61 miles. Finally out of Montana.

We expected wind today in our favor so timed our departure to take advantage of it. Today our route had us riding on Interstate 94 and with the wind advantage we expected to make great time. At first the boost from the breeze was a little disappointing given that the forecast was for stronger wind but we still appreciated the all day help.

At first blush cycling on the Interstate sounds terrifying but the reality is that the shoulder is very wide and the road surface fairly smooth. It was a lot less scary than some of the seller roads we have been on over the past three weeks if only because the cars and trucks weren’t so close.

 

Finally out of Montana

not good wi fi coverage so I’ll add photos tomorrow

one last thing. we’ll give details tomorrow, we want to the Medora Musical. Great experience and thanks to Jay and Carrie for the ride and conversation.

OK. I’m back with the promised details and photos. We are in Dickinson on day 26 and have fairly good broadband so I’ll update.

Medora is home to the Medora Musical, a 90 minute stage show put on every night of the summer in a beautiful amphitheater with the backdrop being the Badlands. The show has been described as “A high school musical for adults” and is a sometimes corny but still professional evening of song, dance, country music, patriotism and a little bit of history – namely the influence that this area of the Badlands had on Teddy Roosevelt.

Before the show, the tradition is a Steak Fondue Dinner and on this evening they served 1000 people! The steaks are put on the tines of pitchforks and dunked into boiling soy oil for a short time then allowed to rest then served.

Some of the 1000 12 oz steaks ready for the fondue

The strong wind that helped us get to Medora so fast this morning continued right up to showtime but the amphitheater shields the stage so on with the show! The opening featured horses and riders and the singing of the national anthem.  The MC had been a  child actor in the Musical years ago and now was in the spotlight.

Among the acts such as a tribute to our National Parks, a country gospel segment, and a rodeo tribute was the featured performer, Todd Oliver and his dog Irving, a ventriloquist with an amazing way of making the dog open his mouth as though he were talking! This guy had been on America’s Got Talent and the Tonight Show and was really exceptionally good. The funniest bit was two volunteers from the audience on stage with Todd. It’s difficult to describe the schtick but he asked the volunteers to open their mouths whenever he squeezed the back of their necks. With their mouths open, he put sounds  and words in their mouths with his ventriloquist’s skill. As I said, it is difficult to accurately describe the routine. You can search Todd Oliver on YouTube and get a flavor of his bit.

The end of the show was a reenactment of The Rough Riders charge up San Juan Hill and after that a rousing rendition of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA”and the evening was truly over.