Today was Jim’s 60th birthday and the early morning (5:30am ish) crowd welcomed him to the category of old!!!  Jim usually is the last out of his tent but turning 60 today he cowed to turn over a new leaf. Of course the 85 degree predicted temp today may have had more to do with his early morning get up and go. He vows to change his ways and become an early riser. We’ll see!!!!

The early birds get the water boiling and help get out the breakfast and lunch goodies , , ,

The biggest hill of the day may have been this one out of town. Some were not warmed up enough yet and had to walk it!!!

This looks like a great example of a large operation trying to do the right thing. Even TNC is a sponsor!

Here was a good use for an old piece of junk . . .

. . . not a faded blossom to be found. Snaren . . . how about for your front yard?????

We still can see Chief Mountain in the distance. We can’t get away from it!!!!

Canada has several religious sects who are active in farming. The Hutterites are one group. They live in sort of communal colonies and there farming practices are always top notch and their farms VERY tidy!!!

The Alberta rose growing everywhere in the right of ways!!!!

. . . not the question here is, What happened to the rest of the deer???

As we neared the Canada/US border to reenter the United States we turned into a headwind, we would have for most of the rest of the day. Here Connie has one hoof in and one hoof out!!! The monument says USA on the left side and Canada on the right side.

The Canada entry side looked very pleasant for a custom station, and had signs welcoming you to Canada and not to bring in the Elm Bark Beetle. Our US station looked like Guantanamo Prison. Eight foot fences topped with barbed wire and cameras everywhere. We all crossed within an hour of each other and many of us had Officer Friendly who must have had a bad weekend. Not so friendly. AND  . . . he didn’t say. “Welcome Back home” as they have many times before. Which has always left me with a warm feeling. Not a very pleasant experience . . . but we all got back in!!!!

. . . and no official ‘Welcome to the USA’ sign only this lonely sign out in the middle of a field provided by the Lions!!!

We headed south from the Del Bonita checkpoint and soon reached the steep banks of the Milk River. Whisky Gap had been a favorite smuggling point for liquor . . .

. . . which some tried to smuggle through in hog carcasses!!!

Yes . . . we celebrated Canada two days ago and soon we would celebrate the 4th of July!!!

After a long and hot ride we reached a very windy and dry Cut Bank, our home for the night. Cut Bank, like a lot of small town, have murals painted on some of their buildings. This one didn’t seem to paint a very happy picture of the oil industry!!!

Here is where we are staying for the night, right off Hwy 2. Very windy and it took two people too pitch a tent to keep it from blowing away.

Lots of rock but the owner was very nice and took us Wade, Allison and me to town in his pickup to get our groceries. Easy  . . peasy!!

Even though it is only the 3rd of July, Wade and I chose a 4th of July picnic theme. Johnsonville brats, Polish sausages, potato salad, coleslaw,  potato chips, baked beans and apple pie with whipped cream for dessert.

Everyone was beat from the 70 mile, HOT, windy day . . . but had great appetites’!!!

Interesting  . . . on the side of the campground, overlooking Hwy 2, was this figure of Christ and a crucifix. Evidently someone donated it 20 years ago and it has been there ever since!!!

Everyone slept well last night even though there a few fireworks going off during the night. Wade and I were up at 5:00am to get the coffee going, and get the breakfast and lunch stuff out. When I bought my little ‘Mom Approved’ lunch kit it came with two little snap containers. I didn’t need them and gave them away. Wade took one and transports his daily dose of  ‘Goldfish crackers’ in it. He calls it his aquarium!!!

We rolled out of Cut Bank and the downtown area was so empty at 7:30am you could have rolled a bowling ball down the middle of the street. Of course it was the 4th of July.

Cut Bank’s economy seems to be based on liquor, bars and ‘casinos’. They have 11 casinos in a town of about 3,000!!!

But they also have some great murals spread around town . . .

. . . and as you may know they have the record for the ‘coldest spot in the nation’. It was –40 here last winter!!!

Soon we were out and down the road heading 68 miles to Chester, our home for the night. Cooler temps in the morning and a slightly overcast sky made for great riding conditions!!!

Oh yes, it’s not ALL  about oil in Montana . . .

. . . as I pedaled on I wonder why a rancher would have put such a skinny scarecrow out in his field, but in closer inspection realized it was Rod. Truly a man , outstanding in his field’ !!!

As we rolled in Shelby, MT it was easy to see they were ready to celebrate the 4th . . .

. . . of course we pulled into the first place we came to for coffee, Gatorade and apple fritters . . .

