Days 26-28: Out of Montana At Last!

On Tuesday we camped at Beaver Valley Haven in Wibaux, MT ($30, power, water and laundry).  The manager came by and took a picture of Loraine and #531 - they say we'll be on their Facebook page at some point.

The spacing of campgrounds for the next few days is either every 30-35 miles or every 60-70 miles, so we've had to choose whether to do longer or shorter days.  Since we're a bit ahead of schedule right now we are opting for shorter days, thinking it is easier to cover the distance on the warmer days when it seems the wind is often in our faces.  If we get a good tailwind at some point then we'll likely plan on covering greater distances on those days.

North Dakota at last!

On Wednesday we camped at Medora, ND, the gateway to Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  The town is definitely geared to tourists, though our main criteria for choosing to camp at Medora Campground was simply to get caught up on laundry one last time before we reach Grand Forks in a little more than a week.

Thursday's ride wasn't too bad, as the wind was never stronger than about 10 mph.  It was generally a headwind until we got to an area where some storms were forming, at which point the wind was all over the map.  But it was a very scenic ride along Old US 10, and the last few miles was a nice, smooth, freshly paved roadway - a very welcome relief from all the chipseal that we've ridden on for weeks now.

On Thursday we camped at Schnell Recreation Area ($5, water available), a BLM campground of 6 sites of about an acre each.  Today (Friday) we're headed toward New Salem.  Both yesterday and today we've opted to split the riding between the two of us, each generally doing 25-35 miles each.  That enables us to cover greater distances more comfortably, and it makes the more monotonous sections of riding less so.

Our campsite at Schnell Recreation Area.

We're thinking of reaching Fargo a day earlier than originally planned, to give us an opportunity to find a place to adjust our trailer bearings and brakes.

The predominant winds lately seem to be coming out of the S and SE, so they are usually sidewinds and quartering tailwinds.  We count any winds less than 10 mph as mild, which they are at present.  So far today the roads have been in great condition.  With a tailwind Alea managed the first 10 miles in about half an hour.  I'm currently waiting halfway between Hebron and Glen Ullin, where we'll switch riders for the remainder of the day.