Scott and I had a nice time catching up with each other. Scott has spent his working life with state and local politics. He has made a nice life for himself in North Dakota. It’s interesting how connected people are in a state with less than 700,000 residents.

Scott made some brats and sweet corn for me and helped me put new tape on my handlebars and we had a few sips of Bourbon, about which Scott is quite the expert.

Scott mentioned that it was almost exactly 700 miles to his mothers house in Wisconsin. If I maintain a 50 per day pace, I’ll be visiting more relatives in about 2 weeks.

I originally planed to go the 50 miles to Hazelton and camp there. The last 14 miles were dead into a south wind and were really tough ones. I pulled into the gas station/convenience store which was the only business in the town and had a sandwich, ice cream and a water. By now it was a little past 2. The next town, Napoleon, had a camping area in the city park and was only 26 miles away. Also it was due east, so I wouldn’t have to battle the wind so much. I decided I should just make use of the afternoon and go there. The land here is flatter than Western North Dakota, so the going wasn’t too tough.

The result was a big mileage day as I covered 76 miles, when I had planed for 50. Total mileage is 1585.

I cooked potato soup in the picnic shelter and now, as I write this, a nasty thunderstorm is blowing through.