Wake up in a motel bed. The wind is still blowing and when I push aside the heavy window drapes I see the is getting hot already. A last check with the morning news, the weatherman says it is going to be T-storms all day and on into the weekend.
I turn in my key and ride my bike to the gas station/mini-mart. They serve breakfast and I have sausage and eggs, biscuits and gravy. Talking to the counter clerk he thinks the auto parts store up the street gets a delivery a couple times a week from Wolf Point, maybe I could snag a ride.
I ride to the auto parts store and the lady says there might be a delivery today but she is not sure. "You would have better luck at the gas station".
I sit in the shade at the gas station/mini-mart and ask each pickup driver that pulls in for fuel if they are heading for Circle. All of them are just in for fuel and groceries and heading back to their ranch. I wait.
At noon I decide to walk over to the library and find me a book to read. At the library they have a rack of paperbacks for only a dime each. I find a page turner and head back to the gas station. Along the way I walk by the Hotel/Motel I stayed in last night. I decided to enter and ask the lady if she has any ideas for a ride. She is having lunch with her girl friend and the girl friend tells me her ex husband is coming by to pick up their daughter and take her to Circle, maybe you can catch a ride with him. She whips out her cell phone, gives him a call and tell him about me needing a ride for me and my bicycle.
"No problem. He'll meet you at the gas station."
Amazing! I hot foot it back to the gas station and soon a refrigeration service truck pulls in. Seeing the bicycle and me he asks if I'm the guy looking for a ride to Circle.
"That be me!"
We pick up the bike and toss it in the back of the truck among refrigeration freon tanks and assorted gear, I hop in the passenger side, the daughter in the middle and away we go!!
They are interested in hearing my story and the miles roll by. Straight as a string. I point out the dehorning machine as we zip by it at seventy miles per hour! They sure drive fast around here but then I guess you have to if you want to get anywhere.
He tells me there is a motel and a town park in Circle. When we finally arrive the wind is still howling so I elect to go to the motel, no way I can set up a tent in this wind.
We unload me and my bike in the driveway of the motel. I enter the office and no one is there, I look around and the place is a real dump. The "office" is strewn with papers. I push the button to call attention but nothing happens. Strange.
Back outside the wind and heat is really something. Some guy is working at one of the units, notices me and walks over. I tell him I would like a room.
"No can do, we're filled up."
WTF! The place doesn't look filled up to me it looks more to me like someplace people rent for months at a time.
There is nothing for it but to try and hitch hike on to Wolf Point. He tells me my best chance would be to go over to the intersection and stick out my thumb.
I can hardly push my bike against the wind to the intersection but do. I park the bike on the Click Stand and wait for a vehicle. My bike blows over!! I pull it back up and get it better situated and my hat almost blows off. If it had I doubt I could run fast enough to catch it!! Jeez! What a wind!
About every twenty minutes a truck comes along and I stick out my thumb. They drive by looking at me and continue on. The cars I don't even bother with.
And, here comes another car, well, not really a car, it is more like a SUV but at the last minute I decide to stick my thumb out anyway and by golly, it pulls over and stops!! The guy hops out, comes around and opens the back hatch. The interior floor is covered with groceries in boxes. It looks like they have been shopping at Costco but he says, no they have been on vacation to South Dakota to see their gransdon. He pushes some stuff out of the way and helps me remove the panniers. We stuff them here and there and finally we lay my bike on top of the groceries!! There is just a bit of room behind the passenger seat for me. I hop in, he introduces me to his wife Cathryn. His name is Ken. And, away we go!
As we ride along I tell them my story and that I have finally had enough, I'm trying to get to the Wolf Point Amtrak Station so I can go home.
Cathryn tells me there aren't any trains running because of the major flooding in Minot, North Dakota!
I ask how long before they run again. She says, "let me check" and whips out her cell phone.
The answer turns out to be "Indefinitely!"
Hmmm. Well, how about the Grayhound. Is there a bus depot?
"No. No bus station in town."
Well, is there a motel in town where I can stay while I sort this out?
"We have three motels in town, let me give them a call", and she whips out her cell phone again.
Soon she has the answer. "Every motel in Wolf Point is full!!"
Ken explains that there is major oil industry boom going on in Wiliston, North Dakota and there is such a shortage of housing that workers are commuting from Wolf Point, 103 miles each way!
Oh boy. Now what?
Ken then mentions they have a 5th wheel trailer set up on their extra lot in town. I could stay there is I wanted, it is hooked up to power and sewer.
Perfect!!
Soon my bike and me are ensconced in their trailer!
Next problem. There is no AT&T cell service. My phone doesn't work.
No problem. Ken leaves his with me so I can make calls.
The deal was, my brother bought me the bike, my sister had offered to get me home. All I had to do was pedal!
Time to check out that theory.
I called my Sis, explained the situation.
Soon she and my brother-in-law call back. I now have a booked flight out of Wolf Point to Billings, Montana and from there to Seattle! Del, by brother-in-law, give me his UPS number so I can ship my bike!
I call Ken and Cathryn and tell them the plan. Ken says he will pick me and the bike up in the morning and take us to his wife's floral shop where she as boxes of all sizes! From there he will take me to the UPS station which is eight miles out of town and then get me to the airport in time for my 11:00 flight!
I spend the evening breaking my Long Haul Trucker down into smaller bits totally amazed that just ten hours earlier I was sitting outside the gas station in Jordan wondering it I was going to die!
Unbelievable!!
