G.A.S.P.

(Great Adventures to Scenic Places)

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June 13, 1999

Well, something big did change – I got up to find the wind blowing out of the east. I had breakfast at the Hurdsfield Café – good eggs and pancakes. I was the only customer the whole time I was there. The proprietor, a middle-aged woman, was really kind, and when I went to pay my bill, I found that she had packaged up three homemade cookies (one of each variety she had this day) to send with me on my trip west. I’ll bet no one on a motorcycle ever gets free cookies from her.

With a favorable wind, I "flew" all day. The 62 miles to Washburn (where I stopped and spent an hour at the first-rte Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center) went so well that I decided to go further, and came another 32 miles in the evening to Hazen, where I am typing this at the local motel following a long hot shower. That’s 94 miles at an average speed of almost 14 mph. What a difference a day makes.

On the way, I decided where the West begins. I had thought before ever getting to North Dakota that about half-way across would probably be the dividing line. I knew the rich farmland of eastern North Dakota was really mid-western, and that the badlands of Theodore Roosevelt National Park were definitely western. During this day, I began to notice more ranches and fewer farms as I approached the town of McClusky. When I finally reached town, the sign proclaimed that it was the geographical center of North Dakota. That did it – I hereby state that the West begins in McClusky, North Dakota. I am now officially "out west." I can’t wait to see which way the wind is blowing tomorrow. I have two planned destinations depending on this wind issue – one all the way to Theodore Roosevelt NP (North Unit) and the other at Killdeer (about 60% of the way there).