Michigan is off to a great start

We are spending our rest day outside of Crystal Falls. After breakfast, our host packed us into his truck and dropped us off on the Paint River with a couple of canoes. We were to drift.downstream for a few hours; at the next launching point he would meet us and bring us back. It is another perfect day although the sun was a bit intense at times on the river. A kingfisher flew put ahead of us and landed over and over. There was a family of small hawks calling in their shrill voices.

We had been assured that the Paint River would be calm - no rapids. We floated along, taking the occasional paddle stroke to keep going in the right direction. We had also been warned that there would be a couple of places where we'd have to walk where the water was too shallow. I guess I just didn't think much when I pictured that. I imagined a sand bar or something that we'd carry the boats over. It didn't occur to me to think about how the water moved through to continue the river's course.

We soon found out. We began to see lots of little disturbances in the water, and quite a few rocks protruding. We heard the water rushing. We looked very carefully, chose the best path we could, and made it through. Hurray! But then it happened again, and again, and eventually our luck ran out and our canoe ran up on the rocks. Bruce ended up getting out to lighten the boat and push it through the shallows a few times. After three hours we reached our landing spot & headed back.

We went to town to do laundry and find lunch - we are so lucky to have Jim and Aline with us! We are almost ten miles from town here - it would have been peanut butter & washing clothes in the shower without them.

Or perhaps we'd have had to stay closer to town, and then we would have missed the bear. Our hosts have a big barrel of feed for the local wild turkeys out in the back. Only the bears have figured it out. Now, most mornings & evenings, guests can watch various members of the local ursine crowd lying there like dissipated ancient Romans and stuffing themselves with turkey food. Yes, we do have pictures.

One more miscellaneous observation: I like the way towns in the midwest have water towers with their names written on them. We can generally see the big, round towers from a few miles out which is an encouraging landmark.

No miles today.

Ready for a rest day

Only 30 + miles today.

I am sitting in the great B&B we will be staying at for two nights listening to thunder roar, watching lightning flash, and not worrying at all. We rode very gently into Michigan, our seventh state, we stopped for a quick lunch in Crystal Falls and headed a few miles north. Jim came out to meet us in the car. He told us we were headed for a gravel road, and assured us it would not be cheating to accept a ride - we are about eight miles off the official route and will just be riding back to resume our journey on Monday- and besides, he was at a loose end. Poor Aline twisted her ankle on their walk this morning & was resting. We weren't hard to persuade. We hopped in, came to this very nice place, took long baths and are looking forward to doing very, very little for a whole day.

I am sitting in the great room surrounded by stuffed animals. Not the toy store variety. There is a raccoon climbing the support post of the staircase. A bobcat stares down from the rock chimney. A moose head graces the wall above the back door. A black bear reaches hopefully for a mud-based hive hanging from one of the interior logs of this log building. So who cares if it's raining? The wildlife viewing is great right here. For the more domestic of us, there are a couple of (not stuffed! very active) dogs and a cat. The perfect setting for a very welcome quiet day.

Another random observation: signs showing family names outside their houses - usually out by the mailbox. The trouble is, a distressingly high proportion of the people producing the signs have declared war on Lynne Truss, author of Eats, Shoots and Leaves. If she were to come here with her apostrophe removal kit, she would have one big job ahead of her. The thing is, they all want to call themselves the Brown's, or the Miller's. Maybe I should be more charitable in my assumptions. Maybe the woods are full of single, possessive people. Maybe that's not much more charitable?

Miles today: 34
Total miles so far: 2662

Not quite perfect

We set out for Santa's place with more perfect weather, perfect scenery, and promising food options. As we approached the first likely town, things looked great - there were lots of people around on bicycles. Always a good sign. I stopped briefly to make a few notes (my brain gets mushier every day) and one young guy stopped to see if I was ok. We got talking and he asked about our trip. Where in Connecticut were we headed? When I told him, he happily announced that he works on a very cool farm in Old Saybrook! He told me a bit about it. Did I know what a stupa is? Oh, you're from San Francisco - you must know. (An interesting perception about our city - and as it happens, I did have a vague idea). Anyway, he encouraged me to visit if we have time.

When we pulled in to Boulder Junction, I was not too surprised to find that it is the sort of resort town I had expected to see more often on the trip. Plenty of newish cafes and gift shops, places to rent bikes & kayaks. We immediately found lunch and more great ice cream at a place with a very full bike rack. We set out to do the next stretch on a nice little bike path. The maps only told us to take it for about two miles, but it must have been extended considerably since the maps were made; we stayed on it for maybe four miles, and could have gone on. We chose to get back on the road, though. It was surprisingly busy and there was no shoulder. I was mildly surprised that Adventure Cycling had chosen it. Well, sometimes there's not a lot of choice. The bike trail continued to appear regularly beside us for about four more miles. Hmm.

We reached a major intersection, and Bruce had the presence of mind to ask why our supposed road was not mentioned on any of the signs.

Oh.

Cost us about 8 miles. We found a way to rejoin our route without starting all over again, but so much for another perfect day. I think this was our first serious wrong turn, though, which isn't too bad.

Really, it was ok. It wasn't a very hilly day & we were moving right along & the temperature was very pleasant. So we found our way back and continued towards Santa's. Just short of our last turn, Jim and Aline came along. Jim & Bruce decided it was time to give Jim a turn to ride, so at about mile 70, I had a new companion who was not familiar with Shimano road gearing, who did not have bike shoes to go with the SPD pedals, whose shorts wrre meant for swimming, who is mostly a runner these days, who is pretty darned competitive, and - oh, yeah - who was not a bit tired. He gave me quite a workout. I was actually pretty excited to realize I could do it without much trouble. I guess 2500 straight miles have really made a difference.

So we pulled up to Santa's Backwoods Motel. (What will I have to talk about now that it's behind us??!) It turns out to be a very small, basic but very clean motel in a very remote area. Oh, the walls in our room were green, and there was a green lace curtain, but the pictures were of wolves, not reindeer. Turns out the whole area has a bit of a Christmas theme - of sorts. The place we had dinner had subdued Christmassy decorations. When we rode out this morning, we saw Christmas stuff in a front yard. The others told me the motel offers for sale Christmas tree lights - multi-colored lights in shotgun shells.

Oh, and this is a day late because Santa has yet to get WiFi.

Miles Friday: 84
Total miles so far: 2628

Perfect day

When we headed out it felt a bit humid. There was some fog early this morning. We went uphill almost right away. It didn't matter. The fog lifted quickly, but left lots of clouds behind - puffy, nice looking clouds that didn't threaten and did keep the intense sun at bay. The hill was less steep than it looked. What little wind there was came from behind. We knew where the best stops would be. My legs seemed more than ready. The temperature was warm, never hot. The road was rolling. The scenery was great. Wisconsin lived up to its reputation for good pavement most of the day. It was the sort of day that makes it hard to imagine not riding.

We went through one town quite early & picked up some extra stuff to drink. As we were riding out we passed two women walking along with binoculars. They told Bruce what they had been seeing, so I kept my eyes open and saw the trumpeter swans they mentioned. We stopped to gaze at them, and spotted a loon as well. Back on the bikes to Glidden, where we actually had to choose between restaurants, and we were not confined to hamburgers. I got a chicken sandwich, and I got to choose grilled rather than fried. I had no idea how great that would feel until we got out here! I stopped at the local bakery and got some cookies; the baker's young son rang up the sale & I could here him muttering the calculations

Back on the road. A deer came out and stated at me. It bobbed its head, and I nodded back. Again, again. Then I looked around to see how close Bruce was, and when I turned back the deer had vanished. We reached Butternut, the last town we would see before our destination, Mercer. Bruce had suggested we stop for ice cream, an idea I never turn down, and almost the first thing we saw in town was an ice cream shop. It was definitely the best ice cream I have had on this trip, and some of the best I have ever had. We sat & chatted with the owners as we ate & learned that it has won first place among Wisconsin ice creams for 9 years. Aline and Jim are toying with the idea of going back to try it tomorrow.

After the ice cream we turned on a less major road & were sort of concerned about the pavement condition. It actually was almost all great. Soon after we turned we stopped by a little pond and saw cedar waxwings, a wood duck, a green heron and a muskrat. It was one of those idyllic days. The hills got shorter and steeper, the trees backed away a bit to give us views of lakes, marshes and meadows.

This is why we came.

Odds & ends:

I can't believe I forgot this yesterday. While Jim was cooking that fish, he and Aline called out to me that there was a bird in the cabin. Before I got inside they had changed their minds - it was a bat. A nice, healthy bat swooping around (eating mosquitoes, or so we were told). I managed to close it into one of the bedrooms, but the windows had fixed screens so we could not think how to shoo it out. We dragged the poor manager down & he valiantly went in with a towel. He came out thinking he had accidentally killed it, and picked it up with a paper towel, but it was only stunned & it flew away - fortunately just as he had gotten outside.

Jim went out to run this morning early but had to come back because the bugs were so aggressive. A shirt and some spray allowed him to finish, and by the time we were ready to ride they had subsided. Although I have had quite a few bites since June 1 (did you know mosquitoes know how to draft off a cyclist???) I have not ever been kept awake by that annoying whine. And the mosquitoes and flies are no worse in Minnesota and Wisconsin than they were in Montana and North Dakota, probably because of the extraordinarily wet weather those usually dry states have had this year.

