Day 46: A Hard Earned Night's Rest at a Motel on the Rez

Watford City, ND (to Bismarck, ND to Watford City, ND) to Wolf Point, MT

Miles biked today: 1.9 (woot!)
Total miles biked on trip so far: 1800.4 (yessss!)
Max speed: 12 mph
Miles travelled by car today (gross): 440 (approximate)
Miles travelled by car today (net): 90 (approximate)

What a hullaballoo today was! First things first, I updated yesterday's post. Also, sorry there are so few pics today. :( We'll try to do better in the future!

Yesterday, when we rolled into Watford City, we were seriously disappointed that there was nowhere available to stay. After 7 straight biking days, we sorely needed a rest day, and after the 101 degree day of biking, we didn't want to camp in the sweltering heat (a low of 77 degrees for that night) and we certainly didn't want a camping rest day. Add to that the fact that we were told, a) there are no hotels available for the next 70 miles or so, no matter what direction you go in; b) there's road construction resulting in no shoulder for the next 30 miles; and c) (from the mouth of an EMT) the ride is dangerous even for the trucks and he's been called to the scene of several fatalities recently, we decided to try to get out of town in a car.

Trouble was, Watford City doesn't have a car rental place. They have a U-Haul shop, and we stopped by (no on there) and called (no answer) and left a message (no call back), so that was a bust. We heard that the Napa Auto Parts in town has a car that they rent, but they wouldn't do point-to-point (meaning we'd have to return it to Watford City, defeating the purpose of the rental).

We thought we just might have to bike to either Sidney, MT or Williston, ND, both about 60 miles away on busy, heavy construction roads, and go to the car rental places there. We called both Sidney and Williston's car rental businesses, and none of them even had a single car available until mid-July. That's how busy these oil boom towns are. Nuts.

So we devised a plan! We'd rent the Watford City car, drive to the airport in Bismarck (about 3 hrs away) pick up a rental car there, drive both cars back to Watford City, return the Napa Auto Parts car, and drive the Bismarck car through Montana. And that's exactly what we did! The only challenge was that car rental places are unwilling to let people drive their cars to other towns (point-to-point) around the 4th of July holiday (for whatever reason), so we could only get the car if we promised to take it to Missoula, where the Bismarck Avis had promised to send a car soon. Deal! I wanted to see Missoula anyway.

We had a long, tiring haul today, and learned that every road in western North Dakota is either closed or under serious construction (not exaggerating). We almost didn't make it back to the Napa before they closed, and they were holding our bikes hostage!

Anyway, we are now in Wolf Point, Montana in a lovely, climate controlled motel on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. I plan to sleep very well tonight. We have a bit of a schedule to keep (car must be to Missoula by 3 p.m. Saturday), but I think we'll still have time to see some sights and get a bit of rest.

Not sure if we'll resume biking after Missoula or figure something else out. I think we need a few days of rest before making any decisions, and I think we might try to stick around Missoula until after the 4th. I guess we'll just have to wait and see!