Day 20 Kellogg to Missoula
My bicycle problems in Pullman had delayed
me by 3 days. My solution of purchasing
an non-electric bicycle has slowed my progress considerably. In order to make it to Jackson, Wyoming in
time to meet with up with Denise, Jennifer, and Ted, it would be necessary for
me to peddle 60 miles a day over the Rocky Mountains. After a bit of prayerful contemplation Icame
to the conclusion The spirit is willing, but the flesh is week (Matthew 26:40).
I swallowed my pride and violated my
principles and decided that I would rent a U Haul to bring me, my bike and cart
from Kellogg to Rexburg. This would get
me to Jackson a few days early. Enroute,
I decided the spend the night in Missoula, Montana (travel between these two
Idaho towns requires that you pass through that part of Montana). There I had the opportunity to visit Ethel
MacDonald spend the night at her home.
Ethel is an amazing woman. I was
too polite to ask her age, but she mentioned that she has a 63 year old
son. Several years ago she decided that
she would get rid of car and rely on her bike as her primary form of
transportation. She not only bikes
around town, she has also biked all over the U.S. and France. We went out to dinner at a lovely Missoula
bistro and she told me some stories of strange experience of living in a very
Blue City in a very Red state.
Ethel taught French and English for many years
in the town of Arlee, Montana on the Flat Reservation, home of the
Salish-Kootenai people. When she
retired, she decided to go to West Africa and taught Benin.
Since then she has been going on extended bike trips and hosting bikers
in her home. To do this, she has used
the services of Warm Showers.
Warm Showers (warmshowers.org) is a wonderful organization dedicated to
encouraging people to offer hospitality to bikers and hikers. Those interested in hosting are invited to
submit their name to the directory. Often
hosts are cyclists themselves. The
organization was established to encourage people to re-discover the ancient
tradition of welcoming the stranger.
Travelers are to arrive without vehicles and are welcome to stay one
night. The host can offer to feed them,
but are not required to do so. There are
over 60,000 hosts across the globe. The
organizers have created this so that in listening to each other’s stories our
better angels will emerge. We discover
that the world is filled with wonderful people.
Ethel has hosted over 200 cycling guests in the past 10 years and has,
herself, been the guest in over 200 homes.
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