Creeping Remodelitis

The painting is done! Well, almost. I decided to extend the color to my downstairs stairwell, and I have only put one coat on there so far. I got all the masking stuff taken down, and there are a couple of spots that I will need to touch up, but…. I need a break! Sick of the smell of paint, and my wrist is sore.

Meanwhile, I seem to have contracted creeping remodelitis. I’ve now decided I need new lighting fixtures for my kitchen. And, ergo, probably for my office, too. Today I ordered two fixtures from Plow and Hearth that promise to “easily” convert the two recessed fixtures in my kitchen to cool mini-pendants. Then I think I’ll start shopping for a nice pendant light to hang over my table.

Also decided I need new switchplates and outlet covers, as the brass-look ones I have don’t go with the new stainless cabinet hardware, and they’re cheap corroding things anyway. Started looking on-line, and man, for anything but the most standard ivory plastic (which I may yet go with) they’re $15-$20 each. So, I got this bright idea to try using the Sculpy clay I have had in the back in my pantry for about 10 years.Made one nice terracotta-looking switchplate, a couple more in the oven. Not sure how they'll hold up, but I like the look of the terracotta against my new sage green walls, nicely offset by the brick-red flooring.

Too tired to move all my stuff back into place tonight. Once I clean up a bit, I'll post pictures.

Tired of this project...

OK, I admit, I'm tired of this project. Ready to be done.

Now working on painting. After about a dozen sample swatches on my kitchen wall, I started painting "Clay Pot", basically a terra cotta, in my office. I wanted to finish the office before Leslie and Dave came down for Christmas so they could help me move my file cabinet, which weighs about a half-ton, back into place. So, I got the room done in time but am not crazy about the color. I guess it's OK for that room but I don't want to extend it into the hallway and kitchen. So, back to the paint store for another half-dozen samples, this time in gray-greens. Finally settled on "Saybrook Sage", back to the paint store to have them mix me up two gallons.

Come home all set to paint. Oh wait, I have to mask off all the trim, mask around the ceiling, wash the walls, take down the pictures and pull the nails, protect the new floor, take down the phone, knock down the cobwebs, protect the new countertop and sink, move everything off of the countertop, remove switchplates. Oh, and move the dang refrigerator. I got everything done but that last one before collapsing into chair with beer and crackers. Onward, tomorrow.

I'm floored!

Before -- All the cabinets were this ugly brown color. The drawers were plastic and falling apart.

New flooring, new drawers and hardware, newly painted cabinets, new countertops

New sink

The new flooring is in, and it looks fabulous!

Sadly, that's not the end, yet. When they went to reinstall my bathroom sink, uh-oh, there was weird non-standard plumbing on the drain, that won't go back in correctly. So, my sink is sitting out on my porch awaiting further attention.

I got up this morning ready and raring to move all of my furniture back into my office and kitchen, but... I told the installers not to re-install the parts of the baseboard which had never had any finish applied, as I want to finish them first. Too cold to do this outside, so at the present time my office floor is covered with a blue tarp and assorted pieces of baseboard. My kitchen table is still in my living room, covered with a rat's nest of computer-related wiring and printers while my office furniture waits out on the patio.

Also, I need to buy, finish, and install some quarter-round where the new vinyl butts up against the base of the countertops.

And then repaint the walls.

And here are a couple of bonus pictures...

A nice winter day at the beach

Where Sabrina spends the winter

I am WOMAN, hear me roar!

My new countertops, sink, and faucet are IN!

It took me several hours of sweating and swearing to remove my kitchen sink prior to the countertop installation, but I did it. After several more hours of trying to remove the old caulking from the sink, Leslie, bless her heart, suggested that I should just buy a new sink and new faucet too, while I'm at it. So off I went to Lowe's and did just that. Found a knowledgeable guy (IMHO, Lowe's has a lot more of these than Home Depot) who set me up with everything I needed. Well, almost everything....

On the 2nd trip to Lowe's, I got the part that was missing from the faucet, extra connections to connect the 3/8" faucet to my 1/2" water supply (thanks to Dave for advising me to check on that!), and waste connections with threads that actually matched the sink traps'.

This morning I got up all set to install the sink. But first, I'll slide my stove back into place, a 60-second job, right? 2 hours of getting it in place and levelled, and finally it's there.

Now I'm ready for the sink. Off to the hardware store (trip#3) to get caulk, then back home to apply it and put the sink in place. Now under the sink to apply the clips that torque it down...oh, now that I have the granite on top of my old countertops, the screws that came with the sink aren't long enough. Back to the hardware store (trip#4) and, with only an hour or so of further fuss, the sink is in!

Now for the faucet. I've already done some pre-assembly of the faucet, so all that remains is to drop it into place and hook up the water lines. The hell you say. This would've been much easier, I think, if I had had someone to hold the faucet on top of the sink while I tried to tighten it down underneath. But, too impatient to wait for help, I struggled long enough to finally get it in.

Now to connect the drains. Hacksaw off a bit here, a bit more there, finally everything more or less fits. Except that I have a minor drip from the p-trap. This, I can live with for now.

At last it's time to connect the water! Drip, drip, tighten, tighten, drip, drip, tighten, tighten. At last no drip.

In addition to new countertops, I now have a beautiful goose-neck faucet with detachable sprayer head, shiny new sink with built-in soap dispenser.

Let's see, I started this project at 9 this morning, it's now 6pm. Maybe a plumber could've done it faster, but I did it! I did it!

Next step: Move all the furniture out of kitchen and office in preparation for new floor installation next Tuesday. Stay tuned....

Progress...

Today I put my deposit down and scheduled the installation for my new kitchen countertops. I am going with Granite Transformations, with installation on December 8th! Woohoo!

Although I am sticking with the flooring color I picked several posts ago, I am still waiting on two more quotes as the first one seemed a bit high. Hopefully that will happen later this week.

My new drawers are all painted, and this morning I finished installing the drawer pulls.... in the dark, wearing my headlamp, as we had our first big windstorm of the season last night. The power went off about 8pm and didn't come back on until 10 this morning. Since I have heat that is totally electricity-free, and a campstove to heat water for coffee, this is not a big problem. Except that I only had whole beans....briefly considered grinding them with mortal and pestle... but power came back before I was really desperate. Note to self: Keep a supply of pre-ground coffee beans in the winter!

Another fantasy, shot to hell...

Countertops. Even though I only have 29 SF of countertop, the bid for laminate came in for 64 friggin' SF, because they have to use two 8X4 panels. Man, the prices they have posted are so misleading! Lowes in-store estimate was

And, after waiting a week for it, the bid for my favorite, the Cambria quartz, came in at... (drum roll)....$4400! OMG, in my tiny kitchen! So there must be plenty of people out there who are spending 15-20K just for their kitchen countertops????? Let me tell you, it's not going to happen here. My new front-runner is Granite Transformations at less than half of the quartz price.

