Northward Ho; Days 11 & 12; June 20 & 21, 2011

On Monday, June 20, we left our motel at 8:45 am.  It was sunny and 61 degrees.  We rode a few miles south to the Fort Peck Reservoir, Dam, power plant, spillway, and Interpretive Center.  It is a humongous reservoir and we had a good time checking things out.

We rode east on Hwy 2 to Wolf Point, ND, had lunch at the Old Town Grill, and continued on to Williston, ND for gas.  We took Hwy 1804 east and south from Williston and were soon riding in the rain.  We checked for motels in three towns.  All motels had NO vacancies.  We called motels in Minot, ND – NO vacancies.  Later we learned parts of Minot were evacuated due to flooding.  The closest we could get was in Bismarck, ND.  Motels were filled up with oil rig workers, people helping with flooding problems, and people displaced by the flooding.  We rode until 9:30 pm to obtain lodging at a Best Western.  A long day of riding (415 miles) and most of it was in the cold (upper 50’s) rain.

On Tuesday, June 21 we left Bismarck at 10:45 am.  It was 61 and cloudy.  We rode west into neighboring Mandan, ND and then south.  Our route included Hwys 1806, and 24 south into South Dakota and then Hwys 63, 12, and 83 south to our destination of Pierre, SD.  Along the way we checked out Sitting Bull’s burial place in Fort Yates, ND and had lunch at the Prairie Dog Cafe in Fort McLaughlin, SD.

We rode 255 miles today, almost all of it in the cold (upper 50’s) rain.  The flooding along the Missouri and many other locations along this route was extensive.

When we arrived at our Super 8 motel in Pierre we saw sand bags around the motel and neighboring businesses.  Ends up the Missouri River was close-by but there was no flooding in sight . . . . yet.

For more pictures from these two days click on the following link: https://picasaweb.google.com/goldwinger.shawnee/NorthwardHoDays1112062011062111?feat=directlink