Wake up to discover a slow leak in the trailer tire, but I can't find a hole or anything to cause it. Can't get out of Havre until 9:00 AM which is much too late. I find "The Corner Bar" with its "Have an Ordinary Day" logo and "Seating for 500. 50 at a time." As I said before, Havre is in a valley. When I get out I hit a headwind that doesn't quit for the entire day. It varies in strength and severity from annoying to mental-health-threatening. There are portions where I feel deeply distressed. I find later that the temperature crossed into the 100s. This is some really empty country. Far more empty than I anticipated. In the last 65 miles there was only one town and it was very small. The land is flat. Grain fields alternating with range land. I cross the Milk River a few times. I can see it for most of the day or rather I can see the thin strip of trees on either side of it. The railroad also follows US Highway 2. Freight trains run almost every hour carrying shipping containers, wood products, boxcars and the occasional tank of mystery chemicals. "Corn syrup only in this tank." The Empire Builder passes by. It's much quieter than the freights and it surprises me to the point where I nearly run off the road. Not much of a problem as I am not moving very fast. The wind just refuses to quit. There are long periods where I ride at 5 or 6 mph. I stopped sweating despite drinking nearly two gallons of liquid. My head hurts from the heat until the sun goes down behind a row of approaching storm clouds. I land a motel room with only one small window. They tell me in the morning we had good rain. I slept right through it.
