How Could Garmin Not Call That a Hill??

The riders left before 7 this morning. The weather was perfect when they left at 64 degrees.  Things got windy quickly.  They faced a head wind most of the day.  They watched Mount Taylor in the distance until they passed the gap between Little Belt and the Highwood Mountains.  It was already 85 degrees by 11 am.

In Raynesford, MT they met a shop owner who currently owns 7 Jeep Wranglers (all for a different purpose) and her dog named Ruby  (Jeep people will get the name). 

At one time today a person in a Subaru with Utah plates (hello!) pulled over and asked Bill if Joe was the railroad guy biking across America.  He is!  And thank you for that extra boost. 

Neptune and I met up with them about 12 miles before the end and we were able to wait for them at a historical marker (I took a picture for you, dad, and others). The area was called the Finn Flats because it was mostly settled by the Finnish. (Hey Marlys!)  And the railroad was definitely an important part of the history.  It was a good place to stop. We were able to enjoy some time with the bikers and Neptune was very excited as he saw them both riding in.

We’d been watching the rain in the distance and luckily Neptune and I experienced the downpour, but the bikers avoided it all.  They were fortunate enough to ride at a speed that just missed the rain.  The post-raining rain smell was high mountain prairie exotic with the smell of rain, fields and wildflowers. 

Garmin has been messing up not only with the multiple U-turns it wants them to take, the roadless roads it wants them to be on, and telling them to go the wrong way during their hard-earned final mile, but today it missed giving a heads up that there were hills to climb. And at the end Garmin just gave up and stopped.

Chris, the biker, met up with us today and is staying at the same site - The Double B RV in Stanford is run by a couple (both have B names) and have been very kind and generous to all of us, both RV and tent campers.

The sky wanted to rain on us, but we were able to enjoy some outside time with snacks and a cold beer. And Neptune stood at attention because there was a rabbit across the road.  It was fun for me to listen to the 3 bikers talk about different conditions whether it be the other cars/trucks on the road, the road itself, issues with their bikes, etc.  What an amazing thing people do!

Tomorrow is a shorter ride and should be easier, as long as the wind stays on their back and the hills are downhill.   

Thank you again for reading and supporting us!  We love to know that there are other people out there, especially when we lose track of where we’ve been and what day it is. And happy anniversary to mom and dad!  Slainte