Day 2
Distance: 60.9 mi (approx)
Average: 12.7 mph
Ride Duration: 5:07:00 (approx)
Max speed: 30.0 mi/hr.

We left camp at about 5:15, arriving in Garrison at 5:30 or so and ate a delicious breakfast buffet at the lake road restaurant. Jesse biked ahead without breakfast - didn't eat a think the whole ride except for two life saver candies!

Along the way, I took some sunrise snapshots of a wheat field . Also along the road, I spotted a cemetery with a sign announcing "Indian Scout Post No 1," and my interest piqued. I felt somewhat ignorant of Native American history and was surprised to see this cemetery before me. I wondered who was buried there and what wars they perished in. A monument stood in honor of White Shield and Son-of-Star, two men about which I know nothing.

[NOTE: Later in the trip I purchased a handy book titled Dakota Day Trips, by Cliff Naylor and Monica Hannan which shed a bit of light on the subject of Indian Scout Post No 1. The gravestones in the cemetery are those of Native American veterans of U.S. wars. The Arikara say, according to my booklet, that all new souls enter the earth from the east. For that reason, all of the graves in the Old Scouts Cemetery face the rising sun, "to greet young souls entering the world."]

Parshall did a great job. They brought us cold water as we pulled up to the high school, where we camped for the evening. The stores were open long hours, despite it being a Sunday (this isn't the norm in Parshall).

There's nothing particularly exciting about Parshall. The people are friendly, service was good, but not much about the TOWN was remarkable except for one thing - the Paul Broste Rock Museum. This building, constructed by an artistic farmer out of rocks from the nearby fields, is very out of place in a rural North Dakota town. Inside the building are rocks collected from all around the world (and apparently at any cost necessary). Mr. Broste was an eccentric, obsessed with spheres and the concept of infinity, both of which are reflected in the "mirror room" of the museum. This room contains hundreds of sphere-shaped rocks (made that way by a device built from car parts and a process of Mr. Broste's own design) in a spiraling sculpture. This sculpture is in the center of a room with mirrored walls - the room goes on to infinity. The idea is that spheres have no beginning and no end. The sculpture on which they rest is spiral - also lacking a beginning or an end. It was interesting, but not my favorite piece in the museum.

The huge quartz sphere, apparently the largest in the world, is what really amazed me. The Smithsonian "would like to have it," as our tour guide put it. The perfectly spherical crystal ball is worth $50,000, opening bid.

I think it would have been interesting to meet Paul Broste, who is now deceased. I imagine him to have been an intensified Jerry Olson (Jerry is a somewhat eccentric artist I know in Grand Forks).

Later on in the afternoon, a group of Native American people performed several dances for us bikers. The girls wore "Jingle Dresses," which originate in a story of healing. What I can recall of the story is that a sick daughter was dressed in the gown when she arose and danced. Our Native American hosts then performed several traditional dances and a few contemporary ones.

The men sat around a drum in the center, singing and pounding the drum. The girls danced around them in somewhat of a circle. Each girl has her own unique style of dancing. In competitions, they are judged on this unique style.

After watching the girls dance for a bit, the crowd participated in a dance called the roundhouse. It's laughably simplistic - perfect for a large crowd of weary bikers. This dance is a "friendship dance." Many of us joined hands in a large circle. The men sang and kept a rhythm on the drum as we walked in a circle, jumping lightly to the sound.

As I stood off to the side once again, they continued the rhythmic pounding on the drum and the chants. I turned, facing the grassy hills to the north and tried to imagine this culture existing here hundreds of years ago, free of civilization (as we know it). I was happy to see their culture living on. But I was almost ashamed at my lack of knowledge about these people - after all, I've lived in this state all my life.

The ride today was a bit tough - very tiring. We had light headwinds all day. They just got worse as the sun rose higher. My derailer worked great to start the ride, but I fidgeted with it as if I knew what I was doing. For the rest of my ride, it skipped occasionally. I think I've got it straightened out now.

I spent far too much money today - probably $30. We went swimming, ate ice cream, had breakfast, ate supper, bought a snack at a rest stop, and went to the rock museum. This all cost me money.

My knee is already sore. I'm a bit concerned that it will just get worse. I hope not, as the best scenery is yet to come!