Day 40

69 Miles
I woke up and strangely went and got breakfast prior to packing up.Spiders left me a piece of art that I was sad about destroying. It captured my morning beautifully.
I sat and ate as I watched people hurry out of their hotel rooms, packing up their cars and speeding off to wherever they needed to be next. I didn't envy them. I was developing a real affection for traveling slowly. I liked seeing things that people would never see racing by at 70 mph. My meager 10 mph suited me just fine.
I packed up and headed out. I was on US-2. This would be my tires' home the next week or two. My route only diverted from it on occasion. This was actually very helpful, because I was approaching a 100 mile stretch where I would not be assisted by maps. I had been following the ACA Northern Tier route. I would soon be jumping on the ACA Lewis and Clark route. I didn't bother buying a map to link the two routes. I figured I could manage it just fine without one. I discovered that this was very possible, all I had to do was stay on US-2.
My morning ride started with an eight mile stretch of construction. The westbound lanes were closed and westbound traffic was diverted to the eastbound side of the road. This created a two-lane cone divided highway with minimal to no shoulder. I tried to ride it for a short bit. But less than half a mile in some jerk in a truck towing an RV beeped and forced me off the road. I was pissed. All the side roads were rough gravel and would add lots of extra miles. As it was Saturday, the westbound lanes were empty of construction workers. The torn up pavement and muddy construction zone seemed like a safer way to travel than being driven off the road. I rode around.the barricades and through the sand and dirt piles. Occasionally I had to get off the bike and walk it around obstacles. Still it was much better than the danger of riding on the road.
After the construction the shoulder was mostly wide and usable. I noticed an increase number of trucks and tankers on the roads. I stopped at each town I came to for a brief rest.
I rolled into Minot expecting to find a campground fairly easily. But as I rolled into town I came to a huge traffic jam. Apparently it was the week of the state fair. North Dakotans don't seem to take their state fair lightly. I got friends on the case of finding a place to stay. I also began just riding around trying to find somewhere. Everywhere was completely booked up.
I made my way out of town. I figured if worse came to worse I would just wild camp somewhere. Drivers were very unfriendly and I was flipped off more than once. I don't know if they were just pricks or if it was the excitement of the state fair. I found a KOA and even though my friend had called and been told it was booked up, I figured I would try to get a site anyway. I played the nowhere else to go card quite pathetically. But I did end up with an RV site. I paid more than I wanted to, but a shower and peace of mind were worth the money.
The owner came and talked to me. She talked about other cyclists who had stayed. She told me most of them were traveling west to east. And all of those cyclist said the mountains were easier than the plains. Man I hope so. I slept soundly.