Coffee at a drive-through espresso place in Lincoln and then east for a long time on Highway 200. This is open country but with great green rolling hills. I was now on the east side of the Continental Divide and headed for the prairies, although there are many smaller mountains ranges scattered throughout southern Montana.
I drove through Great Falls (I really hate driving through any city bigger than places like Lincoln, and Great Falls was busy and noisy with commerce and strip malls, much of this due to the nearby Malmstrom AFB, and is similar to Grand Forks, ND with its Grand Forks AFB.)
But I got through it, driving on two-lanes all afternoon, making good time, moving along rivers, through the small towns of Lewiston, Grass Range and Roundup. The few places with water or marshes attracted birds and I saw a bald eagle.
And there were always the small sparrows, many of whom are hard to see, as they fly away and/or dive into the grass and remain hidden. I have decided that I probably will have to just stake out productive grassland habitat some spring or summer day, set up a lawn chair and wait it out...arriving before sunrise and spending six or more hours.
The landscape is never boring to me.
And what is the story with Spion Kop road here in the middle of Montana?
I was now following the Yellowstone and expected to stop in Glendive. I called ahead but all motels were full, so I stopped in Miles City instead, and decided that I were ever to eat a steak, Miles City would be the place to do that. I asked for a restaurant recommendation of the sweet young thing at the desk and she directed me to The Buckboard or something like that, a place very nearby. Which looked promising from the outside as it was unpretentious, with a porch of wide weathered boards. I had a "free drink" card from the motel. Unfortunately, this place wasn't what I had in mind. The meat was barely acceptable, even to a non-discerning steak palate like mine, and the drink was coffee or tea (or some other nonalcoholic beverage.) It was a totally bland generic family restaurant with a generic American clientele....The funny part was (as I ordered a glass of wine and was told they did not have alcohol) that I could walk next door to a bar, order and pay for a glass of wine and then bring it back to the restaurant. Which I did. I should have tried another place, but these Interstate exits have the known and familiar venues for non-adventurous diners. It was hot and I was tired, but I missed the chance for a good steak I am sure.
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