Day 11

 

Grass Range to Jordan, MT

 

101 miles / about 3,300 feet of elevation (for those wondering, 7,268 calories burned this day)

 

We started day 11 at a highway intersection outside of Grass Range, Hwy. 200.  Hwy. 200 promised to be a less traveled highway and it delivered on the promise.  We saw few cars / trucks today and those that we did encounter had the nicest, most accommodating drivers we have seen.  If Idaho has the worst drivers we have met, Montana has the best drivers so far.  Thank you Montana drivers!

My bike is fixed and running perfectly.  Here is a photo of what the derailleur should look like when fixed to the bike frame, not sitting in my hands like yesterday’s photos!

Today was very cold, wet, raining (biting rain at times) but we had great roads to ride on so we hunkered down and finished the 101 miles in near record time for us.  I think we were driven to get out of the extreme cold.  When we started in Grass Range it was 42° and we when got to Winnett, 23 miles later, the temperature had not gone up but the real rain had started.

At Winnett we had a planned stop to view the town, their country store and surroundings.  Bob McCullough’s mother, Katherine Alexina was born in Winnett in 1928, so we knew early in our trip planning we would stop here.  The town was quiet at 9:20 a.m. on a Thursday morning, but folks inside the general store were friendly and seemed very happy to meet us.  We stayed longer than expected, bought t-shirts and some other food items and ventured back out into the cold, wet weather.  I was hoping that Bob could think of a few more stories to share with the store clerk so we wouldn’t have to go back outside!  After swapping stories about Winnett, it was time to zip up and go back into the rain. 

 

We saw few cars / trucks but we were treated to wildlife sightings throughout the day.  Early on we saw many Antelope grazing freely among the cattle and later in the day we had a group of about 12 Antelope cross the highway on a bound, right in front of us.  Later in the day we had a herd(?) of White Tail Deer run across the highway near us, about 50 feet away as we approached.  All of these sightings added to today’s peaceful, quick-paced ride. 

In Jordan we rolled right up to our motel, Fellman’s.  This motel, started by the current owners’ grandparents many years ago, was a happy sight to see after the day’s cold, wet ride.  The management was friendly, accommodating and engaging after a long ride.  After cleaning up we went to one of Jordan’s two restaurants (Hell Creek Bar & Grill) to eat, drink and catch some of Thursday night football.

The food was great (two courses of appetizers) and then dinner.  The football stunk (New York vs. Washington – who cares?) but the locals in the bar / restaurant capped the early evening.  Some of the locals, and Tammy, one of the restaurant owners, wanted to know about our trip – they asked but just long enough to then tell us about their town and lives.  Grandma Kelly’s stories of her three grandchildren growing up on a ranch in Montana had us howling.  Our favorite story is about her grandson (the little “hellion”) who was driven from their ranch the three miles to the highway in the morning by one of his 10-year-old twin sisters!  Bob and Steve had been regaling us with “growing up in Montana stories” and now Kelly validated some of these stories.

 

Just before saying goodnight, Scuba Steve put a damper on my evening – “Oh Carl, tomorrow when we roll out there is a frost warning, 36° predicted.”  Brrrrrrr!