My first stop was to be a return to the North Dakota Territory Air Museum, where I had arrived just 15 minutes before closing the day before. Not only was there no time to tour but my phone battery was dead so I couldn't take pictures. This was an amazing collection, so I decided to do a return visit this morning.
I arrived at 9:56, by my watch/phone. I walked around the outside displays and took some pictures.
Note the clouds!
By the time I finished they had opened the office. I bought a very reasonably priced ticket ($3.00) then followed them to the WWII hanger, where they turned the lights on for my private visit with Betty's Dream, and company.
Betty's Dream is a well decorated B25 bomber. The talley marks represent ships sunk.
A British tail dragger
They opened one plane up, lowered the ladder and allowed me to tour inside
Cockpit of the C-47 Dutchess of Dakota, used to transport personnel
I then moved to the next hanger where, among many others, was a replica of a 1910 Curtis Pusher
They also had this which, although older(?), reminded me of a plane I had flown in (thanks again Sparky!)
Piper Cub, a tandem tail dragger
The hallway leading to the third hanger (the restoration hanger) had a uniquely incredible art collection on display. They had collected oral histories from several heroes from WWII, then had an artist paint a picture of the setting of their story. The pictures were then hung along both sides of the hallway with their story posted below it! It was impactful.
The third hanger had various machines in various stages of restoration. Not all airplanes. There were several fire trucks and even a '50s Harley Duo-Glide.
The museum had numerous items to supplement their planes and theme, war era uniforms, weapons, posters, etc. If you are ever in Minot (why not?) be sure to check this place out.
When I stepped outside there were dark clouds everywhere and the wind was blowing hard. It was decision time. Do I travel east, undoing 63 miles of progress, in order to get a single picture, then retrace my steps just to get back to where I was? I figured "you've come this far, why not?"
So I refueled and headed east toward the town of Rugby. It's like the bumper sticker says, "You have to have leather balls to play Rugby". Well, maybe it's not like that, but I had to throw that in.
I stopped at a cafe for lunch and asked where the monument was. It was about 50 yards down the road, I had just ridden right past it!
I took two pictures to make it worth the trip
After the selfie I headed west again, stopping to refuel within 40 miles of where I had filled up previously! The ride, and the rest of the day, was difficult because the wind was now a 30 mph head wind, at times gusting from an angle but often from dead ahead. By traveling at 60 mph the result is a 90 mph headwind. That qualifies as a hurricane! I noticed also that when a truck goes by in the opposite direction, if they are traveling with the wind, they push a large wall of wind ahead of them. A couple of the magnified gusts were strong enough to nearly knock my foot off the floor board on the left side. I had been told that I would not like the solid chrome rims on my bike because of cross winds but if this did not affect me nothing will.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, and you can poo-poo it if you want, but Betty was moving rain clouds out of my way again today. While headed back to the Minot area the skies were full of dark ominous looking clouds giving every indication that rain was imminent. But I'd look around and see a patch of blue ahead on the left and, shortly after, the road would take a left curve and go around the rain threat. When I had travelled the length of that opening I'd spot a patch to the right, then the road would unexpectedly turn right. With rain storms in every direction,I never got wet! She still looks out for me. I've travelled over 14,500 miles and only been soaked about 3 times. I would have taken odds against that any time.
As the afternoon waned I finally reached the Montana state line
From there it was another 26 miles until I reached the first town big enough to have a motel. I thought about camping instead, because when you camp it's always good to see Plentywood. And there it was, right on the sign - Plentywood, Montana. I ended up in a motel anyway and this one has excellent Wi-Fi! Kudos to the Sherwood Inn!
By the way, I think I know why the roads need so much attention. Look what they're putting on them!
If you can't read the sign on the door, it says "MAYO".
Montana. you're just next door now...
ReplyDeletevery nice warbird museum there. I would like to see it...
ReplyDeleteI can't remember if you watched the American Rivals documentary series while you were here visiting. They had a great one about the Wright Brothers and Curtiss.
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