Vegas in Minot

Howdy folks --
Today has turned into a most definite "False Start." After celebrating Kelly's birthday for the fourth time, we packed our bags and sadly pulled out of the "Little Vegas" Motel and rode into the rain to continue our unfinished business at the Minot State University Library. We needed to blog. Badly. In a sort of rainy day, cold weather, windy conditions, slight tickle behind the eyeballs way. Yup. We were dragging. And as it turns out, we don't think we will actually make it out of Minot today. Lets just call this one a "do-over" free day. Only one permitted per bike trip. We just used ours up. So soon, after the blogging ritual, we will pedal back up the hill, past the airport, and into our $40 per night hotel, complete with a pair of dice painted on the pool floor. It is our first hotel stay so far -- not too shabby.

Anyway --

Five nights ago we were kicking it in Glasgow, Montana. We pulled in early and decided it would be a good idea to watch a movie. Robin Williams, in all his hairy glory, provided great afternoon entertainment in the film, RV. Turned out that the only other person in the whole theater was a bike enthusiast as well as the wife of the local Civic Center Director (as well as proud mother of nine boys!!) We got to pitch our tents in the park, right next to the pool, and sneak in the back door of the civic center for bathrooms and showers. It was great. Thanks Kathy and Dennis! The other thing that was great about Glasgow was the deal at Albertson's. Four cinnamon rolls for a buck. We definitely spent five dollars on cinnamon rolls that day.

The next morning we pulled out of Glasgow at an early 8:45 am with the intent of finding a nice place to camp some 60 miles down the way. The wind was at our backs, the heat simmered down, and the landscape was beautiful; especially the bluffs carved by the Missouri River. (picutures soon to be posted) Of course there would be a nice place to pull out along the way, right? Wrong. The reservation around Poplar and Wolf Point was slightly less than wholesome and so we just kept on pedaling until we landed in Culbertson, MT -- 115 miles down the road from where we started for the day. (fyi: that is a lot of miles) By the time we finally landed everything was closed, save for the gas station/convenience store. The only food they had to offer was chocolate milk, Mac and Cheese, and four "freshly" fried paper dishes full of "jo-jo" fries. That was our dinner. Well, that and our daily mens' multi-vitamin. (those take place of salads)

We bumped into a guy named Dan who had been riding alone since St. Louis, MO. Great guy, super cool, worked for Boeing, blinder than a bat, told great stories -- just a real nice guy. Yup, couldn't see a damn thing. Macular Degeneration had lost him his driver's license some twenty years ago and so he took to riding his bicycle instead. He was headed to meet an Adventure Cycling group in Great Falls, MT to continue on the Lewis and Clark path all the way to Astoria, Oregon. Keep on spinning, Dan!

Every day we are blown away by the friendliness of totaly random people. As Mark and Kelly were headed to the grocery store that morning in Culbertson, a woman with a beautiful, 100 lb. St. Bernard named Dolly invited us in for breakfast. All four of us. The woman and her husband had a farm outside of town and liked chatting with people that camped in the park across the street from their home. They take in foster children from the nearby reservation and love the children like their own. Let it be known that there is a special place in heaven for Jim and Evelyn, of Culbertson, MT. Turns out she was an alumnus of Elizabeth's school, Bellarmine Prep, in Tacoma, WA. She fell in love with a Montana boy and got dragged away from her home state and never looked back. Hum.... sounds familiar. Montana boy, Tacoma girl.

Off to Williston for a home stay with Jan Joseph, quite possibly the coolest woman in the world (aside from our respective mothers, of course). We called her up the morning of and were welcomed with open arms to a beautiful home and two amazing dogs. George and Annie. English Pitbulls. We needn't say more.













Our stay with Jan was wonderful -- it was a great opportunity to do laundry, rest our legs, eat well, and for Kelly and Jan some time to catch up on things. The best thing about these dogs was their personality, or complete inability to supress their personality. They were like dealing with slighltly autistic two-year old boys. Especially George. While we sat down to eat dinner the table constantly shook due to the dogs "playing" below. Because of their very high tolerance
for pain, nice playing quickly goes back and forth between gnawing on limbs/faces/sandals/waterbottles and drooling. What delights.

The next day we pulled out from Jan's and headed on down to New Town, ND. It was a long day with heavy headwinds and side winds full of not-so blissful work and tons of heat. When we landed in New Town, we decided to move on a few more miles down the road to a bar known as the Scenic 23. New Town was slightly more wholesome than Poplar and we didn't feel entirely awesome about camping in the city park. So why not go down the highway another seven miles and camp behind a bar in the middle of no where!? Much safer. We enjoyed a few cold Pabst Blue Ribbons, listened to some Kenny Chesney on the juke box, and then happily settled down behind the bar. (in our tents, after brushing our teeth, of course). Shout out to Clayton, Gail, that kid on the sweet bike, Faith and her friend, and the Catholic Grocery Store Family (pop. 36).

The next morning was our final push before a day (or two...) off. We pushed through 20 mph winds for five and a half hours, making slightly more than 60 miles of progress. All of us were definitely ready for a break. As we pulled into town, Caleb and Kelly picked up a new set of panniers at the local UPS Store. The original panniers were not doing so well and after a call or two with our friends at Detours Panniers, we had an entirely new set waiting for us, ready to ride. What great folks. From there we headed staight to the Gold Star China Buffet. Nine bucks a person, all you can eat, China buffet and Mongolian Grill. We were happier than pigs in mud. Each of us consumed at least five times the recommended amount of chinese buffet-style food alloted per year. The only real trouble with the whole deal was the three-mile ride, up hill, to the little slice of heaven called The Vegas. Oh man, that was a painful ride. But so worth it. It hurt so good. Fourty bucks a night, soft beds, and a shower. Kelly took two showers that night. Just because he could.

Well, it is officially 1:30 pm here in Minot and we haven't made it too far. Perhaps a movie and one more night in the motel would be of order. So much for our well intended goals of leaving by 7:30 am. Oh well.

Tomorrow we will have the camera cord and be able to put up pictures, so have no fear, the great snap shots are near.

Until next time --

Kelly, Elizabeth, Mark, and Caleb over and out