A Different State of Mind--North Dakota!!!

Day 28: Poplar, MT to Williston, ND--83 miles

Yes, I really did type 83 miles--our longest day yet! Today we left Montana with a lot of fond memories. As usual, I was amazed at the different terrain we encountered. The last 60 miles of Montana were an undulating sea of green--and we undulated right along with it--up and down for much of the morning.

I had a tough morning. The first 37 miles were hard--uncomfortable, slower than I had hoped, and tiring. I was surprised because the day before had been relatively easy. But maybe sleeping in the tent had something to do with it...or bad biorythems or something.

During those 60 miles, we chased some very concerned cattle along the Missouri River Channel. I hadn't yet seen them RUN from us, but off they went--every time they saw us (and I believe that was 3 times). Seems like they would have learned that we weren't all that scary, but hey, they're cows after all. Maybe they saw my scary racoon eyes from wearing sunglasses in the sun!

The Missouri River had cut some interesting sandstone sculptures along our route today. It reminded me a lot of the White Rim in Utah or the Badlands in South Dakota. Very interesting terrain! David got some pics which we will add as soon as we find an accommodating computer... The terrain was a wonderful capstone to our 710-mile odyssey in Montana. We feel like we've seen just about all the different types of terrain you can get in the Northwest!

We stopped in Culbertson for lunch and that gave me the break I needed. As we left the Wild West Diner, we encountered another couple who were cycling cross-country. Unlike us, they had been doing 100-mile days for the last few days! It was great to see another woman doing the ride--I had only seen men so far. The one woman we saw was on a tandem with her male friend--a challenge David and I aren't up to yet. Imagine the CLOSE proximity of being on the SAME bike for 10 weeks! Scary for both of us...

We left that couple and I finally got my energy back for the rest of the ride. The remainder of Montana was up and down--more so than the last several days! Then one last BIG uphill to milepost 667 (maybe the only place where you'll find that many miles going east-west), and we were in North Dakota! How exciting! Celebration and pictures all around--and then we took advantage of an increasing tailwind to "sprint" the remaining 25 miles into Williston.

North Dakota has already distinguished itself with great, wide, asphalt shoulders! It was great to ride along these smooth shoulders and not worry about traffic. After a few big hills, we got the benefit of a mostly downhill approach into town. Then we started our search for a hotel. It took about 10 minutes to find the first hotel. When we stopped, we found out they were full! The nice woman at the El Rancho Motel called all the other places in town for us and there was only one with rooms available--the Airport International Inn. We quickly booked a room and came the extra two miles or so. We feel lucky to have an inside room tonight because I had a bad allergy attack in the wind. I think I'm allergic to that nice-looking yellow clover along the side of the road! Anyway, we lost an hour and are now on Central Time--another milestone! A nice dinner at the hotel restaurant (walleye fish is a specialty in this part of the country and was fantastic) and we're ready for an early bedtime!

We think we'll be in ND for about six days before we head into Minnesota. It should be a fun week!