Day 44

114 Miles
We started our day by waking up at 6. Although I think I was awake before that. The cold made it hard to stay asleep for very long. We all got up and packed up our gear. We headed to a convenience store. I bought food and they ate cereal and powdered milk. I was looking forward to learning lots from Oak and Lily. They used a backpacker sensibility in their travels. I knew I was about to learn lots from them and the thrifty way they traveled. I washed up in the store's bathroom. Oak and Lily chatted to some locals about what was ahead. They warned us of the upcoming reservations, saying they were rough places and that we shouldn't stay in one particular town called Poplar. We all dismissed this as prejudices against the poorer communities on the reservation.
We were on the road by 7:30. This was super great for me, and apparently pretty stellar for Oak and Lily as well.
The ride was hilly, but they were fun hills. The climbs were gracious and the descents enjoyable. We stopped about 20 miles into the ride and ate again. The next portion of the road took us through Williston, ND. We stopped at a grocery store and bought supplies. I enjoyed the socialization even though I was still being quite reserved and shy.

From Lily's blog

Our next stop was at a casino on the Montana border. it was only 1:30. But Mountain Time gave us another hour. It was now only 12:30, midday. We had so much day ahead of us. We rested in the shade of the only tree around. We filled our water and ate. We talked about lots of things. We talked about our bikes. They told me the names of theirs. I told them that I still didn't know my bike's name. But I was still hoping it would tell me it's name soon.
We rode through construction. We were not limited like the cars waiting in the long lines were. We breezed through waving at the construction workers as they paved the highway.
We stopped every 20 miles or so and ate. I was impressed with myself and my pace. I think I will enjoy riding companions. With each stop came more admonitions not to stay in Poplar. We were all still a bit in disbelief that it could really be that bad.
We caught a really good tailwind as the afternoon pressed towards evening. My pace was near 16 mph, I was guessing Oak's was 17 mph and Lily's over 19 mph. We were approaching 100 miles when we stopped at a very tiny town on one of the reservations. Lily who always was miles ahead of me was offered a place to stay at the local church. She told the person who offered she would have to wait to see what Oak and I wanted to do. Oak was gung ho about moving on. I was too. I wanted to hit that century mark. Poplar was about 20 miles away and at the pace we were going all day, and with that terrific tailwind we didn't want to waste any opportunity to push ahead. We were talking to one local woman who urged us to stay there instead of "stab city", which is apparently what they like to call Poplar. We decided to push ahead anyway.
We rode together, no one pulling too far ahead. We kept great pace. The road was dotted with what seemed like hundreds of crosses. This seemed like a very deadly stretch of highway.
As we pedaled into Poplar together we could see that poverty was an issue. It was more sad to me than scary. We stopped at a sub and burger shop. We ordered food and sat and ate. Oak and Lily asked if there was a place we could camp. Even if Poplar they told us not to stay there. Lucky for us a man overheard the conversation. The man, Tracy, called up a friend who had a shop outside of town where we might be able to set up camp. It was arranged and after eating we followed the directions to Donovan's shop.
The shop was a scrap yard with cars, machinery and even an old bus. We were delighted with the free place to stay. Both Tracy and Donovan stopped by to see how we were doing. They were both so friendly and helpful. They told us that Poplar used to be a nice place but that after 2 am when the place is a different town. It was a sad tale. But our tale for the day was happy.
Lily and I both set up our tents. Oak who just uses a tarp scoped out the machinery. He settled on sleeping in the cab of the truck.
We settled in and slept soundly after our epic 114 mile day. I was proud of myself. And new friends made me happy.

Day 43

40 miles

I woke up and wanted more sleep, more time off. But I was behind. I knew I needed to press on. My joints were better but still achy. My night's conversation stuck in my head. I headed out after a calcium rich breakfast.
I was without a map, but knew I just needed to follow route 2 until I reached the place where my next map started. The wind made my travel slow. The winds must have been 15mph or more. This made my pedaling slow to 5-7mph most of the day. The hills weren't very difficult, at least until I deviated off route, taking old US-2 which was slightly North of my route. I  encountered a fierce hill which took a great deal out of my already strained body.It took me much longer to climb the lofty hill than it should have.
I did get to encounter some of North Dakota's most beautiful scenery. The landscape was grassy hills with badland like rocks jutting from their peaks. I ran into a few farms along the way. Maybe they were more along the line of ranches though. I came to a field with a beautiful little lake in it. The water appeared so blue. Upon closer inspection and lengthy viewing I realized that the beautiful blue waters weren't waters at all. The lake was a blue violet patch of clovers. This was confirmed by the bees swarming about. I was in awe. It was gorgeous. The hill was worth the lake of clovers.

My detour brought me back to route 2 and its trucks and traffic. Hours had passed and I had barely traveled 35 miles. I stopped at the next town Ray, ND. I was exhausted. The wind was killing me. I ate at a convenience store near a overturned tanker. I talked to one of the firemen. I asked him if there was camping. He pointed to a place just about a block away. I thanked him and scoped it out.
It was a park and dam area. There were RV's parked around the outer part of the park. I didn't see any information or any bathrooms. I eventually saw a man outside of one of the RV's. I asked him about fees and where to set up camp. He told me it was by donation (sweet!) and pointed to the box to put my donation. He told me I could set up anywhere. I stuffed some change and a dollar in the box.
I found a pavilion surrounded with lawn and tall bushes around the lawn. I thought it was a good spot. I set up camp. The man came over and talked to me. His name was Ike. He was from Colorado and was working as a roughneck. The oil boom brought roughnecks from all over. He told me he all about drilling for oil and fracking. I told him of my trip. He told me he'd make me a burger later. He was off to a bar to have "one drink". I started to wonder what I should get for dinner. I wasn't going to rely on dinner.
I headed up to a little diner/ice cream shop. I ordered a grilled cheese. As I walked out I saw two cyclists pull into the diner lot. I smiled and the girl of the pair looked at me kind of curiously. I against my shy nature walked back. I greeted them and asked where they were staying. She asked if I was a cyclist too. I said yes and she told me she didn't know where they were staying. I told them where I was staying and pointed out how to get there. She thanked me and I  headed back.
My grilled cheese was delicious.

