Day Thirty-three

Today was the Fourth of July and I had a bit of a scare. I’ll tell ya, folks…North Dakota is a whole different ballgame from the rail trail in Minnesota!

I got a late start today, 11:00. It was just hard to leave the comfort of our hotel room, plus we needed to do some laundry and repack the cooler, etc. We took advantage of the free breakfast the hotel offered. I had a bagel with scrambled eggs and Chuck had a cinnamon roll and some cereal. Chuck drove me to the start of my route for the day. It was pretty hot starting out. I rode out of Fargo along the train tracks. A train went by and I waved to the engineer. I passed a few small towns, but everything was shut up tight for the holiday. I found some shelter from the sun in Argusville on the deck of a bar that was closed, and I enjoyed my peanut butter and oats Fiber One bar. Those are so yummy!

Chuck and I had agreed to meet for lunch in Arthur. Chuck said, “But, don’t you get caught between the moon and New York City!” He’s so good for comic relief! I rode into Arthur and Chuck had set up some chairs under a tree. We had tuna sandwiches, cole slaw and chips. This is where I had trouble. We agreed to meet 20 miles down the road in Page. It was the hottest part of the day and the wind was blowing hard in my face. I started to get fatigued, and I realized there was no cell phone service. I persevered, knowing that Chuck would be coming along. I checked my mirror frequently, watching for the car, but no sign of it. It’s a scary feeling, being out there in the heat, with no hope of shelter. I started to feel a little nauseous, which I recognize as a sign of heat stroke. I saw a big mechanical box, some kind of power station, and pulled off the road to get some shade there. I felt much better after that. I decided it would be wise to wait for Chuck to come by, instead of riding the 8 miles to Page.

Eventually, Chuck drove up and I went up to the road to meet him. He almost drove by me, but I screamed his name. Luckily, he had his window down! I was sobbing at that point. If he had driven by me, I wouldn’t have had any way to reach him to let him know. I couldn’t send a text message or call him. We’re going to work out a better system. 20 miles in that heat was too much. Chuck’s going to stick a little closer to me now. We can’t take any chances out here. Help is pretty far away.

We made it to Hope, and set up our tent in the park. The people who lived in neighboring houses stared at us like we had just landed our alien spaceship in the park and we each had three heads. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the opportunity to chat with any of them. The mosquitos in Hope were the most vicious I’ve encountered on the trip, and based on that, I made the decision to seek sustenance elsewhere. Trying to cook macaroni and cheese while being devoured by mosquitos is not my idea of a good time! Everything is very far from everything else around here, so we had to drive all the way to Cooperstown to find a place that was open. We had a frozen pizza that wasn’t half bad, and I was able to wash my face in the bathroom. We had a beer, watched the Food Network and relaxed a bit.

We headed back to Hope and dove into the tent before the mosquitos could follow (but a few got in). I read the book Jerry and Mary lent me in Wheaton. It’s a diary of Alec Guinness called “My Name Escapes Me” and I’m loving it. What a fascinating man he was! I love his observations of human nature, and he had such an appreciation for fine art, food and classical music. The fireworks started (and went on for over an hour), but I stuck in my earplugs and actually fell asleep! Go figure!