2:29 ST
17.8 avg
I said in last night's post that we were going to stay in Grand Forks for a day off today. Partly because severe thunderstorms were forecasted for last night and this morning, partly because we needed a day off. But, as the evening wore on, the forecast changed to rains for THIS evening and tomorrow. Looking at that, we decided to move on up the road. Hey, with the predicted winds, we could get very close to Canada and hunker down up there while the storms passed through.
Only problem: no room at the inn. Pembina has one motel with eight units and they are booked solid til July 18. So we checked the next border crossing and the town nearest there (Gretna) has no inns, and the next closest (Cavalier) was booked for tonight.
Ok, Lord, what should we do? How about halfway before the storms move in? Ok. Up to Grafton, rest, then up to the border and back to Cavalier where there is room on Sunday. Sounds good.
But looking at that 44.4 kind of makes me feel like a wuss. Especially because the wind blew us through those 44 miles.
This picture of blown reeds doesn't really show how strong the wind was at our backs. It was great! Too bad we couldn't have ridden it all the way to Cavalier.
The roads were good today. A few miles on I-29, then back onto 81. Only about five miles on a section without any shoulder, then the rest had a good one.
I mentioned yesterday about the Red River Valley being agricultural. Today we rode by miles of sugar beet farms and saw several seed potato farms. (Reminded me of home.) Because the wind blows here a lot, they plant rows of trees -shelter belts- around the fields.
And around their homes.
This weekend is Grafton's "Summerfest": rhubarb festival, car show, arts & crafts, rib fest cook off, hog roast, 5k run, pancake breakfast, parade, ATV mud run, street dance and more. Sounds like fun. Too bad this is going on outside.
Needless to say, WE are extremely thankful to be inside tonight.
We spent a good amount of time this afternoon trying to plan out our next few days. As I've said before, it's a challenge, but, we think we have a general plan.
My favorite name today:
(This is for you, Olga and Lena. ;o) )
Laying (literally) low and staying dry,
Pat
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