Ovando, MT

Ovando is a small town just off Hwy 200. Be careful not to miss it! We ate at the Stray Bullet Cafe which had really good healthy sandwiches. There is the Blackfoot Inn, the Blackfoot Angler (fishing store) and a museum that they opened just for us!!! According to the sign at the town entrance, the town has a higher population of dogs than people!
BETH writes of June 20th - Today we started in the mountains and ended in the prairie. It is very fun to ride through all of these different habitats. From Roosville to Ovando the habitats have changed many times over. The last two days the forests have had more Larch trees and less underbrush, mostly grass and wildflowers. We rode right into cow country today. We encountered our first cattle guards and man those gaps are wide - you have to be sure your wheel is straight. The grasslands are magnificent with all the mountains and glacial drumlins in the background. We ended the day early with 29 miles in the small town of Ovando. What a neat little town! A cafe, angler shop, museum, and general store. The population of 50 people mostly ranchers! We gave the town some action as we packed our gear in the car to drive to Helena to drop Jean at the airport tomorrow :o( Showers, a big dinner and a bed is how the day ended.
JAN writes of today - Jean and Beth set out from the campground in beautiful sunny weather. Ann and I poked our way to Ovando, where we were to meet them and drive Jean to Helena for her plane. We stopped along the road at several scrub shrub areas and near a few river overlooks and watched dozens and dozens of birds. We saw lots of hawks such as an Osprey drive into a river and a Northern Harrier hunting over a field near the water, a Bald Eagle, Grebes teaching their babies to dive for food, Cedar Waxwings catching insects, a Robin building a nest in a tree and a pair of Mountain Bluebirds building a nest in a newspaper box. The male bluebird is in the picture. We had a wonderful several hours in beautiful weather. In Helena, the Montana State Capital tonight. Small town that seems really large, totally surrounded by mountains. The full moon only added to the wonderful day! Beth and Jean rode almost 300 miles in 8 days. Tomorrow Beth is taking a day off.