Day 11--A Most Awesome Day at Hammer Nutrition!

We woke up to frosty grass, but no matter since we were able to go inside the Hammer building. We showered, ate breakfast, charged everything, and most importantly, did laundry all in the kitchen/common room! Connor had to wait until the first load of laundry was done before he could shower, so he would have something to wear! 

Various Hammer staff stopped to talk to us this morning. Loren is the guy who really set this up for us. He's a really awesome guy. We also met Andrea, Mary Ann, Bryce, Michelle, Jessica, Bill, Walter, Julie, Gail, and several others. They were all great resources (and all around nice people), not only about Hammer products (encouraging us to help ourselves to the various supplements), but about Whitefish too.

Loren in the Hammer warehouse

Once we had those chores done, we rode back into town to take care of a number of housekeeping items. First, Connor and I stopped at the Army/Navy store. Connor wasn't able to find a backpack there that he liked, but we did get some more parachute cord for the tarp. Then we went across the street to the Sportsman Ski Haus. Derik had gone to the Verizon store to get a new phone, then met us at the Sportsman place. Connor found the backpack he wanted (he's been carrying his spare tire and his camp shoes in a string backpack--they were attached to his seat bag, but they kept causing the bag to bounce and hit the tire). I got a Z-Rest pad to insulate my sleeping pad. I only needed a little more than half of it, so Derik and Connor were able to take the rest and divide it up for seats. Derik even cut his smaller so he could pack it. So, I also have a small square seat too. Derik looked all over for a pair of pants that would fit him. The pair he has are too big, and too long. Unfortunately, there must be a large number of small-butt men in Whitefish as Derik was unable to find a single pair of pants in his size. I told him to look in the women's, but he wanted back pockets. 

Next we went to the Buffalo Cafe for lunch. It was pretty tasty. The bike shop, Glacier Cyclery, was just a couple of blocks away. That was our next stop for warm gloves and leg warmers for Connor. I got myself a pair of warmer gloves too. Then, we were off to the post office to mail home some things we weren't using. I sent my Ex-Officio long sleeve shirt home since I got a warmer wool one yesterday. I also sent home my fry pan since Derik has one. The heaviest thing I sent home was my lock. We decided it wasn't really necessary. Both Connor and Derik also sent some stuff home. We managed to fit it all into one large flat rate box. 

Our final stop was for a few groceries from the Third Street Market. We just needed one dinner as we will be able to resupply tomorrow in either Bigfork or Swan River. The dinner was for tonight. Speaking of tonight, Loren and the staff are generously allowing us to sleep inside tonight. It's supposed to get down to 31 degrees. It'll be nice to be indoors.

Once we got back to Hammer, Loren took us on a tour of the warehouse. Surprisingly, it's not that big. The production facility is not here, it's in another state.

A couple of the guys doing their job of filling orders.

Loren went around with a cart (see above photo) and "shopped" for us! He gave us supplements, Hammer bars, and Recoverite! 

Recoverite bins!

We've had a fantastic day off! It's been great to see the workings of Hammer, and especially to meet all the great people. It seems like a really friendly place to work. With the exception of Derik finding pants, we had a successful day (oh, and Connor wasn't able to get a new sensor for his bike computer, but Derik is having one sent to Helena). We are getting somewhat worried about encountering snow in Colorado...

Here's a parting shot of our stuff exploded in the common room.