Day 8: West Glacier to Cut Bank

The motel we stayed in had no television or Wi-fi, so I made sure I got some sleep. I slept until 9 today. It was quite refreshing. In terms of what it looked like, I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

Breakfast didn't really happen for me. I just sort of ate on the road, but it was cool. I've found my eating habits are beginning to mirror the bikers eating habits, lots of snacks: fig newtons, oreo's, pretzels. I'm certainly not doing as much mileage as much physical exertion as they are, so maybe I lay off the calories.

Leaving Glacier national park was sad. I wish I could have stayed longer. After passing the continental divide, the landscape shifted dramatically. In front of me was no longer towering rock faces but instead, great, endless plains.

The first stop in the plains was the town of Browning. From afar, the town seemed like a highly populated suburbia. However, the town turned out to be quite the opposite. Many of the buildings were in shambles. The town was located on the Blackfoot Native American reservation. Small casinos were placed in random points around town. A large group was standing outside of the liquor store. It was quite depressing. In school, I learned about the corruption that takes place in many casinos, and how very little of the money actually reaches the community it is located in. Of course there are some Native American communities that do benefit, but a majority of tribes do not. I couldn't help but feel that this was the case.

The final checkpoint was 16 miles from Cut Bank. I hung out by the railroad tracks like a delinquent for a bit and took come cool pictures. Then I sat in the car and did some quality reading. (That's right, reading). Although the landscape has smoothed out a bit, the roads are still hilly as ever. Perhaps the people in Troy were right, I haven't seen east Montana yet.