Day 24 - Made it to North Dakota - 1500 miles

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Hello Family and Friends!

 We made it to Dickinson, North Dakota yesterday. Mileage wise we are approaching our halfway point and hope to be home the first week of August! 

 Montana was great, highlighted by Glacier National Park (most of the pics below). We have gotten used to high mileage back to back 100 mile days. Our greatest challenge now is rain and strong head winds. The terrain has changed drastically from the mountains of Glacier to the great plains of middle Montana and to the badlands of Eastern Montana. Montana is known as "Big Sky" country, at points it seemed like you could see 100 miles in all directions without seeing a single tree or mountain. I will never say that Farmington, CT is boring ever again after traveling through Montana. To put some perspective the population of Montana is 1 million, the population of CT is 3.6 million yet by square miles 25 CTs could fit into the state of Montana. More people (3 million) visit Glacier National Park in Montana than actually live in it. 

 Some highlights since the last post:

  • Glacier National Park, we traversed the Going to the Sun Road which is known as one of the most difficult roads to plow. This is a 50 mile stretch of road that goes up and down Logan Pass peaking at 6700 feet elevation. At times there is only room for 1 car to pass, no shoulders, sheer cliffs on one side, and waterfalls that flow onto the road. At this time bikes are not allowed on the road 11 AM to 4 PM because of the high volume of cars so we went up early in the morning. Fun fact this road crosses the Continental Divide which separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean versus the Atlantic Ocean.
  • We stayed a night in Glasgow, Montana with Madelyn and Andy. Andy is a internist and we had a great conservation with him about rural medicine. Interestingly, Glasgow (pop. 3363) is quite literally known as "the Middle of Nowhere" because geographically it was determined that it was the furthest small town (more than 1000 people) from any metropolitan area with a pop >75,000)
https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/-middle-of-nowhere-town-embraces-its-scientific-designation-as-the-end-of-the-road-1247071811767

Today for the 4th of July we went to a Super Walmart (can't get more American than that), a demolition derby (5/10 stars), had amazing sushi (yes, in North Dakota), and are going to bed before the 10 PM fireworks. We hope to be in Minnesota by the end of the weekend. Thanks for the continued love and support! We hope you are enjoying your summers!

- Pat and John














Comments

  1. UnknownJuly 18, 2018 at 2:38 AM

    Congratulations for making it almost halfway. I have loved reading your posts. What an amazing journey!! I never realized how beautiful our country is. Thanks for the gorgeous pictures. It seems as though you're all doing well. Just know that we're thinking of you and cheering you on here in CT. Wishing you continued strength, peace & love. Be sure to keep eating those carbs to stay fueled! Stay well & be safe!

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