Day 33 July 13, 2016 Hebron, ND to Hazen, ND 57.9 miles

There was a great little coffee shop The Dark Side of the Brew, in Hebron, and I had the best Americano yet on this trip. And they had freshly baked caramel rolls, too! A great start to the day.
I desperately wanted to see the Mandan village historic sites (for Dave it was optional because he wanted to head east to have a tailwind), but we had no idea how tough the ride was going to be. We had to go out of the way to get there since Adventure Cycling changed the Lewis and Clark route to avoid Williston because of the oil fields. We rode 40 miles north on a hilly road with no shoulder (and there were rumble strips on the white line), a strong crosswind, a lot of big trucks, and of course, some road construction. We passed the Beulah coal mine (a surface mine), which I read later on the Internet is in the process of closing down. The ride was no fun, and probably dangerous, but we made it safely. And when we did turn east to head for Hazen, where we camped that night, we had a great tailwind and a shoulder.
Tomorrow we will get to see the Mandan village historic sites.

Beulah coal mine

Day 32 July 12, 2016 Medora, ND to Hebron, ND 79.6 miles

7.12.16 day 32 Medora to Hebron
Medora is a few miles south of the interstate, and it was a bit of a climb to get back. Nothing like a good climb to start the day. We continue to have very beautiful weather, sunny and warm, but not hot. And another day with crazy strong tailwinds!
We only had to ride on the interstate for 10 miles, and there was a scenic overlook along the way, of the Badlands. Really beautiful. Then back to a quiet two-lane road. I probably shouldn’t admit this, but the wind disguised the fact that my back tire was low. Dave noticed it, and since it wasn’t flat, we decided to air it up since the next town, Dickinson,  had a bike shop. But we should have taken a clue from the name of the shop: Steffan's Saw and Bike. Yeah, he sold both saws and bikes, and it was one of those junky kind of places that I prefer to avoid. Dave thought something we couldn’t find was stuck in my tire (this was my third flat), so he wanted the guy (Steffan,  I assume) to try putting green slime in one of my tubes. It didn’t work, so we just went on. And then, of course, about half an hour later in a construction zone, we had to change the tube. In the next town, Richardton, much smaller than Dickinson, is Assumption Abbey,  a Benedictine Monastery, which has been there since the late 1800’s. Someone told us a story that when the abbey was new, the monks made money by gathering buffalo bones (because there were so many) and selling them to be made into bone meal. We could have stayed at the abbey, but we were too late, and there was no one to help us. So on we went to the cute little town of Hebron, where we could camp in the city park and shower at the pool. However, we were told that we had to shower with clothes (swimsuit) on, a new rule we hadn’t encountered before. And no hot water, of course. But better than nothing.

Hebron city park

Day 31 July 11, 2016 Glendive, Mt. to Medora, ND 68.2 miles

Proof I'm really riding!

Today we leave Montana for North Dakota. It took us 17 days (including three days off) to ride the almost 800 miles across Montana, not too bad for a couple of old folks.
We rode across the pedestrian /bike bridge over the Yellowstone River and headed for I-94. We rode the interstate for most of the way with the help of a strong tailwind, and it was fun. Our  last stop in Montana was Wibaux (named after a French fur trader), only to find the Beaver Creek Brewery there, which we had heard great things about, closed! So we opted for the little coffee/smoothie kiosk instead. Not quite the same. Then back on to the interstate. We were supposed to get off at Beach, N. D., and ride south to a two lane highway, but the crosswind was so strong, we couldn’t ride. So we decided to keep going east on the interstate to Medora, where we camped. (Dave wanted to keep going since the wind was so strong, but I vetoed it. ) (Also, there was a group of teenagers in the campsite next to us, but Dave chased them off.)
This part of North Dakota is not flat. Beautiful green hills, and near Medora,  the North Dakota Badlands start, and it’s beautiful. The entrance to Theodore Roosevelt National Park is in Medora. We toured the Chateau de Mores,  built by the Marquis de Mores, with his father-in-law’s money. He started an abattoir there since the cattle business was getting so big there. He named the town after his wife, Medora von Hoffman, whose father was an international businessman. It’s a cute touristy town.
We met another couple in the campground who are riding across the country.  They’re ‘professional RV’ers’ when they’re not riding. They had been in Glacier National Park when the bear attack happened. Also, there was a group of teenagers camping next to us, but Dave chased them off (just kidding! He was grumbling about them being noisy, but they were getting ready to leave).
We are hoping for many more days with tailwinds!

