Day Three - July 9th
Another GREAT day. Our day started as a typical vacation should, we did not know what day it was and were really confused about what time zone we were in. The clock in our room was off by an hour and thirty some minutes. Tom's watch said Illinois time and my phone kept flipping back and forth between time zones. Needless to say Tom woke up at what he thought was 730 am local time, it was more like 5am. We got up and thought we were late for school or something. We showered, packed the bikes, ate the free continental breakfast and we were on on the road by.....you guessed it 7am local time.
What a great feeling to be on the highway at that hour and not see a car in front of you, nor behind you or coming at you for miles and it was actually cold this morning we wore gloves, long sleeve shirts and Tom wore his coat.
What a great feeling to be on the highway at that hour and not see a car in front of you, nor behind you or coming at you for miles and it was actually cold this morning we wore gloves, long sleeve shirts and Tom wore his coat.
Enchanted Highway Exit on I-94- Largest Metal Sculpture
Largest Metal Sculpture in the world, according to the signage
We ran into this huge sculpture this morning . It was about 9:30 am (Mountain Time). This was the same sculpture that I ran into last summer with my family on vacation. We just whipped over on the side of the highway and snapped some photos, thank God for tripods and camera timers.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park and Painted Canyon
This was a great stop. Enjoy the photos and click on the individual picture to read each caption.
Welcome to the West
For some reason Tom and I both feel cooler than we actually are once we crossed into this great state. Such a cowboy feel and it is starting to seem like we are making some ground.
And We are Off Again
We spent the next few hours working on our redneck tans and enjoying the miles. Lots of time to just listen to the tunes and contemplate where our next stop would be. If I were you I would be betting on a gas station. Tom switched from his radio to his head phones and he said it was the best thing, it really cuts down on the fatigue for your ears. The wind noise and the howling in your head starts to sound like a freight train towards the end of day. I used my earplugs all day. Believe it or not you can actually hear the music better with your ears plugged. Try it next time you are in a noisy place, put your OWN finger in your ear and listen up.
We did make a stop for gas and had to wait in line, It was the only show around for fuel. There we met a fellow biker named Brad, a garbage man from Fargo. He looked more like a Lou not a Brad. His belly looked as if he were about to give birth to octuplets. He was trying to bum our last quart of oil we had in our saddlebag bag, unfortunately we had to lie and say we were "fresh out". Kind of ironic I thought, because this guy and his partner were riding a bike they do not usually ride because their original bike lost it's motor, I suspect a lack of oil to be the culprit.
We did make a stop for gas and had to wait in line, It was the only show around for fuel. There we met a fellow biker named Brad, a garbage man from Fargo. He looked more like a Lou not a Brad. His belly looked as if he were about to give birth to octuplets. He was trying to bum our last quart of oil we had in our saddlebag bag, unfortunately we had to lie and say we were "fresh out". Kind of ironic I thought, because this guy and his partner were riding a bike they do not usually ride because their original bike lost it's motor, I suspect a lack of oil to be the culprit.
Favorite Stop of the Day
Making our way to.....who cares. We stopped in a town called Circle Montana. This was probably our best stop of the day. We already had three hundred plus miles under our belt and it was barely the afternoon. This picture tells the story. A no name gas station where we sat for an hour or so and met quite the cast of characters. Look close, that is the only shade in town and that is an original Coors beer I am holding, I haven't seen that can since my dad!
Local Folks
This is Jason and Nyoka. They were from the area and we encountered them while perched in the shade of the no name fuel facility. They were hauling some type of livestock or horses to a rodeo in the town of Wolf Point, about 50 miles north of Circle. He also mentioned something about a 20 year class reunion. He should just do what I did, get a facebook account before your reunion and reach out to the five people you wanted to see anyway and gamble the money you would have spent on the reunion. I am guessing based on the size of this area, five people were his whole graduating class.
At one point he asked if we knew where Sibley Iowa was at. We guessed and were wrong and then he made some comment like you guys are Dumb and Dumber. If it were not so hot I would have told him to take that Fresca and put it were the sun doesn't shine. The mannequin head sure prompts a lot of conversation we just sit and wait for people to chat us up. Nice folks.
Not to long after these guys left a guy pulls up, Jim, in an old white Chevy squad car and pulls RIGHT next to the stoop where Tom and are sitting and says, "Hey boys those bikes aren't going to drive themselves sitting here in the shade." He said he had driven by and saw the head on the bike and just wanted to say hey. As I stood up to introduce myself I noticed he had a crutch in the car, I say what happend Jim? He replied it was a cow accident, I left it at that.
I forgot to mention the old time attendant working here. Len as his name tag would have it, but Leonard as I heard the locals calls him. When we drove up out front he came out to pump our gas, then I noticed the "Full Service" sign. That is old school. They also had a real working phone booth. I went in there to send a text message on my cell phone.
We ended up at the Cottonwood Inn in Glasgow Montana, that puts us about 1200'ish miles from the homestead. We did laundry here and the accommodations are pretty slick for the middle of nowhere.
We are gonna cut north tomorrow and head for Canada. We are not sure where we are going to cross or if they will let us in but we are going to tell them we are filming a documentary. If that does not work we will give them one of our business cards and hope for the best. In case I forgot to mention, we made business cards so any meaningful conversations we pass out the cards and tell our new five minute friends they are going to be famous and they should log on.
At one point he asked if we knew where Sibley Iowa was at. We guessed and were wrong and then he made some comment like you guys are Dumb and Dumber. If it were not so hot I would have told him to take that Fresca and put it were the sun doesn't shine. The mannequin head sure prompts a lot of conversation we just sit and wait for people to chat us up. Nice folks.
Not to long after these guys left a guy pulls up, Jim, in an old white Chevy squad car and pulls RIGHT next to the stoop where Tom and are sitting and says, "Hey boys those bikes aren't going to drive themselves sitting here in the shade." He said he had driven by and saw the head on the bike and just wanted to say hey. As I stood up to introduce myself I noticed he had a crutch in the car, I say what happend Jim? He replied it was a cow accident, I left it at that.
I forgot to mention the old time attendant working here. Len as his name tag would have it, but Leonard as I heard the locals calls him. When we drove up out front he came out to pump our gas, then I noticed the "Full Service" sign. That is old school. They also had a real working phone booth. I went in there to send a text message on my cell phone.
We ended up at the Cottonwood Inn in Glasgow Montana, that puts us about 1200'ish miles from the homestead. We did laundry here and the accommodations are pretty slick for the middle of nowhere.
We are gonna cut north tomorrow and head for Canada. We are not sure where we are going to cross or if they will let us in but we are going to tell them we are filming a documentary. If that does not work we will give them one of our business cards and hope for the best. In case I forgot to mention, we made business cards so any meaningful conversations we pass out the cards and tell our new five minute friends they are going to be famous and they should log on.