Day Nine – Havre MT to Medora ND - Miles: 487
No problem with breakfast this morning. We planned on Char's Family Dining which was on our way out of town and it was actually open. Decent food and service and we were happily on our way. There wasn't going to be much on the itinerary today until we got to our destination. We started out on US2 through the Fort Belknap area which is mostly Indian reservation and despite leaving with a good amount of gas in the tanks we were looking for some gas by the time we left US2 on MT66. We made one stop at the James Kipp Recreation Area on the Missouri River which we had stopped at before back in 2013. The first time we stopped here the flies were so bad we didn't stay more than a few minutes. This time the bugs weren't bad but there really is very little here. We stayed longer this time but not by much. We came into the rec area knowing we were getting pretty low on gas, but we thought since we had been on US191 for some time we would come across something. The Garmin showed a gas station in Roy that was 10 miles off the route and there was another one showing at Slim's Bohemian Corner. Wow, not looking good and Steve's bike showed 8 miles left and mine was more than that but we didn't want to find out which one was more accurate. We pulled into Slim's and it didn't look good but as we got closer we saw they did have gas and the guy there said it was only recently and that the station in Roy was closed. We dodged a bullet there. With a full tank we resumed our normal speed. We stopped at the formal rest area in Mosby on MT200 and another one at the intersection of MT200 & MT24. Both were well kept but not much of anything around them. We rode into Glendive MT crossing over the Yellowstone River and stopped at the local car wash which was our last chance before Medora. We had to jump on I-94 for a period of time but exited at Beach ND and came into Medora on Old Highway 10. Medora, of course, is the one-time home of Teddy Roosevelt. The small town is solely a tourist town but it was charming and had some good places in town to eat and drink. We have had this on our radar for some time but never managed to fit it in. We were excited to ride the loop which is about 25 miles, however when we got there we learned a portion was closed for repairs so we rode in maybe 15 miles or so before turning around and riding back. There was not much traffic and the ride was very scenic and very worthwhile. We came back into town and walked around a little before settling at Boots Bar and Grill for dinner. We both had the fish which was excellent. We walked back to the Bad Lands Motel and sat in their lobby. Not much scenery today but the riding was good and staying in Medora was a big plus with the good food and the ride in the National Park at the end of the day.
