Day 30 Bismarck ND to Napoleon ND

July 17, 2023

Just before we were going to head out this morning I checked the weather, 41° so we gloved up, heavier jackets and hats for the start. We meandered through the neighborhoods before we found a bike trail. We went about 5 or 6 miles and then hit the first climb. It was a real long one but we made it. After that is was relentless with rolling hills, rolling hills, rolling hills for the rest of the day. Hubs gets real curious about what crops are growing. We did stop to check some out but don’t know what they were growing. On we went and came upon this business. Hubs noticed the sign and because he saw that it said”Stop in” he figured we would. He found himself some sausage sticks that looked like slim Jim’s. As we were talking to the woman at the counter the door to the back room opened and Hubs asked if we could go in. The woman named Trina was the owner with her husband. It is actually a small family owned processing place. So we went in to where they butcher the meat. Some of the steaks looked yummy. We got to talk to Trina’s sister in law and her youngest daughter. Trina’s husband and oldest daughter are in Peru on a mission to rebuild homes. After all our questions were answered we were on our way. As we traveled on we saw tons of acres of corn. Are we in North Dakota or Iowa. We also came across something growing with a golden color. Don’t know what it is but the color was pretty. Hubs has been dying to ask a farmer what some of these plants growing are but they never seem to be in the right place at the right time. Today one was mowing close to the road so I told Hubs he might be lucky. As the guy was getting closer Hubs was getting ready to meet him and then the farmer turned the mower.I couldn’t help but laugh. You would have to be there. The farmer then started mowing in the same direction as we were going. We got ahead of him and rode till we saw where he would be turning again. I told Hubs to go to the corner so the guy would know that you wanted to talk to him but he didn’t so the farmer turned the mower around again. hubs did finally get his attention and he did stop. We had an interesting conversation. He and his brother own the 160 acre farm but can only use 147 acres as the road we were riding on goes through his property. Hubs asked him if he likes farming and he said hes. He really seemed like a real happy guy. Back on the road and rolling hills we went. The ride would have been perfect if we had some flats to ride on but all in all it wasn’t bad, just long. When we got to our motel, we decided to drop our bags and go into town for dinner. When we go there and ordered drinks, I noticed on the menu that they only serve dinners on Friday and Saturday. We could of gotten burgers, pizza, sandwiches or the salad bar. The lettuce was just iceberg so we went to the grocery store and bought microwave dinners. Tomorrow we have a shorter ride but no services. We will have to make sure we have enough water and food to get us through. We do not have a room for tomorrow night so not sure if I will be able to blog.