Day 8 - August 13 Week 1 Recap & Week 2 Kick-off

Last night concluded our first week on the road.  What a week it was!!  We successfully rode the northwest quadrant of the US visiting 6 states and logging 2863 miles.  The sights were all that we could have hoped they would be and the weather was even better.  I found a quote posted in the Visitors Center yesterday in Glacier Park at Logan Pass that sums up our week almost perfectly.  "No words can describe the granduer and majesty of the mountains, and even photographs seem hopelessly to dwarf and belittle the most impressive peaks." George Bird Grinnell, 1901
To this I would only add that the same is true of our specatular seashores, ocean views, and forests.  We can only hope that the northeast will follow the lead of the northwest. 

Today serves as Day 1 of Week 2.  We pulled out of the fueling station at 8am and I think for the third day in a row, our go time temp was 59 degrees.  That's either a lucky number or the phone is rigged to tell me each morning is the same temp.  Whatever it may be, it's perfect for riding.  The fellas had discussed yesterday at lunch the distance from Glasgow to Williston, which is the nearest HD store.  Last evening a fellow traveler that they got visiting with told them it was about 60 miles to the border.  We all knew that we would be stopping there for a pic.  Thus none of us really looked at the map too closely.  I knew the sign would be after a town called Bainville, and this would be our first stop.

The Lewis & Clark Trail runs through a large Indian Reservation of the Assiniboine & Sioux Tribes known as Fort Peck.  At 80 plus miles from Glasgow we were still in Fort Peck.  I kept thinking,  "that sign has to be around here somewhere".  At 100 miles I thought, well maybe No Dak doesn't have a sign to mark the border as it's part of the reservation.  We finally passed a sign that stated we were leaving Ft Peck.  Still no sign of the Montana/North Dakota border and now I was wishing we had made a brief stop already.  Finally at 124 miles, we found the sign!  We pulled off to grab our pics and fought a bit with the sun to get them.  We've reached that point in the trip two days ago where the boys just go when nature calls whereever we are.  Today was no different with two of the three making the most of the first stop in 124 miles.  Thankfully Hwy 2 has proven to be a path less traveled than a number of other roads we've been on.

 

A quick 23 miles later we pulled into Black Magic Harley Davidson in Williston, ND.  It was interesting to ride through this area that so many from SE Idaho have moved to for work.  The housing complexes were plentiful and some were interesting barracks type units.  The Harley store was big, new and beautiful.  We spent a little time shopping and ended up enjoying a free bbq of hamburgers and hotdogs that the dealership had organized.  While we were there Torrey had the staff in the parts department looking over his bike and making a list of what he would need.  They didn't have what he needed in stock, but they called ahead to the Minot store to check their inventory too. 

Magic City Harley Davidson was 116 miles further down the road in Minot, ND.  Another really nice store with friendly staff too.  They had an engine guard in stock and the service department offered to get his bike in right away.  Replacing the engine guard would allow the highway peg to be properly placed and the fehring to be properly secured.  As a result, we were at this dealership a bit longer than we had planned, but it gave us all a chance to check our messages and return a few calls.  We chatted briefly with a few of the customers that were coming and going.  Many coming from Sturgis.  The last guy we talked to was dressed in rain gear.  We asked where he'd come from and if he'd encountered rain.  He relayed that it had poured on him between Grand Forks and Devil's Lake.  He told us he thought it had passed by now.

 

Just outside of Rugby, we skirted the edge of a large storm that was on the north side of the highway.  It drizzled for about 4 miles but we were nearly dry by the time we stopped in Rugby for fuel and a pic at the Geographical Center of North America.  From here the plan was to hammer down for the final 140 miles.  At Churchs Ferry the sky was dark gray and it was clear that we were going to get wet.  There was also a cool full rainbow.  Just as the rain started to hit, we pulled off and donned the rain gear.  The rain storm lasted about nine miles and then it was over.  By Lakota the sun came out and shined so brightly as if to convince us it was safe to doff the extra gear.  However we would not be swayed as the clouds were still nearby and could turn on us at any moment.  When we arrived in Grand Forks we were essentially dried out.

 

Stats for today - Total Miles today: 490 miles;
Time to travel that distance: 10.75 hours (this includes the time spent at both HD stores, but does not include the hour lost by crossing into the central time zone
Cumulative miles: 3353
Tomorrow: Cross Minnesota
Random thoughts:  More deer in Montana than we've seen along the way, and no cops.