While we stood outside and ate, we chatted with Miranda who was cleaning the Exon Station Complex Casino windows. We learned all about the casino business . . . ends up it is run by the state. What was really amazing is how she could hold her coffee and cigarette in one hand and use the window cleaners and cloth with the other!!! Ambidextrous!!!!

Shelby at 9:00am looked a lot like Cut Bank. . .

. . . but the fired department had all their trucks out on display and the truck bays filled with picnic tables for the free community barbeque this afternoon!!

Interesting local advertising slant on quitting smoking and chewing . . .

After about two hours we were looking for a place to have a little lunch and get out of the sun. We rolled up to this ‘fixer upper’ along the road that offered some shade under the awning . . .

. . . might be a good deal for someone, but the current owner is their own worst enemy, ‘Looks worse than it is’!!!!

. . .  believe it or not the outdoor phone still worked but Rod could not dial out and could only connect to the ‘local operator’. Who knew they still have such a thing!!!!

We rode 72 miles today on Hwy 2 which has rail tracks running alongside all the way to Chester. Every little town along the way has one of these . . .

. . . it is a VERY busy line for BNSF and at 11 miles an hour, you can see them switching and making up the trains as we rolled along. Most have about 75 cars. It’s common to see trains waiting on siding before they get the word that it is OK to proceed, once the oncoming train has passed . . .

. . . and Amtrak shares the rail line too. Same train we took out to Washington almost a month ago . . . my how time flies!!

GREAT graffiti on he railcars parked on the sidings. Some of the painters are GREAT artists. Maybe they can put their talents into a career!!! Even political commentary about the Trumpster!!!

in the middle of this train were two cars from the Wisconsin Central. They are a LONG way from home. Headed to Madison???

On the road near a rail downhill was this brake shoe. You can see the rail bed where the red arrow points. Good thing we were not riding on the road when that ‘hot shoe’ flew off the car!!!

Rod bought some chalk and has been leaving messages along the ride all day!!!

We finally reached Chester, after a 30 mile headwind from Shelby, and are staying at the Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church. Very nice of the Pastor to let us stay inside, in air conditioning, and away from the noise there is sure to erupt tonight from fireworks . . .

. . . oh, yeah, we sort of take over anyplace to use . . .

. . . we have the run of the place with sleeping upstairs and down, and two full kitchens.

It would be great if some of the local ‘church ladies’ showed up and cook up some viddles for us in these Nescos!!!

My little nest even comes with a swimming pool!!

Lots of action in the upstairs kitchen . . .

. . . as chef’s Allen and Mike N. do the nightly cooking tonight.

Corvin and Bernie battle it out before dinner.

Great dinner tonight AGAIN celebrating the 4th of July.  Fried chicken, salad, baked beans, corn on the cob and ICE CREAM for dessert.

Hot again tomorrow so we are moving breakfast up to 6:15am in order to get an early start!!!

Today should be another ‘hot, dry day’ as we head out to our next home for the night, Havre, MT. A high of 86 means a early start today. We were all out the door by 7:00am, except Corvin.

It was a cool 66 degrees out when we started riding. Another reason we start early is shown by the flags above in downtown Chester . . . no wind!!!

. . . another ‘bowling alley’ stillness in small town USA.

This looked like a sweet little stop on the outskirts of Chester  . . . but doesn’t look like it made it.

MT DOT had a weather station out on the road and you can see from the anemometer we had a NW wind bout 6 mph and we are heading due west. NICE!!!

Along the way be came to this unique ride . . .

. . . away we go!

. . . too much coffee this morning . . . hallucination out on the prairie???  . . .  no just a great ad for the “Museum in Rudyard” . . .

. . . where there are 596 nice people and 1 old sore head!!!

. . . first one of these guys I have seen along the way and he didn’t seem to like my bike!

Different than the last several days , we passed a number of small towns on today’s 60 mile route. They were evenly spaced along the railroad bout every 10 miles. Kremlin, MT . . .

. . . bowling alley at 9:30am.

Not much else out here other than a few rollers to keep things interesting.

Jonathon Livingston Seagull, I presume????

Of the five town we passed only one had a store out on Hwy 2. The others were all 1/2 mile or so off the road . . .you you can guess which one we stopped into . . . The Hyingman Store’s front marquee said’ Help Stamp Out Home Cooking’!!!  . . . so of course we stopped . . .

. . . as I turned in, and hit a bumpy patch, my front left pannier flew off. Same thing happened on the Trans Am 8 years ago . . . maybe I should check the fitting???

