Open Sky

Finding Cingular access has been sparse out here so I didn't get to
post things yesterday.
The wind blew HARD during the evening and I was expecting rain any
minute. We didn't get any but it sure moved the tent all around
during the night.
I'm sure glad I have the cot along with me for sleeping. That makes
sleeping bags much more comfortable.
I woke early (no surprise) and the campground was quiet. I made my
coffee with the Jetboil and then went for a walk toward the Prairie
Dog town. I saw about 7 mule deer in the meadows near the town and
they let me get reasonably close to them by stalking technique. I
didn't walk directly at any of them but at an angle toward the read of
them.
I also tried that technique with the prairie dogs but they sent out
alarm calls too early and don't let me see them.
I returned to camp and tore it down (much easier with less wind) and
got on the road about 8 AM. I stopped in Cheyenne, WY for breakfast
and to call home. I also got some fruit and a tent peg mallet at a
Super Walmart.
I got back on route 90 and headed toward Montana. The roads were
again very long and straight as I returned to open grasslands and
semiarid desert. The pronghorns were numerous here and the agave
plants were also blooming. My first stop in MT was to be the
Battlefield site of the Battle of Little Bighorn. The site is VERY
popular so I did a stamp and go. While leaving, I did a 5 mile loop
ride that showed grave markers and talked about the battle. In
reality, I would have liked to stay longer but because of the crowds,
I couldn't get to anything quickly.
I got back on the bike and headed toward Billings. Here I gave Ruth a
call again as I knew I'd lose cellphone service soon again (and I
did). I told the GPS to get me to Glacier and it now has me on
backroads through open (and empty) MT.
It's amazing to me that I can be traveling along at 63 mph (that's
what I set the cruise control on) and I'm the slowest on the highway
BY FAR. With the roads so straight and since you can see so far, many
cars go in excess of 80 mph out here. I did see a mother skunk and
her 6-7 kits cross the highway just in front of me. It actually made
me think of my cats.
As my stopping time of 6 PM came and went with me traveling, I began
to worry about getting aplace to stay. At 7 PM, I found a motel and
decided to stay there for the first time in my trip and do some
laundry. Tomorrow was my actual laundry day but a day early was fine.
I'm now sitting in the laundromat waiting for the clothes to dry...

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Todd Ryan; Hudson, MA
Westborough HS Science Teacher
MSF RiderCoach