Lincoln Logs...

Lincoln Logs...

Dusty Roads and his fellow insect-assassin companion departed Lewistown and rode northwestward towards Great Falls, MT, where they took a break, fueled-up, and considered what they might do next. I had led all the way there to ensure no turns onto unpaved roads were undertaken! Not really, but I did take a degree of comfort in that arrangement...

We agreed to ride on to Lincoln, MT, and reevaluate what might come after that. We’d found ourselves a seating place in the shade of that convenience store in Lincoln following yet another refueling, and we proceeded to discuss options. Following a nice, longer than usual pause, we concluded this would be a good place to find a room after all.

The ride that morning had been a very mixed bag. Relatively flat plains grasslands all the way to Great Falls and part of the way to Lincoln. Then beyond that small city, the undulations of the road had begun to increase as we climbed a bit in elevation. At some point the topography transitioned to increasingly forested hills at first then to low mountains. The temp increases seemed to pause for a time from their inexorable rise... a most desirable thing indeed!

Slight angle changes from otherwise straight stretches of road began to have some mild ups and downs and the occasional bends in the road became sweepers. Once in the low mountains more changes as the road had actual curves and offered a bit more spirited riding. We passed into another world it almost seemed, but we both found it to be an improvement over the last several days.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s all good and it’s all beautiful. The variety is really what I like most, though, and this exuberant rider was relishing the return to a different surrounding setting! OK, and the thought of somewhat moderated temps played a prominent role in that line of thought, too! The road ran alongside a river, and that meant an increase in our vigil for critters... I wondered what we might see on this stretch of our journey... A moose, maybe...? A bear...?

Our morning protein fix had consisted of leftover corned beef from our Reuben sandwiches the evening before, and lupper late that afternoon was had at a local casino next door to the hotel discovered just off the beaten path. Ever notice how Montana seems to have more casinos per capita than Alabama has churches? We saw some deer right up close and personal that evening just off the front porch of our hotel, as they grazed unconcerned with us... we just watched until they eventually idly wandered away.

Each day had started off quite cool and presented us with downright enjoyable riding weather. Each afternoon had warmed up to just shy of the oven preheat setting for baking biscuits! Dang, it sure has been hot in the afternoons out here! "But it's a dry heat...," we were constantly being told. They are correct, of course, but hot is still hot while we're suffering from near heat exhaustion, and the difference between ‘dry’ and ‘humid’ seems to hold little significance at that moment...

There obviously are some differences, however, and those influence how we might cope with our predicament. Hydration levels are key in either case, but they can actually be even more critical when humidity level readings are in the single digits, because the rate of our body’s dehydration can be accelerated.

We absolutely must be mindful of this, and we must take positive steps to ensure adequate hydration is maintained. Failure to do so can result in, among other things, extreme discomfort and/or drowsiness, but even worse, the barely perceptible creep of physical actions/reactions being significantly reduced over time, and that, boys and girls, can result in... disaster!

Oblivious at first of the big softball tournament about to start, we soon discovered that none of the motels along the main artery through Lincoln had any vacancies! Oh no! Would we have to ride on another hundred miles or so... in the relentlessly increasing heat!... before finally finding a place, perhaps in Missoula? What if something big was going on there, and they had no vacancies either?! Funny how our minds can work during dire situations to produce increased but unnecessary anxiety...

I couldn’t be sure, naturally, whether Dusty was actually looking for lodging or just seeking another unpaved road to explore, but he did spot a two-story log building on a side street with a sign on it proclaiming, ‘Lincoln Log Hotel’. What’s more, they had vacancies!

No, it wasn’t a Ritz Carlton by any means, but that historic structure (built in 1928) was adequate... and this rider was... inching towards desperation... Just another contrast in a day filled with huge swings in the things we found...

Breakfast had consisted of cold, leftover corned beef, while dinner had been a quite tasty patty-melt on sourdough & fries combo meal. The morning ride was wonderfully cool and very pleasant... The afternoon ride had seen temps rising sharply in the direction of dangerous levels. The fairly new modern motel we’d left was in stark contrast to the historic log building where we would lay our heads that evening.

The serene deer nonchalantly grazing mere feet away from us, versus the speedy antelope Dusty said had earlier darted out just behind our girl and just in front of him... All of that plus as the sun set, air temps began to plummet from their lofty, miserable late afternoon levels and soon indicated the time to add a layer back again was at hand.

After a great night’s slumber, Dusty and his companion mounted up and departed rather early the following morning. Dusty had been finger pounding on his smart phone again, and fifty miles or so down the road he’d found a promising looking protein emporium for us to try.

We pulled onto the parking lot of the ‘Stray Bullet Restaurant’ in Ovando, MT, with no small amount of anticipation! Another Tumbleweed Cafe possibly? Nah, but not bad at all. A nice, modestly upscale sort of place it turned out, and the pig parts there were most palate pleasing! I had an order each of bacon and sausage again, while Dusty went for more traditional fare... Heck, I’d have gone for that, too, if I’d thought I could have gotten away with it!

That wasn’t the only treat that morning... It was said to have been officially in the low 50s, but I think where we’d been and ridden through, it was likely the temps had dipped down into the 40s... I’d have enjoyed my Gerbing’s and chaps for real, if I’d actually put them on; but, alas, I hadn’t... I did have, however, an option previously unavailable throughout my entire riding career up until very recently...

Yep, Big Wolf and Dusty had presented our girl with a gift of heated grips, and... Yep again, they'd installed them, as well. This delicate rider had been the happy beneficiary able to enjoy them for the very first time! They not only worked, but they worked very well, and soon enough they’d had to be turned down a couple of notches! Yes indeed, another day in paradise was looming large just ahead for two eager adventure seekers, even knowing the weather pendulum would soon swing widely yet again!

DDT