My exit from Plentywood was in the correct direction this morning - off to a good start!
My route calculated 477 miles to the East Portal of Glacier National Park, my next major destination. In order to do that in two days I wanted to put in a 300 mile day, putting me within striking distance for Saturday evening. (Full disclosure: It would put me at Glacier in two days. I didn't know it was Friday until I saw it on a bank time/temperature (and date) clock.
Side bar: In the previous sentence, auto correct changed the first word "it" to "odyssey". Where would we be without this technology?
It was also here that I discovered that I had re-entered the Mountain Time Zone when I had crossed the state line the previous day.
My route today was initially Route 5, parallel to and just south of the 49th Parallel (48.98765432'). It ended at the tiny town of Opheim. How tiny?
I pulled up in front of a restaurant/gift/hardware store, next to a bar and grill. I walked up to the door, turned the handle and... it was locked!
I went next door where an octogenarian was counting the previous night's receipts. I asked her why the place next door was closed.
"It closed about two years ago". Ok, no sense spending money on a "closed" sign, right?
"Where can I get a bite to eat?" I asked.
"Sue should be open" she said as she leaned toward the window. "Yup, she's there. Other end of town".
I walked outside and crossed the street to the "other end of town". Had a good meal and chatted with the Opheim version of the Cloverdale Ladies Society.
From Opheim I took highway 24 south (anyone else find it funny that highway 5 goes east/west until you turn south on 24? So much for the old odd/even thing!). With maybe 3 or 4 exceptions it went straight as an arrow to Highway 2, which would be my route dejour for the next day and a half. It carried me to Malta (it sure looks different than when I visited the Mediterranean island nation back in the '70s). I believe it was there that I saw something I had to look into... a window!
Unfortunately it was closed! Before I hit second gear though I found two more museums, one a Phillips County museum, the other a dinosaur museum.
Phillips County was home to Kid Curry of the Hole in the Wall Gang, featuring Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Somewhere along Highway 2 I also found this
A rock known to local tribes as Sleeping Buffalo is said to have been on a hillside overlooking the Milk River, but it was in a different position each year when the tribes returned to hunt buffalo.
Another roadside historical marker told the story of the Battle of Bears Claw, the last battle for Chief Joseph who began an historic retreat from the U.S. Cavalry after the battle of Whitebird in Idaho. He moved about 150 warriors, women and children 2,000 miles while avoiding the pursuing Army. He could have escaped into Canada but refused to leave the women and children behind.
Tonight I am in Havre where I hope to tour an entire town that was built underground. There is supposed to be an ancient Buffalo Jump near here also (I intend to find out if they yelled Geronimo before jumping). My motel Wi-Fi signal doesn't show much strength but it is letting me listen to Pandora, which hasn't been possible for days.
The room I'm in was said to be "small, but recently redecorated". That explains the retro look of the crooked bed that slants toward the wall
the fluorescent light fixture mounted on the wall with exposed tubes
I love the way they painted the fixture to make it look like grease and dirt are running off of it!
and the new age air conditioner in the back of the narrow bathroom, which keeps the toilet seat cool
Quite a place! But the Wi-Fi works!
The word on the Frog is:
ReplyDeleteindomitable!
Or maybe it's:
irrepressible!
Just don't go:
irascible!