.

The first 20 miles or so of our ride down Interstate 90 was all downhill with a slight tailwind. It was an easy start and we were eager to stop at St. Regis and strip off some of our rain gear. (Its been the story of our trip so far - put on rain gear, take off rain gear --- oh wait 10 minutes later -- stop and put on the rain gear!)

A few miles after our stop we encountered our first road construction detour. The highway merged with the oncoming lane for a two-lane highway situation. It was miserable. We had a 1 foot shoulder with RV's closing grazing us at 55+ miles an hour. Marc decided it was too dangerous and led us across the grassy median to the closed side of the highway. So for the next 5 or so miles we poached a ride on the closed side of highway. It was beautiful! We had a 2 lane highway all to ourselves! I kept turning around expecting a car or worse yet... a cop to be chasing us down. Marc said we could plead "scared". (Scared that a RV would run us off the narrow shoulder!) I'm not much of a rule breaker so it made me nervous but excited at the same time.

About 50 miles into our ride we stopped at a rest stop for a quick potty break. As I came out of the bathroom, Marc suggested that we might want to wait a few minutes before getting back on the highway. Just then the sky opened up and there was a thundering downpour with strikes of lightening all around us. We huddled under a covered picnic table. Wow, we had good timing - it would not be fun to be stuck on the side of the road in this storm.

Luckily the storm passed quickly and we were on our way in within 20 minutes or so. The air had cooled quite a bit after the storm and we were back in our rain gear and pants. At one point on the ride, I swear I could see my breath - boy it was cold!

As we rode, I took particular notice to the clouds. They are really fascinating in Montana. They hang so low in the mountains that they look as though the trees are on fire and smoking. Reminded me of puffs of cotton sitting on treetops.

So we finally rolled into Missoula around 6 PM but took a wrong turn and rode a few miles out of the way. We were looking for the downtown area and seemed to surround it but not find it! Another storm was rolling in, so I was getting a bit antsy to find our motel.

Finally we asked directions and found a motel close to downtown - The Bel Aire Motel - a 70's style motel with a nice heated indoor pool and hot tub (too bad I can't get Marc to go down there with me - its no fun to swim by yourself!)

Dinner tonight was at The Old Post Inn - a hole in the wall bar/restaurant that we stumbled upon in downtown Missoula. We had really good food and even better Montana brewed beer. For dinner I had 'The Old Brown' - a southern style dish consisting of strips of toast with roast turkey, topped with a creamy Mourney sauce, roasted tomato slices and bacon strips. Yum! We attempted to order the cheesecake for dessert (yes, it counts as pie!), but the bartender recommended the bakery across the street instead. So we headed over to the Break Bakery for a slice of White Chocolate Lemon Cheesecake. Oh my god! It was as good as it sounds... I think this one tops them all. A delicious, thick cheesecake with a hint of lemon and a nice coating of white chocolate on top. We paired it with a perfectly brewed English Breakfast Tea. Wow! A perfect end to a great meal.

Tomorrow we are off to Deer Lodge, MT. We have a route that will take us off the main highway for awhile. The best news is that tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and mid 70's! Finally!!!