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.