. . . what a great little stop . . .

. . . with lots of fun signage!

Riders continued to roll in until we ‘owned the place’!!

Nashville Bill was there too. He added some color to the eyes of his hockey mask find from the state of Maine.

Corvin was late for breakfast this morning but made of for it with this cinnamon roll ‘as big as your head’!!!

Someone else had one too but I promised to protect their identity . . .

. . . actually this has become standard wear for me in this hot, dry weather.  My lips have become chapped and swollen even though i am using sunscreen and chapstick. Got to keep my lips kissing soft for when I meet up with Smoochie in late July in WI!!!!

I got to check this out . . . whether the MT DOT thinks talking on cell pones is so dangerous they provide these pullouts  (not likely) or the cell phone coverage is so spotty out here (I had none) that where there is a signal they provide a pull out. Either way . . . it’s a good idea!!!

As I entered Havre,  at noon, there was this prairie paddleboat sitting out in a field. You see the strangest things out in rural America.

Tonight we are staying at the fairgrounds.  Showers and shade guaranteed . . . we’ll see!!!

Even though our campsite was next to Hwy 2, last night the traffic diminished as the night progressed and everyone slept well . . .

We decided to start early again today because of the predicted 90 degrees temp and a head wind out of due east at 6-8 mph. Sure enough when Bernie and Jim got up at daybreak to get put the breakfast and lunch goodies the wind was already blowing from the east.

. . . soon more of the 5:30am coffee club started to arrive . . .

. . . and by 6:15 the smorgasbord was in full swing.!

We started leaving camp about 7:00am, BIG downhill through Havre on our way to Harlem, MT, our home for the night. Already some traffic moving around.

At a stoplight, I looked to my right and there was this big boy . . . steady there dude! He was breathing hard and I was not sure if it was at me or Connie. Let’s get going girl!!!

All the trains we have seen for the last several weeks, engines need to be maintained to keep the diesel engines in tune. Here is one of the locomotive repair shops BNSF maintains along the way, this one on the east side of Havre.

Today we would be riding along the Milk River and some of it’s tributaries. Being somewhat in a river bottom there are more trees and general ‘green ‘ than we have seen for the last week out on the prairies.

The half way point of today’s headwind ride is Chinook, MT . . . where unfortunately this place was not open yet in the morning. Too bad . . . looks to have had everything our group needed.

Instead we wheeled into the Exon complex for some cold drinks.. It was 87 when we stopped to rest. With the strong headwind one does not notice how much one is sweating because the wind instantly evaporates any sweat. VERY important to keep pushing the fluids. On today’s tide I drank all three of my bike water bottles (I also carry two 32oz Gatorade bottles filled with water onboard), a 32 ouncer of Gatorade at the rest stop, plus a bottle of chocolate milk.

When we got to camp in Harlem I drank a quart of chocolate milk, ate my sandwich, showered, set up camp and am now sitting in the library typing this. I have consumed 4, 16oz glasses of Culligan water  . . . so far!!!

While at the truckstop, this truck pulled up and people starting walking up to inspect it. Of course, with my hearing I could not hear the squeals of the pigs inside. I walked over to check it out . . .

. . . the truck was divided into four levels and each level had several compartments with hundreds of little pink pigs. . .

. . . seems sort of an inhumane way to move them. So crowded they could not lay down. Must be on the way to a farm where they will ‘pork up’.  Soon to be on a table near you!!!

Along the way we passed over the Milk River which reminded me of chocolate milk, my new favorite ride drink!!!

These sheep in the morning light looked like a painting to me, the photo really doesn’t do the scene justice!!!

. . . this was an attractive critter and I could not tell if it was sleeping, sunning itself or dead!!!!

After 40 miles of headwind, riding fully loaded, we FINALLY arrived at our home for the night, Harlem, MT. Nice little town with a lot going on  . . .

. . . obviously with some of the same problems other small and large towns have.

We have a great setup tonight, camping behind the City Hall in the city park, right next to the city swimming pool AND right across the street from the Albertsons grocery store. Mark and Allison are cooking tonight. Mark has shrimp creole on his mind !!!!

. . . but first it is time for showering and laundry. Daily routine includes washing the biking kit, if there are facilities, and hanging them out to dry. Mark or I usually put up a line. Things dry almost INSTANTLY out here because of the temps, wind and LOW humidity!!

Here are Mark and Allison working on the roux for the Cajun shrimp . . .

. . . and it turned out great!!!

