Blood Suckers
To be charitable, you could call this segment of Montana spare. If you elected to be critical you might call it barren. Out here, there is grass, the freight train, the highway, and the occasional outpost town. Let's review the events of the last two days.
From Wolf Point we continued west through the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. At around mile 20 we passed through a hamlet called Oswego. The side of the road didn't look too appealing for a break so we carried on. Mosquitoes started flying after us so we decided we should definitely press further. Around mile 30 we hoped to stop next to Lake Frazer to enjoy a view with our snacks. The map showed that it should be about a mile wide. We arrived: it had dried up completely. Rach and I decided that was plenty far enough and had a stop in the gravel at a crossroads. Thankfully, no mosquitoes here.
Another stretch of pedaling and we came to the outskirts of a tiny town called Nashua. A large crew was re-surfacing the road here and we rode right past a construction worker holding a stop sign at her side. She was on her cell phone and seemed totally oblivious to us. A few hundred yards later she finally noticed us and started hooting and hollering about where we could ride. In Nashua we stopped at a convenience store that also doubled as the local movie rental place. They had a full complement of VHS titles collecting dust on the shelves. Time moves slowly here.
We finally finished our day in Glasgow after 62 miles or so. The city has a small park specifically for bicycle campers. Rach had called a man at the parks department earlier in the day for details. He told us that the park did not have bathrooms but there was an RV park immediately next door and there was an arrangement to allow cyclists to use the restrooms there.
When Rach went over to get the code for the keypad lock on the bathroom door at the RV park, the lady in the office said she had never heard of any such thing and refused to let us use the bathrooms. She did admit that she was a new employee and maybe a more senior member of the staff could know more. Rach returned a little while later, and sure enough, there was another person who said the arrangement was to pay 5 dollars each time you wanted to use the bathroom. "So let me get this straight. If I want to use the bathroom now, and then take a shower later, and then use the bathroom tomorrow morning you want to charge me 15 dollars?" "Yes, that's right." That was clearly a load of horse shit so we went off and had a tremendous meal at a Mexican restaurant to both give the evening some uplift and get access to a toilet.
This morning we pedaled off to McDonald's to be able to use a bathroom and get an Egg McMuffin. We continued trudging on, more miles on Highway 2. We've had some unfavorable wind lately and plenty of grinding miles.
My highlight of today was definitely in a town called Hinsdale. We found a cafe called Sweet Memories and it was an absolute delight. The owner there Leona was sweet and friendly. The food was fresh and delicious. We both had Caesar salads, a side of homegrown vegetables, frosty lemonades, and local Montana ice cream. We sat at a shared table with some local regulars and chatted about their lives and our trip. It was downright wholesome. They warned us about mosquitoes and they were absolutely right.
I think we rode the fastest we have in months for the next 13 miles. The mosquitoes were vicious! We've tangoed with some bugs during this stretch but always at the end of the day at a campsite. These bugs flew after us, dive bombed us, and chewed us up all while we were in motion. Rach and I stopped at the side of the road and used up all our insect repellent and still they were undeterred. It helped for sure but never have I seen such determination in the animal kingdom.
We finally shot through that gauntlet of pain and arrived at the Sleeping Buffalo Hot Springs where tomorrow we will take an overdue day off. My hopes are for cold drinks and lazy soaking. Today is the 4 month anniversary of our trip. We have now ridden over 6,000 miles. I need a rest.
From Wolf Point we continued west through the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. At around mile 20 we passed through a hamlet called Oswego. The side of the road didn't look too appealing for a break so we carried on. Mosquitoes started flying after us so we decided we should definitely press further. Around mile 30 we hoped to stop next to Lake Frazer to enjoy a view with our snacks. The map showed that it should be about a mile wide. We arrived: it had dried up completely. Rach and I decided that was plenty far enough and had a stop in the gravel at a crossroads. Thankfully, no mosquitoes here.
Another stretch of pedaling and we came to the outskirts of a tiny town called Nashua. A large crew was re-surfacing the road here and we rode right past a construction worker holding a stop sign at her side. She was on her cell phone and seemed totally oblivious to us. A few hundred yards later she finally noticed us and started hooting and hollering about where we could ride. In Nashua we stopped at a convenience store that also doubled as the local movie rental place. They had a full complement of VHS titles collecting dust on the shelves. Time moves slowly here.
We finally finished our day in Glasgow after 62 miles or so. The city has a small park specifically for bicycle campers. Rach had called a man at the parks department earlier in the day for details. He told us that the park did not have bathrooms but there was an RV park immediately next door and there was an arrangement to allow cyclists to use the restrooms there.
When Rach went over to get the code for the keypad lock on the bathroom door at the RV park, the lady in the office said she had never heard of any such thing and refused to let us use the bathrooms. She did admit that she was a new employee and maybe a more senior member of the staff could know more. Rach returned a little while later, and sure enough, there was another person who said the arrangement was to pay 5 dollars each time you wanted to use the bathroom. "So let me get this straight. If I want to use the bathroom now, and then take a shower later, and then use the bathroom tomorrow morning you want to charge me 15 dollars?" "Yes, that's right." That was clearly a load of horse shit so we went off and had a tremendous meal at a Mexican restaurant to both give the evening some uplift and get access to a toilet.
This morning we pedaled off to McDonald's to be able to use a bathroom and get an Egg McMuffin. We continued trudging on, more miles on Highway 2. We've had some unfavorable wind lately and plenty of grinding miles.
My highlight of today was definitely in a town called Hinsdale. We found a cafe called Sweet Memories and it was an absolute delight. The owner there Leona was sweet and friendly. The food was fresh and delicious. We both had Caesar salads, a side of homegrown vegetables, frosty lemonades, and local Montana ice cream. We sat at a shared table with some local regulars and chatted about their lives and our trip. It was downright wholesome. They warned us about mosquitoes and they were absolutely right.
I think we rode the fastest we have in months for the next 13 miles. The mosquitoes were vicious! We've tangoed with some bugs during this stretch but always at the end of the day at a campsite. These bugs flew after us, dive bombed us, and chewed us up all while we were in motion. Rach and I stopped at the side of the road and used up all our insect repellent and still they were undeterred. It helped for sure but never have I seen such determination in the animal kingdom.
We finally shot through that gauntlet of pain and arrived at the Sleeping Buffalo Hot Springs where tomorrow we will take an overdue day off. My hopes are for cold drinks and lazy soaking. Today is the 4 month anniversary of our trip. We have now ridden over 6,000 miles. I need a rest.
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| Winding through the lonely fields |
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| Red sun from Sleeping Buffalo Hot Springs |
The RV park and access to toilets reminded me of some widely-shared photos, location Poway Road, from Mike's sophomore year of high school. As a G-rated blog, Mike can explain to Rach.
ReplyDeleteRide safely.
Cheri
HAHAHA, didn't expect this to come up in the blog. Good times at Molcasalsa.
DeleteGet some DEET repellent. Charge it to me. You should have told that lady at the RV Park to go sit in her precious bathroom and eat sh......aving cream! What a load of jerks! It seems that lately "fate" is handing out kindness and crap in equal measure. Here's to hoping for clear skies, clear of the blood suckers, wind and rain.
ReplyDeleteYou'd think the threat of the alternative option (see Cheri's comment above) would be enough for them to allow you to use the banos.
DeleteSometimes people are so ungracious and then some are lovely. We wish you lots of lovelies! I hâte mozzies! Have a lovely rest day. Xx
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteAffidavits sent to e-mail and via text at 9:37 am today. (8-25-18)