The good news is, I got my new drawers and they look great!

Back to Nature

Yesterday I took some time off from obsessing about my kitchen remodel. I took the train down to Edmonds to meet up with Kathy, and we then took the ferry over to the Olympic Peninsula. After a long drive 10-15 miles up winding gravel roads, we hiked the Upper Dungeness River trail. With little elevation gain, this was a pleasant and easy 6.5 mile round trip. It was chilly, and at the top (3100 feet) we found a little bit of snow, just enough to be decorative.

I am always amazed at the size of the Douglas Fir out that way. Yes, that's a tree trunk, not a stone wall.

Details, Details

Ah, remember the good old days when I thought this whole kitchen remodel would cost me under $4000? Flooring for $1000? Well, that was a fantasy. I have about 360 sf of floor, and vinyl, even very good vinyl, is less than $4/sf. BUT.... since you have to buy it, apparently, in 12 foot widths, and eat the waste, the bid came in for close to 500 sf! PLUS, $1.20/SF for installation, and $1.20/ SF for "skim coat" (the stuff they have to put down to keep the texture on my old vinyl from eventually working it's way through to my new vinyl). PLUS... of course my toilet, sink, and stove have to be removed and reinstalled. And the few other heavy items I am reluctant to try to move myself. For this they want another $650! Bringing the total to about $3500, just for the flooring. Sigh. The bid looks to me like they're charging me for 500 sf of skim coat and installation, which seems wrong, so I am questioning that. And thinking possibly I can do the sink and toilet myself.....?

I'm still waiting for the countertop bid.

The chosen ones....

OK, I have made a "final" decision on flooring, countertops, and vendor. Final, that is, unless the quotes come in way above what I'm expecting. Should hear today, I hope.

The flooring will be Mannington Sobella Supreme, color Rajah Red.

The countertops, god willing, will be Cambria quartz, color Chatham

I was all set to go with a laminate (many fewer $$) but when I got to the store and looked at the flooring and the Cambria together, wow, they look like they are made for each other! So, I am definite on the flooring but still sitting on pins and needles waiting to see what the countertops will cost me. I'm planning on living with this stuff for probably the rest of my life (or until I have to move to assisted living....) so it's worth getting something I love, right? Right?????

I am hoping I can reduce the cost of the flooring installation a bit by:

1. Pulling off the baseboards myself. I've done this before, when I painted, so I know I can do this. Also, I will be repainting again anyway once the other stuff gets installed and I can better choose a color.

2. Pulling the bathroom sink. Haven't done this before but it doesn't look too hard.

3. Pulling the toilet --- not sure about this one.

4. Moving all my furniture myself, except possibly the refrigerator and desk.

My new drawers should be installed in the next week or so. When I get my new camera (broke my old one, for the second time this year, by dropping!) I will take some before and after pictures to post.

Remodeling and biking

Amazingly, we picked the one day this week without rain, and yesterday went for a perfect fall bike ride down in Seattle. Colorful trees, bike trails along the water, trails covered with leaves (and puddles from previous days rain), and actual sunshine for much of the day! Followed by the best meal I've had at a restaurant in a long time, and for only $15. Turns out Seattle has this thing called "restaurant week", twice a year, with many restaurants offering 3-course meals, $15 for lunch or $25 for dinner. I will definitely put a restaurant outing on my calendar for the next round of this, in April.

As for the remodel: I got the drawer quote back from builder #1, and it said, in total:

"DRAWER FRONTS AND BOXES with side mount full extension glides -- 788.00 "

No quantity, nothing about installation, nothing about the type of wood. What the heck? So I emailed back with some questions and got the reply "Does not include installation. I can give the name of some installers if you'd like". This, after I specifically said that I wanted drawers built and INSTALLED. This is the same place that was about to skip including drawer fronts and glides until I reminded them. Crossing them off my list.

Builder #3 came in with a quote of $750 including installation, but has not specified the type of drawer glides. Builder #2 at $1000 still inspires the most confidence but possibly #3 will win out after I talk to him a bit more.

I went to a couple of local flooring places and was pretty sold on getting Marmoleum (aka linoleum) instead of vinyl, even though its about 50% more $$. Much more environmentally friendly, as it's made out of natural ingredients like linseed oil and sawdust, and it has a 25 year warranty. And has some colors that I love. BUT.... they don't recommend installing over existing vinyl, or even over particle board. They want to install directly on plywood. I have no idea what's under my existing vinyl and am kinda afraid to look. And, surely ripping out the vinyl will add to the cost. Or can I do it myself? Once again, stay tuned.....

Adventures in Home Improvement

My project for this winter is to remodeling my kitchen.

I started a few weeks ago with taking all the doors off of my cabinets and repainting. I decided to replace the ugly old "hammered copper" knobs with nice sleek new brushed nickel handles. Oh, that meant I had to replace the hinges to match. You'd be amazed at how many different types of hinges there are! Finally figured out I needed 3/8 inch inset, partial overlay (as opposed to no inset, 1/2 inch inset, full overlay, hidden, European style, etc, etc). Could not find locally in brushed nickel, had to order. Finally last week they arrived, I've rehung my doors, and they look FABULOUS! I am SOOOO happy to have ivory cabinets now instead of 1970's era ugly brown wood. I am totally amazed at how much brighter both my kitchen and the adjoining living room look. It's like having totally new cabinets, but for under $200!

Well, except for.... I still need to have the drawers replaced. Really ugly, 1970's plastic, fake-wood-look, falling apart drawers. I need 10 of 'em. Great, I found a place on the web where I can get custom dove-tailed drawers for less than $30 per drawer. Well, except that the drawer glides are at least another $30, and the shipping brings the whole shebang up to at least $80 per drawer, plus I have to assemble and install myself. Oh, and that doesn't include the drawer faces, another $10-15 per drawer, minimum. The installation looks dicey as you have to have all your measurements correct within 3/8" or you've just paid $$$ non refundable for your custom drawers. This having kept me awake for several nights, I am now getting quotes from several local cabinet builders.

Last week a guy came out to measure and quote, but I was less than impressed as I had to "remind" him that yes, I would need new drawer glides, and yes, I would need drawer faces. Which should've been more than obvious to anyone taking even the quickest look at my existing situation. Than I asked him what type of drawer glides he would quote, and he said, oh there are many, many kinds. Not helpful.

And it's true, there are many, many kinds. Side mount, undermount, center mount, self closing, soft closing, plastic, metal. I've seen prices varying from $7 to $70, no kidding. I settled on undermount, as they look easiest to install, seem to be the standard at kitchen showrooms, and are fairly reasonably priced at $20-$30. However, although nearly every cabinet system on display at Lowe's and Home Depot has undermount glides, they do not actually SELL undermount glides. I can get them through the internet but once again the shipping will up the price to more like $40 per set.

