We did get a good breakfast at the Winnett Bar and Grill, perhaps that's one of the best things in Winnett. Indeed, a reflective sticker for the cafe now adorns my bike. For about $20 we had a very tasty omelette with a shredded potato style of hash browns. I was impressed by just how much better Winnett seemed having just eaten a good breakfast. It was useful also because we had no water or toilet at the park so we left with our water bottles replete. I had a fascinating chat with the people running the cafe about various things - the difficulties of affording property even in this remote bit of Montana, the head to head that's happening over creating a huge bison reserve (seen as a billionaire's fancy project) - when the locals are keener on maintaining the ranches and associated jobs - the cost of living crisis, the unwillingness of people to take jobs and stick to them, turning up week by week... the need for skills focussed education rather than expensive but irrelevant university degrees - well many of these things have echoes in the UK and all are rather complex when you dig deeper. I think people believe Trump is listening to some of these concerns, there's a Trump poster on the wall .... but is it just the usual jumping on any discontent in order to get votes? One oddity - not discussed- is the lowness of the minimum wage in the USA. In Montana it seems to be about $10... hmmm, you could barely live on that wage, it's about £8 and the US seems quite expensive - a good seedy malty loaf costs over $3 - £2.40! It is nice occasionally to try to solve all the problems of politics... We needed to get cycling - it was already getting late (11.30am when we set off - it was still raining a little).
The rain continued for most of the day, only easing off when we reached the Judith Mountains, a first taste of the Rockies. They go up to about 6000' or so. Our road twisted a bit to gain altitude, popped over a summit and then went downhill for a few miles to Lewistown. It was refreshing to see trees, serious mountains and a deeper green, we've had so much parched grass recently. The RV Park is pleasant though the camping is by the road with no hedge. There's a laundry and rather cool showers (temperature cool that is) and we coincided with a Cowboy Music and Poems jam session - more concert style things are later in the week - where some talented musicians, especially a super fiddle player, played a variety of cowboy related songs and tunes. Some Irish tunes stood to the fore. People are wearing stetson cowboy hats. We managed to get one tea out of the communal room's microwave before the session ended and the room was closed, something of a disappointment...The weather is set to warm back up - today I was wearing long trousers, merino base layer, yellow top, waterproofs. That's the most of any day so far. We are here. There may be a video of Judith Pass following if it works... Experimental... Try this link instead Judith pass.