Classic Fischer family...I found myself scrambling this morning to get ready and get back to the church. I can't believe I'm saying this but, fortunately, I was in the food van today so I didn't need to worry about getting changed or getting my bike ready for the day. Sometimes van duty works out for the best. Mike and I were in the van for duty but we had Matt and Dana with us because they needed to see the doctor. I can say I have been one of the lucky ones not to get sick! Knock on wood. So I began making a list of places to call while we waited for the riders to get ready for the day.
Once riders began departing, I began planning our food van route for the day. The doctors office was conveniently located in a mall area so there were tons of options there. Plus, Missoula just had a lot of options in general. We headed to the doctor at 8 but turns out they aren't open until 9...oops. It ended up working out because it turned out to be a colder and windier day than people had expected and many wished us to meet up and drop off jackets and layers for them. So before the riders got too far, we headed out and layered them up. Good thing too because it was slightly rainy and gross, weather that calls for an extra jacket at times. After the clothing debacle, we headed back into town.
There are a few strategies for getting food donations. Mike is an in-person strategist. I prefer to call people on the phone. So it worked out and we kind of tag-teamed. We went into a few places and Mike would do the asking and then I would call people while we were in the van. We managed to get a decent amount of food - including Taco Johns, Red Robin, Buffalo Wild Wings, Walgreens, Perkins, and more. THANK YOU! I am constantly reminded of the good out there on van days and how generous people, companies, and organizations can be. Sick (hopefully, healing) people in the van and all of our donations, we headed out of Missoula to meet the groups. We finally came upon the groups pretty far into the days route. We pulled over at a place called the Bison Café and had a nice picnic lunch. It was a beautiful day and we were very close to the National Bison Reserve. I was hopeful we would see some buffalo but we never entered the park enough to get in the middle of the herds.
No buffalo sightings at the National Bison Range. Mike and I pressed on to look for dinner options. We found a few along the way including the restaurant attached to this incredibly nice hotel. I saved their card and as soon as I'm able to locate it I will be sure to add their information here. They were so nice and helpful and our luck only continued as we went to the next town to pick up pizza we were able to get donated as well. The pizza place was incredibly kind and welcoming and we even had a photo op with them. They were an organization created with the intention of giving back to the community and supporting local events. It was really cool to speak with them and fun fact: Mike and I found out our dads are both named Craig thanks to the owner, Craig.
Food in the van we headed to the host in Polson. Polson is a cute town in Montana located at the base of Flathead Lake. It didn't appear that there were many restaurants in the town so Mike and I didn't call any so the next group tomorrow would be able to use them. Getting food donations takes a lot of work so it is helpful when the previous groups haven't used the resources in the area you are staying in. We arrived at the host and wow. What an incredible place. We were staying at the New Life Christian Center and wow, just wow. I spoke with one of the caretakers who would be helping us get settled and learned a little about the history of the place and how they had come into such a great space.
We began the process of unloading and getting settled. After a little exploring, I was able to find a library with a incredibly comfortable couch in it to claim as my own for the night. I love libraries and books so it was a great space for me - plus, the church was so large I would be able to have that room all to myself! Woohoo. I unpacked some of my stuff and then Mike and I threw our stuff in the laundry so we could try to get it done before everyone else arrived and needed to do laundry as well. Groups slowly began trickling in and we all settled down for the evening.
Elli had hurt her shoulder and needed to go see a doctor so Elli, Dana, and I scooted out of the team meeting to take care of that. During our drive, we were able to get a glimpse of how pretty the lake was and the town nestled alongside it. We made our way back to the church to see what people were up to for the night. Tomorrow was Steph's birthday and we wouldn't really be able to do anything special tomorrow night because we had Glacier and "Going to the Sun Road" in the morning so it would be an early night, thus, Dana and I decided tonight was the night to celebrate. We roped Eric and Lauren in and the four of us headed out into town with the birthday girl in tow, making it 5.
Our first attempt took us into the middle of no-where in a residential development...I guess the directions were not right. So we headed back and stopped in a gas station where we met some nice people who told us about what was what in town. Thus we made our way to the Wolf Lodge and the Zombie Brain shots awaiting us. The Zombie Brain shots were SO COOL! Not only because they were delicious but they were so awesome looking. I was pumped. There was a guy celebrating his 21st with his family and we had a lot of fun hanging out with their party but we were exhausted and didn't stick around too long. We diid stick around long enough for Eric and Steph to provide some superb back-up dancing for the karaoke singers. Well done guys, well done.
Back at the church, we crowded into the kitchen to continue our adventures without disturbing the sleeping people throughout the church. In the kitchen, I DESTROYED some Taco John's and some sandwich chips with Dana and Steph before we came up with the great idea to go to the lake. We found Eric and grabbed flashlights and headlamps before gathering up our bikes to make our way down to the lake. It was quite late and really dark but we managed to make our way down there. I'm not entirely sure the 4K would be happy to hear me talk about these adventures because it wasn't the best idea but it was random moments like this that make the 4K so special. Anyways, we were at the lake and just hanging out and I cannot explain how clear the sky was. I could see so many stars and it felt like they were a foot in front of my face not hundreds of thousands of miles away.
Eventually, we were making our way back towards the church when a cop car pulls up in front of us. We were worried because we didn't have the entirely proper night gear for riding but turns out he was looking for a larcenist running through the area with a backpack. Haha yes, this was real life. Dana spoke with the officer briefly before we made the rest of our way back to the church. It was a lot of fun but I was exhausted and still needed to shower. I quickly grabbed my things and showered before turning in - much later than I should have but totally worth it :)
