Day 23 Circle to Culbertson

81/1305/3059 , 7:30a start after an early morning with Beau. Easy first 20 miles with nothing but wheat in sight, no animals, only raptors soaring over the fields in search of prairie dogs and mice. A few hills but mostly flat with a tailwind until I turn on rte 2 into a monster headwind. 12mph top speed for 30 miles and some hills again. No motels in Poplar and looks a bit run down. Ride on another 30 to Culbertson and again no motels due to construction workers overpopulating the area. We find a rv park with electric, the owners are nice and let us stay for a reduced price of $ 15 in that we don't need full hookup and electric only for coffee in the morning. It's 56 to Williston from here and 139 to Minot and from there 5 days to Fargo to finish North Dakota. We dine at the local casino/bar and grill. Nice salads and we watch the news on TV. Local regulars come through with their 20 gallon hats that stay on in the bar. They have their whiskey, a smoke then move on. Pretty dead for a Monday night, but we are early birds at 5:30p. Play backgammon till dark then early to sleep.

Day 22 Jordon to Circle

67/1224/3140 Long lonely ride today, got a later start as the van alarm went off at 2:21 am and we had a hard time getting back to sleep , then hard time getting up and going. Very hilly roller coaster ride today, short steep up, then short fast down for 55 miles....flattened out in the last 12 miles into Circle. Nice little motel room in Circle decorated from the 60's rumpus room, dark panelling and shag carpet. Lots of deer and prong horn today, cattle as always and a huge flock of sheep in one spot, hundreds all in about a square mile. Lots of locusts again, in the face, helmet and sticking to legs. No places to stop except a rest area with a picnic table under a shade tree, a welcome stop spot out of the sun. Only averaged 13 miles per hour today as it was slow going on the roller coaster hills. Tomorrow some more of the same but then it looks like it flattens out going into poplar about 75 miles up the road. Looking for a good diner tonight at the only restaurant here, next door.

Jim, Suz and Beau

Day 21 Lewiston to Jordan

78/1157/3207 Slept in till 7a, somehow Beau did not wake up today! We do coffee from the Lobby and I browse the newspaper for a few, then get the van loaded. Suz will wait for a post office to open then catch me in the next town about 55 miles along. Nice weather again and there are some 60 year old kids outside at the motel playing with their raked hogs with no mufflers as I leave on my quiet bicycle. Ride for half a mile and pass a sign saying this is he geographical center of North America. Ride some low hills for the first twenty and rolling hills after until I hit Winette and stop at the general store . Chat with some bikers outside for awhile and Suz pulls in about 10 minutes and we talk to some local farmers inside about our trip and other things to save the world. They are very friendly and helpful. When I take off an old guy standing on the back of a tractor gets my attention as he looks like the grim reaper in blue jeans driving a tractor with a front loader of hay. I ride on to the Taj Mahal of rest stops, another 35 miles where Suz meets me for a break. The locals say it cost 3 million, has more stalls than will ever be used, air conditioned and very large. Lots of locust out today. Have to ride with your mouth closed and they stick in the helmet and on your legs. In spots the road is covered with them. Also some type of biting fly on and off in area where I am climbing hills and not going too fast. On to Jordan for the night. Little shabby motel in a little shabby town. We stay in and have sandwiches and watch TV. The Van alarm goes off at 2:20a, but we don't see anyone and reset it, but then have a rough time getting back to sleep.

Jim, Suzanne and Beau

day 20 Geraldine to Lewistown, Montana

73/1079/3285 Early start from the city park here in Geraldine, we did not sleep well here all by ourselves in the parking lot. I seemed to wake at every car that passed. Nice cool morning in the 50's but sunny. There is a little town 8 miles up the road called Square Butte that is supposed to have a cafe', but when we get there is is closed. The farmers here say the recession has not hurt them that bad, but the price of gas hurts. Lots of the cafe's along the way are closed as well as small mini marts, gas stations and motels. I ride on to Denton, a small town with a Cafe in the middle of nowhere. Food is good and the owner cook has a dry sense of humor, but quick with the coffee refils and food. See some Elk by the side of the road with their new furry antlers in growth. They run off before I can get a picture. I ride another enjoyable easy 40 mostly flat with a few steep hills and some headwind. Looking forward to a motel , shower and wifi tonight, after that we have a series of campgrounds before Williston North Dakota. Lots of prairie with deer and cows along the road, mountains in the distance that we will have to go over eventually. Comical little prairie dogs live by the side of the road and go racing and tumbling from one side to the next as I pass. Lots of Hawks and an occasional eagle spotted. Arrive in Lewistown at 1p and fine a nice motel and a recommended diner up the road. We clean up, check email and go to Harry's for dinner. It's Friday so there is a prime rib special, we get the "small portion and I can hardly finish. Suzanne cannot and we get our deserts to go. Cherry and Blueberry cobbler, very good but so big we have it for breakfast and desert the next two days! Good nights sleep tonight after a hard ride and little sleep last night.

