Sunday - Devil's Lake, ND

What a difference a day makes! When we retired last night, we intended to head north from Fergus Falls, ND, directly to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Tonight (Sunday), we find ourselves sitting in a “RV parking lot” of the Spirit Lake Casino, in Devil’s Lake, ND. More on how we got here in a moment. But first, yesterday.

As mentioned in the last blog, Margaret managed to connect up via e-mail with a friend from Los Angeles, Marcella, in Fergus Falls, MN (about 60 miles SE from Fargo, ND). The photo above was taken of the two friends in of Marcella’s lovely home in Fergus Falls. We had a wonderful visit, revisiting old times in LA, and catching up on current events and the doings of mutual friends. Since Marcella had no idea we were in the neighborhood – much less at the off-ramp on I-94 at Fergus Falls – it was a great surprise. We never knew where FF was, much less that our journey would take us there.

Our over-night resting place – at a county park near Fergus Falls – was peaceful and beautiful. We had some wind (typical in the mid-West) and sprinkles. Suki and Margaret lay on the grassy hillside and enjoyed the sun. The next photo is of the lake and our view (literally) out the window the motor-home. We pulled away shortly before 11:00 a.m. Sunday, and lake waves were breaking on the shore.

Our plan had been to head due north to Winnipeg and then west towards Calgary. After looking at the map (and the calendar), we decided to take a “short-cut” across North Dakota and take a few days off our travel time to the west. Not that we didn’t want to see Winnipeg, but rather that we wanted to ensure we had time in western Canada to see Lake Louise (again), the fossil digs around Calgary, and more time in the Seattle with friends et.al.

Having examined the map this a.m., we decided to turn due-west at Grand Forks, ND. What a great decision! Having never been in North Dakota before (this was the last of the 50 states as yet unvisited by yours truly), it was a revelation. I say that because I believed that North Dakota would be an extension of South Dakota, that is to say, brown prairies with bison and prairie dogs.

Wow, what a surprise! Heading west on US-2, we have been surrounded by green meadows and marshland studded with ponds, streams and lakes. We had decided that the farmers must have written off their crop as their fields were sodden, when we realized it might be wild rice they were cultivating, not corn. But what do we know? Lots of geese and ducks with their broods.

We even saw a pond with a flock of WHITE Pelicans! Who would have suspected pelicans – much less white ones – this far from the ocean? We bantered back forth with pelican adjectives beginning with “p.” The game was won with the “pneumatic pelican.”

We elected to spend the night at Spirit Lake casino – on the shores of Devil’s Lake. When I first examined the map of North Dakota, I was surprised at the size of Devil’s Lake – about 90 miles West of Grand Forks. After we arrived, I looked at the map again – there is another lake – Lake Saskawea to our west that appears to be more than twice as big. And I though North Dakota was all dry prairie! There is even a maritime museum at Devil’s Lake! It is probably the only casino in the country that has fish cleaning service.

In retrospect, there is much more to North Dakota than I expected. Although our time here will be short, it appears to be a fascinating place, with lots of history as well as beautiful scenery to be explored. One of the benefits of wide-ranging travel is one learns about unexpected locations. The bad news, one doesn’t expect these surprises and one’s schedule doesn’t allow enough time.

An example of surprises: driving along I-29 today, there was a lot of water beside the highway. We attributed this to the recent, heavy rains. But we couldn’t decide if the crops we saw (under water) were corn – in which case, the crops were probably ruined – or something else. Then as we approached a rather large grain silo complex, we read the logo – RAHR Malting complex – and decided that the crops were probably malt – for beer. This, after seeing a large BUDWEISER silo complex (probably for hops / malt). A different world than Florida (or California).

So this evening (Sunday), we are parked in a casino parking lot (our first) overlooking Devil’s Lake, listening to the rain, wondering if the evening news – forecasting a tornado watch – include the county we’re in. Why do they forecast “bad news” by county, rather by town? It is difficult sometimes to figure out what county you’re in! Guess we’ll just sit it out – and hope? Tomorrow we’ll head northwest – probably won’t make it into Canada tomorrow – but surely by Tuesday?

Yours-on-the-road,
Wayne