This morning a local cabinetmaker came out and gave me a quote for $1000 for the whole shebang, 10 drawers, assembled and installed. I liked this guy a lot and will probably go with this. Close to twice what I originally thought I would have to pay, but still a lot less than new cabinets. Just going to check with one more cabinetmaker tomorrow.

Next step is new countertops. Again, an amazing array of choices. Installed prices vary from about $25/sq. ft. for laminate, up to $90 for granite, or much, much higher for really cool granite. At the intermediate level is quartz composite, which seems to be more durable than granite and almost as pretty. Still, even here you can pay anywhere from about $45 to $90. With the quartz composite, from Lowe's I can get a free undermount sink or integral sink (actually part of the countertop) for free. Still dithering over this, as ... what if the sink needs to be replaced? Does that mean you have to replace the whole countertop? And, i don't know that any of these prices include removal of old countertop.

Another option is "Granite Transformations" which will install a granite-like layer overtop of my existing counters. They will be out later this week to take a look.

And after that comes flooring. My floors are so wavy that I can't use laminate unless I spend god-only-knows to get them levelled. So, sheet vinyl or linoleum will be fine with me. Prices for sheet vinyl look like a little under $4 per sq ft, installed. At 268 sq ft (no my kitchen is not that big. Includes hallway, bathroom, office) lets call this $1000.

So: Paint and hardware: $150

Drawers: $1000

Countertops: $1500?

Flooring: $1000

I am hoping to come in under $4000.... stay tuned!

Where's Vickie 2010: HOME!

My connections all meshed perfectly (train-plane-plane-train-train-ferry-bus) and I got home about 7pm on Monday evening. I have to say that no place I've been all summer can hold a candle to Whidbey Island in August. It's clear blue sky and 70 degrees, perfect biking weather, but my bike unfortunately hasn't left Minneapolis yet. Tomorrow, they say....

Yesterday I managed to unpack most of my stuff, re-stock my kitchen, pick up and go through all of my mail, do a load of wash, unpack the 3 pieces of artwork I had shipped home over the summer (all intact! ) and cook dinner before collapsing into the lazyboy with cat in lap.

Sabrina seems very happy to see me and even happier to be able to go outside again, after being held prisoner in the house (and with a dog for part of the time) all summer.

My yard is overgrown and brown, the house is full of cat hair and cobwebs and unread New Yorkers, but today I think I must go to the beach and pick blackberries along the bluff...

Although I will still be blogging on a semi-irregular basis, this is my last "Where's Vickie 2010" post, and the last email I will send out. Thanks so much for coming all with me on this trip! See you next time!

Where's Vickie 2010, Volume 14

Me and Mary Tyler Moore

There were a bunch of these cool sculptures of historic buildings, along 6th ave in Minneapolis

Unexplained sticker on a bike rack at an espresso place along a trail in Minneapolis

I just liked this big sign in Minneapolis. There was one for Gold Medal Flour, too

The house of Mary Richards and Rhoda Morgenstern in the '70's

A Segway parade? in Minneapolis

The end of the wonderful Paul Bunyan Trail, in Baxter, MN

The Mississippi River in Brainerd --- quite a bit bigger than at Lake Itasca!

August 17 -- Baxter, MN

Even with the irritating location, we’ve decided we need a day of rest so are staying here for another night. Kathy and I took off separately on our bikes this morning. I rode about 20 miles, around some scenic parts of town along the river, while she went downtown to the bike shop and in search of a library.

August 18 -- Malmo, MN
50 miles, 860 feet cumulative elevtion gain
60 degrees and rainy - perfect biking weather!

Kathy found us a beautiful route on quiet roads through the countryside. Rolling hills, woods, lots and lots of lakes. It rained pretty much all day, and at one point we had to pull off and seek shelter due to thunder and lightning. The place we happened upon turned out to be an animal boarding and grooming place. We went in and Kathy asked to use the restroom. You’ve seen that sign in stores that says “Unattended children will be given an espresso and a free puppy.”? While Kaithy was in the restroom they gave me a warm towel and a free puppy, a 3-week-old springer spaniel. So cuddly but poor little thing, I was still all wet and it was shivering, so gave it back. Kathy wouldn’t let me keep it, anyway.

Just in time for lunch we came upon a nice resort with a restaurant and a latte place. The rain let up long enough so that we were able to eat outside, on a deck overlooking the lake. (What lake, I have no idea, there are so many around here).

We are staying right on Mille Lac Lake, here pronounced “m’lack”. It’s huge, you can’t see across it. Our lodgings here in Malmo are, ahem, interesting. We had originally planned to camp here at the Castaways Resort, $35 to pitch our tents, but since we were so wet we opted to spend an extra $15 for a cabin instead. The “cabins” are 10X20 metal sheds with 4 bunks, no water at all, propane lights and heat, and a single power strip hanging along the wall. And then we noticed these odd fishing-reel things along the walls, and little trap doors in the floor that you can pull up and see the ground underneath --- they’re ice fishing shanties! What a hoot! They are on sled-like runners, and in the winter they pull them out onto the lake.

The resort is mostly a big trailer park, where it looks like the residents are permanent or at least here for the summer months. There’s a bar and restaurant, where we caused quite a stir when we stepped in, dripping wet, this afternoon. I don’t think they get many bikers here.

August 19th - Cambridge. MN
51 miles, 460 feet cumulative elevation gain
70 and party cloudy -- perfect biking weather

We rode into a headwind / crosswind most of the day, on a state highway with a fair amount of traffic but a good wide shoulder. Kathy’s friend Bill, who has been on a car trip for the last couple of weeks, met us today on his bike, just outside of Ogilvie. I jokingly said to him “I’m headed for the latte place in Ogilvie”, and he said, oh, you’ve heard about it already? Sure enough, just after we crossed the Groundhome river, we pulled into Groundhome coffee shop, converted from an old gas station into the nicest little place you could imagine The guy roasts his own beans (the roaster was still hot), made me the best latte I’ve had since Shelby, MT, and sold me a pound of his best espresso roast.

Fueled up, we headed on to Dalbo, where Bill had left his car. We had originally planned to camp in Dalbo. There’s a bicycle-only camping spot there, noted on the Adventure Cycling map as “bikers may camp in farmer so- and so’s yard, even if family is not home”. Sure enough, they had a sign in the yard “Adventure Cyclist Bunkhouse”. Would have been fun to stay there, but due to forecast of overnight t-storms, we loaded the bikes and gear in the car and Bill drove us on to Cambrigde, where we had hotel reservations.

Looking at the internet tonight, I discovered I can move my flight home up from August 26th to the 23rd, for about $75. So, that’s what I did. Kathy and Bill will drive me to Minneapolis in the morning where I’ll spend the weekend exploring, then on Monday I’m going HOME!!!!!