We now know what a supper club is. We had seen a few but had not ventured in yet. The guy at the great ice cream place recommended The Dingaling Supper Club for dinner tonight, and it was very good. Apparently supper clubs are generally nicer restaurants than cafes. We will most likely be visiting more of them.

I am sitting in a laundromat waiting for our stuff to dry. Soon after I arrived, a hummingbird came in and could not find its way out again. It flew to the windows; it flew up to the light fixtures (flourescent ceiling panels); it couldn't find the open doors. There was a couple here - the man was tall and was wearing a baseball cap. As the poor little bird got tired, the man was able to catch it in his hat and send it on its way.

When we first saw a sign for Mercer, it claimed the title of "Loon Capitol." When we rolled into town, we spotted a giant statue of a loon - we plan to try for a family calendar picture there in the morning; soon after that as we passed a lake, we could hear loons calling.

Tomorrow is a day we have been wondering about since we made our reservations. We will be staying at Santa's Backwoods Motel. Really. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.

The clouds are getting very pink. The days are a bit shorter now- we can actually stay awake for sunset. Sometimes.

Miles today: 67
Total miles so far: 2544

Celebration time!

Aline and Jim caught up with us today. Hooray!!! We did fine on our own - most of the time - but having support feels very good. Having the dinner they prepared felt pretty wonderful, too. Fish, corn, salad, sauteed vegetables and sparkling water. I really don't know what we'd have done otherwise. We are in a fairly remote area and most of the little restaurants we passed during today's ride are out of business. Having their support and their company is going to be a real treat.

Last night's B&B was very nice. It was an old house furnished with, as far as I could tell, eveything that had ever appealed to the owner. But the clutter worked. It was fun looking around at it all, and the bed, the bathtub and the breakfast were terrific. We even had a thunderstorm in the middle of the night.

Actually, that was predicted. Today's weather was not supposed to be great, but fortunately the worst was overnight. We decided, since today's ride was not particularly long, that we would stick around long enough to do our laundry while the storm system passed. It was raining when we got up, but we didn't have any rain at all while we rode.

Today was one of those days I can't ever figure out. How do you know how good a day you're going to have? Bruce felt rested and ready to roll, but I felt sort of tired. Yet after about ten miles that he was not having much fun, and I felt like anything was ok - it was all easy. It happens to me all the time & so far I have no clue why.

We had lots more of the Wisconsin woods and lakes. I spotted a smallish animal in the road once, and approached wondering what it was and how long it would stick around to let me see it. Well, it stuck around until I was almost on top of it. It was a little racoon. Even when I got very close, it thought the thing to do was to head off the road by running across in front of me, growling as it went. That was a bit unnerving.

I have to admit there was a tough side to my day, too. Many of the roads we took were in pretty bad shape. At times they took all our attention. No time to admire the surroundings. I had heard that Wisconsin had very good roads for bikes. So far, we have not experienced that. Some are pretty good for a while; most are rough and have those b-bump, b-bump joints every few feet that really get old after a while. We ended up shifting over to a bigger road towards the end of the day, which helped.

I am sorry we don't have more time to explore Wisconsin. We didn't schedule any of our rest days here. This is definitely a place I would like to see more of.

By the way, today justified Adventure Cyclings claim; it was much flatter.

Miles today: 59
Total miles so far: 2477

Flat defined?

It's ok, really. I mean, it's not that I don't do hills. I am signed up for the Mt. Diablo challenge when I get home. But I did spend a fair amount of time today wondering just what dictionary Adventure Cycling uses. The back of the map we are now on describes road conditions. Mostly flat, it says. It wasn't exactly Haleaka, true, but we started at about 600' elevation and are now at about 1400' and I figure we gained the difference several times. Flat was a very rare thing today. And really, it doesn't matter. I just like to know what to expect is all, especially when I head out for 80 or 90 miles.

We were at a very nice B&B last night. One where I wanted to be very careful where I put my well-used cycling gear. The canopy bed was so high I was glad to have fairly strong arms - no way I could have gotten up without them - and even more glad when Bruce found a little stool I could use to climb up there. Once there, I was very comfortable & enjoyed looking out at the St. Croix River. Of course, breakfast was not particularly early which was nice, but we got a latish start.

I think I mentioned yesterday that we had miscalculated the distance. No matter how many ways we tried, we came up with almost 90 miles. At dinner last night we found out about a new trail that appeared to take a few miles off, so we gave it a try. It worked out just fine. Not as fast as paved surfaces, but easily ridden. Our stretch was about 11 miles long. At the end was a little town with a bike shop where we figured we could get more route advice. The guy there was delighted we had used the trail. It is very new and apparently it was quite a struggle to limit its use to non-motorized vehicles. ATVs and snowmobiles are very big around here. However, he thought the rest of our route was as it should be.

We stopped for lunch. Although our mileage so far was only about 19, it was 11:30 and the next town was about 30 miles farther along. So we headed out after noon with more than 60 miles to go. 60 not-so-flat miles. 60 very pretty miles.

Wisconsin is another one. Very scenic, very welcoming. More pine trees, more hills, more dairies, but still a lot like Minnesota. The regional pronunciation is about the same. The lawns and gardens are colorful and tidy. There are more cars and less pick-up trucks than in Montana and North Dakota (I often thought that a regular car was almost a sure sign of a tourist in those states). Anyhow, mile after mile of greenery and lakes and ponds with occasional traditional barns thrown in, lots of cows (the ones here are not afraid of bicycles, unlike their wilder range-cattle relatives in Montana and North Dakota), lots of birds, lots of wildflowers. The bird songs are sounding very eastern: blue jays and cardinals and black-capped chickadees all over.

Although we had a few tired and hungry moments today, it was for me mostly a day that kept reminding me how glad I am to be here.

Tonight is supposed to be filled with thunderstorms. We are hoping they will have moved on by late morning. Only 50 miles tomorrow so a late start won't matter much.

So happy to be here, if only it weren't Willie's first birthday! Happy birthday, Willie!!! Let's celebrate together when wr get back!

Miles today: 82
Total miles so far: 2418

#6

Wisconsin, our sixth state, is today's destination.

We set out from downtown Minneapolis this morning in rush hour traffic. Bikes everywhere. One guy saw our panniers almost immediately and came alongside to ask questions. We rode with him for a few blocks, then he sent us in the right direction to the bike path along the Mississippi. Yes, this was the day the route actually crossed it. Our bridge was a ways south so we got to ride along the river for a mile or two & admire all the engineering feats it displays. A lock, falls alongside it, bridges of all types and ages. There were several signs telling some of the history, but I got caught up in the rush hour feeling so we didn't stop much. We did stop for a few pictures once we were on our bridge.

We spent some time on the St. Paul streets - still plenty of bikes, but not quite as scenic as Minneapolis. More industrial. It was fun seeing the great variety of cyclists: the guy we talked to early, all rigged out in one of the Tour de France jerseys & matching shorts; lots of people in shorts & t-shirts; several guys who thought it was too hot for shirts; lots of people in their work clothes & shoes; all ages, all speeds; one young woman on an older road bike wearing sandals who pushed and swayed to pass me on a steepish little hill, then laughed when I passed her at the top, she, off the bike and gasping, I, just pedaling along at my tortoise pace; once we got out of the cityish areas, lots of kids. The bicycle is a major way of getting around in the Twin Cities.

We were soon on the Gateway Trail. 15 miles of paved trail through shady woods and wetlands and fields and a bit of town. Again, bikes and bikes, and occasional runners and walkers. Parts of the trail were designed for horses - an unpaved bit that criss-crossed our paved path - but we didn't see any riders today. A few miles out another cyclist started chatting. Terry has lived in Wisconsin and Minnesota and rides a lot. She also knows many trees and flowers, so we spent many miles interrogating her- so many miles that we missed our turn & had to backtrack a couple. From there we had only about 20 miles to go. It was all easy today. We even had some tail winds.

The last few miles followed then crossed the St. Croix River, the boundary between Minnesota and Wisconsin. Only a mile or two in we reached our B&B, a very comfortable one with a little balcony overlooking the river.

The only negative is that we seem to have miscalculated a lot of the ride lengths over the next few days. Tomorrow threatens to be close to 90 miles. We have looked at all sorts of maps and will at least partly be going on alternate routes. There are some great looking but unpaved trails. Keeping our fingers crossed!

Miles today: 56
Total miles so far: 2336

Good idea

Yesterday felt absurdly luxurious. As soon as I woke up, I went to the window to check on the weather & was greeted by a flash of lightning and a torrent of rain. No way we could have ridden out in that. When we went to the lobby area for breakfast, we saw a bunch of girls with friends and families who were speculating about the chances their games would happen. I guess they had traveled to St. Cloud for a tournament. Not their lucky day, but it sure worked for us!

We took our time, but there's not much to pack on this trip. Soon we were driving out towards Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge. We figured we might see something from the car if there was no break in the weather. When we first arrived, we got the impression that only flies and mosquitoes and swallows were willing to ignore the storm. We didn't let that slow us down - much - and kept driving around the loop we were offered. Gradually the weather improved and we saw a bit more at each stop we made. Wildflowers - unfamiliar ones, no sandhill cranes but we saw black terns, a bald eagle, a family of trumpeter swans.

