Autographs!

We headed out after a very nice breakfast & went to the local bike shop to get a spare tire for me now that I have had to use the one I brought. The bike shop guys gave us directions out of town & we went on, planning to stop to get some more water while we were still in the city. You see, it was already nice and warm, and we knew we would need plenty of fluids. We rode about 7 miles along city roads and didn't see so much as a convenience store. Just as we reached the very outside edge of town - and let me tell you, towns in Montana don't fade away gradually - they stop - we saw a gas station with a convenience store & went in.

Well, we made quite a hit there. This was in a city, but the guy inside was fascinated by our plan. And some other local guys were interested, so interested that one of them asked us for autographs. He made it clear that he was entirely serious, too. Even went in to get paper and a pen. Ok, so he is probably even better known at the local pub. His buddies said somewhat apologetically that he was a real character. But in one tiny bit of Montana, we are famous.

Moving on. We checked our map and were happy to see that Belt and Monarch are more or less evenly spaced along the route. Food opportunities! But when we reached Belt, well we didn't reach it. It was a few miles off the road so we turned away regretfully and headed towards Monarch. We had heard from some people at the B&B that Monarch is lovely - named for the butterflies that stop to rest there each year. The bike shop guys had acknowledged cautiously that we would see a convenience store there.

First, though, we made the turn that was to take us up the mountains. The ride was lovely - Bruce's favorite so far. We stopped to have peanut butter sandwiches so we weren't hungry. We followed Belt Creek into more forest and cliffs. Along the way we saw something that has been surprisingly rare so far: another guy on a bike. He was pulled off and talking on the phone so we stopped to ask if he was ok. Yes, all was well - he was calling home - Belgium! We talked very briefly & found we were headed in the same direction for at least a few days, but we have not seen him again.

The ride up Belt Creek was yet another beautiful one. It didn't do anywhere near the steep climbing we had anticipated. In fact it was pretty flat for a while. Eventually it headed up but that just meant even better views. Then it plummeted down to Monarch. Bruce was ready to scrap the rest of the day to hike there, but he settled for a cheeseburger on a sunny deck looking out at the river, the rocky slopes, the trees. Monarch will never be celebrated for its food. You can almost ignore its limits, though, in a setting like that. We asked about the butterflies - the young woman who served the food said she'd never heard of them - didn't think there were any in the area. Oh, well. Rural legend?

We finished the ride to Neihart, the land of snow in June. We could not have picked a better day. The climb was gentle and the weather was ideal. The town - well, we didn't have to sleep outside. Bob's Bar and Motel. Very basic. There was a paper in the window of the "office" telling us which rooms were ours. There were keys in the doors. The restaurant showed no signs of opening any time soon.

It's not a bad town, though. There's a sign as you enter: "Our little town is like heaven to us; please don't drive like hell through it." There is the Neihart Store - actually, when you get close you can see the little sign placed between those words. It's the Neihart inconvenience Store. Willie had already gone in and chatted with Marsha, the proprietor. A very nice woman - she actually had quite a good assortment for sale, and she offered to provide oatmeal if we came over for breakfast.

Then we headed out for dinner. Willie had scouted out the area and found The Lazy Doe back in Monarch. Let's just say it's aptly named. She'd been told it was open until 11. We arrived at about 7:05 only to be told by the bartender the the food service ended at 7. He then cackled as he announced, "Ya gotta be tough to make it out West!"

We drove all the way back to Belt, found a basic dinner, and headedback to Neihart to sleep.

62 miles
total so far 993