Great Falls, MT Sunday June 27

Great Falls, MT -- Sunday, June 27
We have a pattern that we need to stop. It seems as if that if we have a day of big hills we also have a big ride. Today we crossed the Continental Divide at Rogers Pass on Hwy 200. We thought that this would be our biggest hill of the day. It turned out that there were other significant hill challenges ahead.
We knew before we started to ride that when we left Lincoln we had 56 miles to go before the next services of any kind, food or water. For this portion of the ride we provisioned well and managed to get to our planned overnight stop (Simms) just as we depleted most of our water. During the first 45 miles on this stretch we had long, slow, grinding crawls up four significant hills. The views during this portion of the ride were big. I guess this is why they call MT the 'Big Sky' state. The trees have been replaced by a vast openness of distant mountains and undulating hills.
In planning today's ride we had considered going overnighting in Great Falls; however, great falls was 89 miles from Lincoln. Forty miles into the ride, we were almost certain that Simms would be our overnight. When we arrived at Simms at 3:00 PM, looked around and took note of the relatively flat elevation maps, we decided to make a run for Great Falls.
It was a good decision. The ride was relatively flat, the late Sunday afternoon traffic on Hwy 200 was manageable, and the general sightseeing less than ideal. In addition, the lay over would allow us to do laundry in the early AM. In the end we rode 97 miles. We had chosen to tent at a KOA campsite on the eastern edge of Great Falls (we approached from the west.
Our plans changed when we arrived at KOA at 7:30 and wanted to charge us $57 to camp. Although we had to pedal back into Great Falls 2 miles, we found a motel room for nearly the same cost, granted it is next door to 'The Sleazy Lady'. Although I did not personally verify what the Sleazy Lady is, the name speaks for itself. Although none of us wanted to continue riding once we arrived at the KOA, the motel is within blocks of a grocery and laundry, setting us up well for Monday's ride to Fort Benton, approximately 55 miles away.
Lastly, I had my first flat today, a mile from the motel. :-(