Medicine Hat, AB >> Moose Jaw, SK >> Minot, ND 530 miles ridden/9 hours
Although the Albertans I’d met in British Columbia warned me that riding across southern Alberta and Saskatchewan would be boring, I enjoyed traveling through what Americans would call “amber waves of grain.” This stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway appears to cleave the country’s wheat belt, which makes for a beautiful scene when the sun is shining. Nothing but smooth sailing to Moose Jaw, where I had to stop for a requisite photo with the town’s namesake mascot.
At the border town of Portal, ND, the U.S. customs agent asked where I was headed and what roads I planned to take. I showed him my chosen route and he suggested a road that wasn’t on my map. “It’ll just be you and the cows as far as the eye can see,” he promised. Sure enough, there was no one else on this isolated farm road so I opened it up on the rolling hills.
Following Route 83 South into Minot – a small Midwestern city that supports a nearby Air Force base – the highway becomes the city’s main thoroughfare: North and South Broadway, bisected by the Souris River. Shortly after entering the city, I saw signs for Minot State University and figured I’d visit the student center to send an email to friends now that I was back in America. (Don’t worry, I visited the student center and picked up a few t-shirts to pay them back for the favor.)
I hadn’t even made it back to my bike when I got a text message from Alan, a friend from Boston who was down in Sturgis, SD, inviting me to stay with him. And here I thought I’d already missed the fun! At this point a six-hour, one-way detour to experience the world’s largest motorcycle rally was nothing; I texted him back saying I’d be there in a day or two. Luck was once again on my side!
A bit further down the road, I stumbled across Minot’s Scandinavian Heritage Park, an impressive homage to the ancestors of about 40% of the city’s residents. (Minot also hosts North America’s largest Scandinavian festival – Norsk Hostfest (“Norwegian Autumn Festival”) – every October.) The centerpiece of the park is the 60-foot high wooden Gol Stave Church, a massive, ornate post-and-lintel structure that is a replica of a Norwegian church built in the 13th century.
The day’s sightseeing finished, I tracked down Pure Honda – they had my replacement headlight, after all – where an MSF class was underway. I pulled into the parking lot, chatted with the instructors for a bit, and learned there was a KOA campground nearby. Talk about convenience! With this info, I headed out to secure a site for my tent. As the day shifted to night, the feather in the day’s cap appeared: a spectacular, fiery sunset. The campground owner even stopped by the laundry room to ask: “Seen many like this?”