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Monday, July 4, 2016

Big Sky Country and Coinsidence

Day 3 was a scenic ride through Montana.  We started our ride around 9AM and 30 miles into our day we met 2 riders from Philadelphia, both named Mike.  I remember passing them in a little town in Wyoming and how coincidental that we meet them on the way to Helena and they are going to the Arctic Ocean as well.  There route is almost identical to our route too.   We will see more of them on this adventure.  Montana is a beautiful state and great roads to ride on a motorcycle. The skies were partly cloudy but we stayed dry and the temps were great for riding.  When we arrived in West Glacier, we immediately stopped at the KOA for a camping spot, no luck.  They were kind enough to call San-Suz-Ed down the road, they had 2 spots available.  We rode over secured our spot, and pitched our tent.   We were finishing up and getting ready to ride into town when a BMW rider pulled up and asked if our last name is Head, I thought 'OK I'm in the middle of nowhere...what are the chances that this guy knows me...' He came over shook my hand and said "My name is Justin Head,  from Eastern Washington..."  He is on a ride to Toronto, then on to the BMW rally in New York State.  Now the coincidence in all of this my dad has several relatives in Easter Washington.  They visited Washington several times when he was growing up and once tried to move there.  For all I know Justin and I could be related.  I gave Justin a daddydaughterAK sticker and we promised to touch base in the future.  I want to ride the Washington Back Roads Discovery Route sometime and find out if we are related.  Where I was raised the last name Head was not common, at all.  Post college was the first time I met anyone sharing the same last name.  Justin said there are over 100 people in his family tree spread out in Washington.  After talking to Justin we visited West Glacier to play tourist, lounge in the shade and plot our next day's adventure.  Once we returned to camp, my daughter had her first hot meal served in a bag (spaghetti), then we made smores by the fire and played Rummy and Crazy Eights.  Dad was the victor of the night, but revenge is sure to cut my streak short.  We headed to the tent at 10:15 and the sun was still shining, not quite dusk yet.  Camping in the Land of the Midnight Sun is going to be interesting!