Day 30 July 9, 2016 Circle, Mt. to Glendive, Mt. 51.4 miles

It always seems to work out that easy (or easier) days follow tough ones. We slept in, so again a later start than is wise. After riding all day, 9 or 10 hours of sleep seems to be what I need. Dave sleeps less usually, because he wakes up during the night for awhile. Anyway, we went to the Cenex (these are the gas station/convenience stores all over Montana) to eat breakfast and pick up some lunch since there were no towns between Circle and Glendive. And, as often happens, we started talking to a couple of locals who were very nice, and we got on the road even later.
It was pretty warm that day, but the hills were much smaller, and since Glendive is on the Yellowstone River, it was a downhill ride. We also started to see formations similar to the Badlands.
Glendive's population is around 5,000, and it was our last stop in Montana, which was pretty exciting. But like other bigger towns where we've stayed, it was a disappointment.  The little towns (100-800) are better. We had decided to take the next day off, so we checked into a little  motel, did laundry, and ate at a lousy restaurant. Our decision to take Sunday off was wise because it stormed and hailed that afternoon. We were happy to watch it from our tiny little room. We had grocery store deli food for dinner and watched TV.
Also, Dave helped me adjust my handlebars, and I am much more comfortable on my bike now.
On to North Dakota!

Eastern Montana

Day 29 July 8, 2016 Jordan, Mt. to Circle, Mt 68.0 miles

Sometimes it's best not to know what you're getting into.  This was going to be our hardest day yet. Neither of us slept very well, and we got up early because we knew we had a long day ahead of us. We stopped at the grocery store because there would be no place to stop on the way to Circle.
About  7 miles out of town, we ran into construction ( for 10 miles) with a pilot car. All we could see ahead was a stretch of unpaved road going up a very steep hill. We did get a ride through part of it (I was hoping for a 10 mile ride, but it wasn't to be.  They took us about 2 miles, then we were on our own). The rest of the unpaved stretch wasn't bad, but after that, the hills were endless, there were no trees, and the crosswinds were brutal. At the top of each hill, there were at least three more ahead that we could see. At first it was a challenge, but then it became a chore. We ate our sandwiches by the side of the road and rode on. There was a rest area at 36 miles, and we went inside (it was air conditioned) to rest. I lay down on the floor, Dave lay on a bench. People kept asking us if we were ok. More hills afterwards, and finally we came to the top of a hill that had a cell phone tower. Dave, in all of his wisdom, said this was a good sign. He was right. There were more hills, but they got smaller, and maybe even farther apart. The road curved north, but not enough to get any help from the wind.
Circle was a wonderful sight. At the edge of town, the signs about the area told us that half of all of the T. rex skeletons recovered in the world were found in this area.
It was hot, and we were tired, so we got a room in the Traveller's Inn. An old place in need of a lot of repair, but clean and air conditioned. We had our best dinner (and good beer!) yet in all of the small towns we've stayed, so all was well.
In the picture below, imagine the road you see covers 2 miles. Multiply it by 30, and that's what we saw all day.

Day 28 July 7, 2016 Sand Springs, Mt to Jordan, Mt. 37.7 miles

Great weather this morning.  I made coffee (I love making my coffee in the mornings), had my usual granola bar with peanut butter, and Dave and I shared a package of those little powdered sugar donuts.  He also had a Twinkie. We agreed that neither tasted as good as we remembered.
We had a short day because there are few towns, and it was either Jordan about 38 miles away, or Circle, which was just over 100 miles. Easy choice to make.
We were able to camp in the city park and shower at the pool (and it was a great shower), all for free! However, food choices in these small towns are limited.

