 Today was our first full day of riding. I slept late this morning, because I was dozing off on the bike yesterday. We left work (Blair NE) yesterday at about 2:00pm, headed up I-29 for Watertown South Dakota where my Aunt and Uncle, Deanna and Rod Dilley, put us up for the first night. Today we decide to stick to two-lane highways. It turned out to be a good call. We took 212 west from Watertown to highway 281 North then 52 West to Minot North Dakota. We ended up at the "Rough Riders" campground in Minot for the night. When we first rode up, the lady said that they were full up, but after we chatted for a while she decided that there were a couple of tent sites available. I guess we passed inspection. It was a good campground, nice shady sites, fire pits, $15.00 per tent site. 2000/07/22 USA - North Dakota - Minot |
 Russ found a friend. Did you know they have penguins in North Dakota? This one, of the genus "penguinus plasticus" belonged to some kids that were camped near us. 2000/07/22 USA - North Dakota - Minot |
 These are the kids that belonged to the polastic penguin. When they arrived at the campground, the first thing they did after getting out of thier car was to set out the penguin. Right then I new they were going to be fun people. They then proceeded to attempt to set up thier tent. Until, that is, they realized that they forgot to bring the poles. Russ and I, being to resourceful engineers that we are, managed to sling it over a low branch for them. We were rewarded with s'mores around thier campfire that evening. 2000/07/23 USA - North Dakota - Minot |
 Highway 2 brought us the rest of the way accross No, Dak. and most of the way accross Montana. Strong winds out of the south the whole way. We camped last night at the Lake Shel-Coo Campground in Shelby Montana. The lake is almost dry and the wind never stops blowing. We set the bikes on the windward side of the tents as a windbreak, and tethered the tents to the bikes so the wouldn't blow away. No trees to speak of here. Other than that, it was your typical city campground, with everything in various levels of disrepair. The water in the showers was hot, though. The price was $7.00 per tent. 2000/07/24 USA - Montana - Shelby |
 This penguin theme keeps recurring. Do you think they are trying to tell us something? 2000/07/24 USA - Montana |
 Riding accross Montana on Highway 2 there isn't much to look at. That's Russ up ahead. Notice how he has to lean into the wind. 2000/07/24 USA - Montana |
 We left Shelby, Montana continueing west on Highway 2, which took us all the way around the south end of Glacier National Park. 2000/07/24 USA - Montana |
 From there we took the "Going-to-the-Sun Road" north-east through the park. 2000/07/24 Glacier National Park USA - Montana |
 The "Going-to-the-Sun Road" is in good conditiona and was not congested that day. There was some construction, but it was handled well and traffic flowed smoothly. The road is 80 kilometers (50 miles) long, curvey, and steep in places. The speed limits are appropriately low, and vehicle lengths are limited, which makes the ride more enjoyable. Nobody likes waiting while an oversized Porta-Ghetto trys to negotiate hairpin curves. 2000/07/24 Glacier National Park USA - Montana |
 The views from the Going-to-the-Sun Road are spectacular. 2000/07/24 Glacier National Park USA - Montana |
 This is the Logan Pass Visitor Center on the Going-to-the-Sun Road. The Tourists were fascinated by the goats in the parking lot. The goats, on the other hand, were indifferent. 2000/07/24 Glacier National Park USA - Montana |