Day One Hundred Ninety-six, Date Saturday, September 12, 2009
Time in Saddle: 5:53
Distance for the Day: 54.80 miles From Bismarck To Glen Ullin, ND
Accumulated Trip Distance: 9733.4 miles
Altitudes: Starting/Ending 1557’/1863’, Highest: 1945’ Accumulated: 6047’
Speeds: Avg: 8.5 mph, Max: 29.4 mph
Weather: 78° partly cloudy
Expenditures: $13
Except for a few hours of napping, I stayed up all night to bring the blog up to date, and bring Google Maps up to date, too. Got to meet Ron and Joyce’ baby grandson, Maddux, son of Sara & Jason. Before continuing on my trip, I took two of the three reflector triangles I’d bought in Grand Rapids, MN, and shoe-goo’d them onto my two rear panniers. I thought about sewing them on, but didn’t want to violate the integrity of my panniers’ waterproof properties with needle holes. So now I have THREE bright, reflective triangles facing backwards, and will show up like a light show in the headlights of cars at dusk,
night, or in tunnels – how nice! After handshakes all around, and my thanks for their wonderful hospitality, I left Ron and Joyce’ home at 10:38am to head west out of Bismarck, but stopped in at a Subway from 11:30am – 12:30pm to get a meal deal ($8), and make sure I had a main meal for tomorrow, too. I hit New Salem on CR 139 at 4:20-5:02pm, where I stopped for drinks and food items ($4). To my unpleasant surprise (I think Ron even warned me about this, but I forgot), the road turned into packed dirt and gravel – not *too* bad – but it stayed that way for 15 miles of mildly rolling terrain, until it passed under the railroad overpass a mile or so
before the town of Glen Ullin. A farmer who owned some of the property I was passing was driving from the opposite direction, and stopped for a friendly chat with me. He was very interested in my story, and warned me that there were a lot of rattlesnakes in this area. He said they go for the warmth of the road after it cools off in the evening. I wasn’t sure if I could believe him, because I hadn’t seen any dead rattlers in the road, only the occasional dead racer. But, he seemed in earnest, so I made sure I didn’t go wandering through the grass, or stepping on any rocks without looking, first.
Time in Saddle: 5:53
Distance for the Day: 54.80 miles From Bismarck To Glen Ullin, ND
Accumulated Trip Distance: 9733.4 miles
Altitudes: Starting/Ending 1557’/1863’, Highest: 1945’ Accumulated: 6047’
Speeds: Avg: 8.5 mph, Max: 29.4 mph
Weather: 78° partly cloudy
Expenditures: $13
Except for a few hours of napping, I stayed up all night to bring the blog up to date, and bring Google Maps up to date, too. Got to meet Ron and Joyce’ baby grandson, Maddux, son of Sara & Jason. Before continuing on my trip, I took two of the three reflector triangles I’d bought in Grand Rapids, MN, and shoe-goo’d them onto my two rear panniers. I thought about sewing them on, but didn’t want to violate the integrity of my panniers’ waterproof properties with needle holes. So now I have THREE bright, reflective triangles facing backwards, and will show up like a light show in the headlights of cars at dusk,
night, or in tunnels – how nice! After handshakes all around, and my thanks for their wonderful hospitality, I left Ron and Joyce’ home at 10:38am to head west out of Bismarck, but stopped in at a Subway from 11:30am – 12:30pm to get a meal deal ($8), and make sure I had a main meal for tomorrow, too. I hit New Salem on CR 139 at 4:20-5:02pm, where I stopped for drinks and food items ($4). To my unpleasant surprise (I think Ron even warned me about this, but I forgot), the road turned into packed dirt and gravel – not *too* bad – but it stayed that way for 15 miles of mildly rolling terrain, until it passed under the railroad overpass a mile or so
before the town of Glen Ullin. A farmer who owned some of the property I was passing was driving from the opposite direction, and stopped for a friendly chat with me. He was very interested in my story, and warned me that there were a lot of rattlesnakes in this area. He said they go for the warmth of the road after it cools off in the evening. I wasn’t sure if I could believe him, because I hadn’t seen any dead rattlers in the road, only the occasional dead racer. But, he seemed in earnest, so I made sure I didn’t go wandering through the grass, or stepping on any rocks without looking, first.I arrived in Glen Ullin at sunset, went to mini mart and got a ice cream sandwich ($1); saw the green flash on the horizon using my binoculars (that’s when the Sun *just* sets, and the very last sliver of its upper edge disappears below the horizon, its light gets refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere and turns a brilliant emerald green – the time to view it with binoculars SAFELY is just at that moment, when a bare
sliver of the sun is still showing – NOT before!). After that, I went a few yards up the road, meaning to look for the park, when I found a school with large grounds, and an area by an edge of the bus parking lot and baseball field (N46 48.605’ W101 49.585’) that had two lines of trees. This seemed suitable, so I hung my hammock between a couple of the trees at the far corner of the property, and hopped in to get to sleep early at 8:30pm (I was pretty tired from having gotten minimal sleep the previous two nights – all that blogging, you understand). Zzzzzz!
sliver of the sun is still showing – NOT before!). After that, I went a few yards up the road, meaning to look for the park, when I found a school with large grounds, and an area by an edge of the bus parking lot and baseball field (N46 48.605’ W101 49.585’) that had two lines of trees. This seemed suitable, so I hung my hammock between a couple of the trees at the far corner of the property, and hopped in to get to sleep early at 8:30pm (I was pretty tired from having gotten minimal sleep the previous two nights – all that blogging, you understand). Zzzzzz!
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