2018, Day 4: Dorth Nakoda

Ah, good ole' North Dakota. The 39th state, famous for its oil reserves and named after the Sioux word, "dhakota," meaning "friend." Having a North Friend and a South Friend leaves us reminiscing about friendships, and how even the best of pals need to designate personal space. Like that one time that Ben and I shared a bedroom and I put a rope line down the middle... but more official.

North Dakota doesn't seem to have much in the way of originality. Two of its largest cities are Fargo and West Fargo. Its state beverage is Milk. Someone was bored enough to designate a state beverage. Its state flower, the Wild Prairie Rose, looks rather nothing like a standard rose and could easily be mistaken for another generic flower, and has no thorns. North Dakota is, however, home to the exact geographical center of North America, immortalized by a 15-foot obelisk in the town of Rugby, which Dad should pass through in ~190 miles. It's the perfect residence for anyone with a shark phobia.

And, fitting with the theme that ND has provided for us thus far, Mom and Dad had yet another set of faulty hotel keys today, and the wind has been fully uncooperative. From Dad's bike journal:

"Headwinds. All day. 10-15 mph. Really slowed me down. Turns out it was only 20 miles to the North Dakota border. But with hills and headwinds it took over 2 ½ hours to go that far. But speed isn’t the issue. The issue is force and cadence. If it is too hard to pedal, the legs get tired prematurely. So you dump the pride, gear down, keep the legs pumping in a good rhythm, fee put the hills, and do what you can. I only averaged 8 mph today; 40 miles in 5 hours. But I rode all the way into Williston—so we had no travelling distance to the hotel. The sun was out all during the ride. One thing about using sunblock—you pick up a lot of road grime. It’s fun to listen to the birds sing in ducks take off from the ponds, see the cows in the field. I even had a dog run up to the road today to “greet” me. He was a big rottweiler, so I was glad I was on the other side of the highway. He was smart enough to stay on his side, and not venture out into the traffic."

Here's hoping for a better tomorrow!