Ride Across the USA: 7/8/10, Thurs, Binford to Page, ND-- 59 mi/ 1684 total

Kirk standing on the door that flies open when a missile would be launched.


I would really hate to have to go down this hole for real -- command post for this site was 20 miles away


Marcus and Patrick from Vermont. Yes, they warned us about what we have to look forward to riding in the East.


An outdoor shower is better than no shower at all!


Planning session and where we were going to camp next. Happy birthday to Hazel!



Is this what you call a "drowning" farmer? All sorts of old equipment/cars for what? Stop the water???


Mitch and Ryan from Chicago .... I'm on the phone with Denny Brass.

No flat tires for Kirk today so hopefully we have solved the problem. A day of road constructsion with pilot cars which can be interesting on a bicycle. At Cooperstown we met father/son Mitch and Ryan from Chicago who are riding to Connecticut. East of Cooperstown is November-33, a minuteman missile site which has been inactive since 1998. Further down the road we met brothers Patrick and Marcus from Vermont, heading to Washington state. We are fixing Hazel supper tonight since today is her birthday and we have cupcakes for her cake. Page is a town of only 300 but they have a place to camp, no showers so we used our outdoor one.

Ride Across the USA: 7/7/10, Wed. -- Rugby to Binford, ND -- 60 mi/ 1625 total

They still dig for water (irrigation) in ND along with the oil



Many areas of marsh along the way. This was just down the road from the boys digging for water

Our view as we stopped for lunch

Trying to find the source of the flat tires. That is 3 flats for Kirk since we started the ride.

No problem putting camper top down so this day started great! Kirk was airing tires and found his front flat, fixed it and we were on our way by 8:20. Detour was not bad, only added a couple of miles, but the seams in the road after that were terrible. I spent most of the time standing on one leg to help ease the blows. We saw no other bikers today and not much traffic since we are off hwy 2. About 5 mi from Binford we stopped for a quick break, ready to take off again and Kirk's front tire is flat again. Once we were at the city park we were able to find a small wire in his tire that was causing the tube to leak. Only cost $10 to camp with a full hook-up and they furnish the towels. Nice touch and this is a small community. Kirk was able to find the right tubes at the local hardware store. Jerry was happy, he had coffee with the good 'ol boys.

Ride Across the USA: 7/6/10 - Rugby to SE of Devil's Lake, ND -- 78 mi/ 1565 total

Supposedly they have "built up" the road to keep it from flooding ....


Duane says they can dredge some adjoining lakes that would take care of the problem.


All I know is, pedal faster and get out of here quick!



What was supposed to be a 54-59 mi day ballooned due to flood detours and road construction. Gusting wind, some of it off-side tailwind, then head wind and then cross, trying to blow us off the road. Bright spot of the day, I was able to get a haircut at Leeds. Lots of rock trucks and half the roads were terrible with wide seams. Devil's Lake is huge, 14 wide x 40 long and its over-flowing. We stayed at "Duane's" off Hwy 20 and it is a good thing as he helped us fix the camper. Blew a fuse when we messed up trying to raise the top. It is fixed, good shower, good goulash and good night.

Ride Across the USA: 7/5/10 -- Minot to Rugby, ND -- 66 mi/ 1487 total

You stop for lunch wherever you can .... not the quietest of places but we were definitely out of the way.


Arlete and I working on the computers in our "home"


Rugby, ND -- the Geological Survey center of North America!


Jay Jay's patriotic haircut



One of the best rides with nice farms to look at and good roads. Rode hard to beat the rain and met Arlete Hodel and Dick Skaug, real touring veterans. They came over to visit, she has a blogsite and helped me get going with mine. Then we met Jay Jay Lee Fulton, VN vet who is on the cross-continent wheelchair race. The sheriff's department had paid for his hotel room due to the storm. J and H took him to Devil's Lake the next day.

Ride Across the USA: 7/3/10 -- Ross to Minot, ND -- 74 mi/ 1421 total

John & Valerie with the triplets, Deirdre, Ian and Zara. Took them out of school a month early so they could go on this adventure. They are headed to Washington, DC due to time constraints of getting kids back for school this fall.



Canola field with a huge bug in it

Hazel allows herself a little bottle of wine everyday, so once it is gone it is Jerry's job to refill the little bottle.

Why not Minot??? A rough night trying to sleep as a camper going down the highway blew a tire and woke us up. Then at 2:30 another storm hit, so we went to the basement again. We stay dry but the wind always bugs me. Ross is a few people bigger than Sharpsburg and the CG is full of oil workers. The town doesn't have adequate room, water supply or sewers and they are scrambling to rectify. This area is a mess because of all the activity and I was glad to get away from it. We were on the phone talking when a family of 5 came up behind us........after talking to them, we realize how easy we have it on this trip. Got in early today so did laundry, took naps, etc. At 9:30 it was still so light out you could sit outside & read.

Ride Across the USA: 7/2/10 -- Williston to Ross, ND -- 67 mi/ 1347 total

Field of edible peas in bloom


Some of the oil rigs belching their smoke

The yellow fields are canola and it is just beautiful to see next to the green

LH side shows fire burning off waste/bad oil

The blue field is flaxseed

What a storm we had last night -- we turned the weather radio on and it said 40 - 60 mph winds, take cover, etc. So we moved to the basement which is the floor of the camper. The Williston area is considered a "wildcat area" because of the oil boom going on. CG's are full of the mean working there & nicknamed "man towns". This area was not ready for this and people compare it to the goldrush of California. Trucks everywhere and everyone always in a hurry plus the prices on everything is higher. The wages are good but you will have 4 guys living in a camper trying to save $$. Kirk had his 1st flat tire of the trip about 30 min. out. Couldn't patch, so went to the spare. After 3 patches not working, called J and H to go get a tube and bring it to us. It was after 10:30 b/4 we got started again -- like I said, it is crazy trying to get around in this mess.

Ride Across the USA: 7/1/10 -- Brockton to Williston, ND -- 70 mi/ 1280 total

This was supposed to be the 4th picture, so mentally put it there



SE of Brockton on a backroad


Gary & Deb Griffeth from Alaska with their nephew, Jeremia

Leo and Stephanie Woodland from Montreal, British/French citizens going from NY to WA and then the Canadian Rockies.

So here is a skunk.........

and then a prairie dog.........

and then a snake ...........

but we have road ID bracelets to help identify us! I left out the deer, rabbit, fox and pork-up-pine.

Can it be? We are actually out of Montana. Sorry for my weird humor, but the scenery was all becoming the same. Had terrible road construction to go through at Bainville today and it is still hot. How hot? We stopped to get a cold drink and when we came out my computer screen had a big black spot on it and wouldn't work. It was frying in the heat. After riding for a while, the wind cooled it off and it started working again. Stayed on the north edge of Williston and the campground advertised trees ........ there were a few on the outskirts of the CG but no where else.