It was really nice to be inside when it's pouring down rain and maybe 50 degrees. The Lord always puts us in the right place if we just listen! It was cold and wet just walking around in all our rain gear. We stopped at a grocery and got dinner. Tonight we are having chicken pasta Alfredo (microwave) and asparagus steamers. It seems like we are getting enough veges but we're tryin.
The next morning when we left it was still pretty cold. 60 degrees. No rain but overcast. We ate breakfast in the room, put on our cold weather gear and headed out. What is our cold weather gear? Pretty much the same as other days except we wear everything! Didnt need the rain gear thank goodness. We stopped at a bike shop on the way out of town. Hap bought an extra cable for my bike. Since my bike is new and he hadn't changed that cable before he asked the owner about how to change it. The guy wasn't very nice and said well you'll probably have to just have someone do it for you. Guess he hasn't seen Hap repair our tandem wheel using a chain link fence!
Getting out of Butte was easy. All we had to do was look for the uphill. Another day that I only needed two gears UP and DOWN. Started on pavement and then changed to gravel/sand. The roads are much sandier in this part of MT. We saw an interesting scene at a picnic area we stopped at just outside of Butte. An old car pulled up, and a cowboy (yes a real one boots, hat and all, minus the horse....) gets out of passenger side. A women gets out of driver side, opens the trunk takes out a pile of clothes and assorted personal stuff (even his basketball and spare boots) and lays them on the ground in a pile. We are covertly watching from the bathroom. Lots of discussion going on but we couldn't hear (darn it). She got back in the car before she could pull away he opens her door and talked some more. Lots of arm gesturing and talkin. He closed the door. She spun the tires backing up and pulls away. Then she stops starts to back up but changes her mind (I'm assuming) because she spun the tires and left. Leaving cowboy man standing there. Hap says guess they had a fight. I said well they are definitely not married. He asked why and I said if they were she wouldn't have driven him anywhere. She would just put his stuff on the porch and say get out!!!
Back to the riding! The sandy roads and rain yesterday made the roads really soft. Which translates into the tires sinking in and more difficult riding. Only adds to the fun. As we climbed the temps dropped down to 55 degrees. We stopped a bunch to change clothes. Tights on off, vests on off, jackets on off, gloves..... You get the idea! We saw snow in the mountains. Glad we didn't ride in that yesterday. Passed lots of free range cattle along the way. Finally reached the top and topped out at 7425 feet. We had a huge downhill to get back down to I 15. Very steep and slidey (translation: sandy and rocky, and rutty). Does this sound like fun to anyone else? I said Hap why didn't we just follow I 15 down from Butte? Would've been much simpler. But then we wouldn't have seen the cows or the cowboy would we??
We crossed under I-15 and got on the road. Yes a real road. In Divide we stopped for a powerbar and bathroom break. Only one problem no bathroom. Only thing there was a post office that was closed. Hope they don't have outside cameras at the PO!
The road to Wise River was beautiful along the Big Hole River. This area is huge for fly fishing. We saw loads of people fishing just didn't see much catching! In Wise River we camped behind the bar, took a shower for $10 bucks and had a great dinner.
