Day 48 Enderlin, ND to Gackle, ND 74.4 miles Total 2298.5 mi

 We met a few people at the sad little motel in Lisbon before Steve got on the road.  It was raining but tapering off, so he was not in a hurry to get soaked.  They all talked about Medora and what a fun place it is and what we should see and do there.  No breakfast other than Clif Bar, a banana and peanut butter.

There was actually a dip and a curve in the road this morning before quite a climb, but this is what we found at the top.

We had discussed meeting at a town called Marion, which had an interesting and matter-of-fact logo:

Why not Stop & Stretch

Unfortunately, there was nothing in the way of services in the town, so I back-tracked to Litchville.

I spoke to the proprietor of the town bar and he directed me to the Tastee Treat, the only "restaurant," where we waited for her to fire up the grill and make Steve a cheeseburger.

We crossed a lot of prairie today.  Didn't see much, but these cattle thought Steve was the highlight of their day.

I got to our destination, the town of Gackle, early enough to scope out the RV park, register (by putting $20 in an envelope and slipping it into a slot in the wall), and get the tent set up.  Then I got my bike and rode back to the main route.  I traversed a side road about a mile until it turned to gravel, riding along beside a deer, and lots of birds.  I went back and forth several times until I could see Steve appear at the top of the hill.

Yep, that tiny dot on top of the hill is Steve

You can't miss Gackle, and the 171 tires they used to spell out the name.

We were hailed on our way into town by Dean Entzminger, a life-long resident, who has an old-things and antique shop.  He gave us a souvenir Gackle Beer can (empty, created for North Dakota's Duck Hunting Capital Diamond Jubilee 1904 - 1979).  He also told us the town was established by a guy from Collum, ND, whose name was Gackle.

We stopped for a shake and a cold drink at the Tastee- Freez, one of two places to get food in town.

This is the entire RV park.  Our tent was under the trees way down to the right after the 4th RV.  Parked next to us was a retired couple who have their RV and visit this area for a couple months each summer.  Their daughter Nicole and her husband own the only bar/restaurant in town.  Nicole is also the second grade teacher in their school, which is consolidated with the next town of Streeter.  They have a teacher for each grade K-12, and graduate between 5 and ten students a year.

Dinner at Dani's Place was solitary, but we had a great time talking with Nicole.