July 8, 2003 Today, our job was to get ourselves from Missoula, MT to Lowell, ID. As was discussed yesterday, we needed a ride today to keep from having to change all of our reservations for the rest of the journey, since we had made a planning error on today's mileage. Everything worked out, and we are in Lowell, a little town with two motels and a store. Our day started when Mickey Boehler picked us up at our hotel. She has a nice big van, so we had no difficulty fitting everything into the vehicle. As is often the case, when you plan something, it turns out that you can take advantage of the planning to achieve something that wasn't planned. What we hadn't planned for was a lot of rain today. When Mickey picked us up, it was drizzling after having rained hard during the night. As we approached Lolo Pass, it began raining harder. We decided to have her take us to the Ranger Station at Powell, so that we could have some shelter and some options in case the weather didn't improve. We were very happy that we had a ride up the pass. The rain made visibility questionable, and as the altitude increased, fog developed. It simply was not safe to be on the road on a bike today. We ended up with a 50 mile SAG for the day. Mickey is a very nice lady. She is the breakfast and lunch cook at the Double Tree Edgewater Inn in Missoula. She has four kids, and lives a very interesting life. The van she took us in today is one of her projects. She bought it for $600, and has basically rebuilt it to be a reliable and powerful vehicle. it gives her a great ride for camping and hauling strange cyclists around. Mickey is a native Montanan, who spent a lot of years in Anaconda before moving to Missoula. Missoula is lucky to have her. We enjoyed meeting her, and really appreciate the help she provided. After Mickey dropped us off, we went into the restaurant at the Ranger Station, and had coffee and a cinnamon roll while waiting for the weather to do something. It stopped raining, but the cloud cover didn't change much. At about 10:30, we decided that we should be on our way regardless of what Mother Nature was going to throw at us. So, we headed out. No sooner had we hit the road than it started raining hard again. We stopped, put on some more gear and got on our way again. It was dangerous being out there, since there is no shoulder on Highway 12 in the canyon. However, other that a big rig or two, the motorists were pretty good to us. It rained for about an hour and a half, and then started to clear. We stopped, and took off some gear, and proceeded along our way. After a while we got hot again, and a visitors' center came into view. We stopped there, and got down to shorts and sleeveless jerseys. The rest of the trip was uneventful from a weather point of view. In fact, it got down right beautiful - the temperature was cool, the sky nearly clear and the sun was out in all of its glory. It turned out to be a great ride. Our whole ride today was down a valley created by the Lochsa River. This valley is interesting because it is very long and narrow. It is over 70 miles long, and is only wide enough to contain the river and the road. The River is 3-5 times wider than the road, there is the road itself and then the road shoulder. The river runs to the left of the road as you descend. On the left hand side of the river and the right hand side of the road, the terrane steeply rises about 100-150 feet, so there is a feeling of confinement. If it wasn't so beautiful, it could be difficult on the head. Of course, there are only two ways the wind can blow - up the canyon or down the canyon. And, you get the prize for guessing that is was blowing up the canyon into our faces. The River is generally shallow and very swift. At times, pools develop, and you get the illusion that the river is becoming deep. In reality, it is only a hole. Rapids make up about one-third of the distance the river runs. It makes for a very scenic ride, with the river never leaving your side. Since we were descending the entire ride, the head wind was neutralized, and we made very good time. The bike had another trouble-free day, and the Team really benefited from the rest day. All is well with steed and riders. In a week and a day, we will be in Astoria, Or, and at the conclusion of the biking part of our journey. This is exciting to think about, as is the fact that we are in another new state - Idaho. We spent 11 days in Montana - enjoying every minute, and it is safe to say that we will enjoy every minute of the remaining time we will have on the road. However, it will be nice to see the Pacific Ocean. Ron Note from LaValle....Lowell is at Mile Marker 97.5 on Hwy 12 between Lolo and Lewiston. The sign marking this stop in the road shows a population of 23, lined out from 24. There are two places to stay, one is on the north side of the river and one is on the south. The one on the south is closer to the river while the Wilderness Motel is right on the road. Each has a cafe and convenience store close to them. When we were outside of Wolf Point, MT on June 26 we stopped and talked with a woman from California who was sagging for her husband and two other riders. We met them today at the cafe. They started in the Washington D.C. area on May 10 and have ridden much the same route as we have. The biggest exception was when they went directly across Ohio, Indiana and Illinois when we followed the Ohio to its confluence with the Mississippi. The other difference was at Fort Peck in eastern Montana when they took the road that went on a southwestern direction and we stayed on Hwy 2. They also came directly across from Great Falls to Missoula following Lewis' return path. Because of the rain today I was unable to take as many pictures as I might have if the entire day had been as lovely as this afternoon. I did get to spend more time looking at the signposts and most of them were creek names -- names such as Noseeum, Tick, Lake, Split, Coldwater and others describing their origin or some other aspect of being on them. Lowell is where the Lochsa and Selway Rivers come together and form the Clearwater River. It's a hub for fishermen and other sports enthusiasts.