Sunday July 16, Devils Lake to Grafton, North Dakota
 

We left highway 281 northwest of Devils Lake around 9:15.  Once again the day started out fairly nice but got to over 100 degrees before it was over.  I guy named Dan came walking up to our trailer and atvs and he was holding a northern pike he had just caught.  He said, “Are you the guys that are riding atvs across North America?”  When we told him it was us, he was totally surprised as he had seen the front page article about our trip.  He was actually from Muscatine, Iowa and fishing on Devils Lake.  He had read about the trip in the Quad City Times Newspaper.  Small world.  We took a photo of Dans Northern Pike just so he could prove to all of his friends that he had actually caught one.  

The day was somewhat frustrating as many roads are closed due to water build up in the area.  Apparently Devils Lake raised approximately 4feet in the last few years.  The resort we stayed in the night before has lost 1,000 acres of farm land to the lake.  The lake is fed from rain and snow and has no outlet so if there is a heavy snowfall, the lake just keeps getting bigger.  I’ll have to read about this lake on the internet as it seems like an interesting event.  

So we zigged and zagged a bit and put on 120 miles and arrived about 3:00 at highway 81 south of Grafton.  We did meet some interesting people along the way.  Ron was painting his house and we stopped and visited with him.  I included a photo of his place.  He filled us in on the local history of Webster.  The photo of the Webster School is great.  It was actually a school, but purchased by an out of state sportsman.  He and his friends use it for a place to stay when they come to the area for goose hunting.  They did a great job of picking colors.  

BEFORE I FORGET. You will notice on the SageTracker a few days back that there is a straight line for two days.  I swear we did not take that route.  Here’s what happened.  The operator has to be smarter than the equipment and in this case I wasn’t.  When I changed the batteries, I installed old ones that were worn out.  So for two days the transponder was not recording our position.  When I found the error and replaced the batteries it recorded the exact position where I installed the batteries.  Thus a straight line from where they quit working to where the new ones were installed.  So that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.  

I’m looking forward to tomorrow.  We are crossing the border into Minnesota at Oslo and staying the night in Thief River Falls.  I’m sliding into Arctic Cat Inc. headquarters, telling them to give me four fresh tires, take one round of wedge out of the right front to loosen her up and send me back out there.  See Ya!
 

Click Here Photos from Today!!!