Betsy and I enjoyed a restful night in the comfy bed at the Comfort Inn. We partook of the motel breakfast including sausage, egg-like material, bran cereal, biscuits and gravy, and coffee. Well-filled, we departed and immediately headed east on Interstate 94. It’s legal to bike on interstate highways, at least in some places, such as Montana and North Dakota. I-94 gained elevation gradually for 20 miles, passing through prairie grassland and by some wheat fields. There wasn’t much traffic, and the shoulders were wide and relatively smooth.
After hitting a high point, we rode downhill to the exit for Wibaux. We left I-94 and rode into town. We enjoyed a second breakfast at the Palace Cafe. The woman who served us was a transplant from Los Angeles! When we got back on I-94, we rode for 9 miles to the MT/ND border. Immediately, the highway surface changed to new, smooth asphalt as did the shoulder. Riding could not have been better! We opted to stay on I-94 all the way to Medora.
As we rode eastward, the scenery improved with colorful eroded mounds and slopes. We ate lunch beside the highway- resting against the outside of a guardrail with a view of the eroded slopes. We left I-94 at exit 24 and rode 2 miles to the Madora Campground. We got a shaded site under spreading cottonwoods near the Little Missouri River (see photo) and set up camp. After setting up camp, we biked into town to Dakota Cyclery, then to the grocery store, and lastly to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park visitor center. The Park includes spectacular examples of eroded badlands north of Medora. Theodore Roosevelt spent time as a cowboy and rancher in the area to revive after his wife and mother died. After checking out the visitor center, we went back to camp and ate dinner; today we traveled 64.8 miles.
