Five Hundred Miles

A very long day of riding! We try to avoid riding early in the morning or into the evening because of the large number of wild animals on the roads, especially the roads-less-traveled that we enjoy. Today, however, we’ve chosen to do a stretch on Interstate 94 this evening because we want to wind along the Lewis and Clark Trail that follows the Missouri River through scenic western North Dakota.
Our riding routine is to have a small breakfast at our lodging place and much of the accommodation in North American even includes a Continental breakfast. So it is about 8:30 when we leave Glasgow heading east on Highway 2. This is Sunday of the July 4th long weekend in America and the towns are very quiet but the recreation areas are very busy!
We stop for brunch in Williston shortly after crossing the state border and realize there was a time change so it is actually lunchtime. The Lewis and Clark State Park is just east of Williston and the turn-off for historic Fort Union and Fort Buford is just west. We turn on to highway 1804 here and will follow it along the Missouri to 178-mile-long Lake Sakakawea which was formed when the Garrison Dam backed up the river. This is a spectacular drive of sparkling water, rolling hills, striking mesas and buttes, and historic Indian sites. There are scenic drives on either side of the lake and we stay on the north side until we hit ND highway 83 which will take us down to Interstate 94. Highway 83 runs through historic Washburn, a riverboat town in the late 1800s, as it occupies a bluff on the Missouri. The ND Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center is located here and offers wonderful views of the river in the short section where it is not dammed. Fort Mandan, where Lewis and Clark wintered in 1804-05 is 3 miles west of Washburn.
It was a great ride for sight-seeing but we have 4 hours of very hard riding on Interstate 94 to Fargo before we can call it a day.