We made a dramatic recovery at Lund's Landing on Sunday. Not moving for pretty much an entire day except to eat a ridiculous amount of food really works!
The next day, Monday, we decided to veer off the Northern Tier route for just 100 miles to avoid a headwind going south and some tough hills and an Indian reservation. Instead we ventured through plains that were covered in oil wells, with their distinctive structures. We also saw a lot of Haliburton insignia, which made us think about how much stuff is going on in this country that none of us ever know about, because it may happen in North Dakota. That makes me think of UFOs, which are also exciting. Then we went through the pathetic town of Stanley, North Dakota for lunch. We arrived 82 miles on at Berthold, just outside Minot, having barely broken a sweat, the tailwind was so strong. As we have for most of the past couple of weeks and will for the rest of North Dakota at least, we stayed over in a city park. These are just the designated greens where the playground is, and near the baseball field. There is usually a lot of action from the younger set, who come out to play after dinner and stay out really late because it doesn't get dark until after 10. It seems like life is really different up here in the summer, when it can be so hot and it is so light. In the winter it has gotten down to -60 F, and in the summer up to 121 F, a huge difference!
On Tuesday morning we rode 25 miles into Minot, where we spent 6 hours catching up on bike repair, laundry, library, and grocery shopping. We also met 2 other cyclists from Boston heading west who were very jealous of our winds! They were very nice, we love meeting other cyclists. We got back on the road at around 4, planning to go 35 miles to a campsite in the Denbigh Experimental Forest, which sounded exciting and potentially dangerous, especially since a lot of buildings in Minot had nuclear fallout shelter symbols on them, but it turned out to be nothing special. Unfortunately, there was no sign of the campsite, so we had to go 12 more miles on to Towner, where we did not arrive until 7:30 p.m. Fortunately, we had delicious dinner to make! Pizza with pineapple, ham, mushrooms and onions, Chef Chaos's specialty.
This morning we reached Rugby, North Dakota, the geographic center of North America. Who knew!? We are very excited to be in such an important place. Mom and Dad were nice enough to send us a new bike pump, Cate's watch, and Cate's bathing suit, which we just picked up at the post office. Our goal for the day is Minnewaukan on Devil's Lake, but our secondary goal is that Minnewaukan will have a cinema because we are desperate for that silky darkness and the salty popcorn. We would see anything, anything, even Kung Fu Panda, or Indiana Jones for the second time!
- The Pandas
We noticed Timmy's bike when we were at the headwaters of the Mississippi, but we couldn't find the owner, so we left a note with our phone number. Well, he called us, and came to our campground! Apparently the Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots were a gift, and they've come with him the whole way from New Orleans to the Minneseota, following the Mississippi the whole way. 
Cate and Liz in the headwaters of the Mississippi. Check out the very attractive tan lines.
At the headwaters...
Our new favorite sign! This sign actually means steep downhill plus sharp curves plus extreme pot-holes: hold on for your life!
Throughout eastern Montana and North Dakota, we stayed in city parks (The "city" could be as small as 200 people) that were always immaculate and filled with fun toys, like this one.
On the way out of Fargo we made a terrible mistake and took the unpaved road for 6 miles instead of a long detour. There was a lot of mud on everything. The bikes were very happy to get a bath and a chain cleaning at lunch that day.
Liz is super excited to be putting up Big A in lower winds than the night before, when the tent got blown away.
David & Pam Adrian, who rescued us from the storm on the night of June 26th. You can see Big A, our tent, still trying to dry out in the background.
We really dig tailwinds! As you can see, North Dakota is like Montana but with hills.
Here, we were in the middle of everything. Everything in North America, that is. Which really doesn't mean much at all....
Sarah cooking pizzas below our lodging for the night, a teepee
