I'm exhausted!

Okay, the past two days have been exhausting to say the least! I'll give a quick run-down of all we've been doing, because when I add it all up, it seems to be a lot. Missoula, as I'm discovering every day, is beautiful and has so much to offer! It has a strong culture, community presence, nightlife, events, nature, etc. So, the past two days have gone like this:

WEDNESDAY

• Went to the UM Outdoor Recreation Program office to rent a bike for my mom - according to the guy working there, bikes come in "big, small, or way big" sizes. We chose small. This program is awesome - it offers trips for students and rentals of all kinds.




• We headed to Rattlesnake Creek Recreation Area for some biking on an "old logging road" that runs along Rattlesnake Creek (don't worry...no actual rattlesnakes). Now, keep in mind that I love road-biking, and not so much mountain-biking. I was definitely expecting this "old logging road" to be a little smoother than it was. Considering my bike is not made for hard-core mountain-biking (eh, this was "easy" mountain-biking), my arms and butt were really sore! We ended up switching bikes halfway through to give my arms a break (mountain-bikes have shocks). We biked about 15 miles and saw some beautiful views of the creek.
  
  


• Next, we went back to my apartment to grab some lunch and then headed out on our bikes again. This time, more my style with road-biking. We wanted to explore Missoula, because it has an extensive trail network that runs along the rivers and there are bike lanes and bike routes everywhere. It is awesome! We biked about 25 miles around town, and it was hot!
  
  


• During our bike-a-thon, we stopped at "Out to Lunch", which is an event that is held every Wednesday in a park in downtown Missoula. Basically, tons of food vendors and restaurants come and set up booths while a band plays. People just in general are in good moods while they listen to music, eat, and watch the kids run around. It also seemed like a lot of different types of group homes brought their residents to enjoy the day too. It was so great and such a beautiful day!




• We had a little time to kill and since we had spent most of the day outside and it was still really hot, we headed to the mall. This is the "premiere" mall of western Montana. Eh. You all know how much I love shopping (cough, cough, sarcasm). Some good stores, but just a basic mall. The west end of town has tons of other shopping though in a more suburb development-type scheme (big parking lots, separate stores, tons of traffic, etc.). The best part (drumroll please) is that there is an REI here! Ohhh, I could spend hours in that store.




• After shopping, we headed to the Iron Horse Brewpub for some outdoor seating, fantastic food, and of course a beer or two. Still debating about whether or not to cut alcohol out of my diet completely (seeing as my body hates it), but in the mean time it stays in minimally. Anyways, the food was amazing to say the least, and there is something about sitting outside on a huge outdoor patio surrounded by other people who are also in the mood to not rush the eating process. We were there for about 2 hours, and there was no table around us that got up to leave in that whole time. It was a completely different philosophy than Wisconsin eating! I love it!




• We finished the night by walking around downtown for a little bit, but then headed home because, as you may have guessed, we were exhausted. I think I made it through about 4.5 minutes of The Cosby Show before falling asleep.

THURSDAY

• We got up early again today in order to be out before it gets too hot outside. We biked through the University to the Kim Williams Trail, which is an old railroad track converted into a recreation trail - it runs along the Clark Fork River.






• About a mile down the trail, we locked up our bikes and hiked the Hellgate Canyon Trail, which climbs up the back of Mt. Sentinel to the summit. We were the only ones on the trail - and no wonder! Everything was so smoky from the wildfires that you couldn't even see anything from the top. They also advise people not to do too much physical activity with the air quality right now....hmmm we survived. It was a total of about 6 miles hiking to the top of the mountain.



• Once we reached the bottom, we jumped on our bikes again to finish the Kim Williams Trail, which was a total of about 5 miles mountain biking.
  
  
• We finished by heading home because, as you guessed it, we were exhausted! So, all-in-all, we did a triathlon of sorts today, without the normal sports...but it consisted of 5 miles mountain biking, 6 miles hiking, and 6 miles road-biking. Fun times, fun times...but I think I will be sore tomorrow!



• Tonight, we will be heading to "After Work Missoula", which is similar to "Out to Lunch". Every Thursday night, there is music and food in the downtown park from 5:30 to 8:30. I think it will be the same idea as Jazz in the Park (in Milwaukee) if you are familiar with that.

Okay, I have rambled on and on and on. Tomorrow, mom leaves (sad) and I start orientation (exciting) so you may hear from me a) more because I will have no friends yet and so I will have oodles of free time in which I will be able to blog about my entire life, b) less because I will make so many friends and will no longer have time to blog, or c) less because my life will be overtaken with homework, studying, working, etc. and I will no longer have the motivation to blog because who will want to read about studying, studying, studying? Anyways, I miss you all. The door is always open for visitors. And PS - my new phone, which I paid mucho dinero for, has not rang in like 5 days.Can anyone identify this bird?