Dr Mike celebrates his 43rd Anniversary with Lynne today  . . . but we had to fill in for family!!!

. . . and a ‘Special Gift’ was presented. Remember the prior photo of the snake on the road? Same snake and it was still moving.

And . . . snakes in boxes, 60 miles south of us there is a wildfire burning out of control, they had to evacuate 90 people, and last night there was an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 in western Montana near Lincoln. Many of us felt in in Havre, including me.

What could go wrong???? Maybe another headwind tomorrow!

Once the pool closed at 8:30pm it got very quiet in the park and everyone slept well. No earthquakes tonight!!

Starting early again today because of the heat and the predicted headwind. Should ONLY be 6-8mph today. Yesterday it was 10-12 mph!!!

I was the first one out of camp, at 6:30am. Six miles down the road was Ft Belknap and the associated Indian Reservation. The Aaniih and Nacoda Nations have their own college on the reservation!!

It was only about 7:00am and their commercial center was not open yet, but I would have liked to have visited this coffee shop. Great name!!!

Looks like the Native Americans deal with a similar problem the rest of our country shares.

ACA routed us off onto tribal roads. Nice to get off of Hwy 2. Routes 9 & 6 gave a welcome relief to the constant traffic on Hwy 2. Only saw 2 cars in the stretch of highway . . .

Development has been kept to a minimum and the land probably looks very much like it did when the tribes roamed the prairies in search of food. Nice looking ponies along the way . . .

. . .  great landscape, sixty degree temps, no wind, no traffic and lots to look at. PERFECT biking . . .

A bald eagle looking for some morning chow . . .

I looked across the field and saw a mother leading five of its little pups across the landscape. They looked like five little bumps as they raised up above the grass line with each step . . . in perfect line behind Mom. They were making their way to this cement pipe that was sticking above the ground. May have been a water source. Once they got there they all climbed up on it. May have been woodchucks Fun to watch!!!

The tribes cemetery was located on Pony Hill. You can’t see it in the photo but it was a collection of white crosses atop, a small hill, in the distance.

I also had two instances of yearling deer running along a fence line, paralleling the road, before they cleared the fence in one leap, crossed the road and jumped over the other fence. Nothing quite as graceful and fluid looking as a deer in full motion.

This section of riding was one of the best of the whole trip, so far. When riding something like this it is easy to see why the native American people feel such a connection to Mother Earth. Easy to image their tents set up along a creek, campfires burning, cooking going on,  kids, running around, meat drying on racks. A gentle people . . .  in a gentle setting. As the road ended, and I turned back onto Hwy 2, I thought I saw a brave on a pony up on the hill waving goodbye to me . . . as I traversed in front of it I realized it was a metal well head. I’ll stick with my imagination.!!!!

Soon I arrived in Dodson, our halfway point for the day, and of course had to stop on at the Dodson Mini-Mart and Café. The café part was out of business . . .

. . . but there sat Al, the owner, behind the cash register of the mini-mart. Not much for sale but they did have cold ice tea. Al has the place up for sale because he is having knee problems and can’t hear or see so good anymore. I asked him if he planned to travel to Florida when he sold the place and he said, No, he had traveled enough and  seen everything he wanted to see. He just wanted to retire in Dodson!

. . . he has the place listed with Kitty Wines . . . quite a name!!!! . . .  and here is the listing!!!

Right outside of Dodson I came to this site of what must have been a terrible accident. Have never seen a seven cross memorial before . . . and on a straight section of road too. Very sad.

Kid Curry . . . a great name. Most of us stop and read these signs at historical road  pullouts. Gives you a chance to get out of the saddle, have a drink and learn some local lore. Always interesting!!!

A big part of a quality ride is to get into camp in one piece each day. A lot of doing that is biking defensively, being aware of your surroundings and having a safe riding experience. Safe riding experience = good shoulder. It’s interesting that a state highway like Hwy 2 can have so many varieties of shoulders. One would think it would be standardized across all jurisdictions. This is not a good shoulder (too narrow) and is an en example of what we have been riding on most of the time through Montana. Vehicles of all kinds zipping by at 70 miles per hour, their mirrors or chassis less than five feet way. When a car is coming towards you in the other lane and a vehicle is coming up behind you, and can’t pull over into the other lane to give you a wide berth, it is like the Perfect Storm. You all pass each other at the same instant. It is very unnerving . . . the only thing worse than this shoulder is the same shoulder and the whole thing is a rumble strip. Got to ride in the traffic lane then!!!

Must have something to do with county budgets. Blaine County had about a six foot shoulder, including an 18 inch rumble strip . . .

