August 11 - Endless Prairie: Belle Fourche, SD to Broadus. MT

My goal for this trip was to ride at least 2500 miles, so I guess the rest is gravy, which is what my legs felt like at the end of the day.

Between Belle Fourche (pronounced "Foosh") and Broadus, there are three towns shown on the map. Two of them are literally nothing more than post offices, each with a zip code and a paved handicapped parking spot in front. The surrounding "towns" were modern ghost villages - old stores and gas stations now abandoned. The remaining town was real, all right, but had no stores or gas stations. We are most assuredly out on the prairie. Sheep, antelope, cattle, and ore trucks; these were our companions for the day.

Cheryl rode the twenty miles from the Wyoming/South Dakota border to Montana in a sprint. "Rain" started half-way thru - really a heavy mist/light drizzle, but enough to soak through our wind breakers. I stopped to put on wind pants, she took off before me, and that was that. I never did catch her. I guess the two days of rest and her desire for the dry insides of the RV were more than a match for my training rides over the last six weeks.

While we're waiting for Uncle Craig, we're treated to a deepening sunset. (Annie took the picture!) The skies are clearing, so maybe stars and a meteor or two will appear tonight. Then into Miles City tomorrow, and put the final grandparent chapter into our trip.

Miles: Al (single) 92; Cheryl (single) 53.

Total Miles: 2462

**Next Day's Journal**

-Al Bikrutz