July 28

First... to take care of a couple questions....
.. for Colin...  Mt Robson - it was beatific and  we mentioned your name in its presence....

John....  The Chinese guy - he'd ridden all over the world, Tebet, back and forth across the US, (and many other countries..) A couple days before he'd dropped his fanny pack with $5000 in it ( $2000 in US cash)... He'd only gone a mile and realized he didn't have it - turned around.... saw a truck stopped by the side of the road....(which took off)....  it seemed that the local Rez folks relieved him of his ID, passport, $$, and other important papers.... He spent 2 days with a local farmer trying to sort out the whole mess, finally got on the road again - only to have his chain break in two.  Farmer friend showed up, John Deere guy dropped by, and the three of us hung out ... John Deere guy had about 5 bikes of his own at home, zipped home and picked up a bunch of spare master links ...  and he was back on the road when we left.  I've got his web site somewhere - I'll see if I can share it.

Today ----  Havre, MT to Minot, ND  (it is all about Rt 2)

Larry takes care of a little  bike maintenance during one of our construction stops...(he is adding oil)





I, on the other hand, took a picture of some of the roadside beauty.... 














It was surprising to me how many water spots there were... the three of us, Mark, Loretta, and Larry's pic and shadow.

This is tiny Mark and Larry under a very large puffy cloud...

Here, in front of  the True Value ,where we bought more nuts for my exhaust flange thingy-- proving that loud pipes don't actually save lives but tick people off more often than not....

Unfortunately, it is also where I discovered that I too had managed to 'catch' sheared sub frame bolt syndrome --- UHGGG!!  I'd been hearing a  tinging kind of sound for two days - turned out to be my engine guards rattling due to the sheared bolt that was suppose to be holding it. Just for the record - it was the right side of the bike- not the left side like Mark's.  We spoke with 10 different hotel/motels in Williston, ND - everyone was full. Ended up riding another 100 miles to Minot - where we are spending the night and hoping to find a garage in the morning.  (This is Loretta's adventurous part of the trip - the part where you know it is an adventure because it sucks when you are having it!)

This storm cell was SO close - It was totally pouring what seemed like a few feet away - and there was a wild wind that did involve us....  caught up to us again in Williston for just a few  sprinkles while I contemplated my sub-frame bolt issue.

Loved this guy - Larry had a short conversation with him... great sign. great cowboy.

 

I am pretty anxious about tomorrow and what luck I will have or not getting that bolt out - and how much time and money that'll cost me.........

Time for bed....