Pedal Day 17 - Century.2

"Go as far as you can see, and when you get there see farther."

-Michael Shane Ash

"By perseverance the snail reached the ark."

-Charles Spurgeon, texted to me by Alex Thaxton

"Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another."

-John Dewey, texted to me by Ericka Warren

105.67 miles today in tailwinds, crosswinds, headwinds, and one flat tire (me). Yep, we were blown every direction possible today. We can't be greedy, however, because there are riders going the other direction and they need tailwinds too. Brook is one of those riders. Brook and Margaret hung out for a couple of hours waiting for Jonathan and I to arrive at The Kings' Inn Motel in Culbertson. Brook began her ride April 11 in Bar Harbor, Maine and is headed to Anacortes. Her goal is to finish by June 17th. Her bike ride is unique because she's flown in a plane, hitch-hiked, ridden a train, and pedaled. We had supper together this evening at Me Too Pizza here in Culbertson, twenty miles from North Dakota. I would say Brook is a free spirit and lots of fun. Tomorrow she will head west and we will head east. We traded a lot of notes for our trips ahead. I do hope our paths cross again. You can follow Brook's ride at www.brooks biketrip. blogspot.com.

Lunch today was at Old Town Grill in Wolf Point. To order, a person at the table or booth has to pick up the red phone (I felt like we were in the Oval Office!) and give the order to a waitress. Then you simply sit back, relax, and wait for your food. It was neat, the food was great, and the people were too. After lunch, Jonathan and I took a nap in the car while Margaret read her Kindle. That's the second day in a row I've taken a nap. I think it helps with the second part of the ride!

Trains! The trains out here are big, really big. We probably had seven pass us today. One had eight (8) engines! That's big! Sometimes we would just stop and watch them go by. So much power, Biblical too: "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6).   The original Hebrew manuscripts translate that verse this way: "Buy your child an electric train while he is still very young and neither one of you will ever regret it." You don't believe that, right? Check 2 Lionel 2:19!

It's been a great day. It was a long day but a great day. Tomorrow we'll ride only between 40 and 45 miles to Williston, North Dakota. We will finally be through Montana. By the way, we found another Montana License plate today! Oh, and I got to thank a truck driver today.My first one! His name is Joe and he is driving an oversized load to Alaska. He is hauling wind turbine blades used on the big power generating windmills. He's a Harley guy but said he thinks what we're doing is great.

In the 1960's my favorite musical group was a folk group, The New Christy Minstrels. They had a song that kept me pedaling today: "This Land is Your Land."  Here are the words to the chorus:

This land is your land,

this land is my land

from California

to the New York Island

From the Redwood Forest

to the Gulf Stream Waters

This land was made for you and me.

Paul Harvey said, "Don't go to see the foreign countries of this world until you've seen the beauty of America first." We live in an amazing country. It does belong to you and me. Let's not take for granted the beauty of it and the freedoms we have. As I pedal I am reminded that America is great because of America's people. We're different but we fit together like puzzle pieces that make one big and beautiful country.  Thank God for America often, pray for her, and stand strong for the principles that have made her great, strong, and free!

"What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord, whose people he has chosen for his own" (Psalm 33:12).

This land is your land, this land is my land.