Days 22, 23, 24, 25 Mb2Cb Tour Spearfish to Buffalo, SD. To Bowman, to Belfield, to Watford City, North Dakota

My apologies for not posting these past 4 days. Much has happened in that time but unfortunately I was either too tired or did not have the internet access necessary to post.

I left Spearfish 4 days ago on a chilling cold, wet, and windy day. I had been monitoring the weather and knew I was in for a rough ride. To compound the issue I was pretty sure that I would have to camp out at the end of the day, since there was only 1 small town, Buffalo, within 80 miles of Spearfish. I could find nothing online that indicated that there was a motel in Buffalo. That day, Day 22, was the toughest day of the tour so far. I pedaled for 12 hours, 6am to 6pm, all the while looking for someplace I could make camp. Pitching a tent on the cold, soggy ground, while a steady cold rain is falling, didn't much appeal to me, but what choice did I have? It was actually preferable to continue pedaling than to stop. As I continued on, I knew that I had to stop soon because the cloud cover would bring on darkness long before sunset. As much as I disliked the idea, I decided that my best bet was to try and make camp under a bridge. Not an appealing thought, but at least it would be out of the rain. By that time I had just passed 80 miles for the day and was ready to just fall over and sleep in the middle of the highway. What happened next is something that I will always look back on fondly. Just past the town of Buffalo, there was a sign that said MOTEL with an arrow. The sign was faded, and had fallen loose on one end causing the arrow to point straight down. I thought great, a motel in hell! I'll take it!! But there was a motel, the Tipperery, and it was open, and it had a green neon YES in the window. I walked into the office/lobby and stood there half frozen, like a big block of ice, dripping all over carpet. I not sure what the clerk thought when she saw me, I must have been a sight, but she gave me a room. I took a hot shower, hit the bed, and didn't stir again until 5am the next morning. Believe it or not, I was ready and looking forward to hitting the road again. If you feel that way after the nightmare of the previous day, chances are you really enjoy bicycle touring.

The weather did improve the next 3 days, though it was still quite windy and cool. I crossed into North Dakota on Day 23. South Dakota and North Dakota are called the Twin States, for reasons that escape me. SD is all hills, steams, waterfalls, quaint little towns, and lots of tourists. ND is relatively flat, with dusty lttle towns, and no tourist. What ND does have is BIG OIL, and one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. The signs of big oil are everywhere. Thousands of big trucks on the road hauling composite materials to built roads into the oil patch. Every motel between Belfield and Williston, ND is booked solid, contracted out to Hailburton and other large oil companies.
Frankly it's not very attractive here. I suppose that's the price that we pay for our dependence on fossil fuels. I understand that oil means jobs, and that's the good aspect of big oil. I'm just happy all these oil companies are not in the Texas Hill Country.

I'm wrinting this post laying in my tent camped out in a C.C.C built campground just outside of Watford, ND. I will not be able to post photos because I don't think I have enough connectivity. Also I should sign off soon as my battery is running low and I don't have any way to recharge. My next post could very well come to you from Canada. I'm getting close. Bye for now.