Unhealthy Land

I woke up early and started on the road I was dreading the most... There were lots of trucks and there were a lot of oil fields. It didn't feel like a healthy place at all and I didn't enjoy riding at all. There were a ton of rocks on the road and the trucks did not move over for bikes. There were oil well everywhere and it didn't feel like I was out in Mother Nature.

 After riding for about 3 hours in the "battle grounds" I broke a rear spoke on my bike, I had to hitchhike again... I stood on the side of the road for about 30 minutes and a truck pulled over and I loaded my bike into the back. His name was Tim and he was headed to Stanley, ND which was about 20 miles away. He was a good guy and we talked about his business and how he is trying to sell it and focus on farming and his family. We got to Stanley and he dropped me off at a gas station, I thanked him for the ride and I started asking people if they were going to  Minot, ND which is about 55 miles away. The second guy I asked was heading all the way to Minnesota, so he was going to pass through Minot. He told me to hop in and we had a great conversation the whole way to town. His name was Darrin and his father owned a small oil company and he was heading to Minneapolis to pick up his girlfriend who was flying in. We had some good laughs and he brought me almost right to the door of the bike shop. As I was saying goodbye he handed me $100 to go toward "Cycle to Recycle". I thanked him very much for the ride and the donation, it was pretty awesome!

The bike ended up taking a lot longer than expected and I contacted a friend of a friend who lived in Minot and he offered his apartment for me to crash for the night. I walked around town and checked out a Scandinavian village while I waited. I contacted Rob and we ended up going to the state fair and looking at some of the local attractions and then we went to watch a local band play that night. It was a great time and Rob treated me to an awesome dinner at his house and made a killer breakfast.