Makoshika, the Badlands

Tonight, we are camping at Makoshika State Park, in Glendive, Montana ... officially one third of the way between Astoria and NYC. We have traveled 1200 miles, and ended up in the Badlands. That is what "Makoshika" means in the Lakota language.

We left Circle this morning, after spending a night in the motel there. Circle is a town that is in decline since the price of oil fell to its current prices. We went for dinner to the bowling alley, except the bowling alley has been ripped out and turned into a foosball arcade, to the delight of the three boys. People in town are trying desperately to keep things going, but the only thriving business in town appears to be John Deere.

After dinner, we ran into Chaim and Tom, our Israeli bicyclist friends, having dinner at the Wooden Nickle, the other place in town to eat. We recommended the Traveler's Inn, where we were staying, and they checked in just for a night in bed and a hot shower. Their routine is to get up at first light, ride until 8:00 am, then have a roadside breakfast. We left Circle at around 7:30, and caught up to them about 25 miles into today's ride, and probably waved goodbye to them for the last time.

We had Ryan back on the bike today ... he spoke to his doctor about his wrist, and the doctor assured him that any numbness in his hand was not due to the surgery he had during basketball season, and Ryan was getting so bored, he decided to ride. After tomorrow, we have another rest day in Medora, North Dakota, so he will continue to use a wrist brace at night, do a squeeze ball when he's not otherwise occupied, and hope for the best. It works better with four people on the road because we can pair up if someone is lagging.

This morning, we rode in a tight bunch, pulling into Glendive at around 11:00 am, and biked across the Yellowstone River. We rode directly to City Hall, where the Mayor, Jimmy Jimison, met us and introduced us to the head of the Bike and Walkways program, then took us out to lunch. A couple of other city staffers lunched with us, including one who is an avid bicyclist, and had many tips and suggestions for places to ride, as did the city's finance minister, who advised us on routes to follow going to Medora. It will be a hotter day tomorrow, and hopefully we will get a tail wind as we breeze into North Dakota, our fourth State.

More pictures later. For now, got to go looking for a new triceratops skeleton ... this was their homeland before it was the Lakota homeland, and before the town of Glendive had even been imagined. Besides, the ranger station will be closing soon, and it has the only WiFi anywhere near where we're camping!