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.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Thursday, July 7, 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
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
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
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
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
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
Monday, July 4, 2011
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
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
Saturday, July 2, 2011
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
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
Friday, July 1, 2011
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
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
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