Minot (say Why not)

Minot Public Library, 4:35 on the edge of Rocky Mountain Time. Charge for use of the computer, $2.00. Everything else, priceless!

Sometimes the wind is your friend, and today it was mine! I made the 73 miles into Minot quite easily with a good tailwind most of the way. Stopped at a small cafe along the way for breakfast, and as seems to be the way here, half the town was in the same cafe enjoying a leisurely breakfast and a lot of banter about seeds, "pieces of ground", harvests, the weather. I in my bright yellow shirt and shorts was quite an interruption to the normal flow of things I'm sure. Got to meet the former superintendent of schools, now retired. In this small town about 15 years ago they had 350 students in their K-12 school. Now they're down in the 90's. North Dakota is experiencing rural flight--to its cities and beyond. A major (felt) school problem is sports! So few kids, so many miles to travel for games, and the price of gas have all created perfect storm conditions to decimate their beloved sports. By the way, baseball is big, big, big here. Even the smallest town has a well kept ball field and I have seen them used a lot.

Did you know the western mile is longer than the eastern mile? Well it is! Today, again, I spied grain elevators on the horizon, a sure sign the next town is coming up. They look like they're 1, maybe 2 miles away. In fact they're 6 or 7. And when you feel like you're close enough to reach out and touch them, they're still a mile away!

Am staying at a motel right across from the North Dakota State Fair which wraps up this weekend. I'll check it out tonight. Cally and Chris---Keith Urban (hope I got the name right) was at the fair last weekend! I've rented a car that I'll pick up out at the airport tomorrow and will be on my way with 4 wheels to Great Falls Montana and then on the Lewis and Clark bike route.

Love to all. I'll see if I can get pictures transferred to CD this weekend as I go 4 wheeling (meaning not on the bike!) On to Montana!!!