August 22nd -- Minneapolis, MN

For the past 3 days I’ve been happily ensconced in the Comfort Suites, right in the middle of downtown. This place is a DEAL. I have an apartment-sized suite which could easily sleep 4, with a free FULL breakfast buffet (including made-to-order omelets) included, within easy biking and walking distance of everything, for under $100 per night. The biking is so great here I’m tempted to schedule another vacation here just to ride the trails.

The trails --- they’re everywhere! There must be a couple hundred miles of trails within the metroplex, most of which are divided into 3 lanes -- one for pedestrians and one for each direction for bikes. In many cases the pedestrian path is physically separate from the bike path.

I rode about 35 miles yesterday on a trail along the Mississippi, through the U of M campus (go Golden Gophers!) and down into the outskirts of St. Paul. Today I rode another 30 or so, out west of town, all on trails. I had to see if I could track down the house from the Mary Tyler Moore show (where Mary Richards and Rhoda Morgenstern lived), and sure enough, it’s there and recognizable if somewhat more upscale looking than it was in the 70’s. There’s also a statue of Mary tossing her hat, downtown.

And then there’s the “nice ride” bikes. You insert your credit card and for $5, you get one of these bikes to use for 24 hours. You can drop it off at any of the several stations around the city. I saw plenty of people on them although I didn’t try one myself.

This afternoon I dropped my bike off at the local bike shop to be packed and shipped, thus officially ending my summer bike trip. Now I have nothing to do but relax in the AC. I’ll walk a few blocks in the morning to catch the light rail to the airport, and head for home.

Where's Vickie 2010, Volume 13

Kathy on the Paul Bunyan trail

Tabers Historic bait and cabins

Minnesota state bird, although we've seen very few

Jo Ann and Reba

Jo Ann's fabulous house, where we had breakfast

coneflowers along Paul Bunyan trail

August 14th - Bemidji, MN

Here we are at Taber’s Bait and Historic Cabins, where we stayed last night. The cabins have been here since the ‘20’s, one of those old motor-court-cabin places. Tiny and overpriced, but cute. Kathy couldn’t get any cold water in the shower until I re-attached the handle more securely. You can sit on the toilet and lay your head in the sink. There’s an ancient 2- burner stove and fridge in the kitchen, and a table, although I can’t see where there’s any space to actually sit at it. The “closet” is hangers suspended from the rafters; you have to stand on a chair to reach them. No AC of course, but it’s nice and cool this morning and looks like a perfect day for biking.

Yesterday’s was a pleasant, easy 30 mile ride through rolling hills, swamps, and forests. The heat and humidity have moderated, thank god. We crossed the Mississippi twice, tiny little stream that it is up here. It pauses in Lake Bemidji and then runs on south from here. I don’t think I’ll see it again until Minneapolis.

If all goes as planned, we’ll spend the next 3 days on the Paul Bunyan Trail, a hundred miles of paved trail that runs from here south to Brainerd. Then we’ll cut east to catch up with a branch of Adventure Cycling’s northern tier again, cutting into Wisconsin briefly before heading into Minneapolis on the 22nd. Kathy and Bill will head off into Wisconsin then and I will have several days to explore Minneapolis before my flight home on the 26th.

Later, still August 14th -- Walker, MN

This morning, there were a couple of old guys messing around with a boat near our cabin. Turns out they built this boat, somewhere in Norway, had it shipped here, and are just about to embark on a trip down the Mississippi. The hope to get all the way to New Orleans. Here’s a link to their blog: http://www.oldmensriver.com/blogg/index.html

We rode around the north end of Lake Bemidji where we got on the Paul Bunyan Trail, which is supposed to take us clear to Brainerd, over 100 miles. In the town of Bemidji, though, we came to one of those irritating places, all too common on bike trails, where the trail just seemed to stop. As we stood there pondering, here came one of those road angels, offering to ride along with us through town and guide the way

Once out of Bemidji, though, the trail was continuous, smooth, mostly flat and pleasantly wooded all the way to Walker.

Walker, as it turns out, is a major tourist destination. Pulling in on a Saturday night, the weekend of “Walker Bay Days”, at the height of the tourist season, with no reservations, was perhaps not wise. No sign of any place at all to tent camp. The RV places wanted $45 and anyway they were all full. I called the first 5 hotels listed in the visitors guide, and they were all full, at which point I threw up my hands. We were seriously considering just waiting until close to sunset, riding down the trail a bit, and setting up our tents, when Kathy found us a room at the luxury hotel right in the middle of town. Much more than we wanted to pay, but oh well. They did have lattes.

August 15th -- Pine River, MN
Another 40 or so miles of pleasant Paul Bunyan trail today. Forests of white pine, oak, birch, alder, a few hills, a few tiny little towns. Just before we pulled into Pine River, another biker pulls up beside Kathy and begins chatting. We had planned to camp at the local RV park, which wanted $22 per tent, but this nice woman says we can camp in the city park for free, and guides us there. Sure enough, a half-dozen or so nice campsites, flush toilets, running water, what more could we ask? Oh yeah, I want some beer, but the local liquor store is closed on Sunday. The nice woman (Jo Ann) says “what kind of beer do you like? And how many do you want?” and just about the time we get our tents set up, she is back bringing us cold beer! She stays to visit with us for a bit, then takes off for home while we make dinner. Just about the time we’ve finished our dinner, she pulls in again, with an invitation to come to her house for breakfast in the morning! Of course we accept! We manage to build a nice campfire with leftover logs from previous campers and manage to stay awake long enough to enjoy it.

August 16th -- Baxter, MN

We rode to Jo Ann’s house for breakfast this morning, and what a house it is! She says it was the first house built by a white woman in Pine River, in the early 1900’s. They had it moved out of town (amazing, this is a big house!), have lovingly restored it to a beautiful Victorian showplace, and have lived there for 30 years. It is just a beautiful place. As we pulled into the driveway, Reba, a sweet German Shepherd, came wagging and wiggling out to greet us. Jo Ann fed us excellent coffee, biscuits, scrambled eggs with all sorts of veggies from her garden, bacon, steel-cut oats….we did not go away hungry! Thanks Jo Ann!!!!!

Then on down the trail another 30 miles to Brainerd. Wow, this trail really does go all the way from Bemidji to Brainerd, more than 100 miles, all the way paved and beautiful. My only complaint is the lack of camping facilities. Even after consulting with the chamber of commerce and the local parks and rec, we cannot find anyplace to camp within 10 miles of Brainerd except an “RV only” place. So here we are tonight at the Brainerd Super 8. Well, at least we can do our laundry here.

It was quite a culture shock, after 3 days of no vehicular traffic at all, to have to negotiate a mile or so of busy road to get to the hotel. This same busy road is the one that Google has us routed on to get to tomorrow’s destination. We are looking for other options.

Baxter / Brainerd is really all one big town … well, 25000 or so people…separated by the Mississippi river. Our hotel is out in walmartland, in one of those very irritating areas built as if pedestrians don’t exist. We walked a half mile to dinner tonight with no sidewalks, having to cut across lawns and through parking lots to avoid getting run over.

