I have a new career

Friday: It really is all downhill after the continental divide. Well, mostly. It's crazy how fast the landscape changed from forested mountains to shrubby hills to grassland. It's also crazy what good time I made when I wasn't climbing a mountain.

My plan was to stay in Browning, which was only about 35 miles from where I spent the previous night, but it was all seedy. The only hotel I could find looked sketchy, and wanted $70 per night. I tried to find an alternative, but I got crappy reception and couldn't go online. I said to myself, "Screw this town! I still have six or seven hours of daylight, and Cut Bank is only 31 more miles. I'm going for it!" I talk to myself even more now than I used to.

This rash plan was going swimmingly, until the refreshing evening headwind kicked in. Blurg. I managed to make it to the hotel, fueled for the last few miles by my last packet of Gu, which I have been saving for an occasion such as this. (Thanks, Faith! I wasn't so sure about the "Espresso Love" flavor, but it turns out the bitter coffee flavor perfectly complements the pure glucose gel. Yum!)

I showered, ate, hot tubbed while doing laundry, then showered again. It's almost as good as the Korean spa all up in here. Aah!

Sunday: after bumming around and grocery shopping all morning, I finally hit the road. I expected to be hurting after pushing myself so hard for the last two days, but I'm really not. The terrain is definitely more manageable, but I'm also feeling much stronger. I think all of that time off the bike did me good. I made good time to Shelby, which was only 24 miles, and then wanted to go further. There didn't seem to be much on the road ahead of me, but I had enough water to camp out and make it to the next town.

There's not, however, a lot of places to camp out on the prairie. Someone I talked to suggested going up one of those dirt roads that crosses the railroad tracks, where no one would bother me. It's kind of a good suggestion, except that I've noticed the trains tootle at each of those crossings, and I don't need another night of that! I also got a mental image of hobos with bindles hanging out by the tracks, and that made me giggle. I made it to the Galata Motel, and called the number on the office door to inquire about camping. The proprietress, Sue, drove over to the motel to say I can put up a tent wherever, and sorry about how long the grass is, the unseasonable rain has caused it to shoot up. She showed me the pump, then unlocked the "back room," which has a bathroom for tent campers. She apologized some more about how dirty it was (it wasn't that bad) and said they just opened for the season, and I was their first camper. She's pretty chatty, and talked about how they had been full all weekend, because of a fishing tournament, and she was too tired to clean the rooms, so she'll do it tomorrow, and she was glad I didn't want a room, because she only had one that was clean. All this time she hadn't mentioned a price for my use of the yard and back room. I decided if she isn't charging, that's awfully nice, and if she is, maybe I can barter. I told her I wanted to take tomorrow off from biking and stay two nights, and I could help her clean tomorrow. She was shocked, but certainly liked the idea. We chatted for awhile longer with the last two fisherman, who were leaving the next morning. They gave me some great info about the road ahead, as well as a Bud Light. It was certainly no time to be a beer snob! I gratefully accepted, then set up my tent and had a hot shower.

No cell reception, though. My phone tried to tell me it had three bars, but wouldn't do anything.

Monday: (or should I say Saturday...) I sat around a bit, stretched for awhile, cleaned some rooms, ate lunch with Sue and her family, and sunbathed. Quite a nice day, really.

When I was thinking about what I wanted this trip to be, I considered not bringing my iPod. I left it behind when I went to Costa Rica, and was glad I did, because I felt like it would have removed me from where I was. But I realized this is not so much a trip as it is my life, and I decided to bring it. I'm glad I did, because a life without Fugazi, Don Caballero, Gogol Bordello and NoFX is a life half-lived. And the audiobooks are nice, too, since I've finished my real book, and I'm not seeing any bookstores on the horizon. I've started the book Kim recommended, "Social Intelligence," and that is some fascinating stuff.

Sue offered to let me stay in one of the rooms tonight, but I turned her down. Honestly, I think I've gotten so used to sleeping on my thermarest, I don't sleep well in beds anymore.

Some other motel guests discovered cell reception about a mile and a half down the road, so they drove me down here when they had to make a call, and I said I would walk back. It stays light forever out here, so I still have time. It's lame, though, because I can't stay up late enough for any good star gazing, even though I'm in the big sky country with nearly cloudless skies. It doesn't help that the moon is almost full.