M - Evaporation is my friend

Another post! We are in another library, this time in Billings and it is 100 degrees f outside and rising, way too hot for me. Yesterday as we left Rapid City it was still getting hotter, and we had to stop at a rest area and eat our lunch in the foyer of the bathrooms where there was air conditioning. It wasn't very cool though, I'm sure it was still 85 in there, so it took me a long time to cool off. Just before we rode off we soaked ourselves with water, and Josh even filled his helmet. We both chose to ride without our gloves.

So we survived until Buffalo, where a sign said 101f but there was no stopping until we had escaped up into the Big Horn Mountains, gaining about an extra 600ft of elevation gave some relief. And better yet we found a grassy campsite by a stream, so there was much froliking in the cool water.

Today we have succumbed and are not wearing our heavy pants. We have got our gloves back on however as my hands got quite sunburnt and Josh's are sore too. We are always being passed by people on cruiser bikes wearing shorts and T-shirt and no helmet, and they must think we are mad to be wearing so much. I used to think they were mad to be wearing so little!

Wyoming has changed a little since we were here 3 weeks ago, mostly there are fires. 40,000 acres burnt near Gilette in the past couple of days. We saw a fire just starting as we crossed the border into Montana and ever since Dayton we have been riding in a big cloud of smoke. That's about 100 miles and we still have not got to the fire yet which has aparently been burning for 3 days. I think it is no coincedence that these all seem to be right next to the Interstate.

The newspaper tells me that temperatures in Alaska are in the 60's. San Francisco is at about 75 - maybe we should have stayed there! If we can get to the north western corner of Montana it should drop into the 80's.