Today we left Zortman, Montana about 10:45 and traveled 201 miles.  It got to 102 degrees and we did not see an ounce of shade or one tree for about 90 miles of the trip. 

Larry and I followed two or three gravel roads that we had pre selected on our gps and they worked out great.  When we got to one spot out in the middle of nowhere, the gps told us to go down this little path and we knew it just didn't seem right.  Well, we saw two cars today and one of them happened to be a rancher that by some miracle came by at that exact time.  He verified that there was once a road there and it was still slightly visable and if we followed it for about 20 miles we would end up just where we wanted to be.  The GPS is just amazing.

So we followed this horse path for what seemed like an eternity and we came out at what is known as the Anderson Ranch.  We talked with the owner and he verified that we were in the right place and just follow his private road out to the main road(Main road meaning it is about 8 feet wide instead of 4 feet wide).  We followed his entrance driveway to his ranch for about 9 miles and came to one of two main roads we were on all day.  I think it was called Sun Prairie Road. 

Larry saw one elk and we saw quite a few antelope running around.  No rattlesnakes, but we were ready for them with our toe less shoes and shorts. 

We did have one little incident that is affecting my right knee at this point.  This point by the way is 10:30 at night in the little town of Wolf Point, Montana.  The dirt roads have very deep ruts at certain places due to the occasional heavy rain.  I was chugging along at about 20 mph and trying to stradle two fairly deep ruts when my left front tire got caught in one.  It kind of threw the machine against the rut and I guess seperated the tire from the rim.  I think the two large gas tanks on the front of the machine did not help any.  So the rim dug into the concrete like ground and instantly flipped the machine over and of course it landed right on top of me.  The good news, is that I've been eating a lot chicken wings and ice cream and had enough cushion to keep the machine from getting damaged.  The bad news was my right knee is about twice the size it should be at this point.

The second issue after getting the Arctic Cat back on its wheels was trying to inflate a tire that is not beaded properly and doing that with a little pump that you connect to your power point on the machine. Larry has been lifting weights on a regular basis so he hoisted the front of the machine up while I put a cooler under the frame to keep the tire off the ground.  We then wraped a ratchet strap around the tire and kept tightening it while trying to inflate it.  We finally got the bead of the tire to adhere to the rim and after a few minutes we were inflated and back on the road again. 

Tomorrow, we will leave Wolf Point and head to Williston, North Dakota and be right back on schedule again.  Larry was just reading an article out of the visitors guide to Wolf Point and I swear there is a statement in there which says it is 2,233.7 miles to Portland, Maine.  It also says it is 1,073.5 miles to Portland Oregon.  Apparently we have completed 1/3 of the trip if the info is at all accurate. 

I'm going to get a little more ice on my knee and will be back in the saddle tomorrow morning bright and early around 9:00.  See ya!
 
 

Click Here Photos from Today!!!