September 22, 2017
to Big Timber: Snow
"At least your shift cable didn't freeze like in Mongolia" Patrick says as we are riding on the shoulder of I-90. We woke this morning to sounds of tree branches breaking from the wet snow in the campground and the ground covered in snow. And the snow continues most of the day.
We pack up thankful that we had camped under the shelter. As we leave Columbus, the bank sign flashes 35F. We start out on the frontage road for about 7 miles then go onto I-90. Rachel leads so that we can stay together since Patrick is faster. She is happy for the wide shoulder, her glasses are fogged over and can only see the slush on the road in front of her. Although there's lots of traffic, most are good to move over in passing us to avoid the spray. At least we don't need to watch for oncoming traffic.
At Reed Point, we exit hoping for a cafe and only finding a gas station with a shop. At least there is hot coffee and a couple of chairs to sit and warm up. Our wool gloves are wet, our waterproof socks are barely keeping our feet warm. Back onto I-90, it's just putting our heads down and pedaling. Some of the snow flakes are sharp and hurt our eyes and sting our lips.
We take the first exit to Big Timber and a mile in we pass a motel and decide to check out another one that should be closer to downtown. It isn't, so we go back to the Lazy J Motel and again have ticket shock...$84! But we are in need of warmth, so we check in. The WiFi is intermittent, but the hot shower a welcomed end to the day. Rachel messages with Laura, our friend in Missoula that we will see in a week and realize we just had a near miss meeting up. She and Russ have been on a road trip this past month and just passed Big Timber and almost to Livingston! We walk down the road to a pizza place for a very good pizza and back in time to watch Boise State football against Virginia.
The weather forecast for tomorrow looks better.
Today's ride: 69 km (43 miles)
Total: 39,982 km (24,829 miles)
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