Williston, ND to Richey, MT
Four more states!! It was a great feeling to be done with North Dakota. We have finally made it to our hardest state. Montana will bring us the Rockies to the West and the open windy big sky country to the East. We almost didn't make it out of North Dakota. About 15 miles out of Williston, Armin's bike became completely untrue to the point where he couldn't ride it. The bike mechanic in Bismarck had loosened all the spokes up, saying it would get him over the Rockies. This ended up being a big mistake. Instead of heading back to town Armin and I talked it through and decided to tighten up his spokes and than work on trueing the wheel. Taking matters into our own hands worked out and Armin was able to ride the next 80 miles without any problems.
We had thought about going to Circle, MT, but by mile 96 we were too tired, so Richey it was. This was our fourth night, so we hit the town for a meal instead of cooking the normal mac & cheese. We started out at the VFW where Armin and I were introduced to Paco's. A pocket taco. We had heard about a free chilli dog deal at the other bar in town, so we hit that up for our second meal.
This ended up being quite the experience. We bought our first round, but the next four were free. And it wasn't like they were getting them for just us, people were buying the whole bar a round of drinks. As a method of keeping track they would give you a small plastic shot glass. So, before long we each had a stack of three. One group of guys we couldn't even thank. They bought the round and left before the small shot glasses were passed out. Very friendly people!
We also got a chance to talk to some of the locals. We heard about how hard it is to farm in the area and what it is like having a woman forman. Talked a little about the local sports scene where they play 8 man football and the basketball team didn't have enough high schoolers, so they had two middle school kids play. Armin got made fun of for his hat, my miller high life hat was well approved. Julie was well appreciated by the older men...them being old perverted men in a small town. We also heard numerous warnings about the town we will stay in tomorrow night, Jordan. Supposedly they are pretty extreme...don't take to outsiders much. Should be interesting.
Richey is a great town though. If you want to experience a fun small Montana town, come here on a Friday or Saturday night. Before you know it you will have 3 plastic shot glasses before you and the evening will be a blast.
Tomorrow we have a 90 mile ride planned and we'll pass through exactly one town. That is how desolate this area is. Richey to Circle to Jordan.
