High Plains Drifters, May 11, 2013

                                                                 Our Trek So Far

                                                                 Our travel Today

Date: 5/11/2013                                    Time Zone: CDT

Location: Bismarck ND                           Bismarck KOA

Leg of journey: 5

Miles traveled today: 363

Miles traveled since departure: 1946

Percentage of travel completed: 17.7%

U.S. states visited today: MN, ND

Critters observed today: 1 camel toe [at truck stop in MN]

We awoke to bright morning sun, our first such experience on our 5 days of travel. This far north, there are more daylight hours than in NC at this time of year; sun up 6:13a, sun down 9:06p [CDT]. And we still have 5 weeks to go before the summer solstice. On that day we will be in Alaska and there will be nearly 20 hours of usable daylight in the 24 hour day. The sun didn’t last long and before we could finish preparing to roll, it started snowing on Maggie lying outside. No accumulation, just a flurry, but surprising nonetheless to us Southerners.

We noted that in IA and southern MN, the terrain was almost entirely open farmland, with no “woods” as we know them. The few trees here are regulated to palace guard duty, completely surrounding and interspersed within the farmhouse and outbuilding area to guard against the cold winter winds and the heat of summer. Elsewhere, as far as one can see, there are no individual trees as the land has been cleared generations ago for growing crops. The crop is corn, nothing else was observed. In northern MN and eastern ND, corn is still king, but hay and grassland pastures are also evident. And “woods” begin appear again in many areas. Surprisingly, there are lots of lakes, ponds and wetlands in eastern ND.

The winds today were fierce, about 40 mph from the north creating a strong and nearly constant crosswind that made driving very difficult. Fighting lane drift while driving proved challenging. Once we had to pass an oversized load, one that occupied a travel lane and a half. It was a modular office building. But as I crept past it on the edge of the pavement, it looked as large as a shopping center. We passed a large lake that appeared to have white caps, but on second look it the whiteness turned out to be large chunks of thick ice that was breaking up. Some areas still have patches of snow left from the recent spring snow. The high plains of ND hold tight to their winter weather.

The campground here is not much, with a large number of sites, and nearly full for the weekend. Another of many parks where we have stayed in the past that are to be avoided in the future. No photo attached.

End of post