Flaming June

The guy who changed the oil gave me the old crush washer as he said it was still good, but he'd fitted a new one anyway.  Well the new one leaks.  Every morning there is a drip or two of oil under the bike.  It's not a problem to me, but I don't like leaving oil everywhere.  In a clever bit of decision making just before I left I decided that there was no point in bringing lots of tools as I would just get a breakdown vehicle.  So apart from a 10mm one to use on the battery, I have no spanners.  I went along to Walmart this morning and as expected they did not sell individual spanners, so I had to buy a set.  Very cheap, and very nasty, but hopefully only needed once. I expected the 12mm to fit, but it didn't, so I was relieved I'd bought the set and got the 14mm out.  Too big.  13mm!  Who the **** uses 13mm for anything?  Well, Triumph for oil drain plugs obviously.  Walmart didn't have any.  A guy I was talking to suggested a gas station where I should be able to borrow one.  As I left Walmart I couldn't turn the way I wanted, so had to do a U turn in a small mall where I found an auto parts store where the very nice gent lent me a 13mm spanner.  Needless to say the bolt is as tight as it can be, so must be a faulty washer.  Something to deal with at Steve and Aileen's I think.

How to start your day with a smile.

It was a little warmer to start this morning, so I left the rain jacket off, but kept a mid-layer on, so the wind didn't penetrate too freely.  I would be heading east, so hopefully going down in elevation and leaving the snow behind.  I was on a "scenic byway" for the start of my journey.  Headed for the Little Big Horn, site of Custer's Last Stand.

I know that in the small format on the blog it must be hard to make out detail, but I just can't help taking these pictures because there is so much in them.  The horizons seem to be forever away.  The first few are just outside Cody.

This is a local monument to an early pioneer.

I don't know if this is what it has always been like - it's just miles of grassland.

I haven't booked a motel.  I thought that I would just meander through the wee towns after Little Big Horn and choose where I'm going to stop.  It won't be here though.

The monument sits on the spot where Custer and his men perished in their last stand.

The markers are where soldiers are reputed to have fallen.  Although concentrated here, they are all over the place too.

There is nothing else for miles around.

Recently a monument was erected to honour the indians too.  It is really good.

I suspect that this is what the grassland was like.

As well as a National Monument the site is also a National Cemetery, like Arlington.  Veterans can choose to be buried at a National Cemetery, though this one has been closed to new entrants since 1978.  It is an incredibly peaceful place, and a beautiful setting.

Just after I left I saw a thermometer in a town which read 93℉, at 2pm. Even on a bike that is warm.  The mid-layer was off by this time, but it was just warm air coming through my ventilated jacket.  I am following everyone's instructions and drinking lots.  The taste of warm Gatorade is always evocative of the states.

Just more pics trying to capture the immensity of the place.  No matter how fast you go, it feels like you're standing still.  You can imagine yourself as a dot on a map, hardly moving.

The plan to stop at a nice hotel in a quaint wee town came to naught, due to a lack of both.  Some of the "towns" I had noted on the map as possibilities consisted of only a couple of houses.  One town had motels, but I wouldn't have booked anyone into them.  Not quite as bad as the photo above, but not far off.  The afternoon wore on, and it seemed to get hotter.  By this time I was approaching big towns, where I didn't want to be searching for a motel.  When my last hope, Belle Fourche, produced nothing I at least saw a public library and went in with my iPad and asked if I could use their wifi.  I wasn't sure where would be a good place to stay, but Graham and Tam had spoken so highly of Spearfish that I thought I'd give that a go.  Within a few minutes I had a room booked 15 minutes away.  I couldn't wait to get into the air conditioning and a good shower, which was just as nice as anticipated.

I am really looking forward to a simple home cooked meal.  I spent ages in Safeway's deli to see if there was any way I could get a meal out of their salads, which all look lovely.  They only sell them in fairly big containers though, and individually, so I would have had a boring meal or a lot of waste.  The same was true with their olives.  I would have loved a pot of them, but I've no way of keeping what I wouldn't eat.  I had found a way of keeping chocolate reasonably cool by burying it in my luggage, but on days like today that doesn't work.  My Lindor got melted and need eating.

So, while I am doing that I shall contemplate a route for tomorrow.  I am below 4,000ft, so think I can expect high temperatures from noon onwards.  That argues for an early start and early finish.  I'll let you know.