Day 13--Bill Celebrates his 67th Birthday

Saturday 20 June, 2009
Dickey Lake to Whitefish, MT

Got up this morning, packed up my gear and then took a few photos of Dickey Lake. Pam and Sean arrived as planned, returning those who had gone into Whitefish for the night. We campers loaded up our BOBs and panniers and then all hit the road.

Early morning Dickey Lake

Dickey Lake from the CG

Fish sculpture near the Dickey Lake CG changing house

I felt as light as a feather without BOB or Diane, and zipped along at high speed with an excellent tailwind to boot. At one point, the others hooted and hollered at me. They were stopped at a small coffee stand in the woods. Since I cannot drink coffee in the morning (makes me have to stop too often), I continued on. Turns out that they were celebrating Bill Upton’s 67th birthday with a cupcake and candle. I was sorry to miss the celebration.

Birthday boy Bill enjoying a 67th birthday muffin with two candles in it

The Google Maps car passed us today. Tim was very excited by this and got to talk to the driver, who showed Bill U. and Tim the route he had driven the day before. It coincided with our route. The driver remembered seeing us too. He said it would take about a year for the photos he was shooting today to be available on Google Maps but that we would be able to see ourselves captured on these two days by his camera equipment, immortalized in the Google databank. The photos came up not long after we got home, however, and I printed them here when I created the blog in 2009. Since then however they have been blacked out. I tried a "print screen" of each, edited them, and they seemed to save in my photo files, but were nowhere when I tried to upload them to the blog. So . . . imagination is needed to see each of us pedaling along the road.

The 35 miles to town and Grouse Mountain Lodge on the west outskirts of it, went by in a flash. I sat at the Lodge and waited for the others to arrive. After the first riders arrived, I bicycled into town and stopped at Glacier Cyclery. Rick came into the bike shop. I wondered if he was going to buy himself a new water bottle. In Kettle Creek he had taken my white Polar water bottle from me thinking it was his; thus, I rode with a store water bottle for several days before Rick returned my bottle to me, admitting that it wasn’t his because its exterior was too clean. He’d left his in Kettle Creek. Of course I knew this all along, but one did not question Rick.

A raven on the Lodge lawn

My bike had not been shifting into the lower gears properly so I was power riding in the high gears more than I would have liked. The shop guys explained that the shifters and rear derailleurs were not in sync and that they could replace the rear derailleur for $70. I told them to go for it, and they told me the bike would be ready before they closed at 5 pm.

That taken care of, I explored the town a bit. Stopped in a small jewelry store and bought Jess a pair of brushed silver earrings for her 37th birthday. Then I headed for the library and a computer. A pizza café across the street from the library beckoned, so I stopped and had a huge slice of very good pizza and an icy beer. Next I went to the library and logged onto their computer. I had only half an hour on the computer, so checked my bank statement and bills, answered as many e-mails as possible, and tried to compose a group message but kept nodding off.

Internet photo Whitefish Library

When I returned to the bike shop, my bike was not quite ready. I waited while they finished working on it, and then headed for Kevin’s Aunt and Uncle’s. (All but Rick, Tim, and Diane bunked at Aunt Jane and Uncle John’s over our rest day. Those three and Pam & Sean stayed on at Grouse Mountain Lodge.)

A mile or so on my way to their house, my gears began to slip and klunk. The shifting was much worse than when I had taken the bike in. Dilemma. Should I ride to Jane and John’s and see if someone could take me back to the bike shop, or should I ride back to the shop immediately, see if I could get there before it closed, and arrive at John and Jane’s late? Eventually, the shifting was so erratic that I had to walk. I decided on Jane and John’s. It was closest. After a few false turns, I found the hilly road to their place and pushed my bike up it. It was a bit before 5 pm when I arrived—hot, sweaty, and stressed—to find everyone cool and clean munching appetizers around a table in the backyard.

Back yard gathering at Kevin's aunt and uncle's;
cannot enlarge the photo because it is low res from Tim's website 

I was stressed about my bike because I didn’t know whether we needed to run it back to the bike shop right away before it closed for the weekend. Turned out the shop was open on Sunday. Sean and Pam had joined the group (apparently Diane had asked if they could) and Sean said he would take the bike to the shop in the morning. Thus, relieved, I lugged my heavy BOB bag upstairs to the bath and took a steamy shower. Why I didn’t put the bag in the Hacienda and take out the clothes and toiletries I needed I’ll never know. Think I was in a tizzy. After my shower, I felt a little more relaxed.

Before I rejoined the group, Jane had entertained all with the story of the twinflower and impressed upon them that her house was one of only a very few places outside of Scotland where twinflowers could be found. (Twinflower's borealis name reflects its northern distribution, while the Linnaea part of its name honors Carolus Linnaeus, the Swedish naturalist who developed the modern system of taxonomic classification.) I think I stole some of Jane’s thunder when she held up a flower on my return to the group, and I blurted, “Oh, twinflower!”

Internet photo

Supper this evening was superb—roasted Cornish game hens, and all the fixings, including John’s famous sourdough biscuits and Jane’s brownies. Kevin’s cousin Leslie and her husband, Chris, were there with their son also, so it was a grand affair that spilled to a table on the sun porch. John is a retired veterinarian and had many amusing stories and ribald jokes to tell.

Rick and Aunt Jane; Uncle John in background

Bill U. put up his tent in the side yard, Kevin slept in the big house, and Bill H. and I slept in the “Hacienda” a little cabin behind the big house that had twin beds downstairs and a double bed above in a loft. The whole cabin was decorated in pink and blue gingham, each bed having several frilly pink or blue gingham pillows and a gingham bedspread. Pink and blue gingham curtains hung at the windows, too. There was also a small chemical toilet with a pink fuzzy cover in a little corner bathroom. Bill H. and I both chose a twin bed as it would be difficult to find the loft ladder and get down it to the bathroom during the night. Kevin is going to drive  Bill to the Kalispell airport early in the morning for his return to Tulsa and his job. I will miss Bill’s easy grin, casual style (he rides in street shorts, tee, regular shoes, and uses no gloves or helmet) and helpful pathfinding.

Tomorrow a rest day. We intend to explore Glacier Nat'l Park. Tune in.