New release Day

Struggling to keep up with things at the moment and I have not been scrapping very much, but I did manage to make two pages with the new Berry Big Deals over at Pickleberrypop which are released today and are fantastic value as always

This first page is made with Seline BBD bundle by Tiramisu Designs

 

 

And this page is made with Our Christmas Traditions BBD Cheryl Day Designs

 

 

Do go and check out the new releases as they are superb as always and such great colour this month too.

Today I am thankful for

• keeping my head just above water at the moment.

 

Day 9 Minneapolis to Sioux Falls

23rd October 2019

Start miles 3021

Start time 6.45

End miles 3518

End time 18.00

 

The one with THAT road

 

It was dark when we left this morning as we knew we had a long way to travel but today which we were to do one of the states that had eluded us for so many years... today we were going to make the journey into North Dakota. We didn’t have high expectations of that state and it really was a mission to just visit and get out, but actually it turned out to be quite a jewel.

 

Once the sun rose it was a bright sunny day, but very cold. We passed by Saint Cloud, another lake Wobegon Gem, and headed for the town of Holdingford, where we knew the Lake Wobegon trailhead was situated. Like Wobegon, of course, is not a real place, but a fictitious town in the state of Minnesota created by garrison Keillor. As real addicts of the stories, we wanted to visit the trailhead, not to walk the trail of course, as it was the closest we could get to visiting the town we loved from the stories. We found Holdingford very easily thanks to my satnav, and we had fun looking at the buildings in town and assigning them to the various characters from the stories. We identified the Side Track tap, the chatterbox café, the Bunsen farm, the church of our Lady of perpetual responsibility and we loved that there was somewhere called hardware Hanks in town. The town also boasted a lovely covered bridge and was just pretty and iconic. The trailhead however eluded us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had passed out of the town and into glorious farmland when we realised we must’ve missed the trailhead and so pulled over on the side of the country road to think again. As we were pulled over we saw a sheriff’s car drive-by, quite slowly. Within a minute or two the car, which must’ve turned round ahead, drove back past us again, this time more slowly. I fear authority and was panicking that we were stopped illegally and were going to get into trouble… Nigel had no such fears. A couple of minutes later the car reappeared in the review mirror and he slowed to a halt on the verge behind us. Nigel got out and went round to chat with him and explain what we were doing. He turned out to be such a nice guy who helped Nigel, with the aid  of a laptop on his passenger seat, and showed him where to find the trial head which was cleverly disguised, but actually very easy to find. They chatted for a while before Nigel returned to the car and the sheriff drove off into the distance, happy in the knowledge that we were not ne’er-do-wells and posed no threat to his town. We turned around and headed back into Holdingford, this time knowing where we were going, and we found the trailhead without any problem. It really was a place to visit just for a photo opportunity, but we felt a sense of achievement in having found the closest thing to Lake Wobegon that we could find. Whilst we were taking photos, the sheriff appeared again, and pulled up beside us. He said he had just been concerned that we had found it and wanted to make sure we had achieve our goal. We chatted to him about travels in America and Europe for quite awhile and he was such a nice guy and so helpful. We have the impression that it kind of made his day to have met two weird English folk cruising round his small town. I guess, after all, it was a quiet week in Lake Wobegon.

 

 

 

It was a gorgeous day and we continued our route north, stopping at a Starbucks which boasted a beautiful fireplace to chill weary Minnesotan bones. The countryside was beautiful too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we got nearer to North Dakota it became increasingly overcast, though we were to see no rain that day. Our destination was the town of Fargo, famed from the film of the same name which only one of us had ever seen and the other one had never even heard of. I leave it to you to guess. Fargo had a really nice visitor centre and a lovely lady was on duty who made us feel very welcome. She even provided hats for us and took a photo by the woodchipper from the film which I had no idea was important, but Nigel knew all about.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were given free popcorn and advised about the walk of fame outside the visitor centre which made another good photo opportunity. It was bitterly cold and so the walk of fame was more of a jog with lots of sharp intakes of breath and shivers as we searched for the two handprints Nigel wanted to see, those of Chuck Yeager and Alice Cooper.

 

 

Photos duly taken, we headed into the town for a quick panda express as it had been a long time since breakfast. We carried on into Fargo itself and it was such a pleasant surprise to see what a beautiful old town it was. There was so many lovely old buildings including the theatre, which was like stepping back in time, and an old station which had been restored.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We probably would have spent longer mooching around this part of town, but for the fact that my insides had finally betrayed me. We had been worried that my IBS would spoil our holiday and it had been totally under control until now. We needed a bathroom break and fast. Seems McDonald’s are good not just for egg McMuffins. We filled up with gas and began our journey south back down through the Dakotas. The map had shown us that it was an interstate we would be on all the way from Fargo to Sioux Falls, which was our next destination for the night. It turns out that the definition of an interstate in the Dakotas it’s not the same as in the rest of America. Although it was a fast road with a speed limit of 80, which is so unusual, it went through absolute nothingness. There were no rest areas, no service stations, no small towns just off the interstate, just absolute flat nothingness. This would not ordinarily have worried us if there hadn’t  been the need for toilet breaks at least every half an hour for somebody suffering from crippling stomach cramps. It made for a very tense and unpleasant journey as we hoped from possible rest stop to possible rest stop. The epitome was when, by using the satnav, we found a gas station not far off the highway and we got there to find it was one gas pump in the middle of nowhere with a small building to one side that could only have held one room, was locked, and had a large notice proclaiming no restrooms. I think that was the low point. We limped our way through the Dakotas, breaking the 80 mile an hour speed limit to get to each next stop, and finally made it to Sioux Falls. One of us was hungry and we had planned to eat at Ruby Tuesday. I think I spent more time in the bathroom than at the dinner table. It was such a relief to finally get to our hotel and lie down in the security of knowledge that there was a bathroom just next door. Of course, by then, it had passed and I felt wrung out but so much better. At least we slept peacefully.

 

Comments

[Barb in AK]

What a hoot seeing you and Nigel in the lumberjack hats! LOL!!
I remember seeing the movie "Fargo"--long ago. About the only thing that stayed in my head about it was the ending. Ewww.
Steve and I listened to "A Prairie Home Companion" when we were living in Fairbanks, and then we kind of lost track of it when we moved down to Rochester (13 years ago). One Saturday, Steve ran across it when he was perusing the PBS station in the evening. We didn't listen to it very faithfully down here. Then the live show came to Rochester, as Keillor was doing a tour around the state before he retired. It was very interesting to see the process of getting a live radio show on the air. Before the actual show started, Keillor led the audience in a sing-along of patriotic songs. Although this was a radio show, a stage was set up with scenery, props, and lighting. The audience was allowed to take as many photos as they desired throughout the program. Then when the show was over, Keillor hung around and talked to anyone from the audience who wanted to speak to him, get an autograph, or picture with him.
I'm so sorry you had an uncomfortable ride through South Dakota. I think it is a very interesting state. Glad you made it to the hotel. Being ill when traveling is the absolute worst.

[Barb in AK]

Oh, I meant to ask you what the sign about being the "Best for Last of the 50 States" was all about? That might lead unaware visitors to believe that North Dakota was the fiftieth state. Just wondering what they were really claiming at the visitors' center.