. . . but five feet later when you crossed the Phillips County line it went to 8 feet. NICE!!!!!

. . .what’s that ahead . . . an overpass??? Sure enough. Hwy 2 runs east west and we have had the BNSF rail line on the north side of us for HUNDREDS of miles. Always entertaining to watch trains roll by. Now, for some reason, the road was crossing over the rail line and it will now be on the south side of Hwy 2.

A BIG deal in the world, as we know it? . . . No, but when you are riding 4,282 miles cross country, you have a lot of time to notice things. Inquiring minds want to know.

We arrived in Malta, MT our home for the night. The ‘campground’ was marginally acceptable. We have stayed at a number of RV parks that have tent camping areas that have been pretty nice. My favorite is still the one in Ione. But if it says RV Park, like this one does, they are really set up for rigs you pull behind your car that need electric and plumping at night . . . in fact that is what we were supplied with, this drive in site. Not much soft ground for a tent. The brown building on the right has a laundry room and a nice bathroom, but only one. With 15 people that need to shower and use the bathroom, SEVERAL times during the night, it would not work. We had to rent a motel room to provide additional ‘plumbing access’!!!!

There was a screened gazebo we could use.This is a bad sign because we are still in the Milk River Valley and mosquitoes were bad last night. With the presence of this screened gazebo it probably means things will be worse tonight. Lots of irrigation in this area = lots of hungry mosquitos!!!

Today would be a tough ride. Not because of the mileage but weather conditions. 6-10 mph headwinds most of the day AND 104 degree temps!!!!

To help get ahead of the situation we decided again to leave early. Coffee was at 5:00am, breakfast 5:15am and most were packed and on the road by 6:00am (except Rod and Corvin who had kitchen duty this morning). It was 60 degrees and pleasant!!!

Right out of Malta was this historic marker, I have always talked to cattle along the way. They all stop and look up from what they are eating. Once in a while they do a stampede and 30 or 40 of them might start running in the same direction I am. BIG FUN!!! I always call the little one ‘doggies’ because they remind me of young pups . . . all legs. Looks like according to this sign I have been in error because they are usually standing next to their mother. I am going to continue calling them ‘doggies’ anyway. They always look up and seem very inquisitive!!!

We biked by the  Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge today and it was BIG WATER . . . probably the largest we have seen in several weeks. Nice to see water again!!!!

This has got to be the smallest school bus ever made. Might have had a nice second life as a camper!!!

Lots of beautiful horses along the way in the early morning light

This is pretty much what we had for 68 miles today. ‘Prairie Rollers’ hill that are not long enough to coast down and just about to the top of the next one, like we can do in many places in Wisconsin.

Our ride this morning was actually going pretty well. The temps were heating up but the sun hung behind this stationary cloud for about 3 hours. It eventually overtopped it and on came the heat!!!

Allison had mention these Hot Springs at last night’s map meeting as a possible stop along the way today. At 10:00am is was already 80 degrees . . . no takers on this little side excursion!!!

We would have potential; water stops in two towns along the route today. Saco and Hinsdale. Wonder why these fields are so green . . .

IRRIGATION . . . either from a center pivot operation (the nozzles are close to the ground to prevent evaporation) . . .

. . . or more commonly from flooding fields. Sort of like cranberry bogs. The fields are VERY flat and have a berm around them. When it is time to irrigate the water is  tuning on  in the channel and the gate you can see in the lower right corner is opened . . ..

The problem with flood irrigation is it leaves lots of standing water which of course is prime conditions for MOSQUITOS breeding (photo above is blurred because I took it from my moving bike to prevent being BIT!!!) People have been warning us all along the way about this area of Montana and to make sure to have repellant and bug nets for your head. They have not been that bad . . . yet.

Our first water stop was 25 miles into the ride, Saco, MT . . .  the village of 197 actually had a lot going on this morning . . .  of course it is a Saturday.

. . . including our traffic clogging up the sidewalks . . . for a second breakfast  . . .

. . .  pancakes as big as your head!!!!

The old High Dome Hotel must have been quite the place back in the day. You can see they even put an addition on the back at one time. Handsome building!

Back out on the road we came upon this sort of elaborate roadside historic marker . . .

. . . it consists of rocks that were originally on the top of a large hill and the Indian Chief thought they look like a sacred buffalo. The rock were originally moved to Malta, MT but then this historic site. I hope all the cigarettes are a tobacco offering to God that Native Americans still commonly do (it was done during the ceremony on Logan Pass) but they usually break up the tobacco and scatter it. Maybe this is the drive-by version where you just throw a cigarette out the window. Sort of sad . . .

