July 17, 2023
Day 093 - Malta to Havre
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Today's ride was much better than yesterdays. So good in fact that I combined 2 day's rides into one. The day started out warm with a strong tailwind. The tailwind not only allowed me to fly (relatively) but, more importantly, it cleared away the smoke. The greens were green, and the yellows were yellow once again!
I had only gone about 4 miles when I called Jeanna and asked her about the cancellation policy of tonight's motel in Chinook and ask her to call the Best Western in Havre to see if we could add a night's stay. (When I originally planned this trip, I had a 70-mile ride to Chinook and then a short 22-mile ride to Havre because I didn't want to plan a 90-plus mile day.)
She called me back a short while later and said that the motel in Chinook didn't charge a cancellation fee, the BW in Havre had a room, and that everything was setup. Now all I had to do was complete a 90+ mile ride.
That turned out to be easy. The strong tailwind had me averaging 17+ MPH almost to Chinook. I say almost, because about 3 miles outside of Chinook, I could see a storm brewing with lightning in the distance, and a light rain began falling. More importantly, the wind shifted and brought back the smoke with a vengeance. It was causing my eyes to water, and I had concerns about continuing. I made it to a C-Store in Chinook and called Jeanna and told her I was going to hole-up and wait to see what developed.
By the time I had a leisurely lunch and visited the local museum, the storm passed, the smoke had cleared, and my tailwind was back, making the last 22 miles breeze.
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1 year ago
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Chinook is home to the Baine County Museum, which I had originally planned to visit at the beginning of my short Chinook-Havre ride. This morning, after deciding to combine the 2 rides, I kept vacillating on whether or not I would visit it. Midmorning I called Jeanna and told her not to meet me there because I didn't know what I was going to do. However, even after waiting out the storm, it was still early afternoon, so I decided to go ahead and visit it. I'm glad I did because it turned out to be a very nice museum. Here is a sampling...
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I made it to Havre by mid-afternoon. We went to the grocery store to stock up on supplies for our 3-day visit and then I took a short nap.
Please note that today's journal was actually written on the 18th, because around 8:30 PM, I decided that a large Dairy Queen Blizzard was more important than writing this journal entry, so off to the DQ it was. Belly full, I then went to bed. :-)
Today's ride: 92 miles (148 km)
Total: 4,476 miles (7,203 km)
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1 year ago
Nice to meet you at the Michigan Sturgeon Point Lighthouse last month! These photos remind me of home in Montana. My daughter probably passed you yesterday as she took the Amtrak Empire Builder west.
My parents and sisters' families live north of Sweetgrass Hills in Canada. We have hiked up them.
When you get to Cut Bank, my hometown, you will see the big penguin, for the town sometimes is coldest in the nation. I hope you sleep well at Super 8; I housecleaned there in 2001. Hope it's clean! 😉
Going on west of Cut Bank on Highway 2, you will get to a grain elevator on the north side of the road at Highway 444- Meriwether Road. My childhood farm is north of there 12 miles.
You will also pass the Camp Disappointment monument west before Browning where Meriwether Lewis found that the there was no good eastern river for their canoes. (Actual campsite near our farm). Browning is the main town on the Blackfoot Reservation.
Enjoy the beautiful mountains as they grow into your view!
1 year ago