21 June: Culbertson to Rugby

On Saturday I awoke actually feeling refreshed. I got up later than I had planned, and wasted some time wandering around town looking for a little food. All I wanted was a couple granola bars or Clif Bars or something of that nature, but of the three gas stations in town, the only one that hadn't closed down was the one without a convenience store. So instead I had a breakfast of peanut butter sandwiches and the same tired granola bars I'd been slowing eating all week.

I walked to the edge of town and started hitchhiking. And hitchhiking, and hitchhiking. After I'd been going for about 90 minutes, a Montana State Trooper drove by. He turned around, came back, and stopped. He got out and chatted with me for a bit, then informed me that hitchhiking is illegal in Montana. I thought that was pretty ironic, given the number of police officers of various agencies that had passed me while hitchhiking and just waved. Now here I was, about 25 miles from the border, and one actually stops to tell me I can't do it!? He thought it was a little funny, too. He took my license for a bit to check my record (none, thankfully), then came back and said, "like I said, it's illegal... but once I'm gone, what you do is what you do. It's legal to walk on the road, so you'll be okay." As he got back into his car, he said, "Good luck. Stay hydrated." I took that as a license to walk a little outside town and continue my endeavor.

I walked about 4 miles out of town, and started hitchhiking again, but I couldn't find a spot with a shoulder for drivers to pull of onto. Just when I was convinced that no one was going to stop, a pickup stopped for me. The driver was Jim, and he was working on installing fiber-optics back in Medicine Lake, but on his way to Williston to go garage-saling. He drove me into Williston, quickly checked out some garage sales, stopped to check his email for a bit, and then drove me outside town, going about 13 miles out of his way to get me to where US-2 headed east again.

After Jim dropped me off I decided it was time for a fresh application of sunscreen. While I was in the middle of it, a van approached so I stuck my thumb out. The driver was Bill, who uses his van to haul freight (mostly car parts) all over northern North Dakota. He drove me to Minot, where we parted ways when he turned south to go home.

Minot was downright awful. I was at a truckstop, where I made a sign for Devils Lake (my destination for the day), and stood by the exit onto the highway. The highway here was four lanes and moving fast, so I didn't think it would be a good place to hitchhike. After 90 minutes of trying to get a ride from the parking lot though, I changed my mind and stepped out onto the highway. I was given one bottle of Dr. Pepper, one king-sized Snickers, one liter of Dasani water, a small bag of nacho cheese Doritos, and offered five dollars, but no ride. And then, a North Dakota State Trooper drove by, turned around, came by again, and stopped.

Twice in one day.

This time he chatted a bit, took my license to check up on me, came back, chatted a bit more, wished me luck, and took off. No mention of hitchhiking being illegal in North Dakota (which it is).

I started hitchhiking again, and finally, hearing a noise behind me, I turned around and saw a car backing up toward me. Finally! I threw my pack in the back seat, got in, and we were off to Rugby, from where my driver had to turn south.

Minot had stolen 3 hours from me, and it was starting to get dark. I decided to give up on Devils Lake for the night and try to get all the way to Grand Forks in the morning. I poked around a bit looking for a place to camp, and finally decided that the huge bus lot (there must've been at least 100 buses on this lot, some new, some used) was a good candidate; it abutted a campground with some trees in between them, and there were definitely spaces between the buses and the trees where I would remain unseen from the road. People in the RV park, however, might be able to see me through the trees if they wandered over to the picnic table in the morning.

I set my tent up and climbed inside. Unfortunately, I was so afraid that someone had seen me cross the highway into the bus lot and called the police that every little noise I heard freaked me out. As a result, I didn't get to sleep until midnight or 1:00, and after that slept fitfully until only 5:15.