Day 25: Hingham to Chinook

June 25, 2021

Lesson Learned: Check the location of the City Park and the Trains

“I felt like Butch Cassidy chasing the train,” Rachel says, as a train had just started up and not yet gained speed, is keeping up….but not for long. We are now heading to Chinook. The wind is not as friendly today, but not totally against us either.

Trains and pigeons….and sprinklers. We were warned by a posting inside the shelter and later by the mayor when the sprinklers would come on, and we successfully avoided that problem by pitching our tents inside the shelter. However, all night long there are trains; trains that blow their loud whistles, clinked and clanked with starting and stopping. In the background, the pigeons are cooing and cooing.

Again, we have an early start, the wind is calm, and there is a light mist above the fields. There are five pronghorn antelope just visible in the a field. On the horizon is a bank of clouds, that as the morning progresses, we see are the Bear Paw Mountains.

We reach Havre by 9am in time for second breakfast…..if we can find a café. Finally, after almost cycling through town, we stop to look at the tablet by the grocery store, Robert asks someone in the parking lot, and looking behind us is Char’s Restaurant. “It used to be all these small towns had a café.” Rachel says “growing up in a town of 550, we had two barber shops, a dress shop, two cafes, two gas stations, hardware store, lumber yard, candy shop, drug store & fountain, two grocery store, a meat locker, post office and bank.” When we rode through Havre, there is a Walmart. Things have changed for small town America. At breakfast, since it’s so early, we decide to continue onto Chinook and once there, we’ll decide if we go on to Harlem. Patrick has been texting with a Warmshowers Host in Harlem, but this is not going to work out.

All depends upon the wind.

After Havre, there are rolling hills and the wind turned against us ever so slightly. And we see the evidence of the recent road construction, with the shoulder widening, and the road flattening out a bit. We can see the water tower of Chinook from miles and miles away. In Europe, it’s the church steeples, and other parts of the world, the cell towers that indicate towns or high points. Entering Chinook, we stop at a gas station to get something cold to drink, enjoy popsicles and check out where the city parks are located; we decide to stop for the day. One is near the railroad tracks. So we check out the other one by the swimming pool. Robert calls the police, as instructed on the ACA maps, and is told that there are free showers at the pool. Also, the police mentioned the sprinklers come on at 7:30 starting on the eastern side of the pool.

We locate the sprinkler heads and set up the tent in a shady spot, the temp is 80F. The free showers are cold showers. Patrick and Robert walk to the grocery store (a surprise to Robert who started to unload his bike), our habit is to walk and use different muscles. The tents set up, listening to the kids playing in the pool, relaxing, looking at the weather apps, catching up with photos and journal…all the things to do once in camp. The caretaker came around and told us she shut off the sprinklers, so no worries.

Taco Salad for dinner.

We had just packed up and left the City Park shelter, cycling on the unpaved roads of the town a few blocks. Just as we got back to Hwy 2, this was the view.

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Today's ride: 57 miles (92 km)
Total: 992 miles (1,596 km)

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