Only 10 miles down the road was Hinsdale but the short distance didn’t stop us from pulling over and getting another Gatorade. By this time the temps were in the upper 90’s and the wind was REALLY in our face!!!!

We venture on for the final 28 mile push to Glasgow, our home for the night. Believe it or not, half way there was a DOT Rest Stop . . .right out in the middle of nowhere . . .

. . . they had running water and we all soaked our heads and clothes to try to cool down. Hot and dry . . .didn’t dare sit too long because  one might not get going  again . . .

. . . before we did leave though I snapped this shot of my Garmin . . .. and that was in the shade!!!!

A LONGGGGG 14 miles finally brought us to Glasgow . . . they have sort of a weird sense of humor those Glasgowinians!!! They have joined the crowd and have a local dinosaur museum just like Malta and several other towns we have stayed.   Lots of digs going on up in this area of Montana.

Looks like the ‘tin man’ supports the Hwy 2 proposal.

As I rolled to the Rundle Hotel & Suites, our home for the night, I passed the FCB Bank. At 2:04pm . . .

. . . it was 102 degrees. I was the first one in and was treated to a kiwi watermelon Snapple. Never tasted so good!!!

It was a tough day. Several of our folks had to be sagged in because of the heat.

The newly renovated Rundle Hotel & Suites owned by two brothers from Whitefish, Montana.

. . . and there is AC and cold drinks.

We all went out to eat at Durum Restaurant, the steak and pasta place to be at in Glasgow.

Kari was our server and she did an EXCELLENT job!!!

The flat iron steak with andoulille smashed potatoes was VERY tasty . . .

. . . as was the creme brulee, And yes Smoochie, I had my first ‘tini on the trip!

On the walk back from the restaurant, you can see things have not cooled down much!!

Things ended well today and tomorrows is a rest day. Yippee!!!!!

After nine days on the road we have a well deserved rest day. Yesterday was quite the last day in our nine day stretch on the road and today everyone would be chilling and recovering  both physically and mentally from our long haul. You need a day off the bike every once n a while . . .

Most of us went to the casino right across the street for breakfast. Allison had given us our $10 ‘breakfast/lunch money’ to paint the town with!!!!

. . . and how about something other than oatmeal or cold cereal this morning . . .

. . . I ordered the make your own skillet breakfast and when Rhonda started asking what I wanted on it I said, ‘’Make it easy and include everything”!!!!  I’ll be good until this evening when we are all heading to the local Mexican cantina for dinner. Dinner at 6:00pm, map meeting at 7:00pm and then get ready for the start of another week of biking . . .  but today was  day of rest, bike maintenance, laundry and maybe a side trip to the Ft Peck Dam and Recreational area for a little swimming.

. . . outside the casino was this gem. Looks like it had just rolled of the production line in the  . . . 1930’s?????

It seems like we have been biking a LONGGGGG time through Montana and we  have. Jim pointed out that Montana is just about the size of ND and MN. He was right and it also about the same distance as WI and MI and everything east of  there. It’s a  BIG state . . .

. . . almost as big as Texas. On the Southern Tier trip we did two years ago it took us 19 days to get across TX.  AND, TX looked a lot like AZ and southern CA.

Speaking of maps . . . here is what we used to get across the US. The ACA Northern Tier  Map Set. Thirteen maps to guide us from Anacortes to Bar Harbor. Each map has about 15 ‘panes’ that are sort of like the old Triple A ‘Trip Tic’ maps you could order for road trips. About 30-50 miles on a pane with the route highlighted in red. There are also narrative instruction located on the left side of each pane. Local cities and attractions are also noted along with what services are located in each town. Towns may show up that have as few as 80 residents. But when you need water . . . one needs to plan ahead. A great resource . . .

. . . on our way to Wolf  Point tomorrow . . .

the Route 2 map . . .

. . .on the back of each map is a plethora of info regarding each town you are passing through, ;local history and the ‘dreaded’ profile map.  Dreaded only because it show what you will be climbing down the road . . .

. . . the profile for Map 2 shows Logan Pass, our highest point on the trip, looking like Mt Everest. No oxygen needed on our ascent . . . but it would have helped!!!!!

On a rest day, there is also time to catch  up on what is happening in the greater Glasgow urban metro area . . . by viewing the latest edition the BS Buzz . . .

 

Sounds like a lot of house for $295, 000 but of course it is In Glasgow, MT . . . location, location location.

