Sunday, June 26th
I wasn’t intending to take a rest day in Moorhead, but as I made the final approach, about 10 miles away on Saturday night, I knew it was the right thing to do.
So I stayed two nights with the Landstrom’s: Delia, Lyle and Samantha, my Warmshowers hosts. Plus their 5 cats and 3 dogs which I can’t remember all the names of.
We had pancakes for breakfast and I sat in the living room with Lyle for a bit looking at options for my route. They’d hosted a fair number of Northern Tier cyclists over the last few years, so had a good idea of the areas to the West.
Lyle mentioned a hostel in the town of Gackle, North Dakota. So I decide to head here – a two day (120 mile) cycle from Moorhead / Fargo, after which i’ll head South-West to Badlands (approx. 350 miles). This whole section will probably 5-7 days, i’m going to try and cover the ground quickly and do it in one long stretch as I don’t expect there to be many reasons to stop, though I’m willing to be surprised.
I spent lunch and the early afternoon in Moxie Java, a nearby coffee shop. After a few hours here I stocked up some gas for my stove and food supplies for the next week, just in case North Dakota is as desolate as some have said.
I had just enough time to squeeze in a visit to Hjemkomst Center, a museum which houses the Hjemkomst (“Homecoming” in Norwegian) boat. A replica viking ship built by Robert Asp in Moorhead in the late 70s. After he passed away his three sons, and one daughter, plus a crew of 8, sailed the boat from Duluth, Minnesota, all the way across the Atlantic to Bergen, Norway. I watched a short film which told the basic story which seemed almost unbelievable at first, given how fragile and exposed the boat seems. An amazing journey.
I spent the late afternoon and evening repacking and trying to lighten my bags slightly now I was carrying extra food. Lyle was fixing some things in his garage and we chatted for a bit. He makes custom motorcycle parts, moulded and cast in his garage, which he ships all over the world.
Everybody watched the Game Of Thrones finale in the evening – this was the first time i’d ever watched it, or half-watched it at least. The other eye was on my laptop where I began to try and edit some of the video I shot earlier in the week. It’s going to take a while.
Tomorrow: Onward to North Dakota, via Fargo in the morning.