It's Day 454... it's also August 2nd, 2020... and we are in Ray, North Dakota

It's Day 454... it's also August 2nd, 2020... and we are in Ray, North Dakota.

That stretch from Wolf Point... to Ray...only about 120 miles—just shy of two hour drive for most...but us...out here....just to many photo ops....and time....well that just feels different...out here.

The "Hi Line".....what folks around here call Hiway 2....rolls out in front of ya feeling both endless...and untouched....but ultimately connecting....everything.

Leaving the Fort Peck Indian Reservation...where the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers have carved their way through history...The land is open, rugged...speckled with cattle and framed by the Rockies... The occasional farmstead breaks the horizon, each standing like a.... defiant.... mark of human existence against the vast prairie. And passing through small towns....like Poplar...and Culbertson....places where grain silos rise higher than any building....and the towns single gas station doubles as the towns diner. All reminders...of how different things are out here.

Crossing into North Dakota, the land doesn’t change so much... as it settles. The Missouri River stays south, and the landscape flattens into rolling farmland, fields of wheat and canola stretching out along the Hi Line, their colors shifting in the breeze..and the morning sun.

Williston....seems about as big as it gets out this way—a boomtown riding the waves of oil and agriculture...but with a population of 29,000.....we'd pass that one by as well....a bit crowded for our liking.

We only had to trek another 30 miles or so to find Ray....and it's population of around 800 felt just about right. And it didn't hurt that a sign as we entered ray announced....The Ray Roughrider Rodeo...balloons tugged at the sign and just to it's right....dozens of horse trailers....stock trailers and a sea of cowboy hats told us we were just in time. We may have just missed The Wild Horse Stampede back in Wolf Point....but we catch some of that rodeo life here...in Ray... And just past the rodeo grounds...a city park along side the river...complete with RV hook ups. Perfect!

We may have traveled a hundred miles or so...but we were still deep in the Assiniboine....and Sioux territories. After centuries of following the vast buffalo heards that roamed these plains...they were joined by European explorers...and later....American Settlement...that same old story...but this time...in North Dakota.

Here in Ray...The arrival of The Great Northern Railway....would draw folks to the area in search of fertile farmlands... The town was officially settled in 1902...and named for a railway official.

By the early 20th century, Ray had become a hub for agriculture, with wheat farming and cattle ranching driving its economy. As the oil industry in North Dakota expanded, especially with the Bakken Formation boom in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Ray would experience more of an economic boom....Rig workers...Drillers...Roustabouts.....and Truck drivers would flock to the area from across the country...in search of the high paying jobs. The ups and downs in the oil industry...meant the same for Ray. Large fluctuations in population meant Ray had to work to keep up...housing...infrastructure....But through all those ups and downs....Ray seems to have settled on being a quiet little town along the Hi Line....population...800. It's history as a classic Wild West Town...complete with Saloons....all distant memories.

Turns out....that stumbling smack dab into the middle of Rays annual Roughrider Rodeo....would lead to an afternoon of reminiscing...and memories. A weekend rodeo...filling the fairgrounds with those horse trailers...cowboy hats....and the unmistakable scent of freshly cracked bales of hay. As the sunsets....the buzz continues....The bright lights of the arena cast long shadows as cowboys and cowgirls readied their horses. The sound of leather creaking, ropes snapping, and hooves shifting against the packed dirt filled the air. The announcer’s voice echoed through the speakers, calling out names, times, and scores. The crowd—families, ranchers, kids with sticky fingers from cotton candy—all leaned forward in their seats, watching broncs buck and barrels spin." The air...thick with excitement....the kind you can only find in places where a rodeo...isn't just entertainment...it's a way of life.

It only took one stroll through the festivities to decide that Ray wouldn’t be a one-night stop. The nostalgia...had hit hard. This wasn’t just any rodeo—it was a glimpse into my own past, a flashback to teenage years spent on horseback, racing around arenas just like this one. A couple days would slip by before we finally pulled out of Ray....dust still clinging to the tires...and memories settling in...like old friends.

And maybe, just maybe, it was that weekend in Ray that planted a thought in my mind—one I wouldn’t fully realize until later. Maybe Fargo....wouldn't be the last stop...on this trek east. Maybe this trip would lead me even farther, back toward a sleepy little farm town called North Branch...in Minnesota, the place where I had spent so many of those hours in a saddle.

We were up early this morning...the fairgrounds empty...and the campgrounds to ourselves...I kicked open the door and let the boys out for a morning run. Dougie...off to check out the river...Billie...had a different plan....bolting out across the park at first...in pursuit of a squirrel...quickly abandoning that adventure...choosing to instead...to climb around 20 feet into a massive oak tree...and purch himself on the first limb he came to. He's spend the next hour or so up there...gazing out over the park...and the river.

My plan for an early start ... apparently hijacked.......Billie would decide when we hit the road...When he was done enjoying the view...and climb back down out of that tree...

As Dougie and waited for Billie to grow impatient...and rejoin us...I thought....

You never know...where a road can take ya. I looked out over the river...and into the horizon....and thought...

I wonder what we'll learn there...