I had a “slacker” day today and stopped in Jamestown, ND after only 42 miles. Actually the short day turned out to be an awesome tourist day! The above scene intrigued me for some reason and the rest of the day was filled with similar, tranquil scenes all along the rural highways of North Dakota. I pedaled most of the day on July 4th, was passed by a vehicle maybe once an hour, and didn’t see anything except birds and cows. What a special day I had just riding and thinking happy thoughts of my Mom and past 4th of July celebrations.

There has been so much rain in this area that even the cows have a hard time walking through what is normally a dry area.  The tiny calf on the right was floundering in the mud and water, but luckily mama cow came to the rescue. I love animals, except snakes and mice, but I wasn’t about to wade in to save the calf.

North Dakota has two types of bicycle trails. The above county road was straight, flat, with little or no space next to the rumble-strip white line, but did have stunningly gorgeous scenery. The other type,

is straight, flat, with tons of space next to the double white line, stunningly gorgeous scenery, and plenty of loud, yet courteous, trucks and vehicles. North Dakota is one of the few states that allow brave, or crazy, cyclists to travel alongside “the big boys!” Today I chose rural county highway 22 instead of I-94, but after a “Dogkota” day like today I may decide to ride with the big boys tomorrow. Today I encountered four very ferocious farm dogs that truly believed highway 22 was their property to protect. I have pedaled my bicycle past literally hundreds of farms so far this summer and today was the first time I have been attacked by a farm dog. My guess is North Dakota farm dogs do not approve of the music I am playing on my iPhone. No Peter, Paul and Mary, Pavarotti or Sarah Brighton when I am in “Dogkota” farm dog territory! For the rest of my time in ND, I will either ride I-94 with the big boys, or play “Old MacDonald,” “Baa Baa Black Sheep,” or even “Baby Shark.”

When I am pedaling all day long for 6-7 hours, I love imagining what the area I am currently pedaling through looked like 100-200 years ago. Today my thoughts drifted to the buffalo that roamed in this area of the Great Plains. You can imagine my surprise when I rolled into Jamestown and discovered that the National Buffalo Museum is located in Jamestown. What a fabulous learning experience for this enlighten former teacher. The museum was filled with artifacts, photographs, indigenous tribal exhibits and a short movie detailing the history of these magnificent creatures. What a fabulous few hours I had wandering around the museum AND visiting the world’s largest buffalo sculpture! So cool!

Right next door to the buffalo museum I found a Louis L’Amour museum.  I love reading Louis L’Amour western novels almost as much as Lee Childs’ Jack Reacher novels. Good guy helps someone in distress, defeats the bad guys and the good guy always “wins!” Anyway, it was so much fun reading all the information about Louis L’Amour, learning all about his life in Jamestown and getting a list of all his books! Wow, what a fun filled, educational and throughly delightful day in Jamestown, ND.

I promise this is the last photo for this post. On the “About” section on my webpage I included an example of my bicycle card. (I give one of my cards to people I encounter on a daily basis.) “Faith, Family & Friends” is the logo for this Journey and today I rode past the scene below! My Mom would have said, “Neat, neat, neat!”

As always,

Greg