June 26, 2003 Today was our first long move into Montana. We started in Culbertson, and are now in Glasgow. It was a challenging, but satisfying day. The bike had a good day, and there were no mechanical problems. Everything worked quite well. The Team benefited from the rest day in Culbertson, so is in good shape. The weather was the primary consideration today. When we got up, it was 43 degrees. When we got started, it was 53. The temperature finally got up to the lower 80's, but in the meantime, we were changing clothes like a circus clown. We were finally able to get down to jerseys and shorts, but it took a while. The wind was another issue. We did a bonafide, wind (20-30 mph) on the nose, century today, and it was hard work. Fortunately, the wind clocked about 10 miles from the finish, so we completed the ride with good thoughts. Rain threatened several times today, and we actually got sprinkled on three times. We really didn't get wet, but it sure kept us watching the skies. There are supposed to be thunder storms tonight, and we are hoping that it gets them out of its system tonight, so that we can have a good day tomorrow. Not much in the the way scenery today. It was range, grasslands and farmed fields as far as we could see. You can really see why they call this Big Sky Country - the sky is the biggest thing around right now. We saw a lot of cattle and horses, but still no buffalo - we want to see buffalo! We saw a lot of cross-country cyclists today. They were all headed east, and were really enjoying the tail wind. There must have been a dozen or so. One stopped us in a small town to check to see if we had seen her friends as we approached town. We hadn't, but we did see them out about five miles in the other direction. She must be a strong rider - she sure dropped their butts. We heard a couple of times about our Taiwanese friends from Culbertson. They were just a few minutes ahead of us at one point, but that was at a place we stopped for our Mountain Dew, so we didn't catch up with them. They are overnighting in Glasgow as well, so we may see them tomorrow. There was a group of cyclists heading west in addition to the Asians. Their SAG stopped us to offer water and any assistance we might need, and she filled us in on what they are doing. They are riding the L&C Trail, but they came straight across the east rather than following the rivers. We think they made a mistake! We had a real challenge with dinner tonight. First off, they informed us that it would take about an hour to get any food out of the kitchen. We were starved, so didn't like that idea. So, we played the guilt card, and told the waitress that we were too hungry to wait, and had no alternative but to eat there (Which was true.) She told us if we ordered easy stuff, she would see that we got our stuff right away. So, we had salad bar, baked potato, fried onion rings and bread - all finished off with a nice piece of cherry pie. It worked out, but was still frustrating. They were just not organized. Lewis and Clark arrived in Montana on April 27, 1805. On Tuesday, April 30, they were in Brockton, a small town we passed through today. Lewis shot a very large bull elk, and Clark, Charbonneau and Sakagewea explored the shoreline for a few miles. A couple of days later, the wind was blowing very hard (It must have been much like today!), and they experienced some snow. We are hoping to avoid that experience. Two days later, they were camped between Popular and Wolf Point - we passed through both of these towns today. They managed to break the rudder on the keep boat when they landed. They also stopped near the the town of Fraser (We went through there today, as well), and Lewis remarked about the plains looking like bowling greens and stretching as far as the eye could see - our experience, exactly. They also saw a great quantity of buffalo, and we would be happy to see just one! Well folks, that's it for tonight. It was a long day, we are tired and it is time to recover and sleep. Ron Note from LaValle... Leaving Culbertson we went past Rolling Hills Winery (specializing in fruity wines). To help their bottom line they also have a car wash. Rolling hills are exactly what we encountered between Culbertson and Brockton. Stopping at the convenience store, I noticed the Log Cabin Bar was closed. As we went around the corner and back on Hwy 2, we saw the "new", upscale Log Cabin, now complete with Casino. Hwy 2 from just outside Culbertson to Nashua where we had our Mountain Dew later in the day is inside Fort Peck Indian Reservation. Many of today's photos are of the incredible landscape in Montana. There's an enchantment with its immense quality. Plus, we were treated to some magnificient cloud formations in the Big Sky. And we were not the only ones out there in the wind. I spotted three horses (only two really show in the photo) standing behind a billboard for a casino. They were quite content to have it block the wind for them. Rolling Hills Winery and Car Wash Brockton, MT on Fort Peck Indian Reservation Closed Log Cabin Bar near Convenience Store in Brockton Up-graded Log Cabin Bar, complete with Casino Horses finding wind break behind Fort Peck Reservation Billboard Clouds Looming over Montana Cropland