Biking For Wishes and Quest West: July 3rd

July 3rd - 9.74 / 1,435.11 - Day off in Minot

After taking advantage of the continental breakfast at the hotel I crossed town to the Roughrider Campground and set up camp. The tent area was very nice and I was very pleased with my campsite for the next two nights. I had only planned to stay one extra day in Minot to celebrate Independence Day but arrived a day early due to skipping a town and pushing on earlier in the trip. After doing some reading and writing I stopped at the campground office and ordered a tasty pizza. Fell asleep shortly after that and had a great afternoon nap. Woke up to a beautiful afternoon in the upper 70's and met my neighbor Jeff. Jeff, a traveler from Redding, California was in North Dakota for the summer to do some work on the Air Force base. It just so happens that Redding, California was on my top ten places to move to after this trip is over. Jeff filled me in on all kinds of great information about Redding and we had some beers and great coversation around the fire.

The campsite at Roughrider Campground

The entrance to the campground - great view

Railroad trestle just outside the campground

July 4th - 16.74 / 1,452.85 - Day off in Minot

Woke up to a beautiful Independence Day, sunny and 70's! I packed up for a day trip into town to take a look around. After stopping for lunch I went back to the Scandanavian Heritage Center to take a closer look at everything. When I first got to Minot I just made a quick stop since I was ready for a shower and dinner. I was glad I went back, it is a beautiful park and such a perfect day to check it all out. From there I headed on through town and came across a festival with live music and it was just outside Minot's Zoo. Since it was the holiday it was only $1 to get in. I couldn't pass that up and took a walk around the zoo and checked out the many mammels, birds, and reptiles. It's a really nice zoo and afterwards I got to see an acoustic father and son guitar duo in the park. At about 5:00 I headed back to camp and meet up with Jeff. We hopped in Jeff's car and went to the State Fairgrounds to see the races and fireworks. After a couple beers and a harmoica jam in the parking lot we headed in and got front row seats for the last 2 races, awesome! Minutes after sitting down we saw a crash and it wasn't the last. There were a ton of cars in the second race and it was quite exciting! After the races we were treated to a firework show that ended with a gigantic firework that really excited the crowd! It was a great 4th of July with awesome weather and a fun filled day!

Danish windmill - Scandanavian Heritage Center

Statue of Leif Eiri'ksson ( Icelandic Explorer )

Statue of Sondre Norheim ( Father of modern skiing )

Gol Stave Church replica

Dala Horse ( National symbol of Sweden )

Stabbur ( Storehouse replica )

Roosevelt Park Zoo

The common Zebra

Elk

Cotton Top Tamarin

Very colorful lizard - not sure what type

Another interesting lizard

Lion

Minot railroad depot

Nice park in the North Dakota State Fairgrounds

Racetrack grandstands ( moon almost full )

Fireworks from the stands ( you could see many other shows off in the distance )

Launch off

Ka-Boom!

Crazy color effects from the firework trails

Happy Independence Day!

July 5th - 55.19 / 1,508.04 - Minot - Stanley

Woke up, packed up, and said goodbye to my new friend Jeff. I had a lot of fun in Minot but was excited to be moving West again. It was a sunny day in the 80's with the wind at my back. Gotta love that! I saw a lot of prairie dogs along my ride today. It was pretty ride with a few hills that were no problem being with the wind. When I got near Stanley I sterted to notice lot's of oil rigs where they had just recently started drilling for oil. Western North Dakota is being drilled all over with the town of Stanley being a big spot for oil. I arrived to my campsite early in the afternoon and met some fellow bikers who were traveling the country. Heather and Dave were both very nice and helped me out with some planning for the coming weeks. They had come from the section that I am about to pass through so it was great to get there input. A couple more bikers from Canada showed up to the campsite as well. We just all happened to end up in the same place at the same time. I was pretty tired and after showering and setting up camp I called it a night.

I was hoping to see a train cross the very large trestle outside the campground

Fields of yellow along the road

Oil rig near Stanley

July 6th - 58.73 / 1,566.77 - Stanley - Lewis and Clark State Park

Woke up early and headed into town to do laundry and make a trip to the post office. Another sunny day in the 80's. I have been fortunate with incredible weather for most of the trip thus far. I took a dirt road for much further than I had expected but it eventually led out to HWY 1804 which is part of the Lewis and Clark Trail. This would be the start of my Lewis and Clark expedition the Pacific Ocean. I will be following their path ( as close as one can by on land by bicycle ) for the next 36 days and then I will proceed down to the entire Oregon Pacific Coast until I reach the Redwoods in Northern California. I was amazed by the amount of oil rigs I saw today and allthough it was interesting it really does take away from the landscape. As I rode on I entered the Badlands region or North Dakota which is incredibly beautiful! There were some pretty big hills which are good to prepare me for the mountains just shortly ahead. I arrived to the very scenic Lewis and Clark State Park and got the keyt for the Lewis cabin. After a shower in the very clean restrooms I headed out to the trails and did some hiking around the park. The park was nice and quiet and full of beauty. The park lies on the North shore of Lake Sakawea, a reservoir of the Missouri River. In fact it is the largest reservoir in the country in terms of surface area. The lake is 178 miles long with 1,530 miles of shoreline. In comparison I have ridden 1,566 miles on my trip as of today. I hiked down to the beach which was flooded and the waves were crashing in. It was a great hike and I had it all to myself. After hiking all over the park I headed back to the cabin and relaxed to the sound of the waves and the incredible view of the lake. So peaceful!!