Big Sky

Waking a bit disoriented from the deepest sleep, I pondered a hotel room in which every chair, dresser, tv, and lamp was draped with some article of clothing. Bones and sinew protested my attempts to arise, the expected aches of forcing the soft 52 year old body of a computer programmer to ride 1,100 miles in two days. But the thought of entering Glacier today pushed me forward, beckoning like scotch at five o'clock. "Rainstorm", I remembered. Everything was now dry except the gloves, their leather and wool stubbornly holding on to their hard-earned dampness.

I think I know why the sky seems bigger here. As you top a crest you can see forever and there is enough terrain to let you know the horizon is really far. But it isn't THAT far off. On the prairie, the distance to the horizon is about 7 to 8 miles. Pick a tower or hill on the horizon. Note odometer and add 7.5. Ride onward. Check odometer. Forever isn't as big as you might've expected because there is another forever just past the last one. And another, and another. Repeat 15 or 20 times and refill the tank. Repeat THAT four times and you've covered about 2/3 of Montana. Under a really big sky.

(If the preceding paragraphs read like a Steinbeck novel, it worked. If not, it didn't.)