We got back on the road and found lunch. I mean Bruce found pizza and I found ice cream, then we easily found Gail's house. It was great to see Gail. She took very good care of us - good food, comfortable room and lots of time to trade family updates and compare our memories of all the family history we have heard. Gail is hoping we can pull together a reunion in a year or two.

Bruce went to the local bike shop and replaced his broken down shoes and helmet and got a rack and panniers. We are both a lot less afraid of a few extra ounces now, and his frame-free bag was a pain in the neck to pack and kept sagging & rubbing on his rear wheel. His panniers are bright yellow. We keep getting more and more visible.

Today we got off to another leisurely start. We saw more wild lightning last night, but it's long gone now. I can't believe how rested I feel after just one day off. Bruce went to return the car and drop off our stuff at tonight's hotel. I rode to town almost entirely on the amazing system of bike trails the area offers. We are definitely back in bicycle territory. Bikes of all types everywhere. The main trail was actually unpaved for about six miles, but it was in such perfect condition I hardly noticed. I ended up between Lake Calhoun and Lake of the Isles. As I waited to connect with Bruce I explored "uptown" a bit. I managed to find the local ice cream hot spot, I think it was called Sebastian Joe's. I felt brave - and hungry - so I tried their own flavor, Nicolet Pothole. It involved dark chocolate, Heath Bar, and sea salt. I toned it down with a scoop of vanilla. Pretty good.

Then I wandered back and rode around lakes, met up with Bruce, and rode around some more. It's another perfect day, 80s with a gentle breeze. The houses around the lake are lovely. On a day like this I picture heading out a lakefront door with a canoe or the bike...but of course most days here are not like this, to put it mildly. But Minneapolis is putting on a great show for us. I find I have ridden about 25 miles without feeling like I have even started yet. We will meet Gail for an early dinner soon, then off to Wisconsin tomorrow.

PS
Dinner was great. Grilled asparagus and a chicken pot pie with wild mushrooms & a puff pastry crust. Much as I loved Montana and North Dakota, they should not enter into any restaurant contests.

Miles today: 32
Total miles so far: 2280

Confession

We have rented a car for a day. That was not an easy choice for me, but I am pretty sure it was the best choice. Bruce feels no doubt whatsoever.

I've been watching the weather. Tomorrow we are scheduled to go to my cousin's house near Minneapolis. It's about 75 bicycle miles from St. Cloud, where we are spending tonight. The prediction is for thunderstorms tonight, tomorrow, and tomorrow night. That has been a worry for a few days; the percentage chance of the storms has been steadily increasing. On top of that, we have both had times we found it hard to eat after all the time we had spent in the heat. Yes, the heat is back today, along with the humidity. And I was worried that my wrist was getting worse - but it subsided this afternoon. And Bruce has reached the point where he wants a different packing system. His oh-so-cool bag has sagged one time too many. And his shoes are starting to come apart and his helmet doesn't adjust anymore. Finally, thanks to our decision to take an extra day getting to Xanadu, we were scheduled to ride 12 days in a row. Two are quite short, but even so, twelve is too many for us. So I argued with myself as we rode along this morning & eventually had to admit that the one & only reason not to take tomorrow off was that I didn't want to miss any of the miles. I had to admit that forcing ourselves tbrough tomorrow would not have improved the quality of the next month or so.

Oh, perhaps we could have pushed everything back another day. The day we could most readily alter is about August 27. The phone calls we'd have made would have taken more time & trouble than just doing the ride.

So...excuses, excuses. Hmm. Maybe I should just call it a celebration of reaching the half-way mark.

We actually had quite a nice day. And no, I do not attribute that to the relief my decision brought to us! Th day did not start out hot, and we often had cloud cover. Minnesota is very pretty. Green farms, trees, lawns everywhere except where they make way for all the lakes and rivers. Carefully tended flower gardens near almost every house, however rural. Gentle, rolling hills. Pleasant little towns with wonderfully friendly people.

We stopped for lunch in Bowlus. At first it looked as if the grocery store was our only choice, but we looked around one last corner and spotted Jordie's Cafe. Lunch was very good. Even better was the way our waitress and Jordie threw themselves into figuring out our best route into St. Cloud. Thanks to them, we backtracked slightly to ride a few miles of the SOO trail, which took us to (here comes another big landmark!) the Mississippi River and a bicycle & pedestrian bridge right across it. Then we rode down the Great River Road and caught regular glimpses of the great river. Bruce thinks perhaps someday we should ride all the way ftom the Mississippi headwaters to the Gulf. Sounds good to me.

Miles today: 65
Total miles so far: 2248

Better

We had a leisurely breakfast at Xanadu but eventually realized we had to get moving. Fortunately, it was a beautiful day. The thermometer never moved over 85 and the humidity was down to comfortable levels. We did choose to ride out on the gravel roads & were soon back on the Adventure Cycling map.

Not too much happened along the route. It was just such a pleasure to ride along in balmy, almost ideal conditions! We met some nice people along the way. I stopped to drop off some mail & the guy in the post office asked about our trip. His reaction was different than the mixture of awe and pity we often see. He wants to do this one day. He has been a marathon runner but has had both knees replaced. Cycling works well for him. As I left the post office, another guy asked about our route, then mentioned that years ago he had ridden on a 12,000 mile tour around the US. Where we stopped for lunch (Cozy Cup? - nice little place in Parkers Prairie) they asked us to write briefly about our trip in a notebook they hand to all the long distance cyclists who stop there. It was interesting to read the entries. Finally, we stopped outside a little place in Rose City & a semi-retired farmer came out to visit a bit. He said he likes meeting cross-country riders & asking about their trips. He eventually told us that he and his wife like to go work on Habitat for Humanity projects. They have worked in 8 different states by now. He was also able to identify two of the common grasses Bruce has been trying to figure out.

Then we headed out with about twenty miles to go. I knew there was one more landmark coming first: my odometer reached 25,000 miles today. Some of those miles were on the Calfee (which now has another odometer with about 7000 on it), but most are on the Seven. It was not long ago that I was amazed to think I had actually ridden a bike 1000 miles - and that was probably over a couple of years. Bruce took a picture.

One negative note - something is bothering one wrist. I tried favoring it a lot yesterday and today but it is not getting better. Annoying - I can't even tell quite what is causing the problem. I guess time will tell.

Miles today: 69
Total miles so far: 2183

Xanadu

Yes, really. That's the name of the B&B we are staying at tonight. So, with Olivia Newton-John's voice ringing in my head, I will try to describe it.

First of all, she described a place no one seemed to be able to get to.

Check.

It's down about 3 1/2 miles of unpaved roads - not impossible, but not ideal. Then, we were supposed to be here yesterday after riding 95 miles. Adding what we actually rode plus those gravel roads it would actually have been closer to 98. We fooled fate by changing the schedule to make this a 35 miler.

But it also is supposed to be well worth the struggle.

Check.

We are so glad we made this a short day. We arrived about 2:00 after an easy day and it is lovely. We are technically on an island, although there is a driveway that crosses the small gap. If it rains tonight, we may find ourselves emulating Lewis & Clark more than we ever dreamed of doing. This year the lakes are lapping eagerly at the sides of the road. The house is great. Red-stained shingles, lots of space & wood inside, a very comfortable room, fresh cookies & a little refrigerator full of drinks, dozens of places to sit and look out at the lake & the trees. There are little docks on both sides with all sorts of water toys and boats just waiting to be used. Our hostess is great. She seems to have unlimited energy but also plenty to keep her busy. She is there to answer any questions or help out, but seems to vanish whenever we are busy resting & reading. If you are ever in Minnesota, put this place on your list!

It is still hot. We weren't sure what to expect when we headed out this morning. We stopped in the town of Pelican Rapids where we had stayed (it has what a sign assured us is the world's largest pelican, and I see no reason to question that claim) for breakfast and Gatorade & stuff. Bruce ate at the local McDonalds and we ended up chatting with Cecil - he assures us he is the only one of that name in town - a 90 year old man who wandered over to get us up to date on the town, and with another man who was presented as the retired athletic director of the local school. So it seems that although we have reached a more populous state with more familiar landmarks, we have not lost the friendliness that goes along with smaller towns. We also met a couple of youngish guys ridung loaded bikes in the same direction but from Oregon to New York & heard about their experiences. They seem to be happy enough, but one did say, "I've decided. When I turn 50, I'm getting a motorcycle!"

We rode out and happily discovered that it was a little cooler (only 86 at 10:30) and the wind had moved closer to west. A little later, we even had cloud cover for a little bit. No thunder with the clouds. So we pedaled happily along and called our hostess from our lunch stop. She pretty much insisted on picking us up at the beginning of the gravel roads, and also on loaning us her truck to get into town for dinner. She also would be more than happy to drive us back to pavement in the morning. We'll see.

Anyhow, we have sat and read, canoed, watched birds. We are about to go experience dinner in Battle Lake. This is a great day. I needed it after yesterday.

Miles today: 35
Total miles so far: 2114

Weather

Before we left I wrote that list of worries. I focused on cold. I spent a lot of time today debating whether cold or heat is worse. I still vote for cold, but that vote is being tested. A lot.

