TransBallard: Day 69

24 July 2012 Darby to Missoula MT 67 miles (TransAm 3,320) Sometimes bike trails are boring, like sailing Puget Sound in a sea of fog. The safety they bring, the separation from traffic, is most welcome. But when the trail does nothing more than parallel a major highway, it leaves little to the imagination. The …

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TransBallard: Day 68

23 July 2012 Jackson to Darby MT 76 miles (TransAm 3,253) Gina is focusing on her finances these days, perhaps because she is nearing the end of her trip and has budgets to carefully consider lest they run out before she reaches the Pacific. Yesterday it was shopping the 40 percent off sale at the …

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TransBallard: Day 67

22 July 2012 Dillon to Jackson MT 49 miles (TransAm 3,177) “Emergency Situation” I whisper to myself. Thinking about the fact that Gina will return home in a few short weeks got me thinking about all the things that will need to be done around the house before her arrival. Things like putting away my …

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TransBallard: Day 66

21 July 2012 Ennis to Dillon MT 73 miles (TransAm 3,128) Aerial Tour of Seattle 600 ft’ish Gina cycled up another mountain pass. Given how many times she has crossed the Continental Divide over the past few weeks, this is just another typical day for her, the equivalent of that weekly meeting with one’s project …

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TransBallard: Stay Tuned

24 July 2012 While the Wagon continues to roll West with her TransAmming pals, the Burrito is flying East on a business trip. This is nothing newsworthy in and of itself, but it does mean that the blog, already a few days behind (I call that Business As Usual) is about to get a few …

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TransBallard: Day 65

20 July 2012 West Yellowstone to Ennis MT 73 miles (TransAm 3,055) Someone is getting good at haiku. I present to you another haiku masterpiece, straight from the Wagon’s keyboard: montana big sky buffalo roam the vast land mountains near and far With Day 64 being The Wall, today’s gift of haiku from Gina is …

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TransBallard: Day 64

19 July 2012 West Yellowstone MT 0 miles (TransAm 2,982) I have figured it out. The number of days you can hold down a full-time day job and write part-time every evening about someone else’s summer vacation is 64. Then what happens? You find yourself shunning the computer for a new episode of Big Brother. …

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TransBallard: Day 63

18 July 2012 Grand Teton NP WY to West Yellowstone MT 59 miles (TransAm 2,982) Welcome to state number eight – Montana. Big Sky Country. The Treasure State. Land of the Shining Mountains. The Last Best Place. Where Beer Flows as Cold as The Rivers. Okay, so I made that last one up. But is …

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TransBallard: Day 62

17 July 2012 Grand Teton National Park WY 0 miles (TransAm 2,923) Grand Teton National Park. A day of rest and relaxation, which, to quote Gina, “is not easy for [her] to do.” And yet, she seemed to do pretty well at it, refusing to get out of her cozy bed to any sort of …

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TransBallard: Day 61

16 July 2012 Dubois to Grand Teton National Park WY 65 miles (TransAm 2,923) I have decided that I like to say “I have decided …” when, in fact, the thing I’ve decided is either (a) something I don’t actually do or (b) is of no importance at all and therefore not really worthy of …

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