Headwaters of the Missisippi

You find bikes in the oddest places. Thats Kathy looking up at them,

sunflowers

bike trail at lake itasca

The group of us at the Mississippi

August 7th - Hitterdal, Minnesota
35 miles -- 500 feet cumulative elevation gain
85 degrees, humid, sunny -- perfect biking weather

This morning Kathy and I loaded up our bikes and rode out of Fargo and into Minnesota. We are fully loaded now, carrying all of our camping gear, so doing far fewer miles per day. We also had a bit of a headwind today, but even so, we were here shortly after noon. And there is NOTHING to do here -- this town consists of a mini-mart / gas station, a liquor store / bar, and this little half-acre city park where we are camping tonight. It looks like were are in someone’s back yard -- there are houses on 3 sides of us -- but our map says we can camp here and no one has tried to shoo us away yet.

So, it’s been a relaxing-bordering-on-boring afternoon of laying around trying to stay cool, waiting for the sun to go down and the temperature to drop. This little park has a bathroom, running water, electricity, and I was even able to connect to the internet! No lattes, though.

Laater: This evening the woman who lives in one of the adjacent houses came over and talked to us for awhile. She said there are bikers camping here 3 or 4 times per week. A little later a 10 year old boy rode over on his bike, telling us he was “usually the official greeter” and that he has talked to bikers staying hee from all over the world. The listing on the Adventure Cycling map is probably helping to keep this tiny town alive.

August 11th - Itasca State Park, Minnesota
Steamy. NOT perfect biking weather

I’m sitting in the hostel at Itasca State Park., having my morning coffee. The eight of us who are here for the reunion of the 2005 cross-country group have this place all to ourselves, and it’s very nice. Big kitchen, multiple bunk rooms, showers, and perhaps most important: air conditioning. I got up late this morning and everyone else is gone, probably over to the lake to rent canoes, and I will join them in a bit.

The 8th and 9th Kathy and I rode a total of about 70 miles, through a steam bath. For perhaps the first time ever, I cannot in good conscience say that this was perfect biking weather. At times it was downright miserable. My camp pillow feels like a wet towel. A sticky wet towel. All clothing is suffocating, so you can imagine what black lycra bike shorts feel like. The only thing more uncomfortable than riding in this weather is sitting still; at least when you’re riding, there’s a breeze. It’s not all that hot -- low to mid 80’s -- but my GOD, the humidity. Its like….oh yeah, I remember, it’s like August in the Midwest!

We headed directly for the lake when we got here, where I spent a couple of hours floating on my air mattress in the small, crowded swimming area. Between little kids, parents, and water-football games, it was still wonderfully refreshing, After two nights in air conditioning, I feel full human again.

We are a long last out of the great plains, and into the north woods. A mile north of here is the official headwaters of the Mississippi, where it drains out of Lake Itasca in a 4-foot-wide stream. I had always heard that you could straddle it there, but that’s a bit of a stretch.

This park is enormous. It’s about 10 miles long, and there are miles and miles of paved bike trails through the woods, a lodge and restaurant, several campgrounds, a huge bike and boat rental place, miles of hiking trails. If the weather was more temperate it would be a wonderful place, but as it is I don’t feel like doing much but sitting in the AC. I went for a 10 mile ride on the trail yesterday, very pretty, but I was soaked through to the skin by the time I’d ridden a couple of miles. I am fairly dreading loading all my belongings back on the bike and riding on towards Minneapolis in a couple of days. Oh how I hope the air dries out a bit.

Where's Vickie 2010, Volume 11

Pipe Stone National Monument

Elm-lined streets in Fargo. Apparently dutch elm disease has never reached here. Sad to think the streets in my hometown were probably like this at one time.

Corn palace artwork. Picture is corn cobs, frame and stars are some sort of straw

corn palace

August 2nd -- Mitchell, South Dakota

So, to my continuing surprise, much of Nebraska is beautiful.
Yesterday I spent several hours at Homestead National Monument. This is the site of the first homestead claim, made in 1863 by Daniel Freeman. I did not realize the homestead act was in effect for so long…until 1976 in the lower 48, and until 1986 in Alaska. The last homesteader claimed his land in Alaska in 1974. The park itself has several miles of trails through pretty prairie and woodlands, all of which I enjoyed even in the heat. Lots more fascinating information at http://www.nps.gov/home/historyculture/index.htm.

Last night found me in the unremarkable town of Grand Island. I never could determine where the name comes from…it’s near, but not on, the Platte river, and I did not see any islands, grand or otherwise. It’s the home of the Nebraska State Fair (at the end of August), there’s a lot of grain-processing industry around it’s edges, and other than that it seems to be a vast Wal-Mart-land. I did find a very good Thai restaurant (Vientiane) downtown, although I was their ONLY customer. And a Scooters Coffee, the Nebraska version of Starbucks.

This morning I headed north on Nebraska hwy 14. What a gorgeous drive! The area south of Albion is surely one of the prettiest roads I’ve been on. Big steep rolling green hills covered with corn, grass, and trees. This would be a fabulous area to bike through. No shoulders on the road, but little enough traffic that I don’t think it would be a problem.

Around lunchtime I stopped at Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park. Here’s the park’s blurb:
About 12 million years ago, a volcano in southwest Idaho spread a blanket of ash over a very large area. One or two feet of this powdered glass covered the flat savannah-like grasslands of northeastern Nebraska.
Most of the animals which lived here survived the actual ashfall, but as they continued to graze on the ash covered grasses, their lungs began to fill up with the abrasive powder. Soon their lungs became severely damaged and they began to die.
The smaller animals died first (smaller lung capacities) and finally, after perhaps three to five weeks, the last of the rhinos perished. Their bodies were quickly covered by the blowing and drifting ash.
Undisturbed except by an occasional scavenging meat-eater, the skeletons of these animals are preserved in their death positions, complete with evidence of their last meals in their mouths and stomachs and their last steps preserved in the sandstone below.

Lot of rhinos, horse-like creatures, camels, all still laying there in the ash after 12 million years. Quite interesting.

Pretty scenery continued on until I crossed the Missouri back into South Dakota, at which time it became flat and dull. I was racing a nasty looking black sky off to the west, and did not especially want to be caught in a thunderstorm out in the wide open, so stopped early today in the outskirts of Mitchell, whose claim to fame is the Corn Palace, which I will visit tomorrow, after which I think I will hightail it for Fargo.
August 5th -- Fargo, ND

The Corn Palace was only mildly interesting and very touristy. I took a few pictures and drove on over to Minnesota, where I visited Pipe Stem National Monument. (not to be confused, as I first was, with Pipe Spring National Monument, which is in Utah). This is an area where native americans quarried ( and still do) a red rock to make, you guessed it, pipe stems… and now, earrings, key fobs, paperweights, and various other tchotchkes. I suppose if you lived in the prairie, this ridge of rock, with a stream running through it, might seem remarkable. But for me, not so much. (Pipe Spring is nicer).

