7/29 Williston ND to Bemidji MT

First thing in the morning while it was still relatively cool we detoured south to clip the corner of the north unit of the heodore Roosevelt National Park and the Little Missouri National Grassland. A very surprising place. Heading south out of Williston the land has a little roll to it, but is mostly very flat. We pulled over a slight rise and before us was TR NP. It was a set of arroyos deeply incised in the flat plan surrounding it. It was incredible but kind of alien also. Initially the land started out as a flat plain and then the Little Missouri River and its tributaries eroded the canyon and all the little side canyons. We didn't have time to ride through but the ranger told us that bison roamed throughout the canyon. This is definitely a place to come back to. And no one was there. We met the very friendliest people in North Dakota. At a gas station a woman came over to us after filling her tank and wanted to know where we were from, where we were going. She told us she and her husband had been Yamaha dealers for years and now were wheat and cattle farmers in western ND. Almost unbidden she launched into a description of all the sites and little villages we should stop and visit in ND. What a booster for her state! "Well you know" she said, "most people think North Dakota is just empty flat nothing. But I'm here to tell you if you take the time it's a beautiful place and the people are very friendly. We like you to come and visit." She was a great lady and we wished her well as we got back on the road and ground out mile after hot mile. We crossed the North Red River into Minnesota and really began to feel that we were getting close to home. Many of the tree species were the same and there were many lakes and ponds with good sized rivers. Our last stop of this long day before we moteled it was Lake Itasca, the headwaters of the Mississippi River. We dipped our boots in the outflow of the lake and took pictures and then headed north to Bemidji. A long day, but a good one.