Meanwhile, I had some time to kill, so I stopped into a local diner for breakfast in Troy. The diner was pretty shabby looking, but the locals were flocking, plus there was free wi-fi. Once i stepped in though, it was pretty clear that I was not a frequent flyer. I asked where it was okay to sit and the waiter looked around and said "any open seat". The couple at the table he was serving chuckled as I found a booth to myself. It took not 5 minutes for another couple to ask where I was coming from before it turned into a full blown conversation about my trip with the diner. I must say, the sense of community and acceptance that everyone on the diner provided was, to put it bluntly, very nice. I got a story about a man who drove a semi-truck for 30 years and his experience with Chicago highways. The waiter asked me how the trip had been so far and I said I loved Montana. He told me not to get my hopes up, because the eastern part of the state isn't as nice.
After my nice brunch and blogging session, I met the duo in Libby, MT. The town was well put together and right next to the Amtrak. I took an hour to go for my run, which took me through a graveyard. The graveyard was colorful as fake flowers had been placed on many of the gravestones. For a usually dark place, it was quite pleasant. The trail then took me to the community playfields which consisted of three very nicely groomed baseball diamonds. I was astonished at just how green and well cut the grass was. The infield dirt was raked to perfection and the bases looked like they were brushed with whitening toothpaste. For such a small town, it certainly looked like they were big into baseball. Nearing the end of my run I hear a loud screeching as a mass of children exited the building. I thought there might be a fire drill or some emergency, but alas it was just recess.
The rest of the day consisted of just one more checkpoint. The bikers would have to go over another pass, but this road was unique. In a total of about an hour waiting at the checkpoint no more than a dozen cars passed me from either direction. It seemed that nobody really drove on this road. The only possible reason for it's creation may be access to the Libby dam. Further along the route, I stumbled upon a bridge which was a marvelous specimen to take pictures of. I'd be glad to share more, but chose only to select one for this blog.
The end of the day landed us in Eureka. We found a cozy bed an breakfast with a southern antique vibe. For dinner, we ate at the Trappers Salon which is located less than 4 miles from the Canadian border. The Salon also turned out to be a sports bar. We watched the Hawks take down the Lightening. Nobody really cared but they all turned and stared when I cheered for both third-period goals.
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