Hotel Lander

The surprise came in a van, a shack wagon or "Big Chief" as my friends were very eager to baptize Van + Man with a genuine trail name.
I met Lander (the boyfriend, not the city) in the middle of the night (he drove 2 days straight from Vancouver, CA) at a gas station after I made Jack VERY clear I was not interested in assisting him in drinking himself to dead at the Outlaw Saloon.
Anyways that day I had a very enjoyable cycling day back by myself. Luck was with me as I had the cosmos on my side (nice topography, scenery and weather conditions). On arrival in Dubois, WY, I impressed the owners of an ice cream parlor with my stories (which means free ice cream) and was joined by a real Brad Pitt-like movie star (they're shooting a modern western called "Cardinal Matter" in town) who offered to pay for my treat as well (*sigh*). Of course encounters like these only happen when I'm setting new days-without-showers-records, thank you Murphy.

But back to The Van, or say Hotel Lander. Ten amazing days I was swept of my wheels by this man and his van, before time came and I will go on finishing my trip and he'll move back north and dig some more in Canadian grounds (he's WWOOFing in Canada).  
We spend our little holiday together manly into the wild, hiking Yellowstone's back country. Think bears and bear-spray, camping and campfires, freeze-dried meals (yuk), sleeping with bisons and overestimating ourselves hiking up a mountain covered in over-knee-deep packs of snow ("Trip not advised" highlighted on our back-country permit should have rung a bell).
Yellowstone as well as Teton National Parks were an amazing experience. Being surrounded by mountains usually releases in me an un-suppressible urge to hike so needless to say I was living up being in my element. Not even bleeding heels from new hiking shoes (on sale) could stop me.
We spotted moose and bears (actually hiked with grizzly's), badgers, bald eagles and befriended and stayed with Kevin, the Teton Park firefighter and Ryan, the Yellowstone back country officer. Great encounters, people, animalia and stories.

I patched a little road trip to our Yellowstone-get-together and we eventually ended up in Missoula, Montana from where I'll hit the pedal again. I get myself ready for a Lander-re-rendez-vous in Vancouver but first, Oregon is ogling ....