Minot

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Dollar Tree Haul

I have to confess that I became addicted to Dollar Tree stores when I was in the US last year. I’m not one of those crazy people who buys random stuff just because it’s cheap, but they do have a lot of really good products that I actually need. In fact, I’m still going through my stash of waste bags that I bought expressly for emptying the litter box, buying enough so that I could scoop twice a day and have enough bags for a year. That investment was all of two or three dollars. 🙂

So when I saw a Dollar Tree by the Walmart in Minot, I ambled over after dinner to see if I could get the things on my list:

a) A new pair of nitrile-coated gardening gloves, which are awesome for hooking and unhooking the toad as they are warm, but water proof, and easy to slip on:

My last pair was pink and my current pair is green. Stock image because they are filthy. 🙂

b) A slightly bigger basket for the produce. I had bought a black one last year:

And think that this slightly bigger pink one fits in better with my decor (although it’s a bit too hot pink):

c) A tiny waste container for the dressing room into which I could put cotton swabs, band-aids, lysol wipes, etc. without having anything on the floor. This yellow bucket was perfect:

I also picked up a couple of food items, including honey graham crackers, that I haven’t been able to find anywhere else, and a bath sponge. The cashier said to me, “Did you find everything you were looking for? And maybe some extras?” I don’t think that he believed me that everything but the honey-mustard chips were on the list! And as for the chips, I’m addicted to mustard, okay?

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Heaven, I’m In Heaven

Today’s travels took me from Minot to Hankinson by way of Bismarck and Fargo. Google Maps had a more direct route, but my GPS kept arguing with me and I decided that an extra few kilometres weren’t a big deal. The roads were good and clear, but I had rain and grey sky all the way to Oriska.

I have to share a story about the last time I was in Fargo. It was like being in a Mr. Bean movie. I came into a mess of construction and got stuck in a roundabout with no idea which way to go. This was in the days before GPS and I didn’t have a detailed map of the city. I must have driven around that roundabout 50 times before a construction worker took pity on me, flagged me down, and told me which way to go! Today’s travels through the city were uneventful.

I am now parked at the Dakota Magic Casino and Resort, which has a full hookup RV park on the edge of its parking lot. I had expected power only to be on at this time of the year, but nope. I’m so excited that I’ll be able to take a long shower tonight. 🙂 I have tons of stuff to catch up on, so I’ve decided to stay for three, possibly four, nights. The rate is $31.50… for three nights. That’s right, FHU for just $10 a night!!! And my internet connection works here. What a nice respite this will be! Since I’ve gone through half a tank of propane in the last week, I hooked up Gary’s present since I’ll be here for a few days and save the on board propane for when I’m moving down the road.

I had planned to spend a couple of nights here and am only a couple of nights behind schedule since I left Lethbridge early, but I am going to have to start boogeying if I want to get to Virginia for May 1st. I have a couple of itineraries in mind and not being in too much of a hurry to cross the Mississippi, I am tempted to keep going due south to Kansas City and then straight east to Virginia. The slightly more direct option is to get back on I-94, skirt around Minneapolis, detour to Cedar Rapids to avoid Chicagoland, and then shoot eastwards. The first option is barely longer and more appealing since I have done most of the second option already. I am concerned about the the severity of the current tornado season in the mid-west, however. I welcome any thoughts on both options and, yes, I know that I need to get a weather radio. 🙂

Ooh, I almost forgot. I actually took pictures today!

grey sodden prairie; sick of the first two, but never of the third

grey sodden prairie; sick of the first two, but never of the third

Apple Creek Rest Area

Apple Creek Rest Area

Apple Creek Rest Area

Apple Creek Rest Area

the Oriska rest area is in the middle of the divided highway; you have to exit left

the Oriska rest area is in the middle of the divided highway; you have to exit left

the Oriska rest area is in the middle of the divided highway; you have to exit left

the Oriska rest area is in the middle of the divided highway; you have to exit left

this section south of Fargo reminds me of autoroute 10 in Quebec!

this section south of Fargo reminds me of autoroute 10 in Quebec!

parked at Dakota Magic facing the casino

parked at Dakota Magic facing the casino

parked at Dakota Magic facing the prairies

parked at Dakota Magic facing the prairies

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Way Overdue for a Charge!

I am at the Applecreek rest area on I-94, just east of Bismarck. I left Minot fairly early as I had no battery power left to do anything but run the fridge. Thankfully, I am headed for hookups!

The forecast lied in that today was supposed to be sunny, but it’s still rainy. Gah.

Thank you to the DOT for this excellent wifi signal that my iPad had no trouble picking up!

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Oh, America, the Land of Cheap Cheese!

I loaded up on cheese tonight, amazed once again that a bag of the shredded stuff that sells for $8 in Canada is only $2.50 in the US.

I also stocked up on McCormick’s lemon pepper seasoning, kicking myself for having bought only one last year. The only lemon pepper seasoning I’ve found in Canada is just that, seasoning. The McCormick’s brand has real lemon zest in it.

I’m done posting for today. 🙂 My laptop battery is just about flat again. As for my house batteries, if they aren’t dead yet, they will be by the end of this trip. They have hung in there, but I am sure that they are as happy as I am that tomorrow I should be plugged into power. I never expected to be stuck this long in this kind of weather!

 

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Reflections on North Dakota

“It was at this moment that I fell in love with space, endless space.”  Esther Hautzig, The Endless Steppe

It was in North Dakota that I first encountered the prairie landscape. From my journal at the time:

The first thing I noticed about the prairie is the sky. There is so much sky that there isn’t enough pigment for it; even when there isn’t a cloud above, the sky is a weak, diluted blue. The next thing I noticed was the flatness that meant there was more land and sky than I could take in with one gaze, that there was no place to rest the eyes. It took my breath away. In North Dakota, the prairie is marigold, emerald, and amber.

I had thought myself an ocean and even a mountain girl and was surprised to find myself moved to tears by a landscape of endless sky and dancing grass as high as my waist. It is only in hindsight that I can recognize how this discovery shaped the years that followed. I can add North Dakota to the list of places that shook me out of my complacency and made me look at the world, and my life, in a different way, and then set me on a different course.

Sitting here in North Dakota once more, I am shocked to realise that it is here that my journey to full-timing truly began. It is here that the first stirrings came into my mind that my life could be different, that there were other options for me, that there was more to life than what I knew. I barely spent any time in this state and it still had time to sear itself into my consciousness. It has been almost seven years since I was first here, but it feels like another life. Perhaps it was.