74.2 miles, 17.8 mph, Odometer: 1678 – Fort Ransom State Park, ND to Barnesville, MN
KEVIN – Straight east with a tail wind. I meant to stop to eat but nothing presented and I had a tail wind. I ate lunch at DQ in Barnesville, since the Eagle Cafe that Suzi had found online with a 4 star rating was “For Sale.” I entered Minnesota on a back road. No signs marked the state line. I would not have known except that Siri in my pocket said, “Welcome to Minnesota.” (Correction: It was Karen Jacobsen, the voice of Google Maps.) I took this photo of a tidy Minnesota farm.
Suzi met me at Walker Park Campground near Barnesville and I set up the tandem for tomorrow. Our grandniece, Elizabeth’s plane was delayed. She will now arrive in Fargo at ~10 pm.
SUZI – Drove to Fargo, ND to meet Elizabeth’s plane. Filled the gas and propane tanks, then parked at the airport viewing area to write the blog while waiting. Once we learned about the flight delay, I drove the half hour down to camp. Having spent part of yesterday on a gravel road, the trailer, truck and bikes all needed some cleaning. We drove into summer today and Wagner Park was full of campers playing cornhole and such. The refrigerator fruit drawer must now be designated for chocolate.
Photos from my morning drive – green shoots in the fields; fog; living snow fence.
86.4 miles, 16.0 mph, Odometer: 1604 – west of Streeter, ND to Fort Ransom State Park, ND
KEVIN – My last full day in North Dakota was more efficient and unremarkable until the final two miles on gravel road into the Little Yellowstone valley to the campground. During the day, I passed this sign for the Continental Divide at 1490 feet. We previously crossed it at Marias Pass in Montana, elevation 5213 feet.
“Triple Divide Peak in Glacier National Park, Montana, is the point where two of the principal continental divides in North America converge, the primary Continental Divide and the Northern or Laurentian Divide. From this point, waters flow to the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean via the Gulf of Mexico, and the Arctic Ocean via Hudson Bay. Most geographers, geologists, meteorologists, and oceanographers consider this point the hydrological apex of North America, as Hudson Bay is generally considered part of the Arctic.” (From Wikipedia, “Continental Divide of the Americas”)
SUZI – I followed Kevin for awhile to give him breaks along the way, there being virtually no places to take a break indoors. After we split to meet later at the campground, I checked out this cabin along the gravel road. I keep trying to imagine my grandmother’s life in Dakota Territory, though I don’t know exactly where her family lived.
Central North Dakota is beautiful farm and ranch land. It’s lovely to drive the local highway instead of the Interstate. I guess that could be said of most places in the United States. Springtime means that I’ve been distracted by all the calves, foals, lambs, as well as innumerable birds in the fields and wetlands all around me. This morning I watched a coyote cross the road and race through a wheat stubble field. As we approach Minnesota, ponds and lakes puncture the land so thoroughly that the road rarely veers around them. Instead, dykes provide a surface for the orderly east/west lanes, and even the power poles run right through the water.
Fort Ransom State Park Campground meant a quiet lawn and warm (not hot!!) shower, so the bathroom only gets 3 stars in our rating system. In addition to camp sites, the park rents out one old farmhouse, one tiny cabin, and this reproduction covered wagon with comfy beds for four people and air conditioning. I chatted with the family from Bismark who were renting the wagon for the holiday weekend. Actually, two covered wagons in this photo.
Online calculators predict that Kevin burns about 1,600 calories as a baseline each day. Moderate bicycling for 3-6 hours per day requires approximately 2,000-4,000 additional calories. So for 21 of the last 22 days, Kevin has needed 3,600 – 5,600 calories. In Tour de France jelly donut units, that’s as many as 22.4 jelly donuts. Tour de France elite cyclists at racing pace burn about 30 jelly donut units per day.
Kevin prefers to power his rides with Snickers, Clif Blocks (gummy like energy candy), and Gatorade. At the beginning of our trip, we had stocked ~52 Snickers bars and a jam-packed plastic bin of assorted energy bars, granola bars, fig bars, and nuts (thank you, Lauren!) Though I added another 10 Snickers and ~20 Clif Blocks along the way, the bin contents are dwindling. Meanwhile Kevin has lost ~10 pounds.
Suzi’s baseline calories needed to breathe each day is also about 1,600. Surprisingly, driving does burn additional calories, so on days without a hike or bike ride, Suzi manages to burn an extra 200-500 calories. If Suzi chose to eat only jelly donuts, she would require 7-8 jelly donuts each day.
83.4 miles, 12.0 mph, Odometer: 1518 – Lincoln, ND to east of Napoleon, ND
KEVIN – Long day on the bike with wind. Lunch date with Suzi at the Road Dawg Grill in Hazelton. The countryside is lush and green with many small lakes and birds including white pelicans.
From far away, I saw this line of about 35 farm implements, appearing to be crawling down a ridge. The sign says, “Dinosaurs on the Prairie, Threshing Machine Collection.” I was riding east. The flag was flying perpendicular to my path.
