June 11, 2005

High & Dry (& Straight!)

At last a clear and dry day without even a threat of a shower. The plan for the day was ambitious but it changed when we found out that our planned destination was sometimes a rough town and not much of a place from an esthetics point of view. Also the terrain was not what we expected as a patron at a convenience store told us that it was “flat” once we reached North Dakota which we did just after lunch. We started the day going up hill, some ups and downs and then up hill again getting into ND. It was mighty satisfying to finally leave Montana as we have been traveling in that state for the past seven days. We had a fairly good descent and then a serious up hill followed by some ups and downs with a good descent at the end of the day, putting us at near the same elevation as when we started this morning.

We came from there

We planned our stop for lunch Williston, MT as we are running low on tube patches and Nick needs a replacement spare tire for the one he blew a couple of days ago. Also, Nick still needed to replace the camping pillow he left in Ovando, MT. There is a Schwinn Bike Shop / True Value Hardware on the map so we stopped there. Well one out of three isn’t bad as Nick was able to get a pillow at a sports/liquor store. Can you believe that a bike shop on an established cycle touring route wouldn’t have patch kits or proper touring tires. Also we overshot all the eating establishments going to the sports shop so had to settle for snacks to serve as lunch. Based on the information we got on our planned destination we set our sights on the farther of a couple of camping spots near Lake Sakakawea. When we reached it, it was closed so we backtracked a couple of miles to a really nice place called Lund’s Landing which has cabins for rent and is a Marina & Restaurant. They have no formal campground but allowed us to camp on the grounds for free. They have a teepee as a point of interest and said we could stay in it if we wanted. We opted for the tents, as there is no netting on the teepee. We were charged $7.00 each (about the cost for a commercial camp site) for the use of the showers, so I guess it all evens out.

Lund's Landing

After we arrived I sat at a table and chatted with a couple who just bought a lake front property from an auctioneer named Lee Halvorson who was celebrating with them and a friend of theirs. The two men were oil men who looked fit and tan and were packing down the beers. They bought me a Bud and shared some fried fish.

After we set up camp Nick and I each had a piece of juneberry pie on the porch of Lund's Landing. Juneberries are native to the northern part of North Dakoka and are available in June, thus the name. I am not one who usually tries new things but I found the juneberry pie quite tasty. It a common home specialty around here in June, kind of like apple pie in the fall in New England. Lund's Landing is one of the few places in the world where juneberry pie is available for purchase.

The lake is a dammed portion of the Missouri River. It is rather low due to the drought the past couple of years. As a result the marina at Lund’s Landing is actually a grassy area with no water in sight.

Northwestern North Dakota is somewhat like the eastern portion of Montana except that the property boundaries appear closer together (in many cases less than a mile) as opposed to the many miles in Montana.

We crossed another time zone today and lose another hour.

It’s a crisp and clear evening and great for camping.

Cycledog (Ride the extra mile!!)

© 2005 - JNS

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