Days 33 & 34: Fargo at Last!

Things have definitely changed.  The humidity has gone up and the roads have straightened out and flattened.  I did 58 miles yesterday on a route that was almost as straight as an arrow, only occasionally varying when we would drop into and climb out of a river valley.

Humidity?  I'd say around 100%, give or take 0%.

Yup, that how straight and flat the roads are!

We opted to leave our Northern Tier route near Little Yellowstone Campground in order to camp farther south at Fort Ransom State Park ($30, power, water available), as that allowed us a chance to get a shower.  It was in the 90s and humid, but we went for a hike of a few miles along the ridgeline overlooking the campground (before taking showers).  The dense foliage of the oak forest probably dropped the temperature close to 20 degrees, so it was a pleasant enough hike when we were in the shade.  We saw plenty of white tail deer, which pleased Lana to no end.

We ran out of propane while cooking dinner, so we finally had a chance to try out the special adapter that came with our Camp Inn trailer.  It allows us to connect a 1 lb propane cannister to our main propane line.  It worked like a charm, and looks to have sufficient capacity for four or five meals.  We'll refill the main tank in Fargo or Grand Forks.

Our emergency propane source.

On the way into the campground there was a statue of a Viking atop a pyramid shaped hill, so we opted to leave camp before breakfast to check that out.  

Interpretive sign related to the Viking statue, which commemorates the region's Nordic heritage.

The Sheyenne River Scenic Byway interpretive sign.
This area was very scenic and would have been worth taking the time to explore,
had we not been on a tight schedule.

We had hoped to be able to hike up to the Viking statue, but it was clear it wasn't intended that we do that.  We were also hoping that we could get breakfast in the town of Fort Ransom, but everything was closed down, so we drove back to our route and made breakfast at Little Yellowstone Campground, where Alea started off today's ride.

Alea sets off from Little Yellowstone Campground.

A view along a trail through Little Yellowstone campground.

A rare casualty on one or our roadside stops:  this little guy got squished by Loraine.

The winds started out OK, but rapidly became fairly brutal as the day wore on, at least for the 90% of the time when we were headed due east.  By afternoon it was 20 mph winds from the SE and gusts up to 30 mph.  We decided to split the day up, and I took over after Alea's initial 25 miles, as we wanted to have our trailer inspected while in Fargo.  I rode the final 33 miles, cursing most of the way, though I did greatly appreciate the occasional treed area that provided a wind break.  

I also got to talk to a solo, self-contained cyclist heading west.  He appeared to be in his sixties and had started on August 3rd from New Jersey, and had mostly followed the Northern Tier route on his way west.  He was able to stay in hotels about half the time, and the remainder was tent camping (a big reason why we aren't self contained).  When I asked about his mileage, it was a familiar theme - he had figured on averaging 60 miles per day, but he'd often get bored after resting from his 60 miles and end up continuing on for another 10 or 20 miles.  That's not a problem with Alea, Lana and me - when we stop for the day, that's usually it, unless we end up at a less than desirable campground.

I'm so happy the wind is blowing the wrong way!

Our plan was to show up early enough today to get the bearings on our trailer looked at.  We first stopped at Red River Fairgrounds, as it looked as though they were nearly booked up.  We had completely unhitched when we found that in addition to the $25 charge for camping, there was another $15 for having the dog!  That is the first that we've ever encountered that, so we hitched back up and crossed the street to American RV to see what they had to say about our bearings.

Scotty (the mechanic there) said they definitely needed adjusting, but that he was the only mechanic on duty and he was swamped.  So he called a friend (Scott Bjornson) at Auto Werks to see if he could lend a hand, and he said he could fit us in.  We left the trailer with them, and got a call about an hour and a half later to come pick it up.  At first he was going to charge us, but then he pointed out that his crew had dented one of our baby moon hubcaps.  So instead he said it was no charge, that all they needed to do was tighten each wheel one additional notch, which didn't even require them to take the wheels off.

So while we were waiting we registered for the night at Lindenwood Campground ($29, power and water - great setting!) along the Red River of the North, so we have a view of Minnesota across the river in front of our campsite.  We also have I-94 screaming past, but it was at least 97 degrees out today, so we'll have the air conditioning running tonight to mask out the freeway noise.

That's MN on the left bank, ND on the right bank.