Got back to Fargo Tuesday night, where I have Ann’s house all to myself until tomorrow, while she and Ed are off riding CANDISC. Yesterday I returned the rental car and spent the day biking around Fargo. There are lots of bike trails here, some nice winding ones along the Red River, and others that are just glorified sidewalks, but still make it a very bike-friendly city. This was the first temperate day I have experienced since pedaling into the city 2 weeks ago… I don’t think it even got up to 85, and this morning it’s downright cool.

About 1pm, it was déjà vu all over again -- tornado sirens! But, but, it doesn’t look stormy…there are a few big clouds…. I’m biking through a park, where do I hide? I’m just about to panic when another biker assures me it’s the test they do the first Wednesday of every month.


I broke my multi-year avoidance of first-run movies, and went to see “Salt”.Have to admit I enjoyed it.

Where's Vickie 2010, Volume 10

Harriet, aka Little Dick

An interesting sign on our Iowa bike ride

Pleasant sight in Old Town Omaha

This is a big stone sculpture of the mountainous profile we rode over, starting with the Cascades on the left. (Although judging from the height, that must be Mt. Rainier, which we certainly did NOT ride over!) This is at the western trails (?) museum in Omaha.

Best coffee place in Fargo. How could it be otherwise?

Days 34-35 - July 23-24th - Fargo, ND
No biking!
70, rainy - perfect biking weather!

The rest of the group has now all gone home, and I so enjoyed not leaving the hotel at all yesterday. I only left my room for breakfast and dinner at the hotel café, and spent the rest of the time sleeping, staring out the window, reading, watching TV.

Our farewell banquet Thursday night was great fun. We took over the hotel bar before the banquet, and again afterwards,where we all sang a reprise of my version of “What a difference a day makes” and Christine’s “Will the shoulder be unbroken”. Much laughter, lots of hugs, vows to see each other again soon. This has been such a great group of women! I see reunions in our future.

About half the group is signed up to ride the “eastern half of the northern tier” next year, continuing on from Fargo to Maine. I don’t plan to do this, but would like to do it on my own at some point. Riding self-supported in the east, where there are fewer mountains and more civilization, is much more feasible.

If I can afford it, my next WomanTours tour will be the Meandering Mississippi in 2012, from New Orleans to the headwaters at Lake Itasca, Minnesota.

One thing I have learned from this trip is that I really don’t want to ride more than 60-70 miles in a day, unless, of course, we have one of those 30mph tailwinds. Fully loaded, my preference is about half that.

I called my dad this morning and asked what’s new, he said “well, I started my new year”, I said “huh?”. Today is his 83rd birthday and I TOTALLY FORGOT IT! BAD, daughter, bad, bad daughter! Sigh….

One more night here at the Radisson, and then tomorrow I go to my friend’s house just a couple of miles from here, for at least a few days. I have nothing certain scheduled until August 6th, when I meet up with Kathy to ride on into Minnesota to the 2005 tour’s reunion.

July 28 -- Omaha, Nebraska

No, I did not bike to here!

After spending a day exploring downtown Fargo on foot, I relaxed for two nights at Ann’s (who I met on the 2005 Southern Tier) house. We went for a nice 25 mile, very flat bike ride, and she showed me around suburban Fargo. I got to ride the ferris wheel inside Scheel’s, which seems to be the prairie states version of REI / Cabela’s.

At 1am Tuesday morning I was awakened by tornado sirens. Ann, Ed, and I migrated to the basement for an hour or so until the all-clear, and then I got my wish of seeing a good thunderstorm… and then another one …. and then another one. Pretty much constant thunder and lightening for the rest of the night.

Trying to figure out how I’m going to fill up more than a week until the reunion in Minnesota, it suddenly occurred to me that I could rent a car! So yesterday, that’s just what I did… and drove from Fargo down to Omaha, to visit Lynn and Christine. It’s much different, and nicer, here than I had expected. They live in Bellevue, just outside of Omaha, and it’s just lovely… hills and wooded, winding roads. Today we rode our bikes into downtown Omaha, much of the way on nice bike trails. A very pleasant ride except for the heat… 90+ with what seems to be about 110% humidity. The old part of downtown merits more exploration, which is my plan for tomorrow.

I crossed 3 state lines yesterday -- South Dakota, Iowa, and Nebraska -- and have tried to convince Lynn and Christine that I deserve 3 margaritas as a result, but so far no luck with that.

August 1st - Beatrice, Nebraska

August at last! I get to go HOME this month!!!


After spending 4 nights at Christine and Lynn’s lovely home, like staying in a 5-star hotel (except the wireless internet service was a little spotty), I took off again in the car yesterday.

The stay in Bellevue was wonderful. I drove back into Omaha one day to walk around “old town”, a very pretty area of old (1800’s?) red brick buildings which have been converted into galleries, restaurants, boutiques, and the like. We went to the movies to see “The Triplets of Belleville”; I’ve seen it several times before and it seems I like it better every time. It was new to Chris and Lynn, and they thought it was a hoot.

Thursday we drove over into Iowa and went riding in the Loess Hills, with friend Pete. This is a very pretty area of short, forested hills rising up out of the cornfields. We were stopped at a corner and heard a loud, pitiful, “meow, meow, meow”. And found a beautiful grey tiger-striped kitten, probably 3-4 months old, cowering alongside the road, terrified of the big trucks going by. What to do? We tried both of the houses nearby. No, they hadn’t lost a kitten and didn’t want one either. So, Lynn stayed with the kitten while we rode back to the car. We drove home with kitty in my lap, purring. Surely we can’t take this cuddly sweetheart to the humane society? But Patsy and Eddie (my host’s cats) aren’t likely to cotton to her, and Pete’s 23-year old cat isn’t either. Lynn says their neighbor was, she thought, looking to adopt a cat. And sure enough, when we get home, the neighbor comes over and immediately falls in love -- how could you not?

Neighbor has another cat, named Ozzie, so we thought the perfect name for kitten was Harriet, such a sweet little thing. But neighbor calls later to say Harriet was cleaning herself when it became clearly visible that she was a he…. So Christine came up with the alternate name of Little Dick, “LD” for short. Not sure the neighbor agreed with this, though.

So, yesterday I drove down to Nebraska City, home of Arbor Lodge state park. Arbor Lodge is the former mansion of Julius Sterling Morton, founder of Arbor Day and secretary of agriculture during the Cleveland administration in the 1890’s. His son Joy was the founder of Morton salt.

The lodge is well worth a visit -- 52 rooms to wander through on 4 floors, including a bowling alley in the basement. The mansion is surrounded by, of course, trees -- a beautiful arboretum of some 270 species from all over the world.

