Day 8: Dakota to Montana

Since I wasn't able to get my town experience of the night before on account of the wind and rain, I went the next morning to get some fruit. It was still a bit breezy but it had calmed down a good bit. The town itself was very old school western - very square buildings, wide streets, I expected to see cowboys come out of saloons. I got my fruit and then headed back. By this time the sky had become a bit more overcast, and I took off into still gusty winds with a ceiling not much more than 4,000 feet. The weather briefer had told me that the skies were clearer to the west, so I had hope that I wasn't going to have to fly low to the ground for the whole flight. And sure enough near the horizon, I could see patches of sunlit land. I flew on, towards them and gradually the cloud cover went from overcast to broken to scattered to few. Before I was under totally clear skies I found a large pocket between the clouds and headed up. It was fabulous, clouds all around in their brilliant white splendor, while we flew up through a gap camera in hand and smile on face. the land was getting a bit more hilly and I eventually landed in Montana just over the border.

Another quick lunch and I was off again landing the second uneventful leg just before sundown in Malta, Montana. I took a quick run in the dark and then biked into town. The only places to eat were a few steakhouses and one family restaurant bar. So I went into the restaurant was seated at table and then walked up to a man seated by himself and asked if I could join him. He hesitated for a second then said sure and after I was seated we proceeded to have a great conversation over our dinners. So good, I guess that he took my bill! It was not much at $4.95 for a salad and sandwich but it was very nice. he is an engineer from North Dakota, an avid fisherman, with two boys who love hockey and music. Needless to say his boys will soon have a state radio CD coming their way.

Back to the plane I went. Arranged my sleeping area, exercised to warm up, bundled myself up, then hit the sack.