. . . here is a good way to help save on wedding invitations . . . just put an ad in the paper and invite everyone . . . to bad we will miss it!!!!

. . . and Sugar sounds like the person to know in Glasgow . . . great photo of her!!!!

It’s Corvins birthday today and he turns 21 in the Great US of A. Probably be a birthday he will never forget as he moves on with his life. We have many birthdays coming up so Allison suggested we would celebrate everyone’s by having a sort of gag gift Christmas in July Birthday exchange.

We went Mexican tonight and Rod had enough left over for lunch tomorrow. Forecasted to be 101 degrees so should be serving temp by lunch time!!!

. . .map meeting birthday cake for Corvin and Secret Santa gifts for birthdays . . .

. . . I received a special wifi extender!!!!

Tomorrow it is on to Wolf Point!!!

We hated to leave the Rundle Inn and Suites, our home for the last two nights, Nice beds, AC and great hospitality. But we started again VERY early today because of the predicted headwinds and heat, Supposed to be over 100 degrees again today.!!!!

More Glasgowonian humor on the way out of town. Rumor has it the pilot was making an approach to the airport, saw this dinosaur and lost control of the plane!!!

First ‘Smoker Friendly’ sign I have seen. Not sure what that means?????

We had 60 miles to go today to reach our home for the night Wolf Point. Along the way there were several towns to stop and replenish water and the goodie bag. I stopped into Frazer, an Indian village on the Ft Peck Reservation. They had a C-Store that was fully stocked with COLD!!! Also, they liked their old water tower so much they left it up when the new one was installed!

It was a ‘heads down’ kind of day to get to Wolf Point before the temps became unbearable.

Allison, Wade and I were the first to roll into Wolf Point and of course stopped at the first C-Store. They are usually a Cenex or Conoco . . .

. . . soon the rest of the gang began to roll in for shade, cool and drinks . . .

. . . which way to the coolers???

. . . as usual we ‘take over a place’ for 20-30 minutes and then . . .

. . . when everything is empty, we are on the road again!!! it is REALLY hard to drink too much on days like this. You sweat it out as fast as you drink it down!!!

This C-store is on the reservation and must have had some problemswith these folks who are no longer allowed in the store. Some interesting names . . .

. . . and don’t even think of wearing a ‘hoodie’ into the store. Several of our riders were lobbied pretty heavy for ‘spare change’ as they walked around town.

We still had six miles to go until we reached, Steamboat Dry Goods, our home for the night.

. . . as I rolled into the driveway, my Garmin read over 108 degrees. Of course some of this temp is from the  heated asphalt, but when you are biking . . . that’s what you experience!!!

Caroline made us feel right at home and was ready to serve iced coffees, lemonade or whatever you needed to help you cool down. Mike N, had a nice iced coffee . . .

. . . soon tents started popping up in their back forty like mushrooms. We have the use of their bathroom, shower and full kitchen, Allison and Wade are cooking tonight and Caroline is giving them a ride into town to shop for groceries . . . Nice!!!

We also have access to the dry good store to get out of the heat,  Quite an oasis in rural Wolf Point!!!!

She has some really nice merchandise!!!

The store has a big deck across the front, and if you stay in the shade the temp is sort of bearable. Allison spends about half her time riding and the other half on the phone handling our  logistics. She is doing a great job!!!

 

We had some excitement last night when Caroline’s father called and told us there was a HUGE wind blow coming in 1 hour. We batten down all the hatches, except for Corvin, who did not put on his rain fly until it finally hit (wish I had caught it on video as he and four others scurried around in 50 mile an hour winds to keep his tent and stuff from blowing away, while they tried to put on the rainfly!!!). The fifty mile an hour winds lasted for about a half hour, there was no rain and then it was completely still . . .

you can see evidence of the wind power . . .

. . this morning the same thing happened. Scattered showers were expected until 8:00am so we delayed our departure until then. Within 15 minutes everyone had their tents and gear down and packed!!! Mad scramble. Once again . . . big winds but no rain on us!!

. . . the winds coming to full power his morning.

. . . on the way out of Caroline we passed this sign that had guided us to her place yesterday. It was blown down in one the the two windstorms we experienced!!!

As we Steamboat Dry Goods, we headed south for the first time in WEEKS and were leaving the Ft Peck Indian Reservation as we crossed the Missouri River.

Adjacent the road is this National Landmark bridge that is the last example of a riveted Pennsylvania through truss bridge left in Montana.

