A quick update from Minneapolis

 Well, we finally left North Dakota, and got to MInnesota.  North Dakota is supposed to be the friendliest state in the nation, according to some thing we saw in North Dakota, and I wouldn't have believed it had we not actually been there, but I think it's true.  Not only that, but every park in every little town is also a free campground, and most of the towns have pools, where you can shower for free.  I'd say it's a bike tourist's paradise.  I thought it was beautiful too, with the rolling hills (really, really small hills: emphasis on the rolling) and wheat, corn, and soybeans.  Some might say boring, but I really just kept being more impressed with it as we went along, and wasn't too happy we had to leave.  That said, it also had some of the worst large towns on the trip.  I would rank Minot, ND as one of the worst cities I've ever had the misfortune of visiting, and Wiliston wasn't much better.  Fargo wasn't as bad, but it wasn't a place that made me want to stay, but then again, it's had to compete with all those little towns in bewteen.  The Eastern part of North Dakota was definitelly my favorite though, because it didn't have any oil trucks, which were everywhere in the west, and it got greener, which I like. 
  The camping has been crappy since we got to Minnesota, and there don't seem to be showers in this state either; but, despite being dirty, having bathed almost exclusively in lakes, we got to enjoy 103 miles of some of the loveliest bike trail and countryside I have ever had the pleasure of riding through, from Fergus Falls to St. Joseph.  Wow.

Grain Elevator near Des Lacs, ND.

Waiting out the thunderstorm with protective tables in Granville, ND.

Click on this to get the big picture.  Freedom Fries: we ate 'em!

Wheat.  Lot's of it in ND.

At the Geographical Center of North America in Rugby, ND.

Paving equipment.  Reminds me of Star Wars.

Every town' got one.

Lutheran church on the way to Glenfield, ND.

High performance crops in testing.