Ich bin ein Municher

Monday, 30 June: The wind, even when it is somewhat helpful, still dries me out enough that I wish I had a stillsuit. I went north on Hwy 20. It was pretty easy pedalling, and I was really glad I had left 2. The road was narrow, but there weren't too many drivers, and they all gave me a lot of space when they passed. I rode past some small lakes, or big ponds, and there were a lot of birds. All of the townlets were small, and full of happy people. There was minimal roadkill. I stopped at a bar for some cold juice, and chatted up the bartender about the camping opportunities in upcoming towns. He recommended I go a few miles off my route, to Munich, ND, because it has a nice park. Garmin, and a woman I talked to on the way, agreed that it was the only town in the area that had more than a handful of houses and some silos. It was a pretty long day, and then I got to the park and what?! It's $13 to camp here?! There had better be a shower! There was, so I set up, cleaned up, reapplied deet, and headed to the bar to get the proper change to pay for camping. I was grumpy, hot and hungry when I got to the bar. It was $2.50 for a can of PBR, and they were only serving frozen pizza. Still grumpy, I ordered a pizza and wolfed down the entire thing. During the wolfing, the bartender brought me another can of beer, courtesy of someone at one of the tables. He didn't look my way, or attempt to talk to me, so I drank gratefully without looking the gift horse in the mouth. As I was leaving, I thanked him, and he said they were just wondering who I was, since it was such a small town and strangers stuck out like a sore thumb. I introduced myself, and they invited me to sit and have another beer with them. Well, alright! It was a group of five guys and a woman, who was so sharp and funny I high-fived her within about thirty seconds of sitting down. They were a load of fun, and when they heard I was camping in the park, one of the guys-- who looked like a smaller, coherent version of Don Vito-- said he was on the park board and I didn't have to pay. That fee is for the rich people! Awesome. We had a couple of beers, and I immediately felt comfortable being my mouthy self, cracking jokes at other people's expense. It's how I show affection, but not everyone gets that, so I often have to rein it in around new people. It was nice, because so much of my time on this trip has been spent talking to strangers and feeling like I am on company behavior. I finally dragged myself away to sleep, before all hope of taking advantage of tomorrow's west wind was gone. On my way out, the guy who bought me the first beer insisted on giving me some "gas money." He shoved $100 into my hand, said "tell everyone Munich, ND is the place to be" and shut the door in my face while I was protesting that I couldn't accept that much! It didn't take that to convince me that Munich is the place to be. I had a great time there. So if you are ever up that way, be sure to stop in at the Munich Bar! There is a bowling alley and a few stores, not to mention the nice big park. Also, the good people of Munich would like you all to know that they have electricity, indoor plumbing, and even the internet, all the way out here in northern ND.

And minimal roadkill.

Tuesday, 01 July: As much as I wanted to take a rest day in Munich-- heck, I wanted to stay for their Fourth of July celebration!-- I got back on the road today. As God is my witness, if I have to beg, borrow or steal, I will never waste another tailwind again. I soft pedalled on Hwy 66 for most of the day, and made killer time with the help of the wind, and some nice downhill bits. It didn't seem that strong, and I wasn't sure how much help I was getting until the road turned south for a mile or two, and my speed dropped quite a bit.

Some guy pulled up beside me and offered me both bottled water and money. People are so nice out here! If I were a less scrupulous person...

It was super hot and muggy, so I stopped at a bar for some juice. I asked about camping in upcoming towns, and ran into that thing I've seen before: people who have no friggin clue what is in the next town over. It's ten miles away! The town you live in only has like two things in it! I can't believe you have never checked out what's in the next town over! Okey doke, I'll just keep riding and see what I find.

I made it to Crystal, which has a park, but I didn't see bathrooms, and I thought I could make it further. I decided to continue on to St. Thomas, which seems to be a smidgen larger, though still under 500 people, according to my map. This seems to be the right size of town to have a decent park for camping. While in Crystal, I once again stopped at the bar for juice. The sweet friendly bartender chatted me up and gave me the juice, and one of those thingies that you soak in water and put on your neck to keep cool, for free. She is a fascinating woman, and her son does this yoga slacking thing that involves doing yoga while balanced on a slack rope. Yeesh! He's also into a bunch of other interesting sports, so we talked about that for a while.

When I headed out, I discovered the wind had suddenly changed to a strong wind from the north. Boo. I should have just stayed in Crystal, but now that I had decided to go further, my mind was set. It was only about ten miles further, and I managed it without too much pain.

In St. Thomas, I was directed to camp in this grassy field right off the main road. The way the trees are planted around it makes it more of a wind tunnel than a field when the wind blows north/south. There are no bathrooms or even garbage cans. It is right by the park, but is separated from it by this moat thing. I worked my way around into the park to investigate, and found a building that looks like it used to be bathrooms and a covered picnic table area, but is now all boarded up, with no picnic tables, and graffiti on the covered pavement. I talked to some more people, who said that there were no bathrooms, and camping is allowed in the wind tunnel, and there used to be a bridge across the moat but they took it down cuz, "ya know, teenagers." Um, okay. I found a spot that was mildly sheltered from the wind and set up. Cooking seemed like it would be challenging in the wind tunnel, and I considered going into town to a bar or restaurant to get some food and try to chat with some locals, but the moat made it seem like a really difficult process, and I felt the need to stick close to my stuff. Maybe I've been spoiled by all of my happy free camping experiences, but there is just something off about a town that chooses to let its park facilites go to crap and sequesters visitors from the town. I stayed in my tent, cleaning my ASP, which was starting to get a little rusty from riding in the rain, and was sticking a bit. It's in primo condition now. I'm going to go to bed early and get the heck out of here first thing tomorrow.

Wednesday, 2 July: Jonny's back. Today there is a brutal and chilly north wind (from Canada!) trying to blow me off the road. The shoulders slope here (like mine), so I try to stay on the actual road as much as possible. At least it isn't all hot and muggy.

No day off for me, because I obviously didn't want to stay in St. Thomas, and I had no idea what the wind predictions were, and I have this notion of getting to my Uncle's place before the Fourth of July. It's a tough ride, but I got an early start, and I'm just going to chug along and make as many miles as I can today. Right now I am resting in Drayton, which is right by the border of ND and MN, and has cell service. The weather site, which has been pretty right on as far as predicting wind goes, says tomorrow will be easy.

I'm hoping I will have service when I arrive, but I kinda doubt I will before then.