It never happened.

My last post was from Minnesota, and I am now typing this out on the frontier - the wild west - of Glasgow, Montana.

It's gorgeous here - big sky and open fields of wheat

And that state in between? I've almost forgotten all about it, it's like we were never there.

North Dakota was like a bad dream... if you are a bicyclist. Small or non-existent shoulders forced us into the main roadway of Highway 2. Unlike bicycling on a country road with light traffic, these roads had semis, and lots of them. We road on a stretch that looked like an interstate highway, with on  ramps and exits, underpasses and overpasses. It was not a good place for us.

Rugby, ND - the geographical center of North America

We saw the impact of oil development and I saw for the first time a fracking operation. I'll tell you one thing: they sure are louder than wind turbines I've heard complaints about.

That brings me to the headwind. Ahhhh the headwind! I have not experienced anything more demoralizing than pedaling as hard as you can into the wind, and still going slow. Trying to prolong our stay in this dismal state, it pushed us eastward every afternoon.

The saving grace of this state is its people. Just as friendly as those Minnesotans, even the truck divers chatted us up at gas stations and gave us alternative routes in case we had enough of Route 2.

Our build day in Minot, ND. This house is will be refinished after a flood-damaged addition is removed.

I was impressed by the determination individuals showed to keep their communities alive - many communities were damaged from floods last year, and they are still working hard and seemingly, tirelessly, to rebuild.

So, Mom & Dad, family and friends, after you read this, breathe easily. I never thought for a moment I would get hit by a semi. I never screamed or cried.

For North Dakota never happened. It was just a bad dream.