The sound of rain and wind woke us early, so we took our time getting ready, hoping the rain would end. It did, for awhile. We cruised past signs pointing to towns with the strangest names -- we wondered if the signs were for towns, or merely pointing out something along the side of the road -- Buffalo, Straw, Rye, Geyser, and Belt.

Rain was forecast for the Great Falls area. We were planning on driving through Great Falls to Hungry Horse, (another great name) with the idea of going through Glacier Park tomorrow. Mother Nature had other plans. The rain was at times blinding, always cold. We stopped at every little rest stop along the way, and by the time we hit Great Falls, it was time to call it quits. Not only was it wet here, apparently it was the cold spot in the nation for today. Hooray for us!!!!

A fellow at the Harley Dealership here recommended the Holiday Inn as being a very biker friendly motel -- even a biker discount. They made us feel welcome, giving us towels at check in, and allowing us to park with the rest of the bikes out of the rain near the front doors. Checking the license plates, we found bikes from Alberta, Florida, Indiana, Washington, Texas, Alaska, and several others from California. Inside the lobby was a display of the wildlife found in Montana. It was as close as we got to them today!

We spread all our stuff out over the room hoping most are dry for morning. We ate at the restaurant in the hotel, and enjoyed being dry again. Shirlene had Walleye for the first time, Dick had BBQ Ribs, not for the first time. Shirlene took the time to walk across the street to a laundromat to clean and dry a weeks worth of clothes. At least we will be clean tomorrow.

For those of you who are wondering how we could be enjoying ourselves these past few days, we can't explain it, but we are. We have learned to be flexible in our planning and have found even rides in the cold rain have their magic.