Just across the road is the Arbor Day Farm, a bit more touristy but still interesting, and a lovely half-mile or so trail through the woods to the Lied Lodge, a big (old?) hotel and conference center, where I had lunch.

In the afternoon I drove to Brownville, right across the river from Missouri. I had planned to drive across the river there, just to rack up another margarita point, but the bridge was closed. Brownville, however, was charming… a tiny town with several enjoyable art galleries and many beautiful old houses tucked into the hills along the river.

I stayed in Beatrice last night because it’s near Homestead National Monument, where I will go today. Had some trouble finding a hotel room here; the first two I checked were full, something to do with baseball. Can’t imagine playing it in this heat and humidity.

Where's Vickie 2010, Volume 9

Beautiful library in Mayville ND, on national register of historic places.Beautiful inside, too, but the librarian was a little odd.

ND Sky

A reason to love Fargo

Possibly the coolest bik store ever, in the old railway depot, with it's own cafe and espresso stan. Although the latte was awful, tasted like Farmer Bros. coffee. Bad.

A boquet of wheat (or rye, barley, oats, who can tell??)

The 2nd-tallest manmade structer in the world, from about 8 miles. Field colors look weird because I had to manipulate some to get that tall, skinny tower to show up

No, this is not a joke. Water to the north goes to Hudson Bay, to the south to the Gulf of Mexico.

Day 30 - July 19th - Devils Lake, ND
80 miles, 1600 ft cumulative elevation gain
80 and sunny - perfect biking weather!

Too tired to write today.

Day 31 - July 20th - Carrington, ND
49 miles, 740 ft cumulative elevation gain
75 and sunny - perfect biking weather!

I really shouldn’t have ridden yesterday, or at the very least I should’ve sagged the last 30 miles. All that kept me going for those last miles was the thought of a cold beer, and then when I got in, my room wasn’t ready, and we’re staying in an “alcohol free” hotel on a “dry” Indian reservation. And no espresso, either. If you’re gonna have a casino, a casino for god’s sake, without alcohol, shouldn’t you at least have good coffee????? Still, several of us sat out in the grass and surreptitiously sipped our various illegal beverages (that’s grape juice, right? Or apple juice?) until rooms were ready. I went to bed last night thinking, I don’t care if I ever see another bike, or another bike rider, for that matter. Maybe I’ll just fly home from Fargo.

Not to worry, by this morning, I was refreshed and ready to keep on riding. Although I do think I will cancel out on riding CANDISC. This is another big (hundreds of people) week-long group ride that I signed up for, which would circle back near some of the places I’ve already ridden near Minot. I don’t think the scenery would be much different from what I’ve already seen, it’s back near the oil fields with all that truck traffic, it’s near where Barbara got hit, and I’m just tired of being around big groups. So my current plan is to spend a few days in Fargo, until I’m bored, then head on east into Minnesota in hopes of finding a quiet lake to camp by until I meet up with friends on August 9th for the reunion of the 2005 Southern Tier group.

We have a 92-mile day scheduled for tomorrow, but I’ve already decided I’m riding 60 of it at the most. The day after that will be our last, 60-mile, day into Fargo. There I will spend 2 or 3 nights luxuriating at the Radisson, and (hopefully) another night or two at a friend’s house, before taking off on my own.

Yesterday’s ride was nice enough, it was just too long. Fields of corn, beans, grain, and hundreds of small ponds surrounded by cattail. For about 10 miles at the end of the day, we rode along Devil’s Lake, the largest natural body of water in North Dakota. I was sure this must be a man-made lake, but it turns out that some 3800 square miles drain into it, with NO outlet! So, it has a rather high salinity and high nutrient content (I imagine made even higher by fertilizer and cattle from the surrounding farmlands), which explains the rather unpleasant odor and also the opaque, green-paint look of the water. I would NOT want to swim here, or even boat for that matter, although it seems to be a big recreational draw and is popular with fishermen. (Don’t think I would eat the fish either, thank you.)

There have been problems with the lake flooding surrounding farmlands in recent years, and right now the lake seems only an inch or two below road level. This has lead to proposals to drain it into surrounding rivers, but many environmental questions remain about draining a salt lake into fresh rivers (and I have some trouble understanding this anyway, because don’t the rivers drain into the lake????), invasive species, etc. All in all it sounds like a very poor idea to me.

Along the lake there was an actual forest, the first we’ve seen since leaving Glacier. It was nice to see trees again, mostly oak.

Accommodations last night were at another Indian casino, this time the Sioux. No blackjack for me this time.

But today dawned bright and clear, a very pleasant and easy ride. At one point we passed a sign that read “Continental Divide: Elev. 1619”. Huh??? I thought we passed that way back in western Montana? Turns out this is the Laurentian divide, north-south instead of east-west. On the north side, water drains into the Red River and eventually into Hudson Bay. To the south, into the Missouri and on to the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico.

Lynn waved me down at a little town along the way, saying “Have you ever had coffee at a taxidermy shop before?” Inside the Wild Things Taxidermy & Spicy Roadkill Café, sure enough there were many stuffed wild things (bear, cougar, deer, antelope, elk, lynx, otter, ducks, fish, all for sale) AND coffee and vittles. The café is a volunteer effort, open only 11am-1pm, to raise money to convert a local old schoolhouse into a hunters lodge, to bring more business to the town. 20 or so women contribute to this, calling themselves The Sisterhood of the Traveling Crockpot. They told us they cook with the finest wine, and sometimes they even add it to the food!

Day 32 - July 21st - Mayville, ND
0 miles, 0 ft cumulative elevation gain
75 and sunny - perfect biking weather!

This morning I did a “bump-up”, riding about 50 miles in the van, to our lunch stop, intending to ride after lunch. But during lunch my enthusiasm dwindled, and the women who were riding said it was long, and boring, so I just stayed in the van for the rest of the day.

Day 33 - July 22nd - Fargo, ND
59 miles, 242 ft cumulative elevation gain
75, cloudy and misty - perfect biking weather!

We rode out of Mayville through a still, misty morning on a flat, and quiet, silky-smooth road. Killdeer and red winged blackbirds, vast ripening fields of wheat and corn, groves of wind-break trees. A soft gray sky like a down comforter, a spritz of skin-softening mist. It was all just lovely.

A few miles into the ride I notice this impossibly tall, straight, skinny structure away off in the distance. What in the world it can it be?… It looks totally impossible to me, like it extends right up into the clouds. Is it some sort of mirage? It can’t be a radio tower, it can’t be a tower at all because I see no lights flashing on it. For awhile, since the morning is so still, I convince myself that it’s a column of smoke. I can hardly take my eyes off of it. Then I think, man, could it be a funnel cloud??? As it gets closer, though, it continues to be ramrod straight and 10 miles later I can see guy wires and it’s clear that it is, in fact, some sort of radio tower. I comment to one of the other riders “that thing’s gotta be a half mile tall!” and she pooh-poohs that. Googling later, I find that this is the KVLY-TV tower and is, in fact, the 2nd-tallest manmade structure in the WORLD! Topped only by the Burj Khalifa in Dubai! At 2063 feet, OK, it’s not a half mile tall, but it is nearly four-tenths of a mile. Wow. I am just delighted by this roadside discovery!
Unhappily, after that, the wind picked up, and soon we were heading straight into what must be a 20 mph headwind. The last 25 miles into Fargo were drudgery, but WE MADE IT!!!!!

