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July 20, 2000 Hi Brenda & Bill, 67 miles, Missoula to Darby, Mont. Today is Nicholas's 8th birthday. We called the boys this morning and wished him Happy Birthday. I miss them a lot. It helps to talk to them almost every day. And it helps that they are having such a good time staying with all the aunts/uncles/cousins. They write in their diary each night. I'm looking forward to reading them. Today was a pretty easy ride. We rode the whole day through the Bitterroot Valley. It's wide, well populated farmland. Easy terrain. Only difficulty was that we spent a good bit on a heavily travelled highway [US 93]. But it had a good shoulder. We stopped for lunch and bike store in Hamilton. We broke a spoke yesterday and needed a tool to fix it. There are lots of casinos in every town in Montana we've been in. Darby is a classic small western town. There must be a lot of camping, hunting, etc. Several taxidermies, laundromats. Watched a man making custom cowboy hats. It's a little touristy — fudge shop, T-shirts, etc. We are staying at Bud and Shirley's Motel. Even met Bud. They are Darby's Citizens of the Year. The town is full of fire crews. Glad we had reservations or we'd be out of luck. We haven't seen the fires but lots of talk about them. Love, Paula.