After the cycle cowboy left Judith about 3 in the morning I did grab a few hours of sleep. Marlowe doesn’t do all that well sleeping on the ground. The dew point was high so everything was pretty damp in the morning including my attitude. Crawled out of the tent about 5:30 with the intent on being on the road by 6. I actually beat the chickens up. I was standing around the camp looking at the sunrise when a rooster crows. Really, I beat the chickens up. I know I went to bed before them also. Even the chickens are laid back in this little community.
Check out these wind turbines. About 50 I think. As luck or the Good Lord was with me, I had a tail wind and shot through about 5 miles of these at 16-18mph. They make a very powerful great sound as they are spinning.
There are some critters running the pic also
Outside of Harlowtown I ran into some road construction. I’m thinking mud, dirt and everything. It wasn’t too bad.
Stopped and had some brunch at Groves in Harlotown. $8.50 gives you this. Too much for me to finish. Great old hotel that is being upgraded with new owners. Some history here.
Mainstreet in Harlowton looking South
Next stop was in Ryegate, MT. Easy ride as the road follows the Mqusselshell River. In fact I will be going downstream with the river all the way to Milestone, MT.
Well the stay in Ryegate is one of those stops that will not be soon forgotten. Little town of maybe 100 folks on a cold day anyway. One bar, one restaurant, one small grocery store (forsale). And that is about it. I get into town about 2:30 in the afternoon. Sit around in the city park wondering if it gets any more active than this. Doesn’t. So late afternoon I set up the tent in preparation for a real peaceful night of sleep. So evening time I go over to the bar and have a cold beer, meet some of the locals and then head off to the park where the tent is at. 200 feet is all. It gets dark and I’m just starting to sleep when I hear this diesel truck pull up and a few minutes later I hear somebody yell out ” Hello in the tent, this is the Sheriff’s department. Can you step out so we can speak.” Well I just finished watching the show Naked and Afraid at the bar and that’s exactly what I thinking at this moment.. So I say ” let me get some clothes on and I will be out”. I hate tents, you have to unzip the fly and then crawl out like a worm. So I’m crawling out and thinking what next. And I’m thinking he is probably thinking what the hell is that squirming like a snake to meet me.
Well as it turns out seems somebody called the Sheriff’s dept and reported that there was a old, tired fellow hanging around the park. He also looks distressed and homeless. Well the deputy sticks out his hand to help me get out. That was good. Well the conversation didn’t last that long as he could tell that I was in fact ok and after some credential swapping everything turned out ok. Just a concerned citizen watching over their community I guess. First for me for sure. So back into the tent and nothing left to hear but some girls squealing from the bar direction later on at night. Wow. That was quite a Sunday for me.
Get of of bed and pack up and head over to the restaurant for some breakfast for the road. I walk in door and there are about 6 older local fellows having some coffee. About 6 steps into the establishment and I hear one of them say “so are you the one that caused the sheriff to come to town last night”. How funny. Small town gossip is the same everywhere I guess. I laughed all the way out of town.
A couple of pics:
Good sized cottonwood tree.
The tent where the tired old, homeless fellow stayed. That would be me.
So here are the numbers:
51.1 miles for the day
234 total miles
5 deer
many antelope
6 road fatality crosses
15 road kills
5 flying glorys
And a new category:
2 Diaper toss