It was hard to get off to a good start today. The wild overnight weather made for a less than perfect sleep, and it was hard to feel sure that it was truly over. The TV in the hotel breakfast area covered local weather while we ate; there were minor flash floods happening all over the city. I wouldn't swear that I heard this right, but I am pretty sure there was mention of four inches. It was probably raining for less than two hours.

But we had to get moving. Thank goodness we had changed our itinerary yet again. With the modification we had to cover 59 miles today instead of 95. That was especially welcome when we realized that the wind was pretty strong, and would be in our faces most of the day. The temperature reached 95, the wind was mostly about a steady 15mph, the humidity was high although not at the steam room levels we experienced a couple of days ago.

The ride through Fargo was actually quite nice. We went through a large residential section with lovely shade trees everywhere. All good things must end, though, and the last couple of miles in Fargo took us through construction on an El Camino-ish road. Then across the Red River and into state #5.

Minnesota roads are not nearly as well maintained as are Montana's and North Dakota's, but they are not too bad. Bumpy but not risky. The first twenty miles or so were as flat as I have ever seen for such a distance. That, of course, allowed the wind easy access. And while none of the cars or trucks were aggressive, they didn't give us the extreme amounts of space we are now used to. It is actually quite surprising to see how quickly patterns change at state borders.

We soon came to Sabin. The guys at the bike shop had told us to be sure to check out the little store there. It has rows of sodas of all sorts. There must have been twenty brands of orange soda and even more types of root beer. Then there were all sorts of fruit flavors, even a maple syrup flavoring in one. There was also a nice variety of flavors of the local ice cream. We stopped for a little while.

Then we rode to the next town with a little shop (they are called "c-stores" here, meaning convenience stores, and the two we stopped at shared buildings and sales clerks but NOT entryways with liquor stores) and stopped and drank lots of Gatorade. Then we did it again. It was sort of hard to want food in the heat but Gatorade and lemonade and water and fruit all sounded great. And tasted great. I don't often say that about Gatorade.

By the time we reached the third and last stop, the terrain had changed a lot. Little hills began to appear in front of us. There were more and more trees. The lakes began to remind us we are in Minnesota. In fact, the very first lake that announced its name - so we knew it wasn't just another flooded field - actually had a loon swimming around where it could easily be seen. It's the state bird. Bruce even heard it call. We were soon in among lake resort communities. I guess we will see a lot of those. This is obviously a more populous state than we have seen since we left Washington. As much as we admired the huge open spaces, riding will be easier here. Lots more opportunities to find food and shelter.

We didn't need shelter today (although the air conditioned c-stores were very welcome). The storms stayed away. I'd made the mistake of looking at the Doppler radar picture in Sabin & there was a huge band of serious rain to the east. It either dissipated or went in another direction.

I will now stop this boring ramble about the weather. I do hope we will find energy to look beyond it and explore this lovely state. But for today it was very tough. This is definitely endurance riding.

Miles today: 59
Total miles so far: 2075

Another landmark

It's 4:30 in the morning. I woke up to almost continuous lightning and claps of thunder too close to echo the way ot usually (in my limited experience) does. Not too much later the warning sirens sounded. Tornado warning sirens. We are very glad it's 4:30 AM and we are indoors. The rain is pounding down, the wind is whistling. Too much excitement, even inside.

Rest day?

Rest days are another surprise. I think I sort of pictured exploring the areas we had chosen to honor with an extra day, reading a book or two, rethinking any bike or packing or itinerary issues that might have come up. The thing is, those issues do come up, and there's laundry, and often a massage opportunity, and just how did I picture exploring these places? Part of the point is staying pretty much off the bike.

So they turn out to be days of chores and errands (and massages and leisurely meals), but they reinforce my feeling that I am getting only a hasty look at all the places we are passing through. Fargo, for example. I have reason to believe that there is a town somewhere containing buildings older than the ones we are seeing: the mall, Barnes & Noble, TGIFridays. The guy at the bike shop told us about a cool hotel there with rooms with all different themes. But with the heat & the long days ahead, we probably won't see any of it. Not what I expected. On the other hand, these familiar places are very comfortable and restful. We know what to expect. We even find plenty of vegetables with our meals. So really, this is more an observation than a complaint. But if I were traveling in a more restful way (a car, or maybe even a bike trip with no time constraints) I would find a way to look more closely.

This makes me think of the early 20th century people who traveled in a country for a couple if weeks and returned home seeking recognition as experts on the place - I believe the US and England each had quite a few of those types. And also of Ford Prefect in Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, whose multi-year stay in earth led to the text describing the whole planet: Mostly harmless.

I am here just long enough to get a brief impression, and to leave longing for a closer look.

By the way, two entries back I mentioned the four severe weather warnings that Fargo offered. Turned out that was nothing. When we arrived last night I took another look. Fargo had six: tornado watch, tornado warning, excessive heat alert, severe thunderstorm warning, flash flood warning, and a general severe weathet outlook. The massage therapist I met with this afternoon told me that Fargo had won (won??? I thought winning was supposed to be a good thing!) the number one spot for severe weather in the US.

Minnesota tomorrow, the fifth state on the route.

Still hot

We didn't rush out early this morning. There were some kids partying right outside our room until about 2, so I slept until 7:30. Of course we were in an air conditioned building and the contrast when we stepped outside was startling. Right back to the steam room. Fortunately there were clouds & fog so we didn't have to deal with direct sun right away. It was about 9 in the morning and the temperature was already in the 80s.

It was one of those days. Within a couple of miles Bruce had to stop and re-pack. His cool, no-rack-required bag was sagging onto his rear wheel. He fixed it, but it sagged again. The second repair worked. I stopped to eat a bite and realized that the mouthpiece of my Camelbak had fallen off - nothing keeping the water from pouring out. I had felt a few drops on my leg, but naturally I couldn't remember how long ago. Bruce had stopped to make some refinements to his packing, so I left the leaky bag with him & backtracked to find my missing part. No luck, but I added 3 extra miles to my day.

The road was full of tiny frogs. I suppose they must just have left their tadpole-tails behind. We must have seen over a thousand, and most had managed not to get run over. I did not want to squash any, which complicated my search for the mouthpiece. These frogs were about a half inch long. Very cute.

We came to a road I thought might be an option to take us to Fargo. We stopped to think it over and were lucky enough to attract the attention of a guy in a nearby house who was doing yardwork. He was dressed Rambo-style, t-shirt sleeves cut off, a bandana tied around his forehead, lots of dark hair. He came over accompanied by a big black dog. Of course, the dog only wanted to lick our hands, and the guy just wanted to give us useful road information. It turned out that the road we would have taken across towards Fargo is closed thanks to flood-caused reconstruction.

As he talked we heard a big rumble of thunder. That got me moving again. We didn't see any ominous clouds but we did hear thunder a few more times. Never saw lightning.

We stopped in a convenience store in Horace for a snack. Another startlingly different temperature. Bruce thinks he saw an indicator that said 62 in the store. By this time it was about 92 outside. I had to put on a windbreaker while I ate my sandwich. Back on the road one more time to cover the ten miles to Fargo.

Fargo doesn't look much like a city. I haven't seen any tall buildings, or even any concentrated downtown area. We came in through an area that is being developed with all sorts of shopping areas an apartments. All the streets we took were just variations - everything looks fairly new. We will spend a rest day here. I hope we can find a little more about the city's history.

This day reaches a couple of landmarks: it is our final day of riding in North Dakota.(we made it, Amy!), and we have ridden over 2000 miles. We are almost half way.

Miles today: 56
Total miles so far: 2016

Now what???

We woke up to dense fog this morning. Now, that should be easy & familiar to someone from Sausalito, right? This was different. For one thing, all the roads are completely new to us. We have no idea until we get there if there will be shoulders, or if shoulders we see will continue. We know nothing about traffic patterns. We do know that the only light on these roads comes from the sun, and that if we couldn't see cars, they couldn't see us. They are very considerate, usually, but they move pretty fast. Another difference, the fog was warm. Very weird for a westerner.

We had aimed for an early start to minimize the heat exposure. Oh, well. We went back to our room to read for a while. After about an hour we decided we could see the cars far enough away to make it safe & we headed out. In a minute or two, the cars disappeared again. Oh, they could see us just fine. But the fog was so dense that it left tiny droplets on my glasses and I couldn't see much. Bruce did the laser eye thing; he just took his glasses off. I pushed mine down so I could look over them. My vision isn't all that bad. I stopped to dry the glasses off every couple of miles. After a couple of hours, they stopped misting over. Phew.

The nice thing was that the fog really shielded us from the serious heat we feel when the sky is blue. We rode to our first little stop without feeling any major heat. On the other hand, that humidity! I can only assume that tropical jungles must be sort of like, uh, sort of like North Dakota? Well, maybe not quite. But it felt like the bathroom does if it's a small room and you have just stepped out of a long, hot shower.

After our first stop we found the headwinds again. The next several miles were slooow. We finished those miles in Lisbon (ND, not Portugal) where we had a late lunch/early dinner. The lady at tonight's motel had suggested it. The cafe had a fire last week so we'd only have a bar to eat at here. After we ate, we made a 90 degree turn and got blown along for the next 13 miles. That was fun. There was another spot where the road headed almost through a lake. Not, I assume from the trees that poked up all over, a lake we would see every year. Anyway, with all the wind & weather challenges, I hadn't stopped to look around much, and there was a big bird in one of the leafless trees. It was a bald eagle, well worth stopping for. On a nearby tree there were all sorts of cormorants' nests. I had no idea they nested in trees and built nests of grassy stuff. All the ones I see at home seem to content themselves with flat bits of cold offshore rocks.

