White Sulphur Springs

After leaving Roundup we made it to Ryegate. At the city park there was another touring cyclist. Yoyo was his nickname, I can’t remember his real name. He was riding through all 48 states. Rose and I hung our hammocks up in the pavilion and YoYo slept on top of one of the tables.

For dinner we cooked eggs and bacon and had enough left over for sandwiches the next day.

In Harlowton we got a motel room. We had got in just before some thunderstorms hit. It has been really hot and windy with the highs in the upper 80s. We cooked sloppy Joe’s for dinner. In the morning it was raining steadily and was pretty chilly, 48 degrees with a headwind. We decided to stay one more night in the motel. It was a very relaxing day that we spent reading and napping. There was a grocery store very close and we bought hamburger cheese and tortilla chips to make nachos.

It was still raining steadily when we left but we had on our rain gear. In the town of Two Dot we stopped to get out of the weather and get a cup of coffee. The Two Dot bar was the only establishment in this small town with a population of 26. Hank Williams Jr has a song named Two Dot, Montana. I was a bit suprised to know there was actually a town named that and even more surprised I was there. Had it not been raining and nasty we would of rolled right on by the small sign that said Two Dot Bar. Especially since the town was over a half mile away from route 12. But it was really raining and a little bit of shelter was well worth the detour.

At the Two Dot while enjoying our second or maybe third cups of coffee the owners took pity on us and got us a ride to White Sulphur Springs. Maybe it wasn’t out of pity, the rain showed no signs of letting up and he probably figured if we didn’t leave soon he would run out of coffee. haha. Shortly his Mother in law came and picked us up in her pick up truck. We were really grateful for the ride. The city of White Sulphur Springs was the biggest town we have been to in a while. There were two motels but neither had any vacancy. I guess the thermal hot springs is a pretty big attraction. We were very wet and getting cold. Even with rain gear it seems you end up soaked. With our rain jackets on we get soaked in sweat. Even a good goretex jacket doesn’t breathe enough to allow sweat to evaporate. Rose checked for an Air BnB and I looked for a place to camp. Thankfully there was a very reasonable priced Air BnB and we checked in there. As soon as our bikes were on the porch we grabbed dry clothes from our panniers and headed for the shower. We cranked the heat up to 75 and put on our thermal baselayers. I read my book for a bit and Rose napped. The building we were in was very old built, in the 1800s I’m not sure what it’s original purpose was. It was long, tall and narrow but had been divided up into four apartments. Two upstairs and two down. We were downstairs. I was very surprised it had 14 foot high ceilings. Ceilings that high would make it pretty hard to heat I would think. But it warmed up fast for us and the heat felt good. We had a full kitchen so we made dinner mostly from our panniers. The grocery store advertised on their sign out front two packs of NY strip steaks for $9.99. That seemed like a good deal so I walked over and got a package. The steaks were around 10 Oz each. I made them while Rose made English muffin pizzas in the toaster oven.

Montana has continued to thrill me. It is such a beautiful state. When I get home, I will have to go through all my thousands of pictures. I take so many every day. But to be honest it’s impossible to capture the magnificent views and all the beauty that surrounds me at every moment. To try to shrink a distant mountain range with its highest peaks glistening with snow, deep tree filled ravines looking like dark green rib bones of some enormous creature so small that it fits in your hand is absurd.

And speaking of going home, I’m sad to say I think that time has come. We have discussed every possible option and agree to pause this adventure in Spokane. We do not have the budget to continue, so we need to go back to work for a while. Rose had to fly home from there for her infusion anyway. It seems more fitting to stop at the Pacific ocean but really this whole awesome, super amazing trip has never been about destinations. Going the additional 350 miles to the Pacific will not make parking the bike any easier. Stopping is really hard for me no matter the location. So short of another miracle or finding a suitcase full of $100 dollar bills Spokane on Oct 12 is the end of the tour. I say another miracle because I think I have experienced quite a few on my bike tour. It has been absolutely wonderful. We still have 10 days left before our flights and we are going to make the most of them!