Rest Day #2 (Fargo, ND)

Date: Saturday, 23 July 2016

Time on Bike: 0!!

(Uploaded from Fargo, ND on 26 Jul 2016)

Even though from a cycling point of view I am still in Minnesota, Hackensack to be exact, we are actually already in Fargo, ND.

We initially made a reservation for two nights at the Motel6 in Fargo, but after doing some calculations with a clearer head this morning, we realized we could use this as a base for five nights. No packing & unpacking!

With rain predicted for today, Saturday, we would take our rest day today. It will take me two days to bike the ~150 miles from Hackensack, MN to Fargo, ND. Then I will do a ~70 mile day west of Fargo hopefully getting about half-way to Bismark, ND. Then we will move to Bismark for two days. Well, that is the plan!

We slept until about 7 AM. We had completely unloaded the car so our hotel room is pretty full!

But that gives us the opportunity to consolidate and repack some things.

I went to WalMart to do some shopping.

As I was getting ready to get in line, a woman approached me and asked “You are from Virginia, aren’t you?” I thought for a second, how did she know that? Come to find out she had seen me working Woz outside the Noodles & Company yesterday evening in Fargo!

We probably talked 5 minutes. Told her our “story”. I mentioned I was surprised she recognized me and that she even talked to me. She proceeded to tell me she was from Seattle so she acts different than the locals. She said they come home from work “and roll up their garage door and that is it”! Told her we had not found the locals as warm as what we were used to in VA.

Wish I would have taken a selfie with her and given her my card with my blog address…

No breakfast at the Motel6 we are staying at. But nice, fast internet. Will try and get caught up on our blog while I have that! We can deal with breakfast…

We brought a small backpack stove with us. I boiled some water for some Earl Grey tea. Nice! And then I proceeded made some eggs. Kinda like camping out, but inside in a hotel, ya know?

It was a good choice not to bike today. It rained twice during the day.

I spent a lot of the day working on the blog and looking at maps planning my route for the next few days. Got some distance to make up…

One thing I noticed while pouring over my map is that the Paul Bunyan State Bike Trail turns west and actually runs right into the Heartland Trail. It is another trail altogether (Shingobee Connector Trail) that links to the Heartland Trail in Walker. So I don’t even need to go all the way into Walker to pick up the Heartland Trail! That will save me about 6 miles!

And always checking to make sure my cycling schedule gets us to Anacortes, WA in time to drive to San Francisco for the family Bar Mitzvah we are attending in Menlo Park on Saturday 27 August.

I am not sure I ever mentioned it, but that was the impetus for this summer being my bike trip. We had to get to the west coast anyway, so might as well take ~2 months and bike from Chicago to Seattle to complete my 1984 bike trip!

Woz considered it a rest day too!