Day 16: Dillon - Rest Day

We managed to while away the time, me answering e-mails and Sean dozing, so it wasn't until 9 a.m. that we went looking for breakfast. After cycling through town we decided to visit a cafe in one of the 19th century hotels. We were the only customers and had an excellent meal, I had french toast for a change while Sean had pancakes with sausages. The waitress thought we were crazy doing this trip, a common sentiment it seems.

From breakfast we dropped off our laundry at the laundromat and then dropped my bicycle off to get the carrier welded. We then went over to the Patagonia outlet shop. This is where they send their overstocked, end of line items and the prices were excellent. We had unfortunately just missed the labour day sale where everything was 40% of the lowest price. They told us people camp out the night before to be first in for the deals.

Fortunately, I didn't need much and my carrying capacity is limited otherwise I could have gone overboard. I bought a light jacket for running and a vest for cycling. Sean bought a cycling jacket and a polypropyl shirt. Great deals.

While Sean went back to put the clothes in the drier (since he had transport) I went to the bookshop next door and whiled away the time. I do enjoy bookstores and this was no exception. It must be challenging to stock a store with titles that will grab the browser's inerest and I found quite a few titles I would have been interested in had I the room. One thing which surprised me was the number of books dealing with Islamic terrorism. But perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise given that next week is the first anniversary of September 11.

Sean found me in the bookstore and we then went across the street and had excellent smoothies. They were among the best I've ever had. They obviously did well with their other offerings as the place filled up with people as lunchtime approached.

Sean decided to return to the hotel room and crash so I wandered about town for the next few hours before I collected my bicycle. They hadn't done exactly what I requested, but hopefully it will hold. I remain to be be convinced.

They had an excellent small museum and I of course couldn't pass it by. After entering I was confronted by a HUGE kodiak grizzly bear. It was just massive. The curator told me that these are found in Alaska, with the local grizzlies being much smaller, but still intimidating nonetheless.

I have been reading about the Lewis & Clark expedition and recently completed their description of their encounters with grizzlies. They were with some indians who were going after a bear and saw the indians getting ready as if for war. The indians told them that grizzlies were the most difficult to kill and frightening opponents. The Americans scoffed at this and were confident that with their rifles they would not have any problem.   They soon learned otherwise...

The first grizzly attacked them and it took 5 shots before it came down; the second one took 8 shots. Even one bear which they shot in the heart still continued to attack. The Americans soon learned to respect the grizzly and they always made sure that they had a backup with a loaded rifle at all times, even then they still had problems. Lewis himself was stalked by a grizzly as he was hunting and only managed to save himself by jumping in a river, a tactic which didn't always work as grizzlies can swim.

While at the museum I found the answer to the hay bales I saw the day before. These bales were large and square as opposed to the round ones I am used to seeing. This method was a local invention and was done using a ramp and pulley system at a 60 degree angle to the ground. The farmer drops the hay at the bottom of the ramp, uses the pulley to pull it up to the top, and then it is dropped into a square pen. This method apparently is much more efficient than the other methods, at least until the modern round bales came into play. A number of farmers still use the old method as a tradition. Good on them...

For dinner Sean and I headed out of town towards the interstate. We found one restaurant but they had nothing for me to eat. The hostess suggested another in town which we duly went to. Sean had a lasagne and I enjoyed a spaghetti with tomatoe sauce. Nothing spectacular, indeed, quite forgettable, except for the fact that I at least got something a bit different for a change. It's tough being a vegetarian in this part of the world.

To end our day we watched the film 'The Perfect Storm' on television. It was an excellent story about five fisherman from Maine and the special effects were awesome. Made me glad that I've never been keen on sailing. The ocean really can be quite daunting. Give me my bicyle and terra firma any day.

On to the next day ...