Malta MT to Glasgow MT

Milk River

Some of yesterday's clouds are still out so it is cool. The trailer tire is low again so I refill it. US Highway 2 still follows the railroad and the Milk River. There is a small wildlife refuge (Lake Bowdoin). I see some odd birds that look like storks. The land is soggy in portions and almost looks like a rice paddy.

The trailer tire has lost a lot of air so I decide to remove it for reinspection. The mosquitoes descend on me like they knew I was coming. I have to dance around and slap myself while I dig through my gear for the repellent. I coat myself with it to the point of toxic shock. They all disperse. Hey, this stuff works. This time I find a thin steel belt wire from one of the numerous tire scraps littering the highway. I pull it out and patch the two small holes.

The clouds are gone and it is damn hot again (mid 90s). Maybe that's why the mosquitoes left. I tune in a radio station from Canada on the AM dial. At last, some decent radio. They even run a science program. I am only about 50 miles from the border. The storms that blew over my head this morning are on their way to Saskatchewan.

The trailer tire is nearly flat again. I need to do laundry and I need an easy day so I stop in Glasgow after only 70 miles. I add a couple extra miles scoping out the town. There's a hardware store with bicycle tubes. I find a motel near a grocery store and laundry. The laundry has no change machines or detergent dispensers. A woman who looks just like Peggy Hill gives me the last of her "Detergent and Biz". She also gives me info on the upcoming towns. It looks like another 100-mile day tomorrow. The towns are all too small. I scan the trailer tire over and over again. I find another piece of wire in the tire, much smaller than the first. I need a tweezers to remove it. At the next town with a bike shop I should get a tire liner for it. My main tire is operating perfectly fine. I think the Kevlar is doing the trick.

Strong storms are blowing through town, but they're almost over. The weather reports have all said that the winds would be out of the west tomorrow. One report even said "gusty". I sure could go for a strong tailwind.