Road to nowhere?

Jordan ahead

Camping in the city park

Day 27 July 6, 2016 Winnett to Sand Springs 46.4 miles

Let me go back to last night before I tell you about today’ s ride. I bought a deck of cards at the general store in Winnett so we would have some entertainment in the evenings when we still had some energy left. Dave was reluctant to play  (because I usually win) , but I hadn’t played gin for a long time. He won the first two hands outright, then in the third hand, he used a ‘Kass rule’ that I had never heard of. He was close to gin, so he went out figuring I had more points in my hand than he did (which was correct). I have to admit that it adds something to the game, but I could sense my parents’ disapproval immediately! That rule would never have been accepted in the Shaffer household. Needless to say, I didn’t win any hands that night. 

Now to the ride. There were clouds to the west when we got up, so we hurried as much as  possible figuring we’d probably be riding in the rain for awhile today. It wasn’t a long ride to Sand Springs,  but there were no towns  in between, so  we got extra water and food. About a hour into the ride, the storm  began, so we had to stop and put on rain gear. Fortunately, the lightning wasn’t close since we had nowhere to go for protection. Although, a guy in a FedEx van did stop and ask if we’d like a ride, which  was really nice. The temperature was too cool to go without raingear , but too warm to wear it comfortably. And it was hilly, so sweaty we were. It didn’t rain hard, but we had a headwind which got stronger as the day went on. There was a nice rest area at the top of a hill, and the rain stopped while we were there, although the headwind and the hills didn’t.

Sand Springs was a very welcome sight, and a cool place. No one really lives there, but there’s a post office, a ‘convenience store,’ and camping is allowed in the yard for free, with access to the bathrooms which had hot and cold water (no showers). We arrived about 30 minutes before the store closed, so we had a frozen pizza, beer, and candy bars for dessert. The woman working there was the sister of the owner, and she and her husband are retired, have an RV, travel for fun, and are living in the RV behind the store for the summer. She said her favorite place was Savanah,  Georgia. The owner is the postmaster.

Then we had to hurry and pitch the tent because we could see another storm coming. The wind and rain started just as we  were getting every in the tent, so we got a bit wet. The wind was scary, but we were somewhat protected by the building, and we were cozy in the tent. We both took a nap, and the storm was over when I woke up. It was still, and the sun was shining low in the sky below the clouds, and it was beautiful. And we had really lucked out again.
The pictures are in reverse order. Thought I had it figured out,  but nope.

After the storm

Sand Springs at last

Rain on the way!

Day 23 July 2, 2016 Fort Benton, Mt. 36.3 miles

This was technically a day off because we made no progress, and we rode without any panniers (hooray!). However, it was a worthwhile day. We rode up to Loma, a very small town north of Fort Benton (Ma's Diner on one side of the road & Pa's convenience store on the other!) Just outside Loma is the confluence of the Marias and Missouri Rivers - the Decision Point, where Lewis and Clark had to decide which river was the Missouri. It's a great lookout point, and it was moving to imagine those men standing there over 200 years ago having to decide. The Nez Perce had described the rivers to them, and also told them that there were falls upriver to make the choice easier. Once they decided, Lewis went ahead to find the falls and confirm the decision.
This is also where the Missouri River Breaks National Monument begins. This part of the Missouri River is the part of Lewis and Clark's route that is the most like it was when they travelled through here.
We boycotted the restaurants, bought hot dogs, potato salad, and beer at the grocery store, grilled the hot dogs at the campground on the gas grill.
Another great day.