We reached Enderlin. Fargo tomorrow if none of the ominous weather we're threatened with happens. I am beginning to read these forecasts sort of the way I read the Prop 65 signs at home. Tornado watches, severe thunderstorms, extreme heat (well, yeah, that one is sure happening), flooding. Poor Fargo has every one of those on today's list. I bet we ride there anyway.

Miles today: 72
Total miles so far: 1960

A bad day for the wind farm

So it was a good day for us.

North Dakota riding is all about wind. It's never flat here, but it's never mountainous. The highest point in the state is just 3000' plus, and that's at the western edge. Otherwise we have seen lovely rolling hills and occasional buttes & cliffs, nothing that stops wind. We have been watching the weather forecasts for wind direction and speed almost as closely as we watch for thunderstorms. Although everyone we ask assures us that the prevailing winds are from the north & west, so far we have only seen south and east. Yesterday it
took us over 7 hours of riding time to cover 78 miles, and there was not a lot of climbing.

Today, the forecast was for modest SE winds becoming calm at some unspecified time. There was also a 30% chance of possibly severe thunderstorms, and an expected high of close to 90. We encountered some headwinds before lunch, but they really did fade. For the first time, we rode through a wind farm without seeing any movement. That made the day so much easier!

But, as Arlo Guthrie said, that's not what I came to tell you.

I came to confess that, for the first time on the trip, I did not ride every mile to our destination.

We passed through a few miles of highway construction; the flagman just waved us through, so we shared the very dusty road with all the trucks & tractors. Gritty? Oh, yeah. I think it'll take about a week to get it all out. Then we had a nice lunch in the park in Wishek. Then, as soon as we left the town, there was a sign: Road Construction Next 10 Miles, and the pavement ended. Oh, well. As I said yesterday, unpaved is no biggie for me. But ten miles?

I needn't have worried. After about two miles, we reached a flag lady who did not wave us through. She looked at us; she asked where we were headed; she said she had a detour for us, but it would cost us 30 miles. To think, we'd been grousing about having chosen a route three miles longer than the alternative. So we had reached a stalemate. Fortunately, Yvonne had one more option: would we consider tossing our bikes in the pilot vehicle and being driven? It might be 1/2 hour until it got back, and it would take 1/2 hour to ride through. How would we feel about that? Very happy! was the answer we both rushed to give her. So we stood in the sun and chatted with our new best buddy until the pilot vehicle...

I had pictured a pick up truck or something. Not a compact car that was clearly the property of its driver, who clearly had not planned to accomodate two bikes, two riders, and all their paraphernalia when she left home this morning. She swallowed her doubts; we rushed to take off the wheels and stuff the frames into her tiny trunk. She agreed to leave her two full-sized spare tires with Yvonne. We shoved some of the debris aside and wedged ourselves and the rest of our panniers & dry bags in - Bruce had two of our wheels in his lap - and off we went. So I am short 5 miles. That's all it turned out to be. Boy, were we glad not to be riding when we saw the road condition & all the huge machinery operating out there.

We could have gone the other way had we known, but we would have missed what we saw shortly after we resumed riding. There was a place where there was, once again, no pavement. This time it was where a lake was lapping at both sides of the road; obviously flooding had washed it out. As we approached, we saw a stop sign. Under the stop sign was another rather school-mistressy sign:

Take Turns!

Bruce took a picture instead; there was no one waiting to take turns.

All in all it was a very nice day, even though the temperature read 92 when we got to Edgely.

Miles today: 68
Total miles so far: 1888

Re-entry: abandoned in North Dakota

Where shall I start???

Well, I guess I'll try good old chronological order.

Our flight to Minneapolis made up all sorts of time, but we happily clutched our boarding passes for Bismarck & boarded the plane. For some reason, the seat next to me was empty & Bruce was at the other end of the row in a seat that some other guy had also been assigned. They both had boarding passes for it. That one was easily fixed since no one ever did claim my empty neighboring seat. If only everything could be so easy. As we started our landing I began running through all the steps we'd be taking to get ready for today's ride. That's when it occurred to me that I had left some stuff in the rental car in Minot, including my bike helmet.

We gave the Bismarck Hertz people a lot of innocent entertainment trying to explain just what we'd done, and what we hoped they could do about it. Once again we experienced the thoughtfulness of the small city citizens. In short order we were on the way to the bike shop, and our car rental buddies were left with my name, my Minneapolis cousin's address, my email & phone and permission to charge us for forwarding whatever they find in the car. I trust they will draw the line at any trash we may have overlooked.

Repacking, reorganizing, finding another map of the state and another helmet, one more city (with vegetables) dinner and early to bed.

This morning we headed out in a light fog. No problem with visibility, and the temperature was nice and cool. There was even a bike path that took us well beyond any city traffic. The fog lifted, but the clouds lingered all day. The heat was never a big deal. We headed into Moffit, where we could see a national wildlife refuge on the map. We didn't see any entrance, but the post office was open & the lady at the desk gave me directions. If, by the way, you ever want to see a post office without a line, Moffit's your place. She had her feet up & was reading the paper & seemed mildly disappointed I didn't hang around longer to talk about our trip.

The wildlife refuge required riding three miles on an unpaved road. I now take that pretty much in stride, which is a huge change for me. When we arrived, the ranger was able to answer all our bird and plant questions. There were great birds & wildflowers. We saw a killdeer that chose to put on its show for us. Although I had heard about it, I don't think I had seen it before. The bird tries to distract you if you get too close to its nest by pretending to have a broken wing. This one went all out & pretended noth wings were broken. I felt less guilty when the ranger told us the chicks were already as big as their mother & didn't really need the protection.

Anyway, we headed out again & stopped for a snack in Hazleton, where everyone was talking about the huge windstorm that had hit our destination, Napoleon. 94mph winds, they said, and we would be amazed at the damage to the grain elevators. Hmm.

We rode on.

I got a little bit ahead when Bruce stopped to identify a plant. Soon I heard him call me on the little walkie-talkie. He had a call from the B&B we had a reservation at tonight. The lady apologized - she had to cancel as a funeral group was taking over the whole place.

At this point we had ridden about 65 miles with several left. It was about 4:30.

She said she had lined up something else for us, but I kept imagining arriving in Napoleon only to be told of a lovely place in the next town. Towns are NOT close togethet here. So when Bruce caught up we called and were reassured that the alternative was a house in the town. So we pedaled and pedaled and here we are.

Did I mention?

We had headwinds all day; about 4 miles before we arrived we were riding on a bit of road that runs between two large bodies of water - I mean large - that doesn't even make the map; one of the roads we were on was, well, do they call it chip & seal? stuff that could put those awful mattresses in motels that vibrate if you deposit a quarter to shame - I once talked my parents into letting me waste a quarter on one - we got about the same effect for hours today for free.

Oh, just one more thing: we are on tornado watch until 1 AM.

Miles today: 78
Miles so far: 1820

Good News! We're delayed.

Out the door in plenty of time. Only one minor misstep - we got off to buy gas for the rental car at an exit that made a vague promise of "travel services" but there was nothing around. Still, we had plenty of time. The car return - easy; the shuttle, earlier than promised; no line to check in. But the computer casually informed us that the flight to Minneapolis was delayed by about 1/2 hour. No big deal, except that the original connection time was less than an hour, and that is one big, spread out airport. It probably took us 15 minutes to walk from one flight to the other last week. There are other flights to Minot, but we really hoped to get back to Bismarck in time to pick up the bikes so we can ride out fairly early tomorrow. On a later flight, there's no chance we could make itbefore they close, and they don't open until ten tomorrow. More riding in heat, more chance of encountering thunderstorms.

Bruce had a great idea. How about asking them to route us directly to Bismarck? There were actually a few ticket agents chatting with one another when we went back to ask. We told our story, and they went right to the computer to figure it out. There's a flight to Bismarck that gets us in hours before the bike shop closes. No extra two hour drive. We will be there in time for dinner. Hertz has taken the change pretty much in stride (a reasonable drop-off fee). A big thanks to the Delta ticket agents in Hartford! Hurray!

On vacation - from my vacation?

Just how decadent can it get?

We had an easy trip to Stratton Mountain (with an important stop at Friendly's along the way) and were greeted by family coming from all directions. Kiana and David and baby Juliet were the first we saw; soon we had seen everyone and were getting settled in our very nice condo unit which we have shared with Bruce and Gretl and Aline and Jim. We quickly got over to the rehearsal dinner.

It's a perfect setting for a Smith family wedding. There is plenty of space for everything from sitting and reading to hiking to lively gatherings. The dinner was in an informal setting, so it was easy to visit with everyone. It was also easy - and if this chronicle appears to be less of an overview and more of a grandmother'sperspective, remember I had not seen Lillian or Willie for over a month- to run around, climb stairs, rearrange chairs for tea parties and playdates, explore the food choices, and run and run and run. I managed to find time to have some of the great dinner, but just barely.

