Day 101 - ending at Barnesville, MN - The Great Plains Trail - Sort Of

August 23, 2023

Day 101 - ending at Barnesville, MN

Day 101 - Arthur, ND to Barnesville, MN

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I woke up to another overcast and misty morning. But it wasn't foggy. I packed up and headed back to Kelly's Cafe at 8:40am. Besides breakfast, I wanted to use their wifi to post yesterday's report.

A couple walked in just before me. I heard the cook say they don't have much here in the way of breakfast. He could do eggs, bacon, French toast . . . When he asked what I'd like, I said, "Eggs, bacon, and French toast." He made a great breakfast. What Kelly's Cafe doesn't have is sweet rolls or any sort of dessert. I wandered around in the small mall next door until I found the grocery store. I bought a package of two raspberry bismarks, then sat at a table inside the building but outside the store to eat them. I got busy talking with a lady at another table and forgot to take a picture until after I'd eaten one of them. This lady and another got to discussing my route, which needed to be altered to get to a Walmart once I was in Minnesota. They said the route I was going to take wouldn't work because of major road construction near I-29 north of Fargo. After looking at the map on my phone, one of them figured out a way that would work, but I'd have to ride through Fargo. That was OK. I was planning to ride through there anyway.

My final destination for today was Wagner Park Campground in Barnesville, Minnesota. The way I got there was through Mapleton, North Dakota. From Mapleton I took a road straight east through Fargo and Moorhead. The Walmart is in Dilworth, just east of Moorhead. I needed to get there to get pills that I ran out of two weeks ago. By-the-way, a friend researched why North Dakota Walmarts don't have pharmacies: the state requires pharmacies to be 51% owned by a pharmacist.

I left Arthur at 10:38am, heading south on first the bike path, then ND-18. At CR-4 I turned east, then south on CR-11 - the road to Mapleton. Noon arrived when I was on this road. Today's report is 12.3 miles. At 1:10pm I made my turn east onto CR-10 in Mapleton. This road, though its name changed along the way, got me all the way to Dilworth.

The day warmed up as I went, though the sun didn't really shine until later in the evening. Getting through Fargo wasn't too much of a problem, thanks to bicycle paths that paralleled the road. I did pass North Dakota State University, and had to make my way around groups of students. The only hills I saw today were overpasses over railroad tracks. At 2:53pm, I crossed the Red River and was in Minnesota. Neither the river nor Minnesota have signs, or I missed seeing them.

I had a few more miles to get to Walmart. That was easy enough thanks to bike paths and bike lanes. At 3:19pm I was walking into the store. They were able to pull up my prescription orders and said it would be about 20 minutes before they would be ready. I sat down on a nearby bench and decided to work some on pictures selection. The problem was, I kept falling asleep, which kind of surprised me. I decided then that I'd find a place to eat after I was out of here.

Thanks to another bike path, I easily made it to a nearby Subway. I headed south from there on the bike path that parallels 34th Street South. After crossing over I-94, I got onto Highway 52 going southeast. This highway had an excellent wide shoulder for a while, then a wide and weedy shoulder. The town of Sabin is along this highway. I passed by there at 5:52pm. They have an impressive elevator in their town, which centers a block of businesses.

It was feeling a little hot later in the evening. Earlier I'd poured some leftover Dr Pepper from my lunch at Subway into my thermos. It tasted really good when I stopped for a break. I don't remember who told me that I'd be seeing some sugar beet fields in this area. I think that is what I saw this evening.

I arrived in Barnesville at 7:27pm. A left turn toward the campground took me past Dairy Queen. I stopped there for a banana split, which is all I needed for supper. I arrived at Wagner Park Campground at 8:05pm. As I was reading the self check-in instructions, the camp host came over and told me all the places where I could camp. I don't have electricity tonight, but do have a picnic table in an isolated quiet spot.

It took me about an hour to sort out the pills I picked up today. I have 15 complete sets now. Hopefully it won't take me more than 15 days to get home from here.

My weather forecast app is calling for a chance of rain between midnight and 1:00am. I don't know how they can figure the time that close. Anyway, I don't plan to be up then to see if they are right.

Tomorrow morning I'll put away my North Dakota map and get out my Minnesota map. Right now I'm going to bed.

Jeff

Spent: $13.18 plus $5 (breakfast) + $3.99 (bismarks) + $14.32 plus $1 (lunch) + $4.93 (banana split) + $15 (campsite) = $57.42