Day 36: The Rule of Three

Fargo, ND to Hope, ND

Stats!
Miles biked today: 69.0
Total miles biked on trip so far: 1418.6
Max speed: 25.0
# of scenery changes: 1
# of raindrops that fell on us: 0 (so far)
# of raindrops predicted by the weatherman to fall on us today: 1 million (scattered thunderstorms were supposed to be around all day)
# of raindrops predicted for tomorrow: 8 million (heavy rain all day)
% chance we'll get lucky again: 4

Honestly, it was kind of a boring day today. We got out of Fargo pretty quickly and easily, and from then on it was just empty fields, the ubiquitous red-winged blackbirds, and an occasional tree. Basically, North Dakota looks just like how you imagine North Dakota looks.

We stopped in Arthur for lunch and got pulled pork sandwiches with a side of ground beef and beans. It was a weird but tasty side dish. A few people in Arthur were interested in the trip so we talked about it some.

We passed up an opportunity to stop in Page, ND for a snack and a bathroom break. Hope was supposed to be pretty close and we felt okay. Right after we left Page we could see the Hope water tower. We were so close!

Alas, we were fooled by the rule of three. I'm not sure if it's a real thing, but I saw a guy talking about it on the Discovery Channel. Basically, if you're stuck in a desert and you see something you want to walk to, the distance it actually is from you is three times the distance it looks. Apparently our eyes and brains can't really judge distance well after a certain point, and with no trees or anything to use for scale, we misjudge pretty badly.

The Hope water tower looked like it could be no more than a few miles away. It was definitely three times that, and we were flagging by the time we arrived. We should have stopped in Page for a snack.

Anyway, we are all set up here now in our tent. It's another tent in a city park night, but we don't have a picnic shelter and it's supposed to rain buckets all night long, and then more tomorrow. It's supposed to be heavy rain all day tomorrow and then more rain the next day, so we are planning two short days. If the weatherman fools us (like he did today -- it was supposed to rain but we've thankfully not yet had a drop), and it's clear, we'll double up the short days for one long one.

Sorry for the lack of pictures. It was just flat emptiness most of the way. I even took a video but can't upload it. I'll try to upload it here again tomorrow if I get a better connection. For now, I think we're going to just read and hang out in the tent. Battery on the laptop is going, so we'll have to go for now!