Shelter from the storm 80.96 KB |
Eddy, snug inside the cabin 84.26 KB |
My sleeping gear spread out in the cabin 87.91 KB |
Sunday June 23, 2002 -- Ray ND to Towner ND
"Conquering and handling the world:
I have experienced that this fails.
The world is a spiritual thing
which must not be handled.
Whosoever handles it destroys it,
whosoever wants to hold on to it loses it.
Now things run ahead, now they follow.
Now they blow warm, now they blow cold.
Now they are strong, now they are thin.
Now they are on top, now they topple.
Therefore the Man of Calling avoids
what is too intense, too much, too big."
-- Lao Tzu, "Tao Te Ching"
It rained some during the night and every few hours a train would roll by on the tracks right next to the park but I slept well. The wind is still coming out of the east but it's cloudy and cool this morning. I have a quick morning snack from my supplies, pack up my camp and I'm on the road at 6:02 AM.
It's raining lightly at 9:48 AM when I pull into the Cenex station in Stanley. I've found that Cenex stations tend to have a good mixture of foodstuffs and they've quickly become my stop of choice. At this particular station I pick up a free North Dakota map in addition to my second breakfast of chocolate milk, a ham, egg & cheese biscuit and a donut. Most of my pit stops are pretty quick and if I don't get to chatting with someone, I'm usually back on the road within fifteen or twenty minutes.
It raining now and of course there's still the headwind but I recall someone saying you can do whatever you put your mind to if you just keep at it. I keep at it.
At 1:16 PM, I stop at yet another Cenex station and this one has little pizzas. I wash down the Canadian bacon pizza with a pint of milk and make some rough calculations off the map: it's about 20 miles to Minot, 210 miles from Minot to Grand Forks and probably another 220 miles from Grand Forks to Cloquet. That's 450 miles so if I can keep up the 150 mile per day average, I'll be at my folks place in three days. I finish my pizza and press on to Minot.
I take another quick food break in Minot and then press on. It's never gotten warm today and the clouds have never cleared but the rain as been intermittent. At 7:55 PM it's raining lightly and it looks like a thunderstorm is rolling in. I pull into the Cenex station in the little town of Towner and consider my options. With the coming storm, I figure I'd better stay in Towner for the night but it doesn't look like Towner is big enough to have any kind of a motel. I leave the Cenex station and go in search of the city park.
The park is just a few blocks north of Hwy 2 and there are several RVs camped here. I'm looking for a spot to set up camp when I see a small log cabin next to the playground. It's obviously meant to be a child's playhouse but right now, it's the perfect shelter. And I don't figure any kids will be playing here when the storm rolls in. The cabin is perfect. It's not raining right now and I take some pictures before I settle in for the night.
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Shelter from the storm 80.96 KB |
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Eddy, snug inside the cabin 84.26 KB |
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My sleeping gear spread out in the cabin 87.91 KB |