Day 48: 7/7/19: Musselshell to Colstrip, MT

I decided last night to alter my route and knew it was going to be another long day of riding today.  So at about 4 a.m., my eyes pop open and I pack and hit the road.  Below are a couple of early morning pics.

A few pics from my ride today.

I stopped at Melstone Bar and Cafe in Melstone and had a nice hot breakfast. Rich is the owner, the cook and the waiter that provided my breakfast.  He said there are about 100 people in Melstone.  He was preparing his Sunday lunch buffet of meatloaf, veggies, and soup while I was there.  He said it gets pretty busy when church let's out. I thought it was funny that most of the church congregation goes to the local bar for Sunday lunch.

Below are pics of the cafe/bar and my breakfast.  That was a beer batter pancake and it was huge.  I think I might have had a little buzz going when I left :)

These little local bars are diamonds in the rough that most miss when passing through these small towns.  They don't look like much on the outside, but inside are good, hardworking local folks trying to make a living, as well as their patrons who are very welcoming to strangers.

Between Melstone and Sumatra, my nice U.S. Hwy 12 turned into this nasty U.S. Hwy 12 for about 9 miles (pic below).  They are working on that portion of the road.  I'm glad it was Sunday, otherwise I would have been trying to keep pace with a pilot  "Follow Me" truck.

Several folks the last couple of days have told me I need to stop at Jersey Lilly, the bar in Ingomar, and have some of their bean soup.  I went by there today, but they were not open yet.  "Boots," a worker there was sitting outside and asked me about my trip. We talked about my trip, and he provided some information about Ingomar.  He let me see inside the bar and snapped a couple of pics of me.  Below are some pics of Jersey Lilly, which is almost the only thing in Ingomar.

Some information about Ingomar below.

A road sign today read "Vananda 16" (miles).  Well, don't put off getting anything till you get to Vananda because the pics below are of everything that remains there, and they are all vacant.

I'm not sure if this boot and hat belonged to the last person that left Vananda, but they are nailed to a fence post there (pic below).

In Forsyth, I stopped at DQ and downed a couple of cheeseburgers and a small ice cream cone.  I considered staying there tonight, but decided to continue on to Colstrip even though it was 36 miles away, I already had ridden about 82 miles, and it was over 90 degrees.

I made it to Colstrip to find they have no campground.  I went by the police department, and they told me I could camp on State land located behind a church. I got my tent put up just before a thunderstorm hit.  Below is my campsite pic.

A portion of my fine dining tonight. I ate in my tent due to the storm.

Total miles today: 124