Truckin' it through North Dakota

Blessings were abound at the Sacred Heart Monastery! This past Monday we rode 100 miles to Richardton North Dakota! Finally, a new state. The terrain has been much of the same but we are excited to be making progress east.  

 A little information for those at home, The  Northern Tier has been re-routed due to oil development in the northern part of the state. Along with it there has been a huge increase in traffic, especially semi-trucks which we have seen on a daily basis.  The worst we encountered was through Dickinson. There was housing construction everywhere along with truck after truck fully loaded with who knows what. Luckily we made it out of there and were welcomed with open arms to the Sacred Heart Monastery! We arrived promptly at 6:30. Just minutes before we saw a group of three cyclists traveling west! Adam, Dana, and Andrea all met through "companions wanted"  on the adventure cycling website. Before the trip they didn't even know each other, but seemed to be the best of friends.   

Back to the monastery, Sister Renee showed us to our room and gave us a tour of the entire grounds. The monastery is very involved with stewardship. It has two wind turbines that have worked to provide clean energy since 1997 along with geothermal and natural gas the monastery was very up to date on clean efficient energy. Two green thumbs up! The place was beautiful, we could see all of the prairie valley. The changing color of the sky told us there  was a storm coming. We walked and talked, saw the llamas, and the sisters would not stop feeding us home made bread! I know, life's tough. We had a wonderful night and slept very well. The next morning we woke up and ate breakfast with the sisters. Chloe and I just adored them, sister Patti gave us a really nice card and sister Kathleen blessed us and our bicycles before we left. 

Unfortunately about ten minutes after leaving the safety of the monastery we found ourselves in a rain storm. (By the way I ran into Chloe while looking at the map. She was stopped at a stop sign putting on her rain coat. The wreck did more damage to me and my bum knee, I had to laugh to keep from crying. In the end I don't think enough holy water was splashed onto my bicycle.) The storm lasted   all day and really slowed our progress. After riding in the down pour for over two hours we took a break in a rest stop area. It turned out to be a nice break but we dreaded going back outside into the cold. However, I was looking forward to the warm showers host we contacted but wondering how will I ever get there?? Oh wait,  that's what I have legs and a bicycle for…  

So we waited for a break in the storm and got back in the saddle. A few more hours ticked by and just when I thought   I had enough there was Bob! He pulled over in his pickup  (I have learned there is apparently a difference between the words pickup and truck) and said "you must be the cyclists!" I cannot begin to explain how happy I was to see him. We made it to Bob and Kathy's house just outside of Bismarck. I was so relieved and happy to be inside for the rest of the storm.  

We showered and got ourselves cleaned up while Kathy made dinner. We ate a delicious pasta dinner with salad, cheese, and Kathy's homemade bread. Bob and Kathy were so much fun to visit with! They are both  avid cyclists and just finished a weekend touring around Turtle Mountain. After talking about bicycles, life, school, and traveling Kathy asked us if we would like some ice cream for dessert. I said " Kathy, I never turn down ice cream!" She also treated us to chokecherry syrup and homemade green tomato jelly! Delicious! Well what started out as one scoop for me slowly turned into three bowls... I couldn't help myself! In my defense it was a huge tub of ice-cream, Bob and Kathy would have never finished it on their own. I was merely helping. It's funny because the ice cream started to melt and Kathy finally said "well I better put this away, but don't worry if you want more it's just right here in the freezer." I honestly think she was afraid to take it away from me.  We  slept very well and are so grateful for our new friends! I hope everything goes well for Bob and Kathy, they are in the process of moving right now. After they get settled into their new place I'm sure it won't be long before they go on their own grand tour! 

Bismarck to Jamestown 102 miles. Tired. Slept next to the buffalo at the Frontier Village CG.  

Next day, Jamestown to Fargo. Another 107 miles. We took a break  halfway at a rest stop, a kind lady stopped to talk with us about our trip. She left and came back with $10 and said "here girls buy yourselves a treat later." So nice! Chloe was mapping and decided I-94 was to busy to stay on. She found an alternate County Road 10 for us to cycle on. It's strange how roads look so nice on a map but then you reach  them and find out they are just a gravel stretch of rock nothing! Chloe's favorite. Although I have to admit it made me laugh on  the inside that she chose this terrific terrain for us to cross. Only because earlier in the week  I took us through a gravel stretch of road so I could see a wetlands and bird refuge! She really enjoyed that detour.  Continuing on the dirt road was only 10 miles long. We finally reached Fargo at 3:00 p.m and had plenty of time to walk downtown and explore the city! A great way to end our day.   

Next up Minnesota!  

Thanks for keeping up with us!  

-Hannah