Jim, Suzanne and Beau

Day 19 Great Falls to Geraldine, Montana

81/1006/3358, Today was the 1000 milestone, just 3358 or less depending on my calculator to go. Up early at the motel due to noisy neighbors upstairs, continental breakfast with newspaper then on the road. Have to work through Great Falls for 10 miles on the bike route and then out of town through rush hour. Then turn onto 289 onto a country road with no traffic and the sun is up pretty high now, cool and wheat fields on the right. I just crest a hill and two F15 Eagle fighter jets come screaming over the electric lines just in front of me, low and loud. Very impressive, they stay low for a while over the wheat fields then climb steep and bank to the north and are gone. Lucky I wasn't nearer with afterburners, I could be BBQ. I ride the country road for more miles and a chopper comes and checks me out, not too near, but I must be the only interesting thing this morning. Maelstrom AFB is to the left and I am on a perimeter road for quite a few miles. Climb a few moderate hills with a 25-30 mile tailwind and blue skies, great ride. About 30 miles out I come to a uphill right over a mountain pass straight up, my toughest climb yet. Then right after is another big uphill! I stop for break at the top and spot two elk across the ravine, one with rack and one without. Going to take a break at Highwood, mall town with a market and meet Suz, but, as we are finding more and more, the market is closed. So as I roll through town, a dog decides to chase, so I jump the pace and get out of town. Suz finally catches me 10 miles down the road and decides to go ahead to Fort Benton to reconnoiter for a lunch spot. Fort Benton turns out to be a quaint very historical place with a park along the riverfront right across the street from the downtown cafe. We have a great early lunch then spend some time in the park with Beau. There is a memorial to Shep, a bronze statue of the dog. The story is that Shep followed his Masters coffin to the railroad here in 1936 and came back every day until 1942 when he was killed by the train. He was such a popular part of the town, that hundreds came to his funeral and they erected a memorial to the dog .

This was a Lewis and Clark town and a major stop on the Missouri river that runs next to the park. The renovated 1850's Grand Union Hotel sits right on the river and there is an old scenic bridge just next to it. I take off for another 25 miles and we end up in Geraldine for the night. The RV park on the map is closed but the general store says we can stay in the city park in our RV van. We do that and there are clean restrooms for our use free of charge. We go to Rusty's bar and grill for fried chicken and beer, then an early night in the van. Very quiet but we don't sleep well, too quiet??

Jim, Suz and Beau

Day 18 Lincoln to Great Falls

88 miles, the first 30 up and over the continental divide. Plaque also said this is the coldest spot in the USA, sub zero's all winter and it was 43 in July when I rode by. After the mountain pass I thought I was home free as the map looks like downhill all the way to Great Falls, NOT! There were about 45 miles of rolling hills with steep descents and equally steep climbs, good 6% grades, so it was slow going up, but I still averaged 15mph overall. Saw some deer today and a dead rattlesnake on the side of the road. Wondered what I would do if I saw a Grizzly as there is a large bear population here, but I doubt they come close to the roads. Stopped in Fort Shaw which was the first place out of Lincoln that was open at mile 62 for lunch with Suzanne. A retired farmer whose dentures made him a little hard to understand, chatted with us about the area and his life, then bought us lunch. His contribution to the great ride across America. Nice little cafe and again great food, the beef here is really good, all Angus beef steers. The steers all stop grazing as I ride by and watch me pass, all of them, usually all at once, a little comical to see. Now that I am over the continental divide, the hills should get smaller I think and I may be able to pick up my daily mileage. 88 miles with hills is about all I can do now .

88/925/3351 Today/Done/2go

Jim, Suz and Beau

Da y 17 Missoula to Lincoln Montana

We meet for breakfast after loading the van with our stuff. John mentions that Eli's map has a shorter route than the map that I bought at Adventure Cycle, so I go up to his room and yes it is a shorter route by 300 miles, so.....we go back to Adventure with the group and get the new map, then have a our pictures taken. Bob has a flat that we discover on the group picture, then wait for the repair and leave around 9:30 a heading east. The crew will go north at jct 83 about 450 miles up. John wants a coffee and the group sees a car wash to wash their bikes, so I say my last goodbyes and head east alone. I ride to Trixies at Ovalada about 50 miles up the road and have a great lunch in a converted barn, that contains a bar, pool tables, tables and lots of stuffed moose, deer and Elk. I continue on for another 25 miles and just 7 miles outside of Lincoln our great weather goes south and I have a heavy shower and temps that drop from 82 to 62 and a stiff headwind. Suz is waiting in Lincoln and we find a great little cabin with kitchenette for the cheap and relax and shower. Then into the Ponder-rosa grill and a great dinner. They have the paper and we update on the Tour de France, Lance is now in second place. The waitress gives me a small American Flag to put on the back of my bike and chats with us about our journey, we also get the website of a local wood carver who had littered the restaurant with very interesting wood carvings of gargoyles, angels and other folk. They were really very good carvings, so if affordable I may order one for the house once home. Back to the cabin and the sauna , then a good night sleep after updating email and blog.

Early start tomorrow, it is about 100 miles into Great Falls, so I'll see how close I get.........

Jim, Suz and Beau