Missoula to Helena to Bozeman

It was hard to tear myself away from Missoula.  Real Hard.  I met all kinds of good people!  But it had to happen, so after four nights I rode on to Ovanodo MT.  Ovando is a tiny little town along hiway 200, but it has got style and character!  They offer free camping to anyone riding through in the town center, so I camped out with another cyclists who was riding the continental divide.  We ended up hanging out with Skip, the self-appointed town Mayor, Sheriff, and Justice of the Peace.  He was an older gentleman, and he talked very slowly.  He wasn't stupid or slow in the head, he just moved at his own small-town pace.  He had very random stories that didn't always pertain to the rest of the conversation, but he was real nice.  For those of you who know Gordon Rosinski, the manager of my apt building, it was a little bit like talking to a younger version of Gordie.  Fun times.

The next day I made it to Helena, where I met up with couch surfer Kayla and her three roommates.  We had a great time that night, eating out, drinking a few beers at the Irish pub, (complete with good live Irish music).  Then I got a thorough walking tour of downtown Helena, complete with a visit to the haunted residence of Wilson Butts. (I know, his name is Butts.  Now that's a funny name!)  Then we made it back home where Kayla read out loud from a cheesy Montana-based romance novel-- complete with funny voices! (It was deja vu all over again!) Good night!
 

 (This lovely sign was on the road into Helena...now why would you keep paying for the sign after 5/21?)

On the road the next day I hit some of the worst road construction of the trip yet!  For miles I had to ride through oily gravel, being continuously pelted with rocks from passing cars until I had to stop because my tires became completely covered with tar and rocks.  It sucked.  But by the time I got out of the worst of it I had virtually no traffic for the rest of the ride.  I camped at an airport in Three Forks and made it to Bozeman early the next day.

In Bozeman I stayed two nights with CSer Josh and his roommate.  I had yet another blast in Bozeman, which is in my opinion a smaller, slightly less good but still quite good, version of Missoula.  I hit the coffee shops and co-ops in the afternoon and in the evening ate some delicious pizza (thanks to chef and his wife for the free beers)!  In the evening I hit the town with Josh and some of his friends.  We had some good beers then went to see some live ska music by a band called Skavacado.  It was a great time and I am pleased to say that I ripped that dance floor to shreds! Shreds, I say!  Good dancin music.
Day two in Bozeman I was going to leave with Dan and Liz, and go to Yellowstone, but due to an unfortunate tumble a few miles out D and L decided to come back to Bozeman for another night to recuperate.  I stayed an extra day and took care of my CFI renewal paperwork all day.  So it was a productive day, though a bit boring.  In the evening I stopped by a bar for a drink before going to see Cowboys and Aliens and was pleased to see that they had Shlitz on tap!  On Tap!  For 2 bucks a glass, no less!  Well done, Bozeman, well done.

But tomorrow I will set out, for Yellowstone!  It will be quite sonic, I am sure and I will have to cross two mountain passes, one at 8,000 ft and the other topping it out at just under 11,000 ft!  It will be great as long as I don't get eaten by a bear or gored by a buffalo or scalded in a bubbling mud pit or squashed by an RV or pass out due to altitude sickness over the passes.  What could go wrong??