Hamilton, MT

Its been a few days. I haven't really had internet or phone service for that matter. Montana is everything I thought it would be. AWESOME. And huge. And rugged. But mostly AWESOME. Tomorrow I have a short ride (45 miles) into super hip and cool Missoula. While in Missoula I'll be stopping by the Adventure Cycling Headquarters to get my picture taken and posted up on their wall of TransAm riders, where I will be gawked and laughed at for years to come. There's supposedly a pretty nice hostel there too so the forecast looks good for sleeping in a bed. Here are some pics from the last few days:

The exact moment when I figured out how to work the timer on my camera.

This converted bus is a Mexican restaurant I'd been hearing about. Its in Dillon, MT. EXCELLENT food. Legit, cheap, home cookin' style Mexican. Just a guy and his wife doing the cooking and taking orders. Opens early and stays open late. I was so happy to eat here. Finding good AND cheap food along the TransAm is not always easy. 

The people sitting down on the left kept trying to communicate with the people behind the counter in spanish  even though they clearly had no grasp of the spanish language WHATSOEVER. The people behind the counter also clearly spoke english because they kept speaking to everyone in ENGLISH!! Most annoying thing EVER. We're on a tiny bus. Order your food like a normal person and get out of the way. You didn't know how to speak spanish before you got here, you're not going to spontaneously start speaking it now. Idiots.

Woke up in the morning with a pretty solid frosting on my tent.

West Yellowstone, MT

Grand Tetons National Park/Yellowstone National Park

I had to restrain myself from posting every one of the hundreds of pictures I took of the Grand Tetons. They were jaw dropping. Today I played around in Yellowstone. I had a few pretty steep climbs but at the top of each one was an amazing view so it made it a lot easier to motivate my legs to moving. I'm staying at Old Faithful tonight. For some weird reason they don't have campgrounds here so I had to spring for a hotel room. I convinced the hotel manager to let me stay in a room without heat or a bathroom for half the price. Money is tight and the weather is great for camping so I'd rather not pay for sleeping accommodations. Anyway, I'll be taking some pictures of Old Faithful at sunrise tomorrow so stay tuned. I'll be entering the great state of Montana tomorrow morning which I'm super excited about. I've wanted to explore Montana more than any other state on this trip and I'll finally be getting my chance. Hopefully the weather stays on my side. I'm a little disappointed that I haven't seen a single buffalo, moose, or bear so far. How I managed to cycle through Yellowstone and not see a single buffalo is beyond me. Montana, please come through for me with some wildlife!