Storm Chasing

Day 30: Stanley to Minot, ND--55 miles

Today we woke up broke and everything was wet with dew from the night before! We thought we were going to have a hot sunny day (the forecast) but we woke to big, black clouds! We decided we were going to make oatmeal in camp for breakfast and try to hit the town's ATM by the highway on the way out. We were planning an early start so we wouldn't have to ride in the heat of late afternoon.

Here's another testament to the people of Stanley. We packed up, looking worriedly at the sky and seeing some lightning bolts and hearing some thunder in the distance. A city worker drove to our campsite just to let us know that a severe thunderstorm warning was out for the area--he didn't want us to be on the road if it hit. How nice is that? He sent us to the sheriff's office to look at the radar weather map. It looked to be a fast-moving storm, so we decided to wait an hour at the local coffee shop to see if it would move through.

The only problem? That pesky thing about NO MONEY!!! I went into the Hidden Treasures Second Hand Store and Tri-Jens Coffee Shop while David rode to an ATM machine that was supposed to be closer than the highway. I wandered around and chatted with the locals while I waited, but David was not successful at that ATM. So we asked if they took credit cards. No. We told them our situation, and they called all the banks in town to see if we could do an ATM inside the bank. They found one that would and we quickly dispatched David (in the pouring rain now) to get some cash! They offered to let us order without having any money, but I waited to have my chai until David returned. It was the best chai ever, and David had a great mocha! We waited for over an hour and had a nice visit with the local folks--that coffee shop was a happening place on a Thursday morning! Helpful, wonderful people--of COURSE we want to visit Stanley again!

Once we got on the road (about 11:30) we didn't get rained on at all. It was a largely flat day, but with variable headwinds. Those black clouds moved quickly to the northeast, and then amazingly enough the wind started to blow back on us from that direction! Very strange. We had a lot of little ups and downs, but no big terrain. Everywhere you looked were crops as far as you could see. They have had more rain in this region in the last month than their usual annual rainfall! Everything was beautiful and green, and we saw a lot of ponds near the road. I don't know if all the rainfall contributed to that--or if they're permanent.

We have seen tons of water birds and other birds. Today, we saw a yellow-headed blackbird and cormorants--birds we hadn't seen before in this area. There is a huge variety of ducks, but we have a hard time identifying them without binoculars. And of course, the ever-present summer construction!

We lost our fabulous ND shoulder about 2/3 through the day, which was sad for us. But we had a divided highway, so the cars had two lanes to work with. But it was much more stressful to have to keep looking in the rear-view mirrors unlike the last two days.

We had been warned about (and were very excited about) a BIG downhill called Brooks Hill before Minot. I have decided that these people in ND don't know a real hill when they see it! We had two minor downhills--neither making us go more than 25 mph. Both were short, and we actually climbed a pretty steep hill into town! What a bummer when my expectations were just the opposite. I guess that's what happens when you create expectations without clear knowledge, huh? How like life...

It got very hot and windy toward the end of the ride. We both feel a little beaten and battered from this 55-mile ride, but found a hotel that had a hot tub and pool which made things much better! We are much more relaxed--now the only thing we need is a massage.

Minot is a pretty large town, with a University and an Air Force Base. We have seen much more diversity here (probably due to the Air Force Base). We had an excellent fish dinner at a restaurant called "Up the Creek" which must be a chain of some sort. I had a nice glass of wine, but David is going through extreme "beer with taste" withdrawal. He's having big problems finding beer other than Bud, Bud Lite, and that ilk. Sam, there is a HUGE opportunity for Coors in this region!

Mosquitos are alive and well here, and I'm glad for the hotel room, which I plan to crash into shortly! We're hoping for an early start tomorrow to avoid the hot weather--it's supposed to be near 90 degrees and sunny! Wish David luck on his "beer with taste" search--he's been looking for about 5 days now...