On this day, we were riding from Miles City to Glendive, MT. The first 12 miles or so were along Old Highway 10, which is very lightly traveled. A decent tailwind made this morning a pleasant one. From here, our route followed I-94 for approximately 10 miles. We then rode along a frontage road for some time. We stopped in a small town named Terry for food and refilling our water bottles. At the gas station, the attendant recommended taking the interstate over Old Highway 10; according to her, drunks use Old Highway 10 often, thus making the interstate a safer bet. The first 20 miles or so on I-94 were extremely manageable due to a strong tailwind. However, our progress changed with the direction of the interstate. Due to turning north, the tailwind became a fierce crosswind. I often found myself tilting my bike significantly to the left in order to keep the bike moving forward in a straight line. Once in Glendive, we checked into an inexpensive hotel for the night. The potential for severe weather on this evening motivated staying in a hotel versus camping. We relaxed for a few hours before walking to a local diner up the road. Penny's Cafe was a 1950's theme eatery. It was eerily quiet for 5pm when we arrived there, but a dinner rush made the diner a lot more lively around thirty minutes later. Following dinner, we returned to the hotel and watched part of the MLB All Star game. Interestingly enough, programming was interrupted by weather advisories being issued. A strong storm was moving toward Glendive, bringing with it quarter to half dollar size hail! In short time, the severe portion of the storm barely missed Glendive and a harmless sprinkle fell instead of the potential hail. All told, I was glad we had opted for the hotel!