Meanwhile, Donna and Rick were everywhere, appearing wonderfully calm and under control. Having organized three weddings ourselves, we were suitably impressed by their composure. We had breakfast materials in great bags in our rooms, and they had taken into account every eating need and preference. I find that a challenge when I am at home and feeding two or three guests. Wow.

The entire event has been like that - beautifully organized, informal but elegant. It was a pleasure to meet Amy after hearing her name for so long. Welcome to the family, Amy! It was impressive to see the thousand origami cranes Chris made to decorate the rooms, and for good luck going into his marriage. The bride and her attendants all looked lovely and happy. The very young children all behaved remarkably well. The weather was wonderfully cooperative (thunder showers with a great light show the night we all arrived, with dry moments whenever we had to walk any distance, and a lovely, warm, dry day for the outdoors ceremony the next day - I'd say those cranes got right to work), the dinner was very good with all sorts of choices, the DJ clearly knew what music worked for the crowd, but - there has to be a little worry, doesn't there? - Smith kids, you have some serious partying competition in Donna's sisters!

For me, there have been some wonderful moments with Lillian - Willie was pretty set on keeping Mommy in sight this trip. One time, we were walking with Rebecca. I was wearing my running shoes, fastened with little cylindrical spring-clips which leave a bit too much of the laces dangling. Lillian said, "Mommy, Grammy needs some help with her shoes!" She and I spent a bunch of time in the pools together. She often told me, as casually as she could, that I didn't need to follow her. That didn't work. She looked at me speculatively and said she'd like to run. Nope, not that, either. She forgave me for my overly cautious attitude, though, and we had a great time examining three types of iridescent beetles and admiring a five-year-old girl whose dad had brought her to the pool.

After the wedding we have moved into reunion mode. Wonderful as it is, no one would call it restful. So perhaps this vacation squared is not so very decadent. Figuring out activities for everyone is an entertainment in itself. Meetings and opinions prevail. We managed to agree on a trip to Emerald Lake State Park for lunch, visiting time and a gentle canoe ride. We saw a couple of turtles. Today, some are headed to a luge-like slide at another ski resort; others will spend the afternoon exploring a historic house and the charming little town of Manchester. Oh, and I have scheduled a massage just to bump the decadence factor back up a bit.

I have found the limits of my flexibility. New mattress every night? Not a problem. Weird food, ok. But our Colgate was too big - couldn't take it through security. Our kind roommates gave us various travel-size tubes of other popular brands. My limit seems to be new toothpaste.

Back to Minot tomorrow, back to miles on Thursday.

Minot

We thought about flying from Bismarck, but the airline wanted about $1500 to make the change. So we rented a car to get to Minot to take the original flight. For a couple of days we wavered between resuming the trip from Bismarck and starting up again on the original route when we get back to Minot. A lady in the Bowman visitor center told us about road closures and we easily got reasonable reservations along the alternate route, so the choice was made. Bruce called to reserve a car in Minot when we return to get us back to Bismarck only to learn that all Minot rental cars are committed to FEMA. Our only choice was to rent a car in Bismarck for a week & leave it in the airport parking lot while we're in Vermont. Hold that thought for a minute.

So on Thursday, I did laundry while Bruce picked up the car, then we both decided what to bring along, handed the rest of our stuff over to the hotel to store while we are away, took our bikes to the shop for mid-ride service, and headed north.

It's a pretty drive. We stopped at a Lewis & Clark interpretive center and at the Audubon National Wildlife Refuge. We pulled into Minot late in the afternoon. We had a reservation at the south end of town; the room we had originally reserved was underwater. Minot looked pretty good. No mud, no traffic issues, plenty of open stores. It was when we stopped that we began to see: the signs all over the hotel reminding us not to use tap water for drinking, tooth-brushing, food washing or preparation; the disposable plates and utensils at the restaurant; the very limited drink options at the restaurant ( they buy their ice, the chefs boil big batches of water to wash the lettuce - but they aren't offering mac & cheese right now); the endless thank-yous to the Red Cross posted in the supermarket.

In the morning we headed to the airport at about 5. We were incredibly lucky that the road that took us straight to the airport had reopened to 24 hour use for the first time that day. The desk clerk at the hotel had heard the press conference where the change was announced & had recognized Bruce in the lobby & told him about it. That saved us from taking the longer and slower bypass, and gave us a hint of just how thoughtful people are in the town. Once we reached the river on our way to our flight, we could see the muddy residue that extended for blocks beyond the bridge. We no longer saw water lapping at buildings. But once we took off, we did see some rooftops just above the surface. That water still has a long way to recede.

When we arrived at the airport we had to do something with our rental car. Someone at Hertz had told Bruce that they would prefer to have us leave it in their lot, but to take the keys with us and leave Hertz a note explaining what the car was doing there. Sounded like a good idea.

Bruce went to the yet-to-open Hertz counter to leave the note. Unfortunately, his hand slipped and the car keys fell right down into the car return box. Which was, of course, locked. I looked around for somone to ask for help. Uniforms are effective. I made a beeline for the only uniformed guy I could spot - one of the TSA crew. He smiled as I bore down on him. I told him that I knew it had nothing to do with his job, but explained what had happened. He said the Hertz guy often showed up pretty early, but he'd check also around a bit. I asked how much time we should allow to go through security - he said maybe we should go through by about 6 for the 6:30 flight. Actually, there was never a security line while we were there.

We sat and waited and wondered. After a while a young TSA woman came out to talk to Bruce & get more details. She wasn't sure if we would get the keys out, but we were not to worry- her mother works the counter & all would be ok even if we had to pick them up on our way back. She also said we could wait to go through security until our flight began boarding. This was not JFK.

Bruce had a brief relapse into his anxious mode. What if our flight back is delayed and the Hertz counter is already closed when we get there? Before that idea got too far, a man wandered in behind the Hertz desk. Bruce rushed up and talked to him. It took a minute to get things clear, but the guy just opened the box up and handed him the keys. We traded thumbs-up gestures with our TSA buddies and that was that.

Minot. I am glad we got to experience it. Not so surprising that of the 12,000 people evacuated, only about 300 needed room at the shelters.

Meeting expectations?

I thought today would be a good time to look back at the worries and the happy expectations I had listed before we left. Turns out there are not a whole lot of surprises.

Snow and cold? It's over now, but the rainy day early in the trip, the one with the high of 47 degrees, was definitely the toughest we have had. On the other hand, all my worries about Neihart were wasted. We managed to show up there on the warmest day they had experienced since last August. Now I can just worry about adjusting to heat. That one offers more flexibility; if it's too uncomfortable, stopping helps. When it's cold, stopping just makes it worse.

The many days in a row did turn out to be rough. We ended up modifying the itinerary and all was well. Reservations in general - not sure I would get so detailed another time. We need to know how far we have to ride to have any choices, and the thought of arriving in a town 80 miles from the next possibility and finding it all filled up thanks to some local festival is pretty unnerving. Still, we have passed a few I would have enjoyed seeing more of, and we've been to a few we would definitely have stayed at an extra day or two if the schedule hadn't been set.

The big worry about the space between Williston and Minot was eliminated by, unfortunately, the terrible flooding the town is experiencing.

The new shorts are perfect. Enough said.

The food is even less varied than I anticipated. It's a rare menu that has more than iceberg lettuce and a slice of tomato from the vegetable kingdom. Oh, I guess I have to count white bread; it is technically vegetable.

The one worry there is no way around is missing everyone. I am very excited about seeing family tomorrow, and seeing everyone in September will temper any sadness I may feel when I take the last pedal stroke.

The things I was looking forward to are pretty close, too. Great birds, wildflowers, wildlife, scenery. Great chances to experience new terrain. Wonderful people everywhere.

I am not reading as much as I expected to. After we ride and eat and I make this entry, I usually don't read more than a few chapters before I fall asleep. Oddly enough, most of the books I read are about long bike trips. Cycling Home from Siberia (the author is British; he rode about 24,000 miles over a couple of years) certainly keeps me from thinking I have any actual problems. Temporary inconveniences perhaps.

And I must say I had hoped to be able to throw away a lot more of these spare calories burned on ice cream. Most towns just don't have it. Ok, I admit I did a search of Bismarck on Google last night. There are three Dairy Queens, a pizza place that might be ok - no details offered - and a rather surprising Coldstone Creamery at the far end of town. But when it's available I take full advantage.

It is a little harder than I anticipated to let go of things, to allow them to stay in the background. Kitty, you have no idea how hard it was for me not to sneak in a few questions. I don't count asking about new babies; don't think there is any need to wait until September to hear about the twins.

The biggest non-pedaling issue on the trip is not knowing what's next. It's reassuring to know that it's ok to wake up someplace different almost every day; that I don't really care that much what the mattress is like; that I can go this long without my usual breakfast. I am very happy that those are no big deal. The big deal is getting out there and looking around, and I like that more all the time.

I am glad we are taking the whole three months; I am amazed by how fast we are passing through places.

I am glad we are going all the way across; I am glad that the future vacations I daydream about out there often involve the bike.

Last ride for a week!

How did this happen so fast?

I still feel the mixed anxiety and excitement that accompanied us to Anacortes. Now I actually believe we'll do it, but I do not believe we are almost half way, and that we are about to fly to Vermont for a wonderful wedding and a chance to spend some time with family.

