Day 4

A spectacular day. As usual we were on the road but 7:45 under bright blue, clear skies. This changed by noon with the arrival of overcast and occasional showers. The temperature plunged from 80 to 52. However, none of this could suppress the grandeur of North Dakota. It must be experienced. In the east are plains and as far as the eye can see, 15-20 miles, is agriculture. Ever inch of arable land is being utilized. This is good and bad. On the one hand, it suggest prosperity and growth. On the other, it suggest peak production. As demand for produce increases, as it must over the next 5 years, where will it come from? Nonetheless, it was uplifting to see America at work as it used to be. Activity and expansion everywhere.

In the west, the Black Hills, are show surprising oil and gas production activity. From Rt 2, I counted no less than 20 new wells being drilled. This was exciting as we have heard nothing on this activity at home. Each site consumes about 100 yards square. Picture two football fields “side by each”. The farming goes right up to this boundary. Within the site area, the topsoil has been removed, which has stored at a central site, and replaced with a red “clay , which either soaks up oil or repels it. Regardless of the actual process, the result is to permit quick, inexpensive and safe clean up of any spills. Wgen the bobbing bird head pump is finally installed, the clay is removed, the top soil replaced and the farmer works the field right up to the edge of the pump. No waste. Win-win. And, they haven't incurred the risk of pushing through 5000 feet of water to start drilling. It was inspiring and really uplifting just to see the activity and know that something is being no matter how small.

So, despite the flat straight road in the east, it was a wonderful site to see the many new grain silos and some of our old friends. I say that because as we drove through Duluth, Grand Rapids and Grand Forks to get to North Dakota, I remembered it all from 1957, when my mother drove my sister, my brother and I “out west”. The road is much improved and has been moved. The “upside” down bridge that was so fascinating in Duluth, because the steel “arch” had been cut in half and flipped over to form a peak in the middle of the span instead of the usual crescent, is still there but unused and seen only from a grand new, and quite attractive, conventional, steel bridge that dodges down town. Grand Rapids, which I remember as so large is smaller than Waterville, Maine but the paper mill is new and at least as big as all of the old Scott plant. I don't know if it is just that I was smaller and a farm boy or if parts of Grand Rapids have just been taken away.

Who would have though that 53 years later I would retrace the route to the only summer vacation we ever had and one I so fondly remember. More important, now I can appreciate what my mother tried to get a 13 year old to understand about this country. This may be your only chance to see it, she would say. Then, I remember, much of Route 2 was still dirt and poorly marked. More than once we ended up in somebody's tractor road running their corn field until we could be redirected to the “highway”. It is a tough ride today! Think of it with a thirty something mother and three young children. But it worked and I'm glad to be retracing some of that summer again.

Back in North Dakota, we stumbled upon the geographic center of North Ameriica, which figured prominently in a quirky but good book about how all the “gods” of the immigrants to America, like the pixies, gargoyles, faeries, Thor, the banshee, etc. were all dieing because nobody believed in them any more. The new gods of computers, X-Boxes, cell phones, etc. were drawing the people away. A great, last stand battle between the old and the new was staged at the geographic center of North America. And, what do you know, there it was. I took Bruce's picture there and he mine and then we beat the crap out of each other just for the sake of the story!!!

One can't help but be impressed with North Dakota. The speed limit on Route 2 is 70, which doens't hurt and there are few traffic lights but, lots or really funny looking vehicles for farm, oil or gas production.

We should make Shelby or further tomorrow!

Oh! we did have one delay but it was short, my key would not go in the bike. I used some Shaklee anti-aging face cream on the tip of the key and whacked the handlebars a couple of times, and it was as good as new. That stuff really works.

An update or two. My health is good. I do leak and have had to rely on Maxi pads. But they work. It's just too much for the AMS 800 (look it up) to handle all the seat shifting to keep my butt from getting too sore. The yoga has nearly eliminated all back and shoulder blade pain. Yahoo! But, the California incident has taken a greater toll on my left knee and shoulder that I thought. The knee cap has been damaged and lets me know about it if I hold it in one position too long. With luck, it is just a bruise under the cap and it will pass. My left collar bone was dislocated in the fall. But, during my high speed yoga, it generates a great deal of pain and snapping noises at the arm end and maybe I broke something. The temperature changes of today were excruciating!! I try to keep it stable and maybe that is all it needs.

The minimalist high tech “fitness” shirts and pants I got work great. They stay clean, can be rinsed out at night and keep me warm or cool depending on need. A good gamble that has paid off in saved gas and may pay for itself before the end of the trip. I get slightly better mileage, despite my greater person weight, because of the lightness of my “pack”.