I hung my head in shame and got back on US 2 headed west. My experience with North Dakota today can be pretty well summed up with one photo:
This is not to say that I didn't see anything interesting, but it was close. I was seeing brown fields for a long time and then I began to see occasional fields of North Dakota's most beautiful crop:
They were definitely a welcome sight amidst the brown barley stubble.
As I was riding along I began to think about the things that the Canadians had told me they enjoy about crossing the plains in the States. Number one was the higher speed limits, and I agree, that is helpful. Number two were the rest areas. I have mostly always taken rest areas for granted, and while I was in Canada they had these great little waysides that had wonderful views and usually had a bathroom of some kind. So I didn't really understand, then I got to thinking that most of our rest areas usually only have views of the parking lot and the restroom building, and just as I started to think that I stopped at a rest area with this view:
Figures that I would start thinking that we never have views at our rest areas and then stumble on that. That's what I get for thinking…
I stopped for lunch in Minot and when I got back on the road I soon turned north onto US 52 and was pleasantly surprised by the change of scenery. I found myself looking at rolling hills on either side of me and I was riding in a nice little valley. The stream winding through the valley made the crop fields fascinating to look at because it cut through the middle of the fields and left crooked edges on them. Here is a satellite photo to illustrate:
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A little farther up the road I went through an area where most graduating classes had used white rocks on the hillside to display their year. I saw years from 1959 all the way up to 2005 and a few of them said 'State Champs' underneath the year. I take this is an indication of how little there is to do in the area, especially because some of the older years have obviously been repainted recently.
US 52 turned into North Dakota 5 and ran a straight line into Montana. the hills got bigger and greener, and I could tell that I was getting closer to the west that I know.
Just a little way into Montana I came into the town of Plentywood where I was planning to go to a meeting. I found the meeting place and also found a sign on the door saying that meetings happen on Wednesday and Saturday - not Sunday. Damn. I was a little bummed out, and looked for another meeting nearby, but the closest one was still 2 hours away, and I would have gotten there in the middle of the meeting if I was lucky. I chalked up another missed meeting and went to find a place to stay. A meeting would have been nice, but a quiet night at the hotel will be nice, too.
To end the day I was walking back from the restaurant and I saw this:
Welcome back to the Big Sky Country.
