Rugby to Spirit Lake, ND

Miles 82.1
Ride time 5:05
Elevation gain 1508'
Today we left the town of Rugby and headed south on highway 3. It was a lovely ride today. There was virtually no traffic and the scenery was the most beautiful I have seen in North Dakota. We passed so many fields of wheat, canola and flax. All along the roadway wildflowers of all kinds including wild sunflowers, echinacea, and Mexican hat. I was amazed at all of the wetland areas full of all kinds of birds.
We had little wind and a very nice temperature for riding . We had a Sag stop at this place that said it was a Bison ranch. We strained our eyes to see some, but all we saw was hay bales and cows! We saw these huge round uniform piles of hay all in a row. Jennifer said they made with a special machine and the farmers can feed a lot of cows that way.
We rode into the Spirit Lake/Devils Lake area. The Native Americans called it Spirit Lake, but the White Man decided it was a bad spirit so they call it Devils Lake. The lake is very large. It is the largest natural body of water in North Dakota. We came in along one side and we were right at waterline for quite a few miles as we headed towards the resort.
Admittedly, after staying at the Indian Casino in New Town, I had low expectations. But the place is not bad. It sits overlooking the lake. The casino is smokey, but the rooms are clean and large.
They have a large indoor pool and a tall waterside. After riding in the sun, Jennifer and I thought we would go to the pool before all of the kids show up, like they have at almost every other pool during this trip. We looked in at it was almost empty. We quickly cleaned up, got our suits on and went in. We decide it would be fun to try the water slide. We climbed up all the stairs and read the instructions to go feet first, cross hands and feet-got it. Jennifer went first. I wait a couple of seconds, then climbed in and started sliding down. Faster and faster I went, a combination of luge and being shot out of rifle. I started to go so fast as I circled around and around that I thought I might flip right on out the side. I hit the water an an ungodly speed and got a full noseful of water. We both decided that once was enough. Maybe that this was really designed for smaller children, not larger adults!
So a few more days of riding. Rose, I'll be seeing you soon!