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