It was officially dedicated in 1930 and over 15,0000 people attended the dedication.

We are now officially biking on the BLM Big Sky Back Country Byway . . .

We traveled 50 miles from Wolf Point to Circle today, south on Hwy 13. We were hoping the wind would have shifted to northerly but it stayed from the west . . . and strong 15-20 mph. So . . . we had a strong side wind that tended to gust and blow us into the traffic lane. Here is the gang heading up one of the ‘Prairie Rollers’ we experienced all day today!!

. . . and here is what a lot of the traffic was on the road today. Contacted farming equipment being moved from one farm to another. It’s a little disconcerting when one tops a hill the same time you do!!!!

This may not look like much but it is a baseball field in rural Vida . . . Montana style. It wouldn’t pass muster in the Midwest. Where is the green grass????

Our half way point today was Vida, where we were planning to replenish our water and maybe get a snack. Unfortunately, the only commercial business in town, the bar/restaurant did not open until 11:00am. It was 10:00am. So we sat in the shade of the building and ate gorp and drank water!!!

We have ridden by LOTS of one room school houses in Montana. This is probably one of the better preserved ones. Used until 1966!!!

We have lots of farmers who plant windreaks in WI but out here, farmers think BIG. . . it is Big Sky country, of course. This chap has a windbreak that takes up about 40 acres!!!

. . .and here is a good example of what we biked through today, for 50 miles. Lots of wheat fields, a few houses and ranches, and not much else . . .

But by early afternoon we were in Circle,MT our home for the night . . .

. About 5 of us wheeled into the Cenex for cold drinks. I drank a quart of chocolate milk (2%, though)!!! Connie rested her hooves in the shade. Quite a ride today fighting the westerly wind. If it had only been about 20-30 degree’s more to the north it would have REALLY helped us!!

We are staying at the Circle School complex tonight. Nice grassy area with a gazebo and we have access to the showers and bathrooms all night . . .nice.

Britting, the Elementary School Secretary and Sandy, ‘a para who wears many hats for the school district’, were super helpful and made us feel at home!!!

We had some heavy weather tonight. Some of the folks moved their camp into the school buildings.

We dodge the bullet. This storm ended up having 60 mile an hour winds and silver dollar hail 11 miles east of us!!!!

We had a GREAT stay at the Circle School Complex. We started early because the predicted headwinds and temps. After the BIG Storm Clouds passed us last night, they headed east of Circle. increased to 60 mph and dropped hail the size of silver dollars. Glad we missed that . . .

. . .today ended up being an EXCELLENT day for riding, never believe the predictions (some of the times). It was 52 degrees when we woke, and started biking with heavily overcast skies with some mist.It remained cloudy until 2:00!!!. The winds ended up not being a problem and we arrived in Glendive before noon.

..  .the combine moving operation was already in full gear at 7:00am . . .

We had a nice surprise when we rolled up on this mini badlands. A preview of what we will see in North Dakota !!!!

. . . saw this herd along the railroad tracks. How many ears can you count????

Our half way point today was Lindsay . . .

. . . not much going on at 9:00am. But there were snacks and cold drinks Soon five more riders rolled in and we talked crops with the usual gang who probably assembles every morning to solve the problems of the world!

Celebrating statehood from 1889!!!

When you are biking along you have a lot of time to look and analyze. These spring loaded crash protectors are interesting mechanisms . . .

. . . however I haven’t figured out what the cable is for???

As we rolled into Glendive about 11:30am, we passed under I-94. Haven’t seen one of these signs for  . . . months??? We will ride on I-94 for the next several days. It is legal, when there is no other alternative.

Tonight we are staying at Glendive’s Eyers City Park . . .

. . . green grass, and great shade but no showers . . .

. . .  so we  rented a room at the Parkwood Motel for bathroom and showers!!!! Good solution!

I rode into town, across the old Tallahatchie bridge (looking for Billy Jo McCalister ???), to find the library . . .

. . . a much nicer experience than riding across the new version.

Right over the bridge was the Gust Hauf, which looked a lot nicer than the innards of a library . . .

. . . so I setup shop there and texted the gang the location . . .

. . . who started filtering through for a brew or two. Rob and Katie from New York joined us for several beers. Both engineers, they took some time of between graduating and joining the working world. Good luck to you two!!! They are heading west and are staying at a Warm Showers tonight in Glendive tonight.

Mayor Jerry Jimison was nice enough to stop by and welcome our group to town. Nice fellow!

Tomorrow it’s 65 miles to Medora for another layover day . . . yippee!!!!