I got up early, needing to do some laundry before I hit the road. I shot over to a Mailboxes Etc., where I packed up my stove, pots and a few other items and shipped them to Allie. 3,400 miles into the trip, and I'd used the stove less than 5 times. Glad I carried all that crap across the country.
Once on the bike, Montana's endless rain began, and it stayed with me as I rode I-90 out of town. My body hadn't recovered from the previous day's dehydration, so I ended up getting sick as soon as I started to pedal.
I quickly realized that I shouldn't be on the bike, so when I reached Anaconda -- a mere 30 miles from Butte -- I checked into a cheap motel and spent a miserable afternoon trying to rehydrate.
Anaconda -- formerly Copperopolis -- was a pretty cool town, with a lot of historic buildings that were funded by the copper-mining company that ruled the town. I walked around the downtown area, enjoying a view of the town's main feature, a 585-foot smokestack, then hit the Washoe theater for a movie.
The theater is fantastic -- an old-style theater complete with curtains and balconies, with a fantastic hammer copper and gold-leaf ceiling. The Smithsonian lists the theater as one of the top 5 in the country, and I have to say I was impressed. The movie -- Evolution -- sucked ass, though.
All in all, I was glad that I stopped in Anaconda, though I wish I had felt well enough to explore the town more.