catfish

I went from Great Falls (dont cars if i ever go back there) to Ft Benton on day. it must have been about 60 miles or so. The day started grey drizzley, and cold. The wind was calm. I was following the lewis and clark route and there were many places to pull over and read some history. Some hills but i was rolling along at a constant 12 mph. I got into Ft Benton and wanted to camp. but met this old dude named marvin the oldest guy in the oldest town in montana owning the oldest building in this oldest town. How could i do anything but rent a room from him. It seems like everyone in this town is friendly I went looking for a flag to mount on my bike. First stop was the hardware store they were all out. but got into a long conversation with sara, one of the clerks a woman about my age who with her husband owns a ranch but has to work in town to make ends meet. They have a son in the chicago area and went to visit last summer and made there way up to the lacrosse area and were inmpressed so we talked a long time about wisconsin and upper michigan.

I bid her good by and left to get some lunch at the local diner, about 4 people hanging out there and all ready to visit a while about halfway through lunch Sara came in fro a break and got the conversation going again. I left and walked over to the drug store and saw a flag in the window I walked in and was about to ask to buy the one in the window, when i spotted a large box of flags.PAY DIRT!! i was going to buy a coupla smaller ones and mount them but the young girl showed me a nice medium one she thought would look good on a loaded bike. it was marked at $5.99 but then she reduced them all to 2.99 and ended up just giving me the flag so i could fly my colors as i travel twords Wisconsin.

I walked over to a bench on the Missouri river and wrote in my journal a while and looked and saw soem of the trees are begining to show some color in the leaves is it really getting that late in ther year? or are they just stressed from summer heat and lack of rain? Last night in Albertsons i saw pumkins and hallowine stuff allready out in the isles WOW!!

This guy Marvin was insistant on giving me a ride up to the top of loma hill in the morning.I told heim Ive allready climbed many mountinan passes in the cscades and rocky's but he was to have his way. I had two choices i could get up at 4 am and escape or i could make this old dude happy and accept the ride.

I went to bed and slept and when i got up for coffie he was allready hanging arround ready to go it was 6:30 am. Him and I had coffie together then we loaded the bike and we were off.

It was a 9 mile ride we took a sceic side road and looked at a buffalo farm then as we climbed loma hill in his pick up i was thinking this hill is just a bump like a piece of cake. but he was doing what he has tried to do for so long. give a biker a lift up this hill I think i am the first to let him do it.

he was telling me the story of how he 2 years ago found 12 four leaf clovers and since his luck has been bad and has made some bad decisions like the time his no good s o b of a son in law took him for 125 thoousand dollars by the time i was unloaded i shook his hand and looked him right straight in the eye and said" marvin I can tell you are a good man, from this point forword your luck will change for the better" then i left for Havre.