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Updated 7/26/19
From Duluth we headed to Fargo "North of Normal" North Dakota, where we spent the first evening watching the Coen brothers’ Fargo for the 3rd or 4th time. It never gets old.
We really needed good wi-fi for work after the data desert that was Jay Cooke State Park in Minnesota, so we ended up in a full-hookup RV park run by a Days Inn. It was essentially a parking lot, but good data connections have become so important to us that we barely noticed spending precious days of our lives in a parking lot.
At the Fargo/Moorhead visitor center, Dorian clowned in a replica woodchipper, while the actual “Eager Beaver” chipper from the movie was inside the visitor center. Ramona enjoyed thumbing through a copy of the original screenplay and reviewing the actual woodchipper scene. Afterwards we visited the Drekker Brewery taproom in a renovated 1883 railroad building where Dorian, who normally despises all fruity ingredients in his beverages, learned that an IPA with mango could be delicious.
We only had one night in Bismarck, so we were glad for the long days on the western edge of the central time zone that allowed us to nap after our travels and still fit in some evening explorations. We drove downtown and walked with Pippi alongside the Missouri river, stopping at several roadside parks showcasing an old steamboat, a replica of the keelboat used in the Lewis and Clark expedition, and lots of very unusual Native American art installations.
Both Fargo and Bismarck deserved a closer look than we had time for - perhaps we'll be back another time!
En route to Montana, we stopped at the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the west North Dakota badlands, where we saw prairie dogs and a coyote trying to snack on one of them. But the prairie dogs are very social and called out a warning to each other and foiled the coyote. We watched the coyote for a while. He looked a bit annoyed, as if it were our fault that the prairie dogs were on high alert.
Would we come back?
Would we come back?
There's a lot to see in these areas and lots of good brew pubs in between all the seein'. We'd happily come back, though maybe not to stay for a long while.
Would we live here?
Would we live here?
Probably not. Harsh winters, and... and... well, it's mostly just the harsh winters. If we were going to live in a snowy area, even part time, it should have good skiing to compensate - which these areas don't.
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