Rattlesnakes and Billings

Thursday 5/17 Day 27
A day of firsts. Rattlesnakes, construction, and portraits due to predictions of me being famous. Ya a lot to cram into one day plus imagine the 93 miles I rode to my next town :).
I got out of Harlowton pretty early in the Morning and within ten miles I got to a substantial amount of construction on highway 3. They were widening nine miles of the road to add a shoulder. When I got there I talked to the construction lady with the stop sign and she said I was the first biker to come through and she did not know what to do. So she let me through and told me not to get hit by a truck, I laughed and said duh. The road wasn't bad, it was paved mostly and had a few spots where it was dirt instead. Anyways about two miles into my ride some guy in a truck stops me and asked if I was fuckin crazy and if I had a death warrant out for my life. Then gave me an ultimatum of getting a ride to the other side of the construction zone or find a new route. I got on the back of the truck and rode the rest of the way out. It was a good thing because there was about a three mile stretch on a pretty rough dirt road. So I was glad he picked me up. He was glad I didn't die haha. To celebrate living through the work zone I got some coffee at the coffee cafe at the end of the work zone.
It was funny because even though I had coffee I was pretty exhausted the rest of the day. I think it is the sun, it really is like a vacuum on your energy reserves. Me being exhausted leads me into my first sighting of a rattlesnake on my trip. Now that I'm in a dry arid environment the animals have changed and the worst of the worst are the snakes. So I was riding up a pretty steep hill in the early afternoon, sweating and tired. My head was down facing the ground watching my feet turn. Next thing I saw was this snake coiled up right next to my bike! I freaked; my foot was about two seconds from going over the snake. I swerved and tried to declip my shoes but it was all to late. Then I noticed that the head of he snake was rotting and hollow. Oh man I was so lucky now the only problem was I had to change my underwear because I pooped my pants! Just kidding but seriously it was a good wakeup to the animals that could be hiding on the side of the road. I saw three more throughout the day thankfully all dead! I'm like Indiana jones, but on a bike, I hate snakes.
The ride was not to bad today, a verity of landscapes and weather. Wind, rain, sun, clouds, grasslands, hills, and eroding hills! These are the best days because I get distracted wih all the change that goes on in the environment. My brain really doesn't get a chance to choose a subject and dwel on it.
When I got into Billings I went to a little park that overlooked the city. It was gorgeous, I think it was called Zimmerman park. I could see the entire city and the massive rain clouds that were coming in. So I went into town to get some food, pizza tonight made by z pizza. Very good stuff. It was here that the servers got pretty excited that I was riding my bike across the USA. I told them it wasn't that unheard of which they replied, oh ya how many people do you know ride their bikes across the USA. I just laughed and let them have it. So I got some pictures with a few of them just incase I became famous some day. Then I ate my entire pizza and headed over my hosts house. On my way over to the Leo's place it started to rain but it was ok because I was done for the night.
Once there I talked with Mike and Liz over their dinner and some ice cream. They spent time in the peace corps, and he did some touring in Africa and the Netherlands. It was also great seeing their house it was set up in many ways to allow their kids many opportunities to be creative and express themselves. Great environment to spend the night in.