Independence Day in Lewistown, Montana

July 4, 2018

Free Hot Weiners and a Parade

The Trails Inn in Lewistown is clean and relatively inexpensive ($75ish with tax), and was a fine place to begin the next phase of our journey after taking a few days off.

It's the 4th of July, which means Happy Birthday wishes are in order for Tom Berberich and Uncle Walt. Uncle Walt is no longer with us, but this is a good day to remember him. Oh, and happy birthday to this great country of ours (America)!

Last night it hailed and rained, and this morning it was 40 degrees when we got up. But the forecast was 70 and sunny, so we were eager to get out and celebrate the 4th like Lewistownians. I'm made coffee outside the room and Jen cooked the porridge. Yes, we are back on the porridge, finally.

Gay apparently got up at 5, returned the rental car, did his laundry and had his bike packed and sitting in front of his room by the time Jen and I got our asses up.

I booked an AirBnB in town for tonight and it includes 2 bedrooms and baths. We rode to Albertsons for a few things and were wondering where there would be traditional 4th of July food available in town- hot dogs, hamburgers, etc, when a guy named Brandon walked up pushing a shopping cart full of bread, hot dogs and buns. He said he was a bike tourist and Warm Showers host, and invited us to a Southern Baptist revival tent for free hot dogs and watermelon after the parade. One of the things I have learned from other touring cyclists is that you don't turn down free food, so we put that on the list for later.

The parade was big and had everything you would expect in a small-town America 4th of July parade; horses, Shriners in little cars, a camel, a bunch of great antique cars, and a few military vehicles and floats. Very enjoyable. The one down side was a guy on a float singing, poorly, one of my least favorite songs, Proud to be an American. Listen, I am as grateful as anyone else, including Lee Greenwood, to have been born in this great country. But that song is one dreadful, sappy bit of drivel. America can do better. Of course, that's my opinion, and if you love it, more power to you.

Watching the parade in Lewistown was fun and patriotic.

Shriners! I'm glad I'm not on the road with these guys.

After the parade we rode to the revival tent where we talked to Brandon some more and ate free food. I ate 4 1/2 hot dogs and Jen had 2, ensuring our daily requirement of nitrates.

And they fed the multitudes hot weiners. Hey, I'm talking about America's favorite food, the hot dog! You people make me sick!

Brandon took Gay's fancy Co-Motion belt drive for a spin. His dog had no trouble keeping up

Anyway, after the parade and weiners, we checked in to the AirBnB, which is an entire upstairs in a nice house in town. After unloading the bags we rode to the Central Montana Historical Museum for free ice cream, not that we needed any more food. The museum is free and excellent.

This is a Minuteman missile outside the museum. I hope the warhead has been removed.

This is the skull of a Torosaurus, a larger, more rare relative of the triceratops. Found in this area. It's huge.

Rattlesnake Jake met his match in Lewistown. I'll bet Montana Phil was the one who cut the dirty varmint down. If I was a dangerous bandit, I would go by the name Rattlesnake Ron.

One of several cool old saddles in the musem.

Lewistown has a nice bike/pedestrian loop so we rode around that for awhile. This was a great town to spend the 4th of July. We talked to a lot of people and had fun.

Tomorrow it'll back on the bikes to Denton. And, knock on wood, there is a tailwind in the forecast!

Today's ride: 5 miles (8 km)
Total: 1,072 miles (1,725 km)

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Cissy ByrdOMG, you met Brandon! We stayed with him in Lewiston on our tour.... the only time I remember staying with anyone who had chickens living under the stairwell! INSIDE! 😀 There is more to the story.... for a later time😜 I love following your adventure!
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5 years ago

Judith CappausWe’re there any fireworks? From our roof terrace, you could see displays in every direction—pretty cool! Hope you get the tailwinds!
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5 years ago

Jen RahnTo Judith CappausYes, they started at like 9pm and it doesn't get dark until after 10. But we were in bed by about 9 so we just heard them all night.
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5 years ago

Judy & Sharon Thieme-RahnLewistown looks like a PERFECT place to celebrate our great country's Independence Day; especially accompanied by Lee Greenwood's Proud to Be An American which both mom and I love :-)
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5 years ago

Ron SuchanekTo Cissy ByrdI'd be interested in the back story....
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5 years ago

Ron SuchanekTo Judy & Sharon Thieme-RahnWell I can certainly forgive my FSIL and FMIL for liking the most horribly sappy pandering song ever. And Lewistown was a fantastic place to spend the 4th!
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5 years ago