I got up a bit earlier this morning as the motel we’re staying in has a small gym and I’m keen to get some exercise - this part of the trip was always a little looser when we sketched out our route in London a few months ago. We always wanted to spend the majority of our time around the northwest, so these next few days are really about covering distance which leaves us sitting in the car for longer and longer stretches - hence the need to stretch my legs.
A depressingly tough run later (how quickly fitness fades in the onslaught of American portion sizes…), we head over to get breakfast at Stella’s Kitchen & Bakery - the hotel offers a free breakfast here, rather than in their own breakfast room, which turns out to be pretty great. We have French Toast and bacon, and it’s very tasty and served in a very homely restaurant. Nicely full, we head out into the snow and the wide plains that seem characteristic for this part of Montana - the snow is falling pretty constantly and forcing much of the traffic into just one lane. It gradually worsens, which leads to a pretty hairy moment when we start to lose traction and the car begins to weave violently on the road - thankfully a combination of my companion’s quick reactions and a quiet stretch of road avoids any significant incident, save for a rapid dose of adrenaline.
We keep moving through the empty landscape that surrounds us, save for the occasional mile-long train that travel parallel to the highway and keep us company. It really is a pretty desolate vista, but it makes me wonder how it would be in summer - swaying wheat fields, blue skies and warm sun would make things seem very different I think. Eventually we arrive at a small town called Sheridan, where we’ve spotted a short hike that will let us get the blood flowing after all the time in the car. It turns out to be a walk through a kind of local park, where we stomp through muddy mountain bike tracks and loop around ourselves to get the distance in. A highlight is a small but completely frozen pond that we walk across - it’s pretty incredible to think that the cold is so relentless here that entire bodies of water can freeze for months at a time.
After the walk, we head into Sheridan to get some lunch at the Cowboy Cafe - it’s a great place and serves a mean sandwich, and we’re happy to have a short chat with the waitress who is studying to be a nurse, reluctantly it transpires, as she’s been relegated from police training for breaking her back in two places after a fall on the ice. I love moments like this and it’s a constant reminder that America seems to breed an openness and familiarity that is very welcome when you experience it.
We leave Sheridan and aim to reach a small town in Wyoming called Newcastle - a bit of an inside joke, but both my companion and I studied, worked and lived in Newcastle Upon Tyne, so it seems like a fitting place to stop. We arrive after dark, pick up a few odds and ends from a grocery store and then head to our motel, which is on the outskirts on town. It’s a blisteringly cold night, but we decide to walk a mile or so to one of the only places open for dinner - The Pizza Barn, a restaurant set up by an Italian from New York to serve authentic pizza but has now broadened its menu to serve pretty much everything. We have pizza and calzone, which is pretty great (although a far cry from my favourite in London, I feel I should note) in a largely empty restaurant. It’s so quiet here that the staff are turning over chairs on table when we leave and they seem glad they can finally go home.
When we get back to the motel, the evening is still quite young, so we decide to watch something - we settle on The Rescue, a documentary about the twelve Thai boys and their coach that get caught in a cave in northern Thailand. It’s fascinating stuff, and an amazing validation of some peoples’ dedication to going in to the unknown places, but I cannot overstate how it’s reinforces my phobia about caving - there’s no way I could do any of this and I have so much respect for the people that can.
Hopefully I’ll be able to sleep tonight, but I loosen the bedcovers just in case…