Lewis, Clark, and Sacajawea

Day 26 July 5, 2016 Lewistown, Mt. to Winnett, Mt. 59.3 miles

A pretty morning.  The weather overall has been great, with cool mornings, and today was no exception. And a kid had stepped on my glasses at the campground in Fort Benton, and there was an eye clinic next to the motel. The optician fixed them in a minute, gave me glass cleaner, and sent me on my way. I was so grateful!
We had a climb out of Lewistown, and at the top, we met Patti, who was riding by herself on a recumbent from Northern Michigan to Missoula for the 40th anniversary celebration of Bikecentennial.  She had ridden across the country during Bikecentennial in '76 at the age of 20. Very impressive.
The day's ride was pretty easy - tailwinds and a lot of gradual downhill. Winnett, population 182, our destination was a cute town. We camped in the tiny city park next to the tiny swimming pool. For $4, we could swim and shower. The woman who runs the pool was 50ish and had moved back to Winnett after being away for a few years and was happy to be back. I had noticed that most of the windows on the west sides of the buildings in town were boarded up.  She said there was a storm on June 8th with 90 mph winds and grapefruit sized hail. And, of course, a lot of crop damage.
A sign in the park said the sprinklers would come on at 8 am, so just in case,  we put the tent under the shelter on the concrete. We slept just fine, proof that Thermorests really work!

Leaving Lewistown 

Patti on her way to Missoula

Camping in Winnett 

Day 25 July 4, 2016 Denton, Mt. to Lewistown, Mt. 40.9 miles

Again we were looking forward to a bigger town (Lewistown's population is 6,000), only to be disappointed. The smaller towns have much more 'personality.'
It was cloudy and windy when we started, and we were afraid we were in for rain. But not so, and we had an easy ride to Lewistown. We checked into a motel so we could do laundry. And it was kind of nice to sleep in a real bed again.
But Lewistown was boring, and most everything was closed because it was the 4th of July. We were eager to move on.
By the way, Lewistown, Montana is named after the man who founded the town in the 1890's, not Meriwether Lewis.

Day 24 July 3, 2016 Fort Benton, Mt. to Denton, Mt. 64.2 miles

We had a bit of 'excitement' during the night. We were awakened by a car alarm and screaming. My first thought was a bear even though we thought we were out of bear country,  and I was ready to lock myself in the bathroom.  But it was just a fight among people  (in the RVs), and it quieted down after the police arrived.

Looking back at Square Butte 

 Approaching Square Butte 

We started 'early' and started the day with a climb away from the river. Our lunch stop was in Geraldine (named after Geraldine Rockefeller), and it's always obvious people are used to seeing cyclists. They're happy to fill our water bottles, and the woman here told us we could hang out as long as we wanted  (it was getting hot). Since it was hot and we knew we had a big climb ahead, we stopped in Square Butte to top up our water bottles. The cluster of buildings called Square Butte is named after a huge butte by the same name. We had been riding toward it all morning, and about the 5 miles down the road, we turned northwest along side of it into a strong headwind and started climbing (it's best not to know exactly what you're getting into sometimes). The wind was really treacherous, and I had to stop a couple of times to keep from being blown over. Dave, of course, pedals along way ahead of me as though it's a normal day's ride. The climb was about 6 miles, and from the top we looked back and realized we were on the other side of Square Butte. What a view! Then the payoff. We turned east and the tailwind pushed us into Denton. But when we arrived,  it appeared that nothing was open. The restrooms in the city park where we were supposed to camp were locked, and there was no water. We thought we'd be eating granola bars for dinner.  Dave rode back into town while I contemplated our situation, and found a bar (with food) open. The kid working there said bikers had been camping right across the street in the little city park where at least there were open restrooms. Only our second night so far without showers. So we watched kids playing basketball and playing on the play equipment before we turned in. Not such a bad way to end the day.
(Pictures are out of order. Can't figure out how to fix it.)