pic from lily's blog

It wasn't long before the cyclists found me. They set up near me. And we sat and chatted. Lily was an Australian and Oak, a Canadian. Oak was on his way home for harvest. Lily was on a cross continental trip that started in NYC. She was heading toward Seattle. I told of my travel plans. Lily suggested I ride with her through the Rockies and hit the coastal waters in Washington instead of Oregon. As we were all traveling the same direction for a few days I decided I would ride with them for a day or two. The echo of my friend's words about staying north resonated with me. I was definitely going to consider heading toward Washington instead. The idea of company through the mountains was rather appealing.
Ike showed back up inebriated. I was glad I had company now. He did make me the burger as promised though. It was quite good, albeit overcooked. Ike wished me well.
I settled in for the night. My new friends and I agreed to get up early and ride as many miles as possible. They had been pushing out 90-100 mile days. I was anxious to pump out some high mileage days after the let down of the days mileage.
I took awhile to fall asleep. The air and ground were cold. Eventually my body in all its exhausted strain succumbed to sleep.

Day 41 & 42

Day 41
60 Miles
I didn't rush myself in the morning. I was on the road at an acceptable time for me. There was plenty of traffic out of Minot. Still too much state fair testosterone as guys from their pickup trucks yelled for me to get off the road. One shouted loudly informing me that I had ruined his life. I smiled and waved shouting out that I did what I could.
I searched for a dollar store. I wanted a cheap radio. I was tired of the folk and children's songs that plagued my mind. I couldn't get a pop song stuck in my head for the life of me. It was torture. My phone had music on it. And I listened to it when I could, but I tried to save battery for calls, texts, and pictures. There are pluses and minuses to having a do-all device. I didn't find a dollar store that wouldn't require me to go out of my way extensively. I rode on.
I spent a good hour at a very busy convenience store. I listened to people go on about the state fair. I talked with a woman and pet her two dogs. She had come from Ohio. She was driving all of US-2. I was going to be riding it for the next several days.
The ride was up and down, rolling hills. The wind wasn't bad, mostly cross winds. It was even at my back a time or two. I was mesmerized by the winds sweeping on the prairie grasses. I barely noticed the miles fly by watching the grass and the wind rippling across it. It appeared like sunlight reflecting on gently swirling waters.
As I moved further on US-2 the oil drilling traffic increased. Tankers, dump trucks that more resembled barges on wheels whizzed by me every few minutes. The scenery was dotted with drilling towers and trucks. There were flare stacks and the smell of oil and gases burning filled my nose.

When I stopped people talked of little else but the oil boom in the region. This created issue at the end of my day. Campgrounds, hotels, all kinds of lodgings were filled up and catering to the oil field workers.Melissa looked up online for town camping. She found something but the directions were nonexistent. I eventually asked around the town of Stanley. I happened to ask a man who just that same day had directed two other cyclists to a town campground. The man told me to stop at his restaurant the next morning. I thanked him and made my way to the campground.
The campground was next to the courthouse and the train tracks, of course. I have come to believe all campgrounds are next to the rails. I greeted the other cyclists and set up camp in the special tent area. After setting up they invited me to sit with them. They were a couple from New Zealand. They were making their slow way east. Shaymus and Joan talked with me about my upcoming route. They told me some alternate southernly routes I could take and places to stay to avoid the very heavy oil traffic. We chatted for some time. Eventually my very tired muscles and joints caused me to retire. I wished them well and settled into my tent.

Day 42
5 miles (only around town)
I heard Shaymus and Joan leave in the morning. I contemplated getting up and setting off. It had been almost 2 weeks again since I had taken a day off. My body begged me for more sleep. I slept in for hours. I decided I would just spend another night here.
I looked ahead and planned my next few days. I showered. I ate tacos at the restaurant of my previous day's direction giver. I was full. The tacos were huge. I explored the small town. I found  some amusing items. It wasn't like most carbon copies of towns that I had come across. The only pharmacy was a local one. There were no chain stores. Everything was local. The quaintness brought with a sense of traveling back in time. I pedaled into a time warp, a time before Walmart ruined small towns everywhere. This was heightened by the amusing oddities I found stocking the shelves of the shops. I bought some soap and food and went back to my tent after my exploring. I slept more. I showered twice. It felt good after the sticky heat stuck to me all day.
Since the campground was so cheap and more of donation than a fee, I cleaned up the garbage and debris laying around the campsites. It was my good deed for the day. And it was a nice little town. I felt it was just a small fee to pay for the rest I was awarded during my day off.
I was in bed early after watching the moon rise big over the campground. I was awoken a bit into my sleep. A friend whom I hold very dear and shares with me a strong connection text me. He said to me that I needed to stay north. I was confused by this. He told me he had a dream. Trusting him I told him I would do what I could but that I wasn't sure how plausible it would be with my planned route. I told him I would keep him posted.
I settled into sleep.