Last night we went for a drink at the towns bar to wind down. On approaching the bar a woman outside approached us, "What do you want?"
Glancing between her and the bar we thought it obvious what we wanted, and hesitated.
"You're not soliciting are you? What do you want?"
"Err... no. We want a drink... ."
"How old are you guys?" She asked, and gestured for us to show our ID. We assumed she was the owner. She was dressed in a hoodie and sweatpants and was slurring her words. Once we showed our ID she took us inside where we saw the actual bar lady who looked quizzically at this woman when she told her she had ID'd us. It turned out she was just a drunken local. On entering the bar there was a classic room goes silent, music stops playing, and everyone is staring at you moment. This town definitely does not get any visitors we thought. We hastily had our drinks then left.
The morning was less eventful, but the time zone change was still catching us out, and we were up a bit later than usual at 0545. We were on the road for 0750. Arrow straight and lined with vast swathes of agricultural land, wheat and corn fields, along either side. It was reminiscent of Eastern Montana. It felt like the longest morning yet.
The road would occasionally bisect a small lake, where a lot of wildlife could be seen. Birds like pelicans, ducks, small rodents and the occasional crushed terrapin or frog on the road.
Lunch took an age to arrive. It was a late one at Valley City, 60 miles in. We thought to be quick and get back on the road so we could get to the campsite early, but a slow puncture on my rear wheel had other ideas. Small staple like slivers of metal occasionally get themselves into one of our wheels. One every few days it seems.
I also contacted a few warm showers hosts in Fargo. In lightning time we had a reply from a girl called Lindsay who we are looking forward to staying with tomorrow evening.
We aimed to get 23 miles to Buffalo after lunch, but with the puncture and a large hill out of Valley City we decided to call it a day at Tower City after 16 miles. We found a lovely campsite at the local motel, tucked away in the corner with dense corn fields on two sides, the tent nestled between an apple tree and a lone evergreen. A vegetable patch next to the tent contains a range of vegetables that would normally need a greenhouse in the UK to grow.
The proprietor was mowing the grass and asked Jake and I to move a swingset for him. We obliged and he proceeded to pay us $10. We said it was not necessary but he insisted, so we resolved to put it to the charities. We have had a couple random donations from people now, the first being from a man in a supermarket who approached us while we were packing our bags. He donated $20 and got talking to us, after which he pulled out another $10! We have also been approached by a woman at Perkins who took details for the online fundraising page (www.virginmoneygiving.com/EUOTCmain).
Owen just opened the two tins of beef stew he has been carrying around for the last week to find out it is just a runny beef stock. Dinner tonight is spaghetti with beef stock...
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