Hennesseys_Hangout: Canadian Rockies Day 4

Canadian Rockies Day 4

Day 4 already. Today we ride to Bismark North Dakota. Pam and Sandy are flying in to meet us and ride the next two weeks through Canada. Since we don't have to ride but halfway across the state, we took our time starting out. From Ft. Ransom we left #26 and headed out.

We headed out 27 then north on 1 to 46 to 30 to 34 to 83 to 1804 right to the airport.

Now, these rides we take...some of the more, shall we say, interesting stories, come from the fact that we: can't see, can't hear, or just aren't paying attention. For example, We turned onto hwy 46 headed west. It wasn't long before, looking over the top of a corn field, I spied an unusual sight. It appeared to be an enormous hay bailer...or something. I kept looking trying to make out what it really was. I figured I might be able to see it better after passing the end of the corn field. A few seconds later I did just that and was able to make out the true nature of the beast. It was a .......tree. Hmmmm. It can be a real challenge being blind. Especially if you're not.....blind that is.

As we continued our trip to Bismark we entertained ourselves as well as possible. Doug sometimes has those moments best described as......"Hey, hold my beer, watch this!"

No hands, 60mph, sitting on the back seat.

And then there was this:

An unusual sight to see while running down the highway:
Turns out it was something I had read about several years ago.

The three of us parked at the Dinosaurs of the Prairie.

After this Jim had to ponder our next move:

After riding for a good portion of the day we arrived at the Bismark KOA. We took the last tent site available. This is important.

So we set up camp in the last tent site in the camp ground. Actually a pretty good place. Mine and Jims new tents are working out great. Quick up, quick down. and for me, large enough to stand and move around in.

It was time to pick up Sandy and Pam, as Doug and Jim rode off to the airport to pick them up. I stayed behind to do the laundry. This way nobody can say we only brought the women along to take care of us.

While doing the laundry Doug called from the airport and suggested we switch to the empty cabin next to us because the weather report was beginning to look pretty grim for us. Tornado watches, severe thunderstorms, golf ball sized hail, lightning, 40 to 60 mph winds, all the bad stuff was heading our way. As luck would have it, our luck anyway, that cabin, the LAST cabin was rented out only moments before. Looks like our new tents were going to be tested.

Everyone returned from the airport before the storms hit. We had some small amount of time to prepare. How much can you prepare in a tent? We put the stakes in the ground. Put on the rain fly and tied it down. Put all the heavy stuff in the tents to hold them down. Then waited.

Sandy and Doug took down their tent and laid it flat, then went to the store to wait it out. Jim and Pam prepped their tent as well as possible. I did the same. Then we waited. We didn't have long to wait. Just minutes after we finished prepping the tents it hit. Things started with high winds that kicked up so much dust it was hard to see, then the rain hit. Jim Pam and I got into the tents to get what little protection they offered. Soon, the rain started. Hard rain. Hard, hard winds from what seemed like two or three directions at once. Lightening, thunder, rain and of course, the wind. Really strong wind. At times my 8X7 foot tent was down to 3X4 the wind was blowing the sides in so far. Sometimes I was even holding the sides to keep them from coming all the way in. I saw Jim doing the same thing. It was a brutal few minutes. Fortunately for us it was not much longer. Jims tent had collapsed around them. Mine held up very well.