After resigning ourselves that it would be too much to keep ahead of schedule by two days, we set our sights on Arthur today, a ride of 68 miles. We slept in today so we could hit the library at about 8:00, as the librarian yesterday told us we could come in before they open and use the internet, a very kind gesture.

The usual N.D. wind hit us in the face right away and soon we were reduced to grunting for every mile at 11-12 mph. I believe I now know how the great explorers felt when they sailed through the Doldrums: we seem to pedal and pedal and pedal and the odometer barely moves. The past 3 days have without a doubt been very taxing and we're trying not to think about the fact that we may be facing the same SE wind every day through MN and IA.

Soon after lunch in Page, we began racing an approaching thunderstorm and eventually had to bail out and ride 3 miles off route to Erie in an attempt to get indoors before it hit. Didn't make it, but soon found an open shop building and ducked in right before the heavy rain and hail started. At one point the thunder was continuous, like a freight train, which they say usually accompany tornados.

Two local boys, Andrew and David, kept us entertained for a couple hours while we waited out the storm and then accompanied us a mile or so out of town. We also learned, from one of their mothers, that a tornado had been spotted about 10 miles south of us, so that freight train analogy holds true!

Finally made it to Arthur and camping in the city park again. We were told they had nice restrooms (which we anticipated having to take shelter in if we had more storms), but they were closed due to a water leak and we couldn't get kerm (the sign on the door didn't capitalize kerm, so I'm not either) or Dale to open them.

The AmericInn in Fargo tomorrow is going to be glorious!