Sweet riding after the climb

Leaving Fort Benton 

Day 22 July 1, 2016 Great Falls, Mt. to Fort Benton, Mt. 50.9 miles

Crossing the Missouri River into Fort Benton 

Highwood Road

Another beautiful day, and we were ready to get going after a day off and a pizza dinner we had delivered to the campground  (talk about luxury camping!). We were at the edge of town, so we didn't have to deal with traffic, and soon we turned onto Highwood Road, which we practically had to ourselves. More big sky, big hills, and and a road  that seemed to go on forever. It was great. We arrived in Highwood just as Elmo's Highwood Bar opened for lunch, and there was actually a grilled chicken sandwich on the menu! A delicacy in these parts where everything in restaurants is fried, even cheesecake!  The woman working there told us that once we climbed the 'bench,' we'd have easy riding into Fort Benton. Benches are ridges that are all over the place, left behind from the ancient glaciers and floods.  And since Fort Benton is on the Missouri River, the last few miles were downhill.
Fort Benton is considered the birthplace of Montana, and there is a lot of history here, mostly because it's the farthest west on the Missouri that steamboats could travel. There are three museums, one about agriculture on the northern high plains, which was surprisingly interesting. Being from Kansas, we learned about the dust bowl in Kansas and Oklahoma,  but Montana was  also greatly affected;  one about the fort ( named after Thomas Hart Benton because he was an advocate of westward expansion), and one about the town itself.
A funny story about how sometimes it's an advantage to be old. Admission to one museum was good for all three. And my senior parks pass got me a discount,  so it only cost me $8. Dave came in later,  and when the teenager working at the desk told Dave about the discount, he thought the kid was saying it was free, so he said thanks and went on. We figured the young man thought Dave was a confused old man and decided to let him go on. Later,  when Dave realized his mistake, he tried to pay, but the kid said it was ok.

Mountains to the south as we ride to Highwood 

Day 20 June 29, 2016 Augusta, Mt. to Great Falls, Mt. 63.6 miles

My 65th birthday (!), and I was looking forward to getting to a town with a population greater than 500. The first leg of the ride was on a road with essentially no traffic and more rolling hills. We even went by what looked like an old movie set that Dave said was a shooting range. The ride was great until we got on the frontage road that took us into Great Falls. It was ugly, there was a lot of traffic, we had a headwind, and it was 11 miles! (And it was my birthday, so I can conplain!) The traffic in Great Falls was heavy, and we decided we liked the tiny towns instead. But there was a bike trail that took us around the city, along the Missouri River, where we saw the falls right below the dam.
We decided we needed a day off, so we got a campsite at the KOA for two nights, raided the store for dinner stuff (olives, cheese, canned pears, etc.), and had a feast of sorts.
The next day, we slept in, then rode back to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, which was about their portage around the falls. It's amazing what they endured.

Day 19 June 28, 2016 Lincoln, Mt. to Augusta, Mt. 60.1 miles

This day was different than any others before because we had at least 55 miles to ride with no place to stop for food or water.  Plus we would be crossing the Continental Divide at Rogers Pass on Highway 200. What we didn't know was that riding over Rogers Pass would be the easy part! We were at Rogers Pass at noon, had a fun downhill for a good 8 miles, straight into the high plains, and big skies of Montana. A sign along the highway explained it well, "The Rocky Mountains slide into the high plains. These high plains are very different than those I'm familiar with in Kansas. These are hilly, with big hills. We'd top a hill only to see a straight road like a roller coaster. But it was beautiful and we had a tail 'breeze.' Better than nothing or a hesdwind, for sure. No trees that we could see except when we crossed the Dearborn River.
About 5 miles down the road after lunch we turned northwest to head up to Augusta. Ten miles down the road, we stopped and go water at what we learned later was a Hutterite colony. The people wore clothing similar to the Amish, but it was more conservative. The girls wore long dresses, and their heads were covered. The boys wore long pants, long sleeved shirts, suspenders, and hats. They raise pigs, chickens, have dairy cows, and raise wheat, and they use modern farming techniques. Everything is owned by the community, kids are educated there, usually just to 8th grade. They're of German origin, and have moved around a lot because of persecution. In North America,  they live mostly in Montana,  the Dakotas, and Canada.  Probably more than you wanted to know.....
Our first stop in Augusta was at Mel's Diner, and the huckleberry milkshake was just what we needed! We camped in a treeless field beside the motel, but the showers were great, and we had a chance to talk to some of the locals, who were really nice and eager to talk about their part of Montana.
Pictures are out of order, but at least there are some! Top to bottom: 1. Looking back after descending Rogers Pass  2. Big hills after leaving the Rocky Mtn     3. Camping spot in Augusta  4. Dave riding up to Rogers Pass