Summer Dream 2006

Man it’s a long way across American prairies. I’m tired tonight so less flowery prose and more to the point. Twelve hours in the saddle and still almost a day to go. Montana is HUGE. Today’s adventures included having to brake hard for an antelope that could only cross the road in front of me, with 500 miles to choose from. But it was a beautiful sight. Eighteen inch ebony black antlers. One bound across the highway and another over a five foot fence. And the Montana ranches are as big as the sky, They go for miles, and for some reason most have a few burros in them. So cute.


A note about bugs – thank goodness for a windshield. And I forgot to clean it Day 1 so Day 2 was pretty grimy. Today it really loaded up as the trip was through more irrigated land. When fully dressed in gloves, jacket and chaps, it’s great. But as it gets hot and you shed those things, it starts to hurt. And in bug busy country you want to sit low in the saddle. I pulled out of a little ice cream stop sitting a little too high and took a bee under my chin strap. That hurt… but I did get some sting stuff from REI and it worked very well. No swelling tonight:. Good

I’m getting a heavy tan, but it’s on nose, cheeks and forearms. I browned up the head a little today with an hour helmet free. There is NO traffic across this part of the country. One stretch of raod in mid-Montana I rode for an hour and passed 3 vehicles oncoming. It was so isolated and barren at one point that a little of the panic of lonliness touched. But only for a moment. Just an indicator of what some of this great country is like.

Tonight I’m connect to the inter-world in alittle town on the banks of the Missouri, Mobridge, SD. 1300 miles behind and one more day to Minneapolis. It’s a full day early but there isn’t much to stop and shop for along the way, so fortunately my iron butt is holding out. I'm not so sure about little Joe but all he does is grin. I had planned to stop earlier today but there was no place to stay when I got to where I wanted to be. So 150 miles farther to a decent motel.

Fragrance – how many variations do you think there are in hay? A lot. Each characteristic of its harvert status or curing, or whether it has been passed through a cow. That’s it for the Midwest smells today…. Oh, except an apple pie coming from a small house along the road.