Yet another great journal, Wayne. I’m glad the smoke wasn’t as much as a problem as it could have been, mountain views excepted. But that’s the new reality of summer. And fall. And spring.

Looking forward to your next trip.

I have had good success in humid climates when wrapping clothes in a towel, rolling it up, and giving them a squeeze. It removes more water than what I can do by just squeezing in a ball. No more dripping. Not even a little bit. The thick wool socks are the only things that might be damp in the morning. You can see that I hung them properly with good ventilation. Draping clothes on the bike and furniture is not so good.

I detailed my clothes washing system to a friend who lives in Oklahoma. She said wrying that I live and tour where it isn't humid. The dry overnight method wouldn't work for her!

I like to take photos of my motel rooms to remind me of where I've been. It helps to jog the memory sometimes.

I thought the same thing when I rode across Montana on the Northern Tier in 2008.

I may have seen the Think signs in South Dakota but was not sure that they indicate road fatalities.

In Montana it's amazing to see so many groups of crosses indicating multiple fatalities. Most of the crosses I see are in places that don't look dangerous at all. Straight, level, no intersection. I guess they could be caused by a wildlife collision, ice, or drunk/sleepy driver.

I saw another very small motel in Whitehall. It had a sign but didn't appear to be in business. Jefferson Inn is fine, and the truck stop across the road is handy. Price was $310 for two nights which is about average for this tour.
I read the Twila article from your link. The article has a lot of words but not much useful information such as number and type of rooms. Not even a picture of the entire building. The pictures look like an Airbnb house rental.

"Home for the next two nights is Jefferson Inn, across from a truck stop at an I-90 exit. The only motel in town."

Well, there's the Whitetail Creek motel (which doesn't look too appealing at all), and you were just about 2 weeks early for the grand opening of the Twila hotel; https://www.whitehallledger.com/story/2024/08/07/business/enjoy-twilight-at-the-twila-for-grand-opening-this-thursday/8422.html

Whitehall is located along what I hope to be my next bike tour, so I have researched lodging options. FWIW, I was also planning to stay at the Jefferson Inn, although the Twila might be an interesting backup plan now.

I probably saw that in South Dakota, but just don't remember it.

South Dakota also does it. One side reads "THINK!", and the other side reads "WHY DIE?"

I've seen many of those signs on several tours in South Dakota.

Interesting question. I paid with a credit card most of the time, so I didn't handle change very often. No, I never received a Sacajawea dollar in change. That would be an interesting thing for merchants to do in Sacajawea country. Southwest Montana was her Shoshone homeland before she was abducted by another Indian tribe as a child.

Did any of the businesses you frequented there use Sacajawea coins as change? That would be a nice touch. We used those in addition to $2. bills at the theatre. It's faster to handle coins than bills when making change.

I had to google how many Rialto movie theaters there are in the USA. Too many to easily count. Montana has two - Deer Lodge and Bozeman.

De nada.

Sacajawea is a hero of mine. She was a teenager with a kid around all these white men. She saved the journals of Lewis and Clark by keeping her head and grabbing them from a pirogue about to swamp. She saved the entire party when she recognized the territory as the home she was abducted from, so she was able to get food and horses and other help. I’d like to know why she continued on with Charbonneau once she was back in Shoshone land. But she stuck by him and had another child.

Now I see that Sacajawea was the wife of Toussant Charbonneau. My mistake, aided by complicated syntax. I will correct it. Thanks for pointing out what seems obvious now.

The syntax on this interpretive sign is a little awkward. Sacajawea was married to Charbonneau (if being purchased at 13 can be considered marrying). Based on dim memories of reading Undaunted Courage and aided by Wikipedia, Clark did end up adopting Jean Baptiste and his younger sister a few years later.