It was 62° with a cool northwest wind, when we finally left the comforts of our hotel.  A quick navigation through town,over the Yellowstone River and we were in the middle of the country.Small farms were scattered about.

Even with the nice tailwind, we slowly crawled up the mountain.  Wide switchbacks and our 1,000 foot higher vantage point offered gorgeous views and a shot back to town.  Many more rocks and a lot less trees on our long downhill run.  Around a bend, stark trees told the story of a bad fire years ago, though brush had began to bring green back to the hills.We had another smaller climb that dropped us by a thriving farm and only our second cornfield since our start (Marck, this one’s for you).On our first straight stretch, we met Don and his kids, Anders and Julia from Chicago and their friends Mark and Pat from Glendive, Montanaheading to Portland, Oregon.

This straight stretch of road went on forever, again revealing a beautiful soft palette of field grassand beautiful sky.  Prairie dogs greeted us for miles, as we biked along our long road.  We saw no people, one ranchlots of wide open space and ample wild life.It was an absolutely beautiful ridein the middle of nowhere, made that much more enjoyable with our cool northwest tailwind; but still lots and lots of nothing out here!

Twelve miles from town our flat ride became a little more rolling and signs of civilization once again returned.Our stop for the night was a straight shot into town.A few hours rest and then a bike into town for dinner.  Oddly enough, it took us a while to find a place in this two block town, but what a find.  Yes, the Greek salad is Really this big and the pizza can easily compete with Reginos.  It was a wonderful find!

Though this is the lowest altitude (2900 feet) we have been in since arriving in Montana, think we’ve finally adjusted to the thinner air; not so much to the climbing, however.

Fifty three miles done….Good Night!  One last thought(s) for the night….