….and a lot happened in between! This is the part of the post where we bury our heads and apologize for holding out for so long as we’re sure most of you have stopped hitting refresh button on the blog, waiting for our next update. So without further ado, here is a recap of our final leg of the trip!
After leaving Sheridan, WY we entered what we sometimes referred to as the “main event” aka the Rocky Mountains. After five thousand feet of elevation climb 
we were both physically and mentally over the biggest climb of the journey (insert golf clap here). We then took to flatter lands for a bit before climbing a few thousand feet to enter Yellowstone National Park. Riding through Yellowstone was quite special and unusual; special in the sense of the beauty that surrounded us while unusual as it was the first time we were a) warned of bears while on our ride (talk about motivation to pedal harder) and b) riding along herds of bison (although this attained a sense of normalcy after the third or fourth encounter). We spent the next few days exploring the park and camping in a teepee. No offense to REI – we love our tent, but it was totally trumped by this experience.
We then set out to take on the rest of Montana with the goal of reaching a friends house just outside of Kalispell. This leg of the ride was arguably the most beautiful as each day we enjoyed views of mountains all around us dotted with fantastic rivers and lakes. Along the way we also got the chance to check out a couple of Montana’s cities, Bozeman and Helena, which were surprisingly really fun, neat cities with a lot to offer including a strong cycling community. We even got to camp atop the continental divide outside of Helena which we learned is really cold! Also during this stage, we experienced some absurd mechanical mishaps and subsequently learned some bike maintenance on the fly!
After a few days of enjoying Glacier National Park, fly fishing, water skiing and the company of great friends, we set off for Idaho and Washington. Although our time in Idaho was brief, the scenery was very much a continuation of Montana, and we even came across an awesome fruit and vegetable stand! This is something we had missed dearly from the east coast section of the trip.
We dropped into Washington and stayed in Spokane for two nights. Like Bozeman and Helena, this city really blew us away in what it had to offer. We owe a lot of this to our awesome host, Kate, who happened to have her hands in just about everything going on in the city related to urban farming, cycling and the community as a whole. Amongst the litany of things Kate does, she volunteers with Project Hope, which creates opportunities for youth enrichment in Spokane through community engagement, job training and education. During our stay we got a chance to visit some of gardens throughout the West Central neighborhood which comprise a scattered-site urban farming initiative. In a neighborhood that the city is currently working to improve, it was really great to see that urban farming is playing a pivotal role.
From Spokane we continued our pursuit of the coast through miles and miles of wheat fields before arriving in Leavenworth, a bavarian-themed town (awesome, we know), where our final big climb awaited us in a three thousand foot climb up to Steven’s Pass. From here we rejoiced in the idea of a return to sea-level with the Pacific almost in our grasp. We spent a night just outside of Seattle, in Monroe, before cycling through some of the awesome bike paths the city has to offer and spending our final night in Olympia. Then, exactly eight full weeks from our departure from Boston, we arrived at the Pacific Ocean in the small town of Westport, WA and dipped our tires in the water – completing our journey!
It still has not really settled in that we are done with the ride (this may be referred to as denial). It’s kind of funny to think about, but overall the challenges we faced along the way were actually made quite manageable because of all of the support we received. So now we wish to say thank you for liking our tweets/photos, sending us messages of encouragement, and not to mention hosting and guiding us through your amazing towns/cities, showing us what made them so unique!
Although this journey was a continuous change of landscapes and culture, there was an ever present theme of caring for the betterment of the community. This was incredibly moving to be a part of and something which will forever shape us going forward. So just as we hope to have inspired you, thank you for truly motivating us to not only pedal on but to continue to work with and celebrate our communities.
Until the next ride…
Dol & Dar