Minot

Day:
Destination: Minot, ND
Route: Highway 1 west; Highway 220 south to Grand Forks; Highway 2 west
Miles Ridden: 297   Total Miles: 10,172

Points of Interest:

• Farmland in Minnesota and North Dakota
• Monument in Rugby, North Dakota

The ride from Thief River Falls, MN to Minot, ND was very, very nice. The fifty miles to Grand Forks was on a two lane highway with farmland as far as you could see in all directions. We dealt with a 40 mph+ cross wind most of the fifty miles which batted us around quite a bit. The people had planted hundreds of tall trees at various points which acted as a wind break, but when a truck would go by from the opposite direction, the air around the truck would suck you towards the truck, and then push you away from the truck as it passed. The trip was great because of the lakes, yellow fields of saffron, thousands of acres of grain, white farm houses and silos, and barns generally painted red. When we crossed the bridge into North Dakota, we hit a little traffic, then over 200 miles on a 2 lane road with virtually no traffic. Before long, black rain clouds developed, and we could see rain to our south. We followed along side the rain clouds for probably 100 miles without getting any rain. The storm brought wind again, which was setting on the ground moving from south to north. As it crossed the fields, it created the "waves of grain" where the sheen from the grain would change color and look like the waves of the ocean as the wind passed. It brought back the words from our Nation's song, and was quite majestic. We stopped at a monument in Rugby, ND, which identified the geographic center of North America. The rain hit us very briefly just before we got to Minot for the night.