Today was not so long, but it took care to give us a day we would not forget quickly.

As we headed out, the sky was cloudy. Our hostess waved us on our way after mentioning forecasted thunderstorms. She said she was sure we'd find shelter. We were headed from Flasher to Bismarck, and until you get to Mandan, which is really the start of the Bismarck urban area, there is no town, not a single commercial establishment.

I wasn't worried. It was lovely and cool and the clouds were light. We stopped at the convenience store on our way out of town for bottled water. A guy came up and introduced himself and asked about our trip. He told us he lives in Shanghai now and loves getting around on his bike. Then we really got going. The wind was from the south. We headed east for about 16 miles then turned north for the rest of the trip, so we figured it would be pretty easy pedaling. Maybe we'd arrive in the early afternoon. The big, dark cloud I saw in my mirror - well, it was way behind us and would just be blown north. Wouldn't it?

Just in case, we stopped at the turn to get our waterproof stuff out. It wouldn't be much fun having to scramble through other stuff should it actually be raining hard. Which was not about to happen. So why were we feeling a few drops before we even had everything out? Sigh. We went ahead and put the stuff on. We were very happy to have it almost immediately. We got good and wet. But it was not at all cold, and I had yet to see any...

Wait. What's with that huge cloud ahead???. The one so dark it looks green. And wasn't that lightning?

Yes. It had stopped raining where we were. We were half way up the north-bound stretch of road. Onky an hour or so left to ride, and those tailwinds were great! What to do?

We stopped to watch the movement of the clouds for a bit. They had to be moving north - that south wind was pretty strong. They also appeared to be moving east towards us, but they were well to the north. We sat down in front row seats and watched the show. We'd watched for maybe half an hour when we realized that the tail end of the system might be moving towards us. The rumbling definitely sounded more overhead. Maybe we needed to turn around and ride south to get away from it.

We tried, but it was getting closer and closer.

We saw some buildings a little farther ahead. We decided to go see if there was a shed or barn we could shelter in. As we approached, two dogs charged out, barking loudly. Now what? I just wanted to get away from the lightning! I got off the bike and walked slowly towards them holding out my hand. I quickly saw that their tails were wagging and their expressions were friendly. One came up and licked our hands energetically. By then, the door of the house among the farm buildings opened. We explained our predicament, and the woman said we should come on into the house to wait it out.

We spent almost an hour getting to know her and her son as the storm passed. The lightning did get pretty close, and the lights flickered. We apologized for keeping them from their business for so long, but the son said he would not have gone out in the storm in any case. Too wet to bundle up his hay. It was interesting to hear about their crops, their cows, their family. We also asked if they had favorite places we should see as we pedal east after our week in Vermont. They looked mildly surprised; they had been as far as Fargo. They had actually been all the way to Rochester, Minnesota. But they had been on the interstate. No idea what we'd find southeast of Bismarck.

Eventually the sky lightened. It was still raining, but we didn't mind that. We hopped on the bikes and made a second attempt to get to Mandan. The rain stopped again. I kept telling myself that the dark cloud ahead was not nearly as dark as the other one. So what were those flashes?

We made it to Mandan just as we were beginning to see quite a bit of lightning ahead. This time we didn't have to knock on any doors. We just walked right in to DQ. Seems to be our haven from extreme weather on this expedition. The clouds were very dark, very ominous, very close. We sat smugly inside. Even the bikes were on the dry side of the building under a little awning.

The storm was in no hurry; it turned out that we probably should have made a run for it. But then we wouldn't have met the very pleasant couple who sat next to us. He looked the bikes over before he came in, then he came right to our table and started asking about the trip. He dreams of doing something like it, but may not be able to fit it in. He and his wife live in a motor home. They spend winters in Yuma near their grandchildren, and they spend lots of time exploring. A friend had told him of a summer job for the parks & rec department in Bismarck so they are spending the season here and loving it. Like us, they had never been here before. They gave us their card and took our blog addresses away with them. (Hi again - I warned you you would show up here!)

Eventually we decided we should finish up the day's ride. We hadn't seen a flash for a while. It was raining harder than ever- the drops were causing little splashes in the puddles - but we had all long since finished our treats & we had to do it sooner or later.

Once again the rain was fairly warm, and it actually tapered off quickly. Before we knew it we were on the Memorial Bridge over the Missouri River (it has a bike & pedestrian sidewalk, which made us and many cars very happy). That took us into Bismarck, and with only minor confusion we found our hotel. A Best Western, very nice, very familiar, not at all adventurous. Which is just fine.

We chose to end the day and the first half of the trip with room service.

Miles today: 53
Total so far: 1742

And now for something completely different

If you have the revised itinerary, well, it's been revised again. I made a passing remark that perhaps we should go all the way to Bismarck today. It's just about 100 miles from Mott and the 80 into Mott went pretty easily. We didn't do that.

Instead Bruce got to thinking about the way we had divided the mileage and looked at the map and did a little Googling and proposed that we ride as far as Flasher. That way we'd be more than half way. There was a place in Carson that had no pictures and no reviews; there's a place in Flasher that has no pictures and no reviews. Carson: El Rancho Motel, which conjures up a picture of a dilapidated roadside place, maybe hasn't changed a thing since I was 5, when it was fresh and new. My entirely imaginary image was, actually, one of the reasons a century day sounded sort of appealing. Flasher: Antelope Hills Lodging and Rec, which went beyond my imagination's capacity. Bruce sensibly pointed out that we knew nothing of either one, so we might as well go for the better mileage.

On the way to Flasher we stopped in Carson to get a snack. Bruce stopped, that is. I had to search the town for our former motel. Small, but pristine. A cute little garden, white iron lawn furniture scattered around, flags all over from the 4th, lots and lots of petunias. Should be called a B&B from the looks of it.

We rode on. When we got to Flasher (I must find out what that name is about before we leave) we stopped at the local cafe and bar to find out if we could get dinner (yes, but not until the memorial gathering they were holding was over) and where we would find our motel (right on Main Street, you can't miss it - the big white building).

Well. It's been a while since we have seen a big building that is not for cows, grain or oil. But there it was. Faded charm, the look of a thousand white clapboard hotels from before the motel era. Faded, very faded. Sagging, in fact. The first detail I noticed was one of those window curtains tied in a knot up on the third floor. The second was an older, also quite weathered looking man seated in a lounge chair outside our home away from home. He knew as soon as he spotted us who we were. "The cyclists. She's on her way."

He asked about us and our trip. He asked if we wanted a seat or a beer. Bruce talked about Coke, and the next thing we knew, he had wandered across the street to get him one. "She" turned out to be the landlady here. It's more a rooming house than a motel. There's an aquarium in the living room, a TV to be shared, a kitchen & eating area. She showed us a few rooms & we chose one. It has someone's stuff in it. Turns out it's her room, but she never sleeps in it. She likes the couch where she can keep an eye on things. But she's not keeping an eye on anything tonight. She headed over to Carson to take part in a fireworks display. Can't do it here - there's an annoying ordinance that says they have to finish by 10:30, "and it's not even dark by then!"

She told us she'd leave the house to us for the evening. There appear to be a few lodgers around, young people, but we are taking each other in stride quite easily.

We went back up for dinner. When the waitress eventually appeared, "Oh, you're the cyclists staying over at tge lodge. Motorcycle or bicycles?" "HOW far???"

I really am not a secretive person. It's nice when people take an interest. But this small town thing takes a little getting used to. Once again, the bikes take down barriers that cars do not.

Our hostess is great. I wondered when we first arrived if I was ready. I am so used to the anonimity of the typical hotel. But she showed us around, she figured out we couldn't be carrying towels in our small bags and had left some in the room before we asked, she showed us where we could do laundry if we cared to. In fact, she treated us like friends who had come to stay.

Other bits and pieces. Fireworks here are different! In Mott last night I couldn't fall asleep before looking out at all that was going on. Someone in town was sending up firewrlorks that were only slightly less elaborate than the San Francisco show. The kids at the motel were sending all sorts of stuff shooting up into the air. The mother in me is compelled to add that they were often going back in to relight ones that had not performed. I wondered how long it would take an ambulance to reach Mott. The underwriter in me also wanted to make sure we had smoke alarms. North Dakota is a very windy place. Actually, our Flasher hostess displayed a photo of her grown son on her cell phone - apparently he had received a pretty bad burn last night himself &she thought we might like to see it.

Pronghorn antelope - Bruce spotted six of them racing along a hilltop. I saw a white tailed deer with two fawns. There were headwinds, but only enough to keep us cool.

We entered the Central time zone this afternoon.

Only one more riding day before our trip to Vermont. I had been thinking of that as about midway through the trip. It's not, quite, but it is pretty close. Hard to believe.

Miles today: 58
Total so far: 1689

Happy 4th!

Holidays are different when we're already on vacation. This one has been really different. Than other 4th of July holidays, I mean. Not all that different from other days on the trip. With all the schedule changes we made to skip Minot we pretty much let go of our original idea of spending today resting and enjoying local celebrations. Probably jus as well. We've discovered that several of the towns we have gone through have had their fireworks early so everyone can have family gatherings today. I do wonder if that happens when there is not a weekend conveniently tucked in before the holiday.