I am now happily ensconced on the 8th floor of the Radisson. It’s wonderful to be in a city again! The whole population of North Dakota is around 600,000, and 1/6 of that is here. And there are trees here! Lot’s of ‘em, more than I’ve seen in one place since leaving the mountains. I’m sitting with my feet up, watching wind turbines in the distance, watching trains go by below. The room here is divine, downtown Fargo is delightful, and I will luxuriate here for 3 nights

Where's Vickie 2010, Volume 8

HEre are several videos of the ferocious wind (tailwind and sometimes crosswind) that we rode in for several days. be sure and click the "expand to full screen" button for the full effect. And turn up the volume!

The center of North America

Dinner in a teepee, Minot ND

Dinner in a teepe, Minot ND

Me and the troll at the Scandinavian Heritage center, Minot

Beautiful replica of medieval Norwegian church, Minot

Typical North Dakota scene

Escape from Montana!e

Long road, North Dakota

Flax and Canola in bloom

Day 25 - July 15th - Williston, NORTH DAKOTA!
59 miles, 1800 ft cumulative elevation gain
75 and sunny with a tailwind- perfect biking weather!

And WHAT a tailwind, a howling 20-30 mph all day! A bout half of us actually did an optional extra 18 miles across the wind, to see the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers. The scenery made it well worth it - rocky hills, curvy back roads -- and I actually thought riding in the crosswind was fun. Kinda like playing in the surf, waiting to go up against the next “wind wave”.

We have now entered an area where there’s a big oil boom going on, and the truck traffic that goes with it. We are awaiting to hear how we’ll be re-routed tomorrow because of way too much traffic (the paper reports something like 6000 vehicles per day) on the scenic, narrow, no-shoulder road that we were supposed to be on. I suspect we’ll be back on good ol’ US 2 again.

We’ve finally made it out of Montana ! The state line margarita celebration is being postponed thought, due to it being so windy that our cook can’t keep the fire lit in the chuck wagon tonight, so we’re going to the local restaurant for dinner

I am not impressed with our digs tonight. Williston is the biggest town we’ve been in since I can’t remember when, so I was looking forward to the benefits of a city (at least an espresso), but we are on the outskirts where there’s nothing in sight but the hotel, a gas station, and “Gramma Sharon’s family restaurant”. And there are big trucks keeping their engines running, just outside my window. OH well, 2 more days to our rest day in the big metropolis of Minot.


Day 26 - July 156h - New Town, ND
69 miles, 1800 ft cumulative elevation gain
75 and sunny with a tailwind- perfect biking weather!

That tailwind had us flying again today … 70 miles in 4 hours! It was a blast! We rode the whole day on US 2, now a 4 lane highway, most of the way with a good 10 foot smooth shoulder. That got us to the town (which consisted of 2 bars, a café, and a tastee freeze) of Stanley, where the van shuttled us on another 35 miles to New Town, on the shoulderless road with all the oil-construction traffic.(the local paper says 6000+ vehicles per day!) It is truly amazing how many oil wells are being drilled here…hundreds either already pumping or just being drilled; We passed lots of temporary housing, and all the motels closer to our route are booked with oil workers.

So, tonight we are at the 4 Bears lodge and casino, run by the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara tribes. It’s luxurious digs compared to where we’ve been lately. Right on huge and, to my mind, not very scenic Lake Sakakawea. The view is clouded by the tragic story of how the flooding of the fertile valley here basically ended the way of life of the tribes. We have ridden through so many huge Indian reservations out here, the tragedy of the decimation of their culture, and loss of lives, has really struck me. I want to do a lot of reading on native American history when I get home.

Well, I assuaged my white person’s guilt a tiny bit by giving back $25 at the casino tonight. I learned how to play blackjack, which turns out to be a lot more fun than just feeding quarters into the slots. It took me more than an hour to lose $20 (I was actually ahead $20 at one point!), and then about 5 minutes to feed $5 to the slot machines without a single hit. Disappointing because the slots here still use actual coins, and the only reason I would ever play slots is for the love of that clink of coins into the tray when you cash out.

Tomorrow morning we will get shuttled back the 35 miles to Stanley to resume our ride into Minot.

Day 27 - July 166h - Minot, ND
52 miles, 820 ft cumulative elevation gain
90 and sunny - perfect biking weather!

I would swear that today was hillier than yesterday, but I guess it was just the lack of tailwind.

There can surely be no better way to comprehend the immensity, and the emptiness, of the great plains than by bicycle. Minot, with a population of about 36000, is the largest city we’ve been in since, well, it’s the largest city on the trip so far. (Holy cow, I see that Fargo is almost 100,000... I can hardly imagine….)

We passed many large fields of flax (blue) and canola (yellow) in full bloom. It was a beautiful ride.

Sadly, the horrific accident at the end of today overshadows everything else. One of our riders was hit by a truck and died at the scene. She was riding by herself at the time, so we will never know exactly what happened. Needless to say, we are all pretty shaken up.

Day 28 - July 176h - Minot, ND
rest day
80 and sunny - perfect biking weather!

We are all still shaken up from yesterday’s accident, and I imagine we will be for a long time. Four of our group have elected to end their ride here. The rest of us will ride on tomorrow, dedicating our last five days to our fallen friend. I can only think that she would have wanted us to go on enjoying our trip, so that’s what I aim to do.

Several of us took a taxi into downtown Minot today. There’s a very nice Scandinavian Heritage museum, but not much else to recommend the place. Although we did find an espresso place.

Day 29 - July 186h - Rugby, ND
71 miles, 770 ft cumulative elevation gain
75 and sunny - perfect biking weather!

An easy, flat ride with a tailwind. Once again I averaged 15 mph for the day, and even had energy left to ride an extra mile or two into downtown Rugby (where there was really nothing to see anyway) at the end of the day.

We are starting to get into cornfields now. And in between, acres an acres of wetlands. Here’s a piece of trivia for you: North Dakota has more surface water than any other state. Not hard to believe: as you ride through here, there’s nearly always a pond in sight. And it seems like there are more cattails than wheat.

We all wore our WomanTours jerseys and left Minot in one big group today (which is very unusual for us), and then rode mostly in sight of each other all day. We’re all still feeling a bit insecure about traffic, and glad that tomorrow we will leave US 2 behind and be on back roads most of the day.

Rugby bills itself as the “geographic center of North America”. So I guess as of tomorrow we will officially be in the east?