Portal to Carpio N.D.

Had to spend some time this morning giving the bike a good P.M. Spokes had loosened,wheels out of true, things coming loose. A direct result of the last several days on crappy Saskatchewan pavement. It is a relief to be on to decent roads again. Made good time once I got rolling. Spent the day dodging thunder heads. At one point it looked like I was going to get blasted so I hid in this old shed because it appeared to have an intact roof. The swallows in it thought it was a very bad idea for me to hide in there. Good thing I did though because it turned out to be a hail storm cloud. It hailed hard for only about ten minutes then turned to rain for a bit. Within half an hour I was back under way.

The road runs flat for quite a way but around Kenmare starts to cross the drainage patterns and drops and climbs. Near Kenmare the valley of the Des Laks river has been decorated (defaced?)

by high school grads marking their year with white stones on the hillsides. The earliest I saw was '59.

This is my campsite in Carpio. Probably the most attractive spot I have stopped at so far. No water here but the power is on and I have latched onto someone's wireless. This is only 40 kms. North of Minot so I will pass through there tomorrow morning and get onto highway 2.