Not that we have missed it all. Oh, no. We have jumped at the sound of firecrackers very nearby lots of times. There was someone setting off some fairly serious noise makers in a small town where we had a snack on Saturday, and the parking area of the hotel next to ours in Bowman was a stage for lots of smaller stuff pretty much every time we walked by. Flags everywhere.

We did take a day off in Bowman. It's a bigger town than most so we could find groceries and a laundromat and even a restaurant that was open through dinner last night. I suspect they were pretty much out of stuff - the dinner special was pancakes and sausage. I had grilled cheese.

We got up this morning knowing it would be a long day. Lots of miles, and likely headwinds. Even a reasonable chance of thunderstorms this afternoon. On the other hand, we knew nothing would be open so we didn't expect to stop much. We decided to set out pretty early in hopes that we could beat the worst of the wind. We knew the gas station/truck stop was our only breakfast option & I knew that would be a challenge for me.

Sure enough, nothing there that looked great. I eventually found some hard boiled eggs & made them into deviled eggs, and added a prepackaged blueberry muffin. Mmm. As we sat down to eat I looked around and realized that this particular gas station convenience store stocks some really different stuff: hunting trophies! Yes, gazing down balefully at us was a large elk head ($10,000 in case you are interested). Right around the corner from him we plunged into the discount market: a deer head for a mere $125. Is it just me, or would other people feel just a mite embarrassed to display someone else's trophy like that?

We rode out feeling delighted (aside from some minor digestive confusion) that the wind was actually almost a tail wind. And not a very strong one. We made great time on the gentle rollers. We stopped a couple of times - the cool one was when an owl popped up out of the grass and flew very thoughtfully up to a phone pole where I could gaze as long as I cared to (a burrowing owl), shortly followed by a prairie falcon being harrassed by blackbirds. It, too, came to rest on a convenient post. We still made our first turn, 27 miles out, in well under 2 hours. That headed us directly into the wind for a little over 20 miles. But the wind was gentle and mostly blocked by the hills. Mostly uphills. Dakota uphills are very gentle compared to what we are used to, though. (Must be easy pedaling here, said an older guy we talked to during the day. He also said he'd told his daughter-in-law when they saw us out there that we had to be either from California or the east - people here don't cycle.)

So we made that stretch. Then turned again so the winds were almost helpful. We even found an open shop where we enjoyed popsicles and sodas and shade and air conditioning. We finished up by about 3:30. Of course nothing is open here, either, except the gas station convenience store. At about 4:30 we had prepackaged sandwiches, shared a half gallon of lemonade and brought a little container of Ben & Jerry's back to our very, very basic room. It's 6:15 and I doubt we'll be awake to see or hear any fireworks.

We are toying with various options for tomorrow. I am seriously tempted to try to get all the way to Bismarck, but if the wind is unkind or it stays this hot, it probably won't happen. The towns between here and Bismarck are small and have very limited places to stay. I can see why people like the flexibility of camping. If only it didn't involve sleeping on the ground and schlepping pounds of equipment...

Random question: what makes the water in this part of the country feel sort of slippery? Almost as if it comes out of the faucet infused with (fortunately unscented) bath oil? It's not too bad for bathing. It really does not dry my skin out. I am sticking to bottled drinking water, though.

Miles today: 81, around town yesterday 6
Total so far: 1631

Headwinds and Rumblestrips - Welcome to North Dakota

There were bicyclists ahead of us as we left Baker this morning. Even more amazing - we caught up with them! They are a father and daughter from Seattle. They began at some point on the continental divide and plan to continue at least as far as Minneapolis. They are carrying camping gear and have done less touring than we have. In fact, the daughter rode her longest day ever their first day of the trip. I think she said it was about 50 miles. Yesterday she completed 80. It was not surprising that we moved a little faster. We did ride along together for a few miles. That's when we began noticing the headwinds. Not too bad, but definitely there.

We pulled ahead after a while. Before we knew it, we had crossed into North Dakota. It's my first time in this state. The moment we crossed the state line, the pavement quality was perfect. Incredibly smooth surface, nice, wide shoulder. Plenty of room to ride between the rumble strip and the edge of the pavement. Bruce looked across and saw that the shoulder in the other direction was considerably less generous. We scarcely had time to joke that the state loved to welcome cyclists, but hated to see them leave, when our generous shoulder ended. We, too, having been successfully lured in, were going to have to confine ourselves to about 12" of (still beautifully smooth) pavement.

The headwinds were getting stronger, too. Sometimes, to give us a little break, the road curved so we could play with crosswinds.

We came to our first town. It has an antique auto museum and ice cream parlor - together, I mean. An unusual combination, but that didn't stop me from enjoying ice cream accompanied by auto repair smells. The woman who served us was friendly, but - shall we just say lacking polish? She talked more or less constantly using what is often called colorful language; sounded more like a simple lack of vocabulary and thought processes to me. However, as I said, she was quite friendly. She also gave us accurate information about our next road condition challenge. We had seen a sign suggesting alternate routes to avoid muddy conditions ahead. She assured us it was not from flooding - just some road work. A few miles of roadwork - no pavement at all.

And she asked me what I was wearing under my bike clothes. That gave me pause. I mean, did she really want an explanation of why bike shorts and underwear are incompatible? Seeing that she had not even distinguished us from motorcyclists based on our attire, that seemed unlikely. And she really appeared to have some mild and reasonably impersonal curiosity. It took me a moment to realize she was wondering about the white arm-warmer-like things I had on. It was a warm day. Since you can't tell by looking that they are not part of a full extra layer, her question suddenly made sense.

Back on the road. The new pavement had ended. The rumble strips had backed off a bit. The headwinds had not. We stopped at a wide spot to eat something more nutritious than ice cream, and our new friends from Seattle caught up and joined us. We all set out to see what the road work would be like.

It was pretty rough. At first there were lots of smallish rocks, but soon there was just a fairly solid dirt stretch. On the bright side, we were getting crosswinds from the right, so the dust kicked up by cars sharing the experience with us was swept away from us. After a mile or so, the rocks were back and I chose to walk the rest. Not bad - the total distance was less than 2 1/2 miles without pavement.

Then back to the winds. And the discovery that there were lots more up sections than down sections.

Believe it or not, in spite of the road's attempt to keep our attention, we are rather liking this new state. We stopped at another little town & found a woman in a store who was eager to advise us on places to visit here. We rode into Bowman, which seems to be a nice little town with plenty of places to eat and do laundry (I tell you, your needs get pretty limited out here) and some nice green surrounding areas. Tomorrow we will only do local rides to get errands taken care of. Unfortunately, the town is big enough that we have lost track of the Seattle cyclists. Maybe we'll spot them tomorrow.

Miles today - 47
Total so far - 1544

The Birds

No, not another Audubon Society report.

We had 80 miles to cover so we set out at 7:30. The sky still looked a bit threatening but Miles City was dry. We rode about three miles on the interstate, then turned onto Highway 12. It took us the rest of the way to Baker.

It was one of those huge western landscapes. There were all sorts of cliffs, buttes, and other rocky formations. Within only a couple of miles we were past every town-like element we would see all day. Our route took us up and over a few of the ridges but was mostly pretty flat. There were cows and a few places where we saw small groups of elegant horses.

I saw a couple of red tailed hawks being harrassed by some blackbirds. I thought about how even the large, fierce predators were not allowed any peace. It is impressive to see their potential prey diving at them, hounding them and, most often, succeeding in chasing them away. At least for a while.

As I was thinking about their patterns, I realized that one of the blackbirds was now following me, making all the same calls it had been using on the hawks. It stayed with me for a while, then a second one joined it. And a third, and a fourth. One kept coming in lower as if to memorize my face so it could pick me out of the police line-up. About now I began to realize how lucky I am never to have had the nerve to watch Hitchcock movies. I was also glad not to be riding through Bodega Bay as it was happening.

I don't want to disappoint anyone, but the ending to this story is pretty tame: they got bored, or perhaps reached the end of their territory, and peeled off and went home. But Bruce came through a few minutes later and had the same experience.

So forget about grizzlies and cougars and wolves. It's those red winged blackbirds you need to watch in eastern Montana.

We stopped at the only rest stop along the route and had sandwiches. I had found a nice bag of sugar snap peas which were a real treat in this land of beef and potatoes. We saw another cyclist who had ridden out from Miles City - we had not seen him on the road - but he had a friend picking him up to drive him back to town. We headed east. The terrain gradually became more and more green rolling fields. The sky, which had thoughtfully provided a good cloud cover but almost no rain and plenty of blue up until then began to clear. It got warmer, but never hot.

After about 80 miles we rolled into Baker. It's a small but not tiny town that has not been spoiled by tourism. Probably because no one has had any reason to come here. We had planned to spend two nights here, but after we rode around we decided to move on tomorrow. Maybe Bowman will provide more rest day activities.

Baker is fine, really, just not much to look at or to do. But there is a pretty decent Chinese restaurant. It's the first one we have been to on the whole trip. I am quite cautious about Chinese restaurants where there is little Asian population; I was once served canned bean sprouts in Watsonville. But the first thing we saw when we walked in was this sign:

Check policy
must show or write drivers license
and
phone number when writing a check
if no we don't accept
$50 charge for Bad
check and put your
name on wall.

I knew the food would be good.

Miles today 80, yesterday 5 around town

Total so far 1497