SUZI – Thursday and Friday nights this week, we camped in city parks. In Lincoln, ND, just south of Bismark, General Sibley Park and Campground was pleasant with electric only and good showers.
Napoleon, ND, the Logan County seat, population 850, offered 12 campsites at their city park. I called Mary, a park board member, to reserve. What a terrific city park for such a small town: freshly mowed grass everywhere, playground, picnic shelter, disc golf course, city swimming pool with water slide. Kudos to the citizens of Napoleon!
KEVIN – Rode Old Hwy 10 for 10 miles, then I-94 for 50 miles, then on bike paths most of the way in. Cold with some headwind but dressed appropriately; all was well. Lunch in New Salem at a cafe where all the locals and staff knew each other. Didn’t see Suzi until camp.
It is the end of May and the gardens around here are tilled and ready for planting; seems late which is probably normal for North Dakota. Ballad tells us that it has been warm at home. We are glad to be retiring in Wenatchee.
SUZI – Tidied up the trailer and blogged for awhile, then checked out a couple of the attractions in Hebron, ND. First was a visit to check out Fort Sauerkraut. Here’s the story and photos. From the Southwestern North Dakota Digital Archive at the Dickinson Museum Center:
“Colossal work went into the building of Fort Sauerkraut at Hebron during the Indian Scare of 1890. For the women and children and food supplies the Hebronites built a sod house 100 feet long. They surrounded this with a thick sod parapet 7 feet high and well provided with port holes for the riflemen. Tunnels led to rifle pits outside the walls, and farther out they drove in numerous posts to which they strung an intricate web of wires to trip the attacking Indians and their horses. Inside, the fort was stocked with food supplies, including kegs of Sauerkraut—hence the quaint name for Hebron’s historic fort.”
This is Bicentennial Story No. 56, prepared by Father Louis Pfaller, for the Stark County Historical Society.
No brats served here.
Next I ventured into the Dacotah Clayworks to check out the pottery for sale. What a delight. I met Robin, the artist, and she described the pieces in the shop and how they were made. Not being a potter myself, I can’t do justice to the details, except to say that she has several different types of kilns, materials and methods. Her small pots for growing succulents are made by exploding a firecracker inside a ball of clay. The hole that is produced gives her inspiration for the rest of the design. I purchased one of these pots and can’t wait to try a succulent in it! A photo in her shop caught my eye and I learned the story of her teaching on the Michigan Art Train in 1976. Here is a link to her website and my photos.
And finally, this building in Hebron that just made me smile. It appears that a porte cochere is essential in North Dakota, no matter the size of the home or office.
Cell Phones – How different this trip would be without cell phones and the internet! To begin with, we agreed that Kevin would carry some version of tracking device. His durable dumb phone didn’t have that capability. So he now has his first smart phone (the phone formerly known as Suzi’s Galaxy S5.) Perhaps you know other youngish boomers who have made the choice of a dumb phone all the way to the year 2021. Perhaps not. We know at least one other couple who share one smart phone. If you’re puzzled why a person who can easily afford a smart phone would make that choice, join the club. But we are each wonderfully unique and Kevin sometimes prefers to rely on the technology of strangers. Being a bit of a hermit, surrounded by family members and work associates who assist him, it has worked out OK thus far. Also my brother Andy has labeled him Amish (no offense intended to actual Amish people; compliment or insult?)
So back to the topic of technology. GeoTracker is the app we’re using to track each other’s whereabouts. It’s free (surprise!) and has ads. So far it’s working fine for our purpose. For much of the trip, Kevin will have another adult riding with him, so we have backup for safety and also for tech competence.
The two things next most important for making this trip easy are cell service and electrical power. Though we move through some areas without cell service, we always have it for parts of the day, and we usually have it overnight. We have been in a few campgrounds without cell service and that is refreshing from time to time. But I wouldn’t want to be cut off from my loved ones for too long, and cell service helps us manage our home life while we’re on the road. I had little experience using my cell phone as a mobile hot spot for my computer. How easy that turns out to be!
The benefit of having Riley and Lauren with us for the first two weeks of the trip cannot be overstated. Though I am comfortable with tech and persistent in troubleshooting, there’s nothing better than having resident tech support. Riley is all that and a bridge player! He came prepared with tools for remote work and left a few of those tools with us for the rest of the trip.
Electricity – When we’re at a campground or RV Park with electrical hookup, it’s all easy. Plenty of electrical outlets in the trailer and Riley’s surge protector/power strip keep us running. Nights spent without hookups sometimes call for reinforcement. We have a generator in the pickup but have only used it once so far, to inflate an airbed for the tent (why suffer?) Riley and I discussed backup power and he brought a handy Jackery device, a rechargeable battery power system.
While I’m driving the truck from camp to camp, the reliable internal combustion engine recharges the truck battery, trailer batteries, phones and the Jackery. Well done, 18th and 19th century inventors!
Internet – Honestly, where would I be without email and Google? In the years spent imagining this trip, I eliminated as much of our snail mail as possible. So my email inbox allows me to keep our life on track, which mostly means banking and bill paying. Our other major uses of internet day to day are: evaluating the route/roads on the Adventure Cycling maps that Kevin is using, which sometimes means zooming in on Google Maps’ satellite images to see the road surfaces and shoulder for biking; finding and booking campgrounds and RV Parks at roughly 80 mile intervals; and writing this blog.
