5th July… It’s my birthday! Ryan was going to do all the packing up today as a treat, but I was awake early and by the time he had managed to wake up it was done. We were going out for a breakfast treat, but as it was a holiday weekend everywhere seemed to be closed. Dillon was a strange town, the main street having shops on one side of the road and industrial units on the other. It wasn’t a great place to spend a birthday so I decided I’d rather press on and take a day off in a few days. Breakfast ended up being at McDonalds, which Ryan knows all too well, I actually like (I try not to like it for all the poor ethical reasons, but I’ve loved Mcdonalds since I was a kid!). Our breakfast plates included “biscuits” again. After a second taste we decided they were definitely scones and should be eaten with butter and jam, so that’s what we did. Ryan bought a lovely picnic from the huge Safeway supermarket, as I spoke on the phone to my parents and then we were away – with a happy birthday balloon positioned on the rear of my bike.

We stopped for our picnic in Twin Bridges (incidentally in Madison County, so we named it “Twin Bridges of Madison County”). The rest of the day was pretty uneventful until we reached the cool little town of Nevada City. It was a well maintained, old fashioned street, lined with wooden buildings and a steam train. We stopped at the Star Bakery for an old fashioned milkshake and a Shirley Temple (Grenadine and Sprite) at the bar. It was so cute. Ryan even tried a deep-fried Gherkin… interesting! We resisted the temptation to stay at the retro Hotel and continued a few miles down the road to Virginia City. This was another restored old town, but much bigger. It was really fun. We enquired at the old-fashioned hotel on the main street, but they wanted to charge us $79 a night for a 50’s style room with no ensuite. I just didn’t want to pay it! If we were going to pay that much for a hotel, I at least wanted a bathroom and preferably a pool and WiFi. We decided to stay at the campground a few miles out of town and spend our money on a nice dinner instead. And what a nice dinner it was! We ate at Banditos in the old Wells Fargo Coffee building. The food was awesome, as was the owner Scott who chatted to us constantly throughout the evening. I had a lovely salmon parcel and Ryan pushed the boat out with a red, white and blue combo of lobster, buffalo steak with blue cheese sauce and white beans. The restaurant had a great friendly atmosphere, with quirky décor and a lovely bar area from where Ryan purchased my Margarita. The food wasn’t cheap by American standards, but it was worth it and after all it was a special occasion. We finished off with a huge portion of the yummiest chocolate brownie ever. Scott even paid for our drinks. All in all a lovely birthday evening… even if I did now have to cycle uphill back to the Virginia City RV Park! If anyone is ever passing through we would highly recommend eating at Banditos.

We decided it was a lovely lifestyle, to live in Montana. People here just seemed to love the outdoors, especially fishing, and many have snowmobiles to use in the winter. There’s lots of mountain biking too, which would suit Ryan.

Total climb:

1966 feet

Summed up:

A great birthday and a great meal

Birthday Balloon

The Star Bakery, Nevada City

A birthday shake

The Star Bakery bar

Virginia City family

Virginia City

Margerita time!

Us

Mmm, warm chocolate brownie with baked cream cheese topping

The Restaurant

Total Distance:

57.742 mi

Total Time Cycling:

7h 13m 54s