Happy birthday Drew. Today when we woke the wind was still blowing out of the east and neither of us were looking forward to riding, so we decided to take the day off. John had texted us to let us know that Wanda’s family lived here in Devils Lake, Wanda phoned and gave us her parents phone number. When I phoned, Kaye said they lived out of town 14 miles, but Richard would be glad to pick us and our bikes up. That was a tremendous help, 14 miles is an hour of riding. Kaye and Richard were delightful hosts and it was also a pleasure to meet their son Brian and grandson Max. Richard gave us a grand tour of the Devils Lake Region. The area we covered would have taken 3 days to pedal. We drove through Churches Ferry, which is a town that once was, and is now being covered by lake water. The streets are residential with many vacant lots where houses once stood. Some buildings are abandoned and a few people still live there. Construction, building roads hgher, is everwhere and the dike protecting the town of Devils Lake from being covered by 10 feet of water is amazing. We stopped for lunch at the Spirit Lake Casino and then drove to Stump Lake and the Tolna Coulee to see the natural drainage into the Sheyenne River. If the Tolna Coulee was cleared of debris and dendritis the water would flow and the lake would stabilize at a certain maximum height. Returning home Kaye fixed us a very nice dinner. Then to top the day off a spectacular thunderstorm blew through. The forecast for tomorrow calls for a tail wind. It was a good day off.
Greg