"Rest" Day in Libby

Dave says thanks for the encouragement from all you folks on Facebook and by email and texts.  His shoulder was sore last night because the numbing agent was wearing off but it seems fine today. We ridden around the town of Libby to do a lot of errands and it's seemed fine. He is icing it today occasionally.  Tomorrow we will load up the bike and continue so that will be the test.

Today we went through our gear and reduced further weight. We've sent a box to my parents in Minneapolis with a tire and some tools that we've decided we don't need to travel with. We will want to change tires to a new set when we get to Minneapolis, which we figure is about halfway.

We reduced 10 pounds by mailing that to Minneapolis. Dave also found some sandals to substitute for heavy hiking shoes so those are in the box with the tire for when we drive home. We figure for the little hiking we might do, he can be in his bike shoes. We also sent home 5 pounds of warm clothes as the weather is really warming up. We still have things to layer if need be or we can just wrap up in our sleeping bags.
Another funny "old people" (or just forgetful people) things story...We brought our clothes in a net bag to the Post Office and forgot the bag there. A (motor) biker  couple was also there shipping clothes home. He happened to see us later putting air in the tires, recognized the bike and told us that we left the net bag behind. So we went back to the post office and the woman there who had been so helpful to us this morning (finding large boxes for us so we didn't have to pay for them)unwrapped the box again so she could pull out the net bag which she had added to the box after we'd left it behind! She also untaped and re-taped the other box so Dave could add his shoes!
Early in the trip we stopped at the post office in Sedro Woolley and mailed 5 pounds.  So all in all we have reduced 20 pounds. We are however carrying some freeze dried food, oatmeal, dried fruit and peanut butter as we have been camping in primitive campgrounds away from restaurants and will be in the next few days.

And we are either losing weight, or at least inches, as clothes feel looser. The New 4200 Mile Diet Plan. I plan to market it when I get home! Too bad I didn't keep it off this winter. I was working on cabinet construction which wasn't very aerobic, and having some anxiety about the trip. I'm a nervous eater, unfortunately.

We're heading into a rustic area along the Koocanusa Lake. We will have primitive campsites for one or maybe two nights so won't be able to post until we get to Eureka. We're heading quite a ways north from here as Glacier Park is right on the border. Then we may go further north and go into Canada to see Waterton Lakes. Right now the Going to the Sun Road is closed due to some late season snow so don't know that we will be able to bike it. I described that in the previous day's blog, Tuesday June 24th.
Dave is doing some bike maintenance and clean up. We're lucky that he enjoys it. He's doing the work in a little campground run by the volunteer fire department, directly behind the Venture Motel where we are staying. It's a nice shady spot where we had a picnic. We would have camped here but really wanted to have a comfortable bed for Dave, not knowing how the shoulder would feel after the shot. Also wanted a shower after a day without. We are getting spoiled though. Good thing we're old and have good credit. 
We met a guy who is raising funds for the Rotary Club, kind of creating his own route but is heading to Glacier next. His blog is at www.PedalingForAPurpose.com
I just love checking out other folk's blogs. The Internet has made such a community.
We spoke with our dog sitting family and our pups are doing fine. We miss them but know they are being well cared for. They are really bonded to each other so I'm glad we didn't separate them as we had been planning to do.
I'll write more in a couple of days.

Unfortunately the weather is supposed to degrade into showers and thunderstorms over the next several days.  Today was delightful, but we'll just switch into rain gear, didn't send those clothes back! Libby has lots of sculptures of eagles. In fact they have lots of things set up high on poles. We've seen an airstream and a truck as well as numerous eagle sculptures.  Two locals told us that Libby gets hardly any wind during the winter as the valley is sheltered. However they do get ice. We have been seeing crosses at the side of the road. Sometimes on a curve, sometimes not. The spookiest was this group of five in the photo below.