45.75 Miles / 1584.66 Total Miles
1460Ft. Elevation Gain / 66,325 Ft. Total Elevation Gain
After a nice comfie night in a hotel bed, with gazillion thread count sheets and pillow cases, and eating a free hotel breakfast, we made a quick stop at a grocery store, before heading down the road for an easy 45 mile day. The weather prediction was great: 6 mph wind–nothing to be too concerned about, with a high of 80 degrees. We spent the day on mostly quiet 2-lane roads, passing crops and cattle.
I was noticing, today, that the cows in North Dakota aren’t as social as the cows in Montana. When we ride by, only a few of them face the road and watch us, where in Montana, they all faced the road and watched. Maybe there is a charm school for cows, somewhere, where these cows can learn some social graces.
A few miles before Moffit, our half way point, I stumbled upon a butcher shop in the middle of no where, with beef jerky listed on its sign. I had to stop. Beef jerky gets stuck in my teeth and drives me nuts, but I didn’t care. I wanted some anyhow, just because it was there. So I parked my bike and went inside. And that’s where I learned that this beef jerky is different. It has to be refrigerated, because it doesn’t have all the additives the jerky in the stores have, and it is actually juicy. The lady working the counter just gave me some jerky–wouldn’t take my money, no matter how hard I tried to give it to her. And it was delicious.
Passing through Moffit, a few miles later, there were no signs of a town. None. Shortly after that, we learned that we were on the Lawrence Welk Memorial Highway, honouring Lawrence Welk, who was born and raised in North Dakota and started his career here. When I was a kid, my parents tuned into his Saturday night show, while Mom put curlers in the girls hair and Dad polished his shoes. Those were the good old days.
When we arrived Hazelton, we headed straight for the city park, because that’s where we were camping. And there waiting for us was our friend Sue, setting up her tent and getting settled in. It was good to see her again.
We relived our Pampalona moment in Teddy Roosevelt National Park, and had some laughs with her. After setting up my tent and taking an ice cold shower (that’s right–there’s no hot water in the bathrooms), she and I took a walking tour of the town, while Ed napped, then we all ate dinner together at the Road Hawg Grill.
Hazelton felt like it was right out of the Twilite Zone. The prices on groceries and restaurant food were normal big town prices, not the ridiculous small town prices we’ve been paying most of this trip.
Living Our Bucket List 