Happy 4th of July

July 4, 2021

We took the big rigs on down the interstate again today. We had a shorter day planned of 35 miles to the tourist town of Medora, ND. The forecast was for a sunny day with temperatures in the upper 90’s. Given the forecast, we got another early start, starting down the road at 5:30 am. It was a beautiful morning with cool temps and no wind. The interstate had an excellent shoulder, with about 10 miles of it being a new blacktop, smooth and fast. After about 9 miles we came up to the end of Montana and the border of North Dakota. We have been in Montana for 3 weeks, it has seemed like forever. We are extremely happy to get this state behind us and go into a new state. Right after the border we came to the town of Beach, which had a convenience store open 24 hours. We stopped in for a bathroom break and ran into the tour group from Alpaca tours. These are the guys who gave us lunch on the road a few days ago. We have run into them several times and have shared stories from the road with them. The riders are very nice to us and are very encouraging about our tour. We expect to see them one more time in the town of Dickenson. After that they will be way ahead of us.

After our break we got going on the interstate again. The scenery started to change. First we went through the little Missouri National Grasslands. Then we started entering the badlands of North Dakota. There were more butte and canyons passing by the interstate. We had a few climbs, but, given the lower gradients, we handled them pretty easily. After about 34 miles we came upon the exit for Medora. We were done with the days riding by 9:30 am. That gave us the entire day to explore Medora. We first went to the motel and they told us our room would not be ready for a few hours. We changed into regular clothes and locked the bikes up in a safe place. We went to a cafe and had a 2nd breakfast. Then we went walking around all the little shops in Medora. Medora is a famous city with a colorful history. It is well known as a place where Teddy Roosevelt spent a few years before he was president becoming a cattle rancher. Medora currently has the western entrance to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The town has all these historical plaques around town talking about the history of the town and the area. I read many of the plaques while Janet was shopping to replace a pair of flip-flops, her old ones broke and are un-usable. We stopped in the bike shop and talked to the owner for a little bit. She gave us stickers for her shop, which I put on my water bottle. We stopped in a saloon for a lemonade and while drinking it we got a call that our room was ready. We went back to the hotel and took showers and cleaned up. After we cleaned up, there was a parade down the Main Street, which we went out and watched. We went to dinner and then came back to the room to go to bed early.

Tomorrow is another shorter day with a projected 34 miles to the town of Dickinson. We are thinking of taking a rest day in Dickinson and then make a dash across the state. It looks like we are coming up to a more reasonable stretch of weather, with temperatures not so hot.

I hope everyone has had a great 4th of July!!

Finally leaving Montana. We entered the state on June 15. It is a big state.

The scenery is changing. We are entering the badlands of North Dakota.

Today's ride: 35 miles (56 km)
Total: 1,487 miles (2,393 km)

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