Today was a tough day, our third century in five days. Woke up very cold and it took quite a while to warm up. We had a 500' climb just a few miles into the ride, and then a 1200' climb between miles 12 and 23 up Deep Creek Canyon. The latter was beautiful, a narrow canyon with a stream running down it and the occasional cabin. Rested a bit at the top but still felt quite worn out at the mid-day checkpoint, only 41 miles into the day. While Bruce, Chris and David headed to Dori's Café in White Sulphur Springs, MT, I made a side trip to the local bank to have a letter notarized, to allow Sandy to take the kids to Mexico for a vacation. It cost all of $1.37 for the notary services plus a stamp, and 20 minutes later my business was done. I joined the rest of the gang at Dori's, and had a delicious ham and egg sandwich, which brought the life back into me and I felt ready to go for the first time today.

The afternoon went much better, the sun was out, the skies were clear, and the winds were (mostly) favorable. I can see why Montana is called "Big Sky Country"; it seemed as if we were riding under a giant overturned bowl of blue, with endless rolling hills and mountains in the distance. Bruce and I rode with several different groups today, and finished the last 25 miles with Kacy, who celebrated her birthday today (Happy Birthday, Kacy!).

We're camped beside a river in the Wheatland County Fairgrounds, and our showers were ½ mile down the road in a motel. We ate dinner (another $10 night!) in the Graves Inn Hotel restaurant, where we were entertained by an older couple dressed in square dancing attire. He worked for years for the railroad, and now they travel about singing and playing banjos. After dinner we walked back to camp for our meeting and lunch prep. I'm typing this as I try to fend off the mosquitoes, so I think I'll head for the tent.

Note - We're famous as we made the local newspaper, the Times Clarion, the "Official Newspaper of Wheatland and Golden Valley Counties".