Morning came bright and early. SO's sister's family needed to get ready for their work and school day, so it made sense for us to head out early as well.
The morning was somewhere between cool and cold, with temperatures in the low 50's, requiring heavier gloves for the morning. It was wonderful watching the sunrise to the east as we started to head north.
In some places, the road was arrow straight. In others, it undulated along with rolling hills and sweeping turns.
We've passed many agricultural fields so far, but surprisingly there have been few sunflower fields. I guess we've mostly seen these in South Dakota in previous years. We did pass one field with all the smiling sunflower faces watching us headed out of Nebraska.
Crossing into South Dakota, we skirted the Black Hills where traffic did pick up for a short time. Remnants of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally were still evident - it takes a long time to recover from a hangover that massive. Having been in the area closer to the rally time on a previous trip, as well as to other bike events like Daytuna Bike Week, I'll take the more contemplative time without hesitation.
We crossed briefly into Wyoming. I was just beginning to wonder why we hadn't seen any pronghorn antelope yet, as the area we were in should have been silly with them, when we started to see them. In addition to many herds of antelope through the second half of the day, we also saw quite a few mule deer, including a road kill buck that was very impressive. The remains were already bloated and stinky, as were many, many animal carcasses we saw throughout the day.
Animals aside, there are very few places one can safely speed on the road. Remote Montana probably qualifies. After passing several slower vehicles, I took advantage of the opportunity to make up some time.
Eventually we got to Custer National Forest.
The area is much hillier, but not quite mountainous. Compared to much of what we had seen up until then, there were many more trees.
There were also areas where either beetle kills or previous burns had left large swaths of the forest dead. It is a bit sad to look at, but there was also evidence of new regrowth in places; a reminder that life comes after death.
We had a great lunch at the Powder River Stockman's Club in Broadus, Montana. The day was starting to feel old school. No set agenda or hotel reservation. Lunch on the road. Great weather. No traffic. It just doesn't get any better.
We got on the interstate again for a while, getting off in Billings. Billings looked like a fairly large town. As we got into town, a sign welcomed Wing Dingers - as GWRRA is having their annual shindig in Billings this same week. I'm a member, but Wing Ding just isn't on the agenda. Besides, we aren't registered and I'm not sure it is really my scene?
We kept working our way north and west, eventually stopping in Harlowton, Montana - a neat little town on US 12. According to most maps, we're too far north to be on Robert Pirsig's route from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, but in his day there weren't interstates. I could see him avoiding the interstates, as we were, and using state or federal highways instead. My mind did wander to that book as we calmly motored through the afternoon.
We stayed in town at the Countryside Inn. You know when you get an old cut key, that you are in a good hotel. This just continues the old school theme of the day, since we used to stay in a lot more independent hotels.
The hotel was absolutely wonderful, but the layout was unconventional with beds offset, but facing each other. After seeing how the mechanicals were laid out, it was obvious there weren't many other options. After being in the room for a while, I actually think this is a better option and more hotels should look at this. Quite frankly, it makes a lot of sense.
Dinner that night was at Jailhouse pizza. There was a couple next to us who were teaching a motorcycle safety class at Wing Ding. Sadly, it appeared they were in a motor home though. There is something slightly wrong with that. The Jailhouse calzones were very good, even if the very small restaurant was a little unconventional.
Back at the hotel, we wound down for the night, ready to do it again in the morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment