Havre to Malta, MT

Miles 91.2
Ride time 5:38
Elevation gain 437'
Total miles to date 1094.6
Total elevation gain to date 43,169'

Today we we left Have-Ur early, but it was already quite warm. We headed our of town and continued along our now familiar Highway 2. We rode by the fields with few signs of any houses or people. The train tracks to our left were busy with long freight trains, carrying containers to the other side of the country. Apparently, most of the train traffic now on our tracks is not for goods bound for USA consumption, but rather to transport the goods that China is sending to the rest of the world. It is cheaper for them to use our rails than to ship it around the Horn. Hummm, is that right? Still, it was very cool to see the long trains snake by with so many cars of stuff.
We surprized a large deer by the side of the road, who then ran out and was almost hit by a big truck as he went around us. The deer escaped unharmed, but it was very close. We did see quite a bit of roadkill though. There was quite a few skunks, snakes and deer that were casualties of the highway. I saw a huge porcupine that was on the side of the road. I had no idea they were that big.
We were detoured off of Highway 2 onto a gravel country road at about mile 50. The van was set up there for a lunch stop as there are few services along this route. As we got off the bikes we were met with a cloud of gnats and Mosquitos. It was unbearable. I had put on sunscreen and the gnats would land and then get stuck on my skin from the sunscreen. I had little black dots all over my arms. Very quickly I ate. Then Jennifer and I took off. As long as we kept moving, they couldn't land. We had to keep our mouths closed though as we were pelted with the bugs as we rode along. We got back on the highway it was a bit better, but as soon as we would stop, they would swarm.
We slammed a real Coke at mile 75 from the Sag and then tried to power on in to the town of Malta.
We rode into town, found the hotel, and we were able to get into our room right away. Air conditioning never felt so good! After a quick shower and small bite from our bag of snacks, we went to the nearby grocery store to buy......Bug Spray! We now have a big can and a small one to take on the bike. Tomorrow, we will fight back against the bug cloud with proper chemical warfare!