This was a difficult yet somewhat easy day for our group. They needed to know exactly what they were facing with the dangerous flooding in Minot. They hear on the news that the water level is beginning to drop, yet everytime they check the DOT maps there are more roads closed. They also know the alternate route they thought they could take has been made into a major detour for all highway traffic. This has now become so dangerous for them as bicyclists, they called the NDDOT this morning to find out what their options were. Can they get through Minot in 2, 3 or 4 days (it will take them 2 to 3 days to bike there)? What they were told was the flooding is extremely dangerous with more roads being closed all the time. There is no way to predict when they could get through Minot. Going north is not an option, Canada had to open something like 3 dams because of their flooding which is making this all so much worse. South is no better. They asked if they would be good to go if they could just get to the other side of Minot, some how. She said no the flooding is all over the area, not just in Minot. In fact, they were informed that 2 more towns were being evacuated today. The best she could tell them was to either rent a vehicle or turn around. After more phone calls they made their decision. They were able to rent the LAST vehicle available that could accommodate their needs and they headed out of Devils Lake, ND with the plan to just get out of North Dakota completely.

So they hit the road around 1 pm and if all went well they would be out of ND in about 5 -6 hours with stops. IF all went well. They came across so many areas with standing water on the road that was passable at 25 miles an hour. They finally go onto I94 and still hit areas with water on them. Roger described items on the side of the interstate that look like the big white shrink wraps for hay, but were in fact like water bladders. These were filled to hold back the water from the interstate. They could only imagine if 1 or more broke open, the mass of water that would be on the road so fast.

The next challenge was hotel rooms for the night. Their goal was Glendive, MT where they can drop off the vehicle and find a route to get them back onto the Adventure Cycling route. The best they could do was New Salem, ND. This is about 2 hours drive from Glendive. Every hotel from there on is full. These rooms are full of families evacuated from their flooded homes. So with about 8 hours of slow travel and unbelievable scenery they called it a night in New Salem, ND. This is not what they thought this trip would be like. However, being the tough and determined group they are, they plan to continue this trip to the Pacific Ocean as planned.

I hope their water issues are behind them, from both rains and flooding. Roger did tell me to adjust my planned northern route of I94 to I 90 when I head out to pick them up. This is a route through South Dakota. So I will. Even after the next 5 weeks the chances of flooding or the damage from it causing me problems is so very real.

My heart breaks for the people of Nothe Dakota. For many, their lives are being destroyed. Please keep them in your thoughts or your prayers. As for our bikers, I am most thankful they are safe to bike some more.

Hopefully tomorrow Chris will be able to post some of the pics he took today.