Day 10: Fairview to
Lambert, Montana
The lightening storm was long gone when we awoke to a
perfect day for cycling. There was a
cool breeze, and the temperature would climb no higher than about 80
degrees. We cleaned up the camper,
loaded gear onto the bikes and thanked our generous host, Mr. Lebsock, who was
clearing brush in preparation for the wedding of one of his daughters this
Friday. Taking care of wandering
cyclists must have been an annoying distraction from the preparation for this
big family event, and I’m sure he thought my attempt to cycle 1,700 miles to
the Pacific Ocean with my two young children was ludicrous. But he hid his judgment and politely wished
us well on our journey.
Before cycling out of Fairview, we returned to the café
where we had eaten dinner. Letty
Villarreal, a kind-hearted woman who runs the café, greeted us as old friends
and gave me a discount on our breakfast.
As we rode out of town, we passed Mr. Larkin, who, with his wife
Jennifer, had told us about the café the day before. He waved with a smile and wished us good
luck. In less than 24 hours, I already
felt at home and welcome in this friendly town.
We were on the road for 8 hours today, although that
included a lunch break in Sidney, MT and frequent stops to send photos of
roadkill to Professor Shilling at UC Davis.
We sent 22 photos, mostly of dead birds, but there were also two deer, a
snake, a cat and what looked like a badger.
The route from Sidney to Lambert included a series of long climbs, and
my legs protested at the amount of weight on the bike. With four loaded panniers, a handlebar bag,
Saya on the trailer cycle and a packed bike trailer, each pedal stroke up the
hills was a challenge, and progress was slow.
But Sho and Saya didn’t mind, filling the hours with duets and
entertaining, stream-of-consciousness commentary. Saya told me, “Daddy, I just saw Nature’s
Mother! She was on a bicycle and dressed
just like me.” She also delivered an
extended monologue about the virtues of worms.
“Even though they are yucky, they actually help trees grow by digging in
the dirt. And we all need trees to
breathe.”
Near the end of the afternoon, as we were cycling at a crawl
up one of those long inclines, a truck pulled beside us. Ken Torgerson was driving, and his wife Pat
was in the passenger seat. She leaned
out the window with a concerned look and asked where we planned to sleep that
night. I said, “In Lambert, wherever I
can find an appropriate place to set up our tent.” Ken and Pat live in Lambert, and they offered
us a place to sleep in the church basement near their home. I was happy to accept her offer, especially
when she mentioned that they had leftover roast beef, potatoes and peach cobbler. When we pedaled into Lambert – a town with
perhaps 150 residents – at 6:30 p.m., the couple was waiting for us. As they showed us the church, Pat mentioned
that Lambert used to be the poorest school district in Montana. But after the oil boom, it’s now one of the
richest. “They’re pouring lots of money
into our high school. The teachers used
to live in temporary trailers, but now they have real houses.” I gave the Torgersons a card with my blog
info and promised to post a photo of them.
Pat said they don’t use the Internet but thanked me anyway.
There is no cell phone service in Lambert, but the local bar
has an Internet connection, which I used to post this blog. It will take nearly a week for us to reach
the next major town (Lewistown), and I don’t know when I’ll next have a
connection. So be patient with me if you
don’t see any blogs over the next couple days.
Here are some pics:
The camper we slept in. Luxury!
Sho and Saya's thank you note to the Lebsock family
Sho and Saya with Letty Villarreal
Saya taking photo for the roadkill project
With Ken and Pat Torgerson in Lambert, MT
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