Finally, I want to give credit to our dear son Ballad who is another of my trusted assistants. There is no tech device to mow the lawn, check the mail, water the plants and love on sweet Roxy at home. And the bonus is that he invests time in feeding humor to us for our mental health. We love you, Ballad 💕
KEVIN – Rode I-94 for awhile after leaving Theodore Roosevelt National Park. After 17 miles, I rode Old Hwy 10 to the end. In Dickenson, I met some people at the Cenex station. After learning of my adventure, the clerk would not let me pay for my hot chocolate. I don’t think a woman has ever bought me a drink before.
By Dickenson, 30 miles in, my bike would not shift into my big chain ring. While trying to troubleshoot, I noticed my back tire. I had 40+ miles to go to get to camp and a replacement tire.
Suzi surprised me ~ 10 miles from camp on her bike. She had ridden downwind after starting without rain. By the time I reached her, she found the rain that I had been riding in and she turned back into the wind. She told me, “the headwind takes all the fun out of it.”
After my ride, I worked on my shifter and replaced the tire. Ready for tomorrow. Send me in, coach.
Kevin noticed his bare tire halfway through the ride today. Added excitement! New tire going on now.
SUZI – We spent last night at the Cottonwood Campground in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I had not known about this park before. Campsites were first come, first serve. We got there fairly early and had our choice of sites. By nightfall most sites were occupied. Several Montana Conservation Corps groups were camping, friendly young people. From our warm trailer, we watched one bison grazing across the river. Prairie dog towns are scattered around the park, and feral horses descended from ranch stock roam here. This morning I dropped Kevin in Medora to start his ride, then I poked around the visitor center before driving on to Hebron, MT.
Some people probably feel at home in country clubs. I feel at home in National Parks. Not surprising since I have been visiting them throughout my life. Each one is unique, of course, but also familiar, with the glossy colorful brochure to quickly educate me about my surroundings. Last night I read the brochure and newsletter. This morning I made a few stops for photos and to see what I could of the notable sights. This park was established in 1947 as a national memorial to President Roosevelt and to preserve his beloved Badlands. Roosevelt invested in the Maltese Cross Ranch in 1883 after coming to Dakota Territory to hunt bison. One year later, he became a cattle rancher in the area, but after three years, his herds were destroyed by drought and blizzards. The Maltese Cross Cabin was one of the sights I visited this morning.
“I have always said I never would have been President if it had not been for my experiences in North Dakota.” Theodore Roosevelt, 1918
P.S. My grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Elmenhorst Koos Determan, born in 1893, died in 1993, lived as a child in Dakota Territory. She traveled with her family by covered wagon to Oklahoma, where she raised 12 children, the youngest of whom was my mom, Rosie. I am so grateful for 32 years of memories of her strength, her laughter, and her love.
KEVIN – The payoff. Today the wind was 20 mph from the west and I was riding east. I was concerned that my maps had me riding on I-94 for several miles before turning to less traveled roads. However, I-94 has a big, clean shoulder and minimal traffic. When it came time to turn off the interstate, I thought “why?” I stayed on I-94 for 37 miles. My maps said today’s ride would be 81 miles. I chose the straight line instead.
SUZI – Makoshika State Park is just outside of Glendive, MT. This morning I rode my bike to and through the state park, stopped for some photos, and hiked a short trail to see a dinosaur fossil. “The park’s landscape is part of the late Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation. Over ten different dinosaur species have been discovered in Makoshika. Significant discoveries include a complete Triceratops horridus skull, the fossil remains of Edmontosaurus and Tyrannosaurus rex, and a nearly complete skeleton of the rare Thescelosaur.” https://fwp.mt.gov/stateparks/makoshika So that was actually awesome.
KEVIN – Another hole. I slept blissfully last night after looking at the weather prediction for today. I noticed, however, on our ride back to the starting point that the truck was quiet. It was quiet because we were driving with the wind. Last night’s prediction was wrong. I rode traveled 30 miles south to Circle with 23 mph wind gusting to 35, according to the magic rectangle. The wind was from the southwest. The gusts would blow me off my line several feet. I say traveled because I had to walk my bike in the ditch multiple times. We turned southwest at Circle and then the wind helped me.
Dave Wilson told me that the first part of my cross-country ride would be a physical challenge and then it would turn to mental. Today was both. We are happy to be in Glendive and to say goodbye to Montana tomorrow.
SUZI – Kept the truck/trailer close to Kevin again throughout his ride due to the wind. He climbed in for a short break and to check the weather forecast every 10 miles or so. I got several short walks with the added exercise value of wind resistance, as I trudged up and down the highway and around old buildings to take photos. I searched the internet and made a few phone calls, but there seem to be no campgrounds or RV parks with showers near Glendive, Montana. Kevin was having such a tough day that he made the call to book a hotel room tonight. It feels crazy spacious. We had pizza in town so the